For the Dream of 5 Years: Chapter Fifteen: The Dance and The Bags

That night, they ate Pizza for dinner and went to sleep early, apart from Dave. He stayed up late searching; "how to apologize to your wife after cheating,” “how to make your sad wife happy again.,” “what to buy your wife to make her happy,” and where to take your wife for a vacation.” Michelle waited for Dave in bed until she fell asleep. In the morning, Michelle woke up to a happy and joyous Dave. He had made breakfast, packed some bags, and put them in the living room. "Why didn't you come to bed last night?" Michelle asked him after coming from the toilet. She hadn't seen the bags, but she had noticed the old Dave was now jovial and always singing. When Dave was in high spirit, he often played his favourite Luo songs and asked Michelle and Mike to dance with him. He was playing those songs. He started dance-walking towards Michelle. "Come, my love, come dance with me," he said, stretching his hand to Michelle. "I want to go back to bed because I am still sleepy," she said, folding her arms and leaning against the wall. "Breakfast is ready, the song is on, your husband is on the dance floor, and the bags are ready," he said, still dancing and stretching his hand to her. "What do you mean by 'the bags are ready'?" She asked, searching the room for the bags. "Why do you have the bags packed, Dave? Where are you going?" She asked. Her heart sank, and her body felt cold. Was Dave leaving her? Had it gotten this serious? Was Dave this happy because he wanted to make her miserable? Why was he dancing? She wondered. "My love, come dance with me, and I will tell you all about it," said Dave, still dancing. Michelle wanted to know what was happening, so she gave in. Dave held her by the waist, touching her and arousing her instantly. Michelle did not want to get aroused; she hadn't 'made love' with Dave since the elections. All the time they had sex, they had sex, not making love because her heart was not there. She had simply availed her body; she did not enjoy it emotionally, only physically. "Dave, why do we have packed bags in our sitting room?" She asked again, fighting her arousal. Dave bent to kiss her, and she resisted. "One kiss, and I tell you," he insisted, drawing her closer. "Stop it, Dave! I am not in the mood for your games, and if you don't want to tell me, just let me go back to bed," she said, trying to break free from him, but he was too strong; she couldn't move an inch. Dave leaned in for a kiss. "Stop it, Dave, I haven't brushed my teeth!" She screamed. "Since when did we start brushing our teeth before kissing? You are my wife at your best and your worst. Come on! Lock those luscious lips with mine before I subdue you," he said and started kissing her. Michelle's strength was finished because she had tried to break loose, and she had no more strength to resist Dave's advances. She was so weak that she started laughing. Dave kissed her passionately; he kissed her on the mouth, tongue deep, kissed her neck, and bit her nipples gently. Michelle had no strength left in her; she hadn't realized that laughing so much could exhaust a person. She was helpless in his arms, moved when he moved, how he moved, kissed back, and held on to him for stability. She was so aroused, and she wanted him in her. However, she did not want to ask or reach for his zipper; she did not want to look needy, especially now that she hadn't established whether Dave was leaving. "My love, I would love it if you would accept my offer to take you to the coast for a week. A getaway to search ourselves again, to mend our issues, to bond and stop this thing drifting us apart," he said, kissing her after every word. It was a relief for Michelle; at least it was not the start of another fight. She kissed him back and reached for his zipper; she went down on him for the first time since she cast her vote for Freeman. She wanted to make him feel good, an apology for voting for the wrong side. She had the power to forgive herself and consider herself forgiven by apologizing the way she chose. After this, she would not punish herself again. She would move on like most people in the country did and as Amos did. They had a steamy session on the floor and cuddled on the couch. When they woke up an hour later, they took a shower and took their breakfast. They felt like when they used to be happy. They had started reconnecting and bonding and were not resistant toward one another. They moved to the same dance moves, laughed at the same jokes, spoke the same unspoken language, and locked their gazes without looking away. They were starting to get happy when rediscovering themselves. After cleaning the dishes, Michelle was excited about the trip and checked the bags to see what Dave had forgotten to include and noticed hardly any clothes in the bag. "Sweetheart, I hope you are not planning for us to go to the coast naked," she said, walking to the bedroom where Dave was waking Mike up so he could have breakfast too. "We will shop for everything we need, my Love. Name everything, and it is yours," he said and winked at her. "Sit back and enjoy the treat, my love," he said, carrying sleepy Mike out of the room, leaving Michelle behind with her mouth wide open. Michelle sat down on the bed, trying to absorb everything, and felt a surge of joy, a gush of happiness, and an intense love for her husband. Suddenly, her phone rang. It was still on the bedside table. It was Dan. "Oh, no! Not now, Dan. It was a mistake wanting to reconnect with you," she murmured to herself while ending the call and switching off her phone. She put her phone inside the drawer. She was going to leave it behind. She needed all the time she could get, to be with Dave, to be pampered, to be loved, and to enjoy every second with her family. She joined Dave and Mike in the living room, and they kept Mike company as he took his breakfast. He was so excited to learn that they would fly to the coast for a one-week vacation and stay in a 5-star hotel enjoying themselves. "Can Dickson come with us, Daddy?" He asked. "Who I'm I going to play with when you and Mommy spend time sleeping or in the adult pool?" He added when his father didn't respond. "Dear, this is a family vacation; it is just you, mommy, and I. We are going to have fun. We will make sure you enjoy every bit of the vacation, don't worry," he assured him. Michelle smiled at Mike to assure him that everything would be pure bliss. They made the necessary preparations and got ready for their flight that evening. It would take them less than an hour, and they would have dinner at the hotel. They had all types of good things at the hotel: food, massages, drinks, watched a movie, swam in the night, and told stories of when they met. Michelle reminded Dave how he swept her off her feet, especially when he proposed at the bus station when she met him during his travel in the countryside. "I was shocked, Dave. I was thrilled by your sudden decision to ask me to marry you. Especially when you did it immediately, you stepped out of the bus, before I even said hi, before my eyes got satisfied by your handsomeness. I had missed you, darling. I loved that you decided to be bold and ask me in front of all the strangers in the station, not worried I would turn you down, like a real man who believed in himself. If I wasn't sure before, that moment made me decide, 'this is the man I want.' I have never felt so ecstatic in my life, the way I did that moment," she said, lying on his chest, closing her eyes to replay that moment vividly. Dave's heart beat so fast. "My love, that was nothing, we have a brighter future, and I will do more than that; you won't believe yourself," He said, almost choking on his words. They shopped for clothes; Dave insisted that she return to dressing as she used to when they met. He went for shorter skirts, tighter dresses, sexier trousers, and everything that made him fall for her physically. Michelle felt terrible for misleading him by dressing scantily the day she came from the village. She had dressed like that for Dan. Nevertheless, even though she no longer fancied those clothes, she went with the flow. She was avoiding any chance that would bring an argument. She played the happy wife because she was delighted at the moment.