I had an amazing Valentine’s day. Yes! Even though I’m wife number 7, my hubby made the day extra special for me. When I got back from dropping Laje off at preschool, I met a huge bouquet of flowers in front of my door; accompanied by some heart shaped balloons. I thought, “Oh hey, well at least I didn’t roast for Valentines!” I thought that was it for me for Val’s. I had planned to have lunch with my friend, Remi…depending on her workload for the day.  You know with these investment bankers, you can never predict their schedules. I’m saying this as an ex-investment banker that used to work at the same firm. It’s particularly worse with Remi, as she’s currently married to her work and desperately seeking a promotion. Unfortunately, her career is one of the things that caused her divorce. I don't know why anyone would choose career over family; but hey, I love my friend! 

As soon as I opened the door and walked in, I found rose petals on the floor. I followed the rose petals into my bedroom, and the bed was made in crazy fancy sheets. There were scented candles burning too! By this time, I was wondering what the point was, when I was going to end up sleeping alone in the bed anyways. Alas! I was in for a major surprise. Gbenga jumped out of my walk-in closet, bearing gifts. I wish I could go into further details…but you know now… *wink*. Anyways, we ended up spending the entire day in bed and he got his driver and assistant to pick Laje up from school and take her out for a treat. It was TLC that I had been craving for the longest time! So, what did I get for Val’s? Not a lot. I got a diamond necklace, and I’m just dying to wear it out now! And I finally got my hands on the blackberry Porsche (I NEVER KNEW THAT THING WAS REAL OH!).

Meanwhile, over the weekend, I got to attend a wedding. I’m not friends with the bride or the groom, but my cousin asked me to go with her and you know I can never say no to small chops and free alcohol. Actually, maybe it wasn’t about the food and drink. I think it was the fact that it was a ‘society’ wedding that made it so irresistible. Apparently, the bride is the daughter of a former president. I even paid the N65,000 for the aso-ebi, even though I’m not an ‘ebi’ (family or close friend), so to speak.  I got HOK (House of Kunmi) to hook up the Austrian lace…I swear, the 30k I paid her was well worth it. I can’t tell you the number of guys that tried to holler. If only they knew I was a married mother of two. But it was nice to get all that male attention. I even saw some of my husband’s friends at the wedding. Apparently, they’re friends with the groom’s father. I’m surprised he wasn’t there.

My cousin, Nike, and I got to sit at a table of the snootiest Lagos girls. I thought I was bad, but I met my match. For the three or so hours that we sat at the table, I swear that all the conversations were about first class travel abroad (if only the knew some of us were now flying private - but whatever), the birkin bag, designer shoes, and such. I heard Japanese hair is the latest thing now. O ga oh! Anyways, I’ll tell my hair supplier to hook me up sharply so I can be one of the first few ones to rock it. OH! So the party favors they handed out included ipads and the blackberry touches (I would have bowed if they gave out the new Porsche). At least, my baby now has an ipad to play around with. I swear she uses my ipad a lot more than me, the owner. I downloaded lots of baby apps and she seems to have mastered the ipad better than me. My Lala is going to be a genius! You just watch. And she never asks me to open any app for her. She somehow finds her way around it. What was I playing with as a three year old?

I miss Junior so much sometimes. Sucks that he has to be away at boarding school, but I think it’s best for him. I couldn’t think of a better secondary school for him than Day Waterman College. I almost sent him to England, but his father decided he wanted him to be in Nigeria, as per his only son. Yes, Gbenga Junior is what brought my husband and me together. It’s a crazy story…and I don’t have anything better to do so I’ll share with you.

Our relationship first started when I was in S.S. 3. I met him randomly one day when I was with my parents at a house party on our street in Ikoyi. He asked me for my number, and I gave it to him. Yes, he was my father’s age mate, but at that point I had just dealt with a slew of stupid young boys and I thought it wouldn’t hurt to try out an older man. He wasn’t my “aristo” so to speak, because I didn’t need anything from him financially. I thank God for my background, and that I never had to sleep around for money or anything. He took me out a few times, and we had an instant connection. Before I graduated, unfortunately, I got knocked up. As soon as I told him about my pregnancy, he dumped me and said he never wanted anything to do with me again. I told my parents everything, and despite their disappointment, they supported me. I had a baby boy, and named him Gbenga Junior, after his father. Because I got pregnant, all my hopes of going to Harvard were shattered. My parents told me I had to go to a University in Lagos so that they could monitor me. They couldn’t really trust me anymore. So, well, I ended up at Unilag and still graduated uni at the age of 22. Because I studied economics, I immediately got a job with an investment bank where I first served, and then became a full-time investment banker.

Sometime shortly after my 24^th birthday, Mr. Gbenga Olulojulo himself came to my bank for some investment advice, and that’s where we ran into each other again. He asked how I was doing, and I said I was great.  He asked if I’ll meet up for lunch, strictly as friends and I did. While at lunch, it slipped that I had a son whom I had named after him, and he became really emotional. He asked for forgiveness and said he’ll do anything to take me back. Apparently, he had 6 other wives but none of them had a son for him. He had 10 daughters in all! I didn’t immediately jump back in, but instead took it really slow. Within 6 months, we got married…and by a year and a half later, I had my precious daughter. So that’s how I am now married to a 61 year old man. But I tell you, age really ain’t nothing but a number. I am very happy in my marriage and won’t have it any other way!

K