SILENT TROUBLES

Diana’s husband Paul lost his job and he was the sole bread winner. They were desperate and were staring at bleak times ahead. Paul was a man who had given his family a good life, status, class and a way of life that was above mediocre. They were a well to do family who dwelt in abundance and opulence. Diana was used to this kind of lifestyle and she was not about to just let it go. She had a social status to protect and high end friends to keep and she was not just about to remove her children from the expensive schools they were enrolled in.

Poverty was something she had said goodbye to several years ago after growing up in poverty. Her background was nothing to write home about. She knew what poverty was as she had grown in it and lived it. She knew what it meant to sleep hungry, sleep on the floor without a good mattress or blanket. She knew what it meant not to have nice clothes to wear and what it meant to walk barefoot and not to have nice shoes to wear. She had lived the days of being sent away from school for fees and missing out on school for weeks or even sometimes for months. She knew poverty and she hated it with a passion.

When she was young, she had friends who came from rich families and she always admired their lifestyles. She loved to go to her rich friends’ home to admire the cutlery, the fine curtains, the nice expensive looking seats, the decor and all their elegant dresses that she could never dream of having. She swore that she would never be poor and that even when she got married, she decided that she would go for a rich man who had made it in life. She wanted the good life at all costs.

She remembered the day she met Paul. He was a handsome and sharp looking young man who looked like he had made it in life. Indeed he had made it and was looking to settle down. Diana came into his life just at the right time. The thing with Diana is that she knew how to package herself into this strikingly beautiful woman that was irresistant. Paul fell in love with her as soon as he met her and they got married and settled down to a life of marriage.

Diana loved the good things in life. She quickly adapted to the good things that life had to offer her. She loved expensive things and quickly adapted to an expensive lifestyle. Paul knew about her poor background and he struggled to understand why she behaved as if she had never interacted with poverty. He however could afford to give her the lifestyle she wanted so he never argued with her whenever she would demand for something expensive and unreasonable. He loved her and felt that she had suffered enough growing up and so she deserved everything she demanded for. This was a mistake that would later come to haunt him.

The day Paul told Diana that he had lost his job and that they would need to cut down on expenses until he sorts himself out, all hell broke loose in that house. Diana refused to accept that her husband could no longer provide the kind of lifestyle she wanted. All kind of pleading from Paul fell on deaf ears. This was now the beginning of problems in their otherwise perfect marriage. What surprised Paul more was the fact that Diana was more concerned about her image than the problem at hand. Diana was determined not to changed even a single atom of her lifestyle. Paul struggled to stay afloat but he could only do so for so long because they were struggling to stay afloat.

They survived on his savings and before long; they were now at a point of disposing off their assets to continue surviving.

Paul was badly depressed but Diana did not want him to tell anyone about their situation. They were struggling but in public, she pretended that everything was okay. Paul developed ulcers and was now staring at hypertension. He did not know what to do. He had lost weight and was almost breaking down. He wanted to share his predicament with his close friends but Diana would hear none of it. He needed help to get another job and he needed to reach out. Diana was not working and he needed her to also go out there and hustle. Diana said that she could not just suddenly start working because her friends would wonder why she was working yet she was provided for with everything.

Paul was breaking down and falling apart. His wife who was supposed to be his pillar was crushing him. Her need for a flashy lifestyle and class was destroying him. He knew that if he continued to keep quiet, he would continue suffering in silence and no one would help him. He also knew that if he reached out and his problem was made known, he would get help but would probably lose his wife in the process. He knew what he needed to do. He decided to reach out, it was the only way to save his family and himself. He decided that he was not going to suffer in silence anymore. He had his children and his health to think about. He would deal with his wife later.