by Joy Ehonwa

The Ade-Williams Christmas party did not go at all as planned. The things that were supposed to remind Fred of his life with Sheila did nothing of the sort – least of all the elegant, sexy gown she was wearing – as he kept following Laide around like a love-struck puppy.

Suddenly, Fred called out, “Sheila!”. Her heart stopped – as did ours. Alas. He only went back to talking about her leaving his employ, and giving her a stellar letter of recommendation for her next employer.

Then.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, Sheila later went upstairs and found Laide naked in Fred’s bed- her matrimonial bed! Worse, it wasn’t a onetime mistake; Laide had been sleeping with Fred all along@ Sheila called her downstairs and gave her such a sound slap, it knocked her to the ground, before throwing her out and calling a cab to get her.

Not that Laide was sorry. “I just followed my heart,” she said. “He doesn’t remember you, he remembers me.” Excuse me while I say – what rubbish! Sheila told her a few home truths. I hope Fred hates her when he regains his memory and finds out what she has done.

Sheila forbade her to go back to the house Fred let her stay in. If she wanted to be allowed to stay there until she found her own apartment, she had to go upstairs and break up with Fred, disappear and never contact him again. Well done, Sheila, well done.

When Sheila told Dan and Phillip the truth about why she made Laide leave, Phillip, who had been shouting at her, was for once sensible sensitive enough to hold Sheila and comfort her as she cried. Sadly, not enough to agree with her that it was time to tell Fred the truth.

In any case, Fred is missing (again) and frankly, we’re a bit too tired to care.

And then there was the kiss. While Telema pulled away when Kwame kissed her in the rain, she lingered long enough to let us know that their fire is still burning bright. Kwame apologised and said he’s back in friend mode. We hear you, Kwame Mensah.

Of course, Telema’s disappearance already made the headlines, but Bimpe’s big mouth may just have given Harriet more fodder for her Tinsel Town Magazine.

At least we know where Amaka is.

Hospitalised over the trauma of seeing Sunom’s body, the doctors say – thankfully – her baby is alright. Now, The Evil Mrs Etuk, who also happened to be admitted in the same hospital, came to her room to threaten her, and then denied it when Sankey confronted her: She said she just went to see Amaka to apologise.

A guard policeman was stationed outside Amaka’s room to make sure she doesn’t escape, and Mrs. Etuk doesn’t come in. Where was he therefore when the “dying old woman” slipped in to forcefully midwife Amaka? The people pushing the case have decided that it has become too messy and are thinking of dropping it, but Mrs. Etuk is still as devilish as ever.

Moving away from the major themes, since Titi hijacked Shalewa’s band audition there’s been nothing but irritation, and Tega is still being a nuisance trying to make Angela look bad in front of their boss. We can’t wait to see him get rebuffed by Alex again.

So, is Fred with Laide? Forgive me for wondering.

See you next week!