PICTURE PERFECT
Picture Perfect - Episode 1
© Christabel Nwoko
Kate and Olivia had been friends since High school, They attended same high school and even same university,
They both came from an average families, They were both hardworking, ambitious and very beautiful too, no wonder they were doing well for themselves as they were not lacking good things of life. Olivia was a successful entrepreneur while Kate had a good job that paid her so well.
The Two friends had different dreams but they share the same notion of marrying a very wealthy man.
"Any man who wants to settle down with me, must be capable and more wealthier than I am or it won't work, I don't want a gold digger or a low life" Olivia would say
"Of course, my friend no time for nonsense, if a man is not doing well for himself, what does he want with successful Ladies like us" And Kate would chip in.
They were high class babes and any man who dared to woo anyone of them must climb a ladder to get to thier level, otherwise they would not take him seriously. Olivia and Kate were both very active on social media especially Facebook, where they don't miss a chance to posts about thier perfect life. They were so happy on social media as they always post PERFECT PICTURES of themselves on Facebook.
On social media, one would think that the two friends were not desperate to get married, but in reality they were in dire need of a rich man who would take away thier loneliness and give them the best things in life. They are both in need of companionship but their ego wouldn't let them admit it.
As time goes on Olivia met a well built handsome man named Fred, in one of her client's birthday party, They started dating almost immediately as Fred seems to have all the qualities she wanted in a man, He appeared wealthy, he owned exotic cars and a beautiful duplex, Fred spoilt her with expensive gifts and he took her to beautiful places. Olivia never missed a chance to post every details of thier relationship on social media and Facebook was on fire, when they Finally tied the knot in an elaborate wedding and went on a trip to Dubai for thier honeymoon. PERFECT and Lovely PICTURES were taken and Olivia made sure to keep her online friends and followers posted.
For a while, Olivia and Fred were one of those Attention-worthy couples anyone who was envious would love to hate on social media. They appeared to be perfect and deep in the love haze and couldn’t help themselves than to show the world how much they Love each other, but after thier returned from thier honey moon, they settled into a more realistic place as they lived together as husband and wife.
Few months later, Olivia started to see the cracks in their marriage. They still looked like they were living their own personal fairytale online, but behind closed doors, they were a total mess and a living proof that no one should believe what they see on social media.
Thier honey moon phase wore off so quickly but Olivia kept faking it, the lust phase died off and reality sunk in. Fred and Olivia got married so quickly as they only dated for few months before they tied the knot. Olivia didn't get to know him better, all she wanted was a wealthy man and Fred appeared wealthy but just few months after, Olivia started to see some important facts about him that she didn't bother to find out before marriage. The worst was that Fred was not wealthy as she thought he was, Fred was just a nobody who was living off his wealthy cousin that stayed abroad.
All the exotic cars and houses belonged to his cousin. Olivia almost dropped dead when she found out but Fred found a way to convince her that his cousin's properties were also his.
Once Olivia and Fred were in the more mundane, comfortable phase of thier marriage, Olivia still felt like she needed to keep up with her online personas. "After all, people were so happy for me thinking that I’d finally found the kind of love I thought I’d wanted and lacked for so long. Its my duty to continue carrying the torch" She had thought
Olivia became obsessed with glorifying Fred and all he did for her.
Every little thing Fred did got so much praise and attention from Olivia online. The small acts of love honestly meant so much to Olivia and most times she would get herself expensive gifts and her husband Fred would take the glory online, but soon she realized that glorifying the sweet gestures and thoughtfulness that should be normal in any marriage, only made Fred feel superior and he started to take advantage of that.
Olivia had thought posting the happy moments would outweigh to rough time she was having in her supposed perfect life.
When Fred and Olivia started to argue and he started exhibiting controlling behaviors, Olivia kept singing his praises online because she convinced herself that all marriages have rough patches and that she should still be grateful for the love they shared.
Even when it got to a point where thier marriage lacked excitement and was more daunting than joyful, Olivia still clung on tightly to those little things and shared them with her social media network as if she was the happiest married woman in the world. The truth was, She was slowly dying inside.
When Fred's cousin who lived abroad began to experience difficult time, He stopped sending money to Fred and he started experiencing money problems, Olivia began to spend her money on Fred.
6 months later, Fred stopped treating her like he used to long before thier demise as he was done pretending to be wealthy and acting up
Olivia woke up one day and in the blink of an eye, Fred had changed. He suddenly stopped being thoughtful towards her, he stopped helping out around the house, he started to demand more money from her. Olivia convinced herself that Fred was her husband and that she needed to help him out a bit, but the reality was that Fred was taking off his mask and showing Olivia the kind of man he truly was.
Olivia wasn't being honest with herself,
Despite how awful she was feeling inside of her marriage, She told herself that she was the problem because Fred convinced her of it. She tried so many times to have thoughtful and mature conversations about what was upsetting her and how they could work together to get back to a good place.
"Fred, you lied to me, I thought you had a good life and you were doing well for your self and ever since your cousin was jailed in the UK, I began to shoulder all your financial problems but I'm not complaining because I love you but the truth is that I can't continue to be fulfilling your financial demands, you are yet to pay back even the 2million I loaned you for our wedding and just last week I gave you a cheque of 1.5 million and you promised to pay back this week but with the look of things you are not paying back anytime soon, I suggest you get a Job or start a business, so the burden wouldn't be so much on me" Olivia had told her husband Fred but he walked out on her angrily without uttering a word.
Olivia tried to make Fred reason with her but it was of no use, He was a lazy man who was fortunate enough to have rich friends, rich family and a rich wife. Fred claimed Olivia was the one who changed and accused her of being unsupportive and out of line. Olivia just wanted so badly to be in a happy marriage so she continued to fake it online to anyone who would pay attention. The likes and comments she would get would feed her ego in the ways her marriage wasn’t.
End Of Episode 1
To Be Continued
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