Ewa had not been married for long but she was enjoying every bit of it. Ade was everything she wanted in a man; God-fearing, kind, gentle, hardworking, caring, strong and the icing on the cake; extremely good looking. There was no way you could miss how truly handsome Ade was. He was every girl’s dream and yet he was hers. Their marriage was indeed heaven on earth. Marrying Ade was a dream come true.
Their marriage had happened very quickly. Theirs was an arranged marriage and they didn’t have a lot of time to get to know each other. Oba Oluwa had whispered to her that Ade was really lonely and he also had a lot of work he needed help with. ‘‘The quicker, the better.’’ Oba Oluwa had said. A lot was at stake and they didn’t have time to waste.
Ade was the managing director of the Family business and the crowd he was surrounded with really wasn’t his type, Oba Oluwa insisted, when trying to convince her about Ade. He was quite intentional about who Ade married and. Ewa had wondered then, if Ade had a say. Would Ade Ewan like her? Oba Oluwa was confident that she and Ade would be happy together and she would not just be a good companion but the right kind of help he would need in running in the business. Infact, he felt that their business would yield more than a 100% profit with them working together.
She smiled as she remembered Oba Oluwa’s words:
“I also think that you will produce fine children with your combined good looks and values. Looking forward to meeting my grandchildren.’’
Ewa had blushed at that time. She hadn’t thought that far yet. Intimacy wasn’t something that she had thought about Ewan though marriage was around the corner. Thankfully, Oba Oluwa had been right. She loved being married to Ade. There was no need to be worried about whether Ade had a say in who he married or whether he would like her.
Ewa thought dreamily of the day, she had met Ade for the first time. The memory still made her tingle. Oba Oluwa had come to get her so that he could introduce her to Ade. Ewa had been nervous. Would Ade think that Oba Oluwa was meddling Ewan though they had a very close relationship?
Ewa and Oba Oluwa walked into the office where Ade was going over some paper work. Ade looked up when they walked in and an affectionate smile crept up his face when he saw Oba Oluwa and then he turned to look at her. Ewa was certain that the world stopped at that moment. Ade seemed to forget that anyone else was in the room with them. He looked at her so intently, with a really cute smile on the sides of his mouth.
‘‘Ade, I would like you to meet Ewa. Remember we talked about her?’’ Oba Oluwa said Ade came out behind the table where he was and walked towards Ewa, his eyes never leaving her face.
“Your Highness, you didn’t tell me that she was this beautiful.” Ade replied
Oba Oluwa smiled.
“Do you like her?” He asked
Ade replied, his eyes still on her.
“I not only like her. I love her.’’
Oba Oluwa burst out laughing.
“You don’t really know her.’’
Ade reached out for her hand at that moment.
“I know her Your Highness, I feel like I’ve known her all my life. We are connected. There’s just something about her.”
His touch had brought tingles up her spine, it still did. Ade was right because she felt the same way. It was just like they were meant to be.
She loved working with Ade in the family business. They were in the food production and processing business. They dealt mostly with fruits and vegetables. They had a large expanse of farmland which produced different types of fruits and vegetables for consumption. They were the sole suppliers of fruits in the region. Their responsibility was to manage the operations of the farmland. It was so refreshing to work alongside with her husband. Her heart melted as she thought about Oba Oluwa.
Oba Oluwa was the king of their region. He was often teased for being a contemporary king. He was also an astute business man and was the wealthiest man in the entire region. It was such an honour to work for him, but he wasn’t just their employer. He was everything rolled in one. He was like a Father to them and also a very dear friend. He had adopted Ade as his own son and he had shown her the same kindness he showed Ade. He had elevated them far above all the other members of his household and the constituents in the region. They had found favour in his eyes. She wouldn’t replace Oba Oluwa for the world.
They had a good harvest the day before and Ewa was checking the fruits to make sure that were no blemishes so they could prepare for sales and processing. She didn’t know why she bothered because all the fruits that came out of their farm were always spotless and healthy but she liked being thorough.
“Good afternoon Mrs. Ewa.’’
Ewa looked up to see Nyoka standing in front of her. Nyoka was one of the people who lived on their farmland. She didn’t see him often.
“Hi Nyoka, how are you?
“I’m well and you?’’
‘‘I am very well. What can I do for you?’ Ewa asked
Nyoka smiled
‘‘If you don’t mind, I would like to show you what I have discovered about one of the fruit trees Mrs. Ewa.’’
Ewa paused and looked at him.
‘‘A new discovery? I thought we knew all there was to know about all our fruits and vegetables.’’
“Trust me, Mrs. Ewa. This is different.’’
Ewa dropped the apple she was holding and cleaned her hands with a towel. ‘‘Okay. If you say so, lead the way.’’
A few minutes later, they were standing in front of a very peculiar tree, one that Oba Oluwa was very particular about.
“What are we doing here?’’ Ewa asked
Nyoka pointed to the tree.
‘This is the fruit tree I was talking about.’’
Ewa stepped back and shook her head.
‘Nyoka, this tree is out of bounds?’’
‘Are you sure about that? Nyoka asked. I thought it was one of the other trees.’’
‘’No it’s not. We are not even allowed to be near this tree. For some reason, Oba Oluwa is very particular about it.’’
Nyoka smiled knowingly, almost as he knew a secret she was unaware of.
‘’Trust me Mrs. Ewa. I know what I’m talking about. This fruit is better than all the other fruits and vegetables you have on this farm put together. It is known to have healing abilities and is potentially one of the fruits being analyzed for the cure of cancer and other health challenges. It also easily puts you as the go-to person for medical and nutritional research in the whole of the region. In fact, this fruit can easily make you contemporaries with Oba Olouwa and usher in a new stream of wealth for you.’’
Ewa was not convinced.
‘’If it was that important, Oba Oluwa would have told us.’’
Nyoka shook his head.
‘’You do know that I have been here longer than you have. Oba Oluwa does not always give all the information. He likes to be the one in charge and have monopoly over new discoveries. This fruit will make you at par with him. You also know that Oba Oluwa is as fit as a fiddle which means that he’s going to be here for a long time. When will you start implementing your own ideas or running your own ship? You still have to run everything Oba Oluwa.’’
Nyoka had a point. There were many ideas she had but Ade had insisted that they followed Oba Oluwa’s blueprint. She also wouldn’t mind being in charge of things for a while instead of always having to differ to Oba Oluwa.
‘’Moreover. Mrs Ewa, this fruit looks absolutely beautiful and tastes the same. My suggestion is that you try it out and we start working on processing it immediately. We will not work with it like the others. We can then show Oba Oluwa our findings later. Also, I hear that this fruit has the ability to consistently make people look young and enhance beauty. You will easily be the most beautiful woman in our region.’’
It seemed like a plan. Ewa plucked a fruit from the tree and took a bite. Her eyes popped open. It was delicious. Just then, she heard Ade’s voice.
‘’I’ve been looking for you Ewa. What are you doing here?’’
Ade looked really surprised to see Ewa in front of Oba Oluwa’s precious tree and even more shocked to see that she was already eating its fruit.
‘’Ewa, what have you done? Oba Oluwa was clear about us not eating, harvesting or processing this fruit. We are going to be in so much trouble!’’
Ewa had a dreamy look on her face.
‘’Ade, this fruit is lovely.’’ Ewa said dreamily
‘’Ewa, we can’t. Stop it!’’
‘’Ade you need to eat this fruit. It has medicinal qualities and it’s being used for the cure against cancer. We will be the go to research experts and be experts in our field and it can make us extremely wealthy.’’
‘’We have all we need Ewa.’’
‘’But only as Oba Oluwa provides.’’
‘’What are you saying Ewa?’’ Ade asked frustrated
‘’We can just be like Oba Oluwa, independent and calling the shots, we can be our own boss, have our dreams, do whatever we want. We don’t have to always answer Oba Oluwa. Ade, remember the dreams we had. We wanted to own our own farms. We want to have our own manufacturing outfits. We wanted to be in different nations of the world. We can be so much more and this fruit has all we need.’’
‘’How do you know that?’’
Ewa pointed to Nyoka
‘’Nyoka, here told me. You know he has been here way longer than you or myself. Think of the wealth, the influence, the prominence and all the knowledge that could be ours.’’
‘’Oba Oluwa has done so much for us Ewa.’’ Ade said looking really worried.
‘’We are not running away Ade. We are just going ahead and then we can show him our findings later but by then we will have an advantage. We are just taking care of our future.’’
Ade was convinced. This may just be the break he needed. After all, he really worked hard. He ate part of the fruit Ewa offered and it was really delicious. One bite wasn’t enough and they ate till they were satisfied.
However, when they were done eating, something changed. Their feeling of safety was gone. Their sense of security was lost. They felt incomplete, almost like they had lost something and then suddenly, they knew. They had traded the love, safety, security and dependence on Oba Oluwa for temporary pleasure and the pleasures of being more.
As they stood before Oba Oluwa, later that day, their hearts broke as he spoke with tears in his eyes. He had come for their usual evening chat and he knew immediately something was wrong. They had no choice but to confess. They were miserable already.
‘’Everything was yours already. What else did you want? I was just waiting for the right time, you have no idea what you have done!’’ He said
‘’Now I see that I was wrong. Your dependence and trust in me were the keys to everything you would ever want in this life. How I wish you trusted that I was enough and always had your best interests at heart? I wanted to see how well you could follow so I could know how well you could lead. I wanted to know if you would keep my wishes even in the toughest of times. This farm and all I had was for you. I was building them for you.’’
Oba Oluwa shook his head, tears falling down his cheeks.
‘’You failed the test.’’
Just like Ade and Ewa, who represent Adam and Eve in the beginning of times, it seems like the grass is always greener on the other side. We listen to the lies of Nyoka, the enemy of our souls who loves to deceive the elect by offering a life that is better than what God has to offer. The consequences of their disobedience still abide with us till today.
The true secret of life is submission and total dependence on God. By doing that we realize, we are not here to fulfil our dreams but His dreams. In fulfilling His dreams, we realize that they are bigger and more glorious than anything we could have ever imagined.
