How I Love To Be Loved

In How I Love to Be Loved, a cement truck rumbles past the window while Zara sets the table for two. Namdi arrives late again, too tired to notice the candle she lit. Silence settles between them like a third person at the meal. Desperate for a voice that sees her, she responds to an old message from Olisah—a school friend who remembers how to make her laugh. Their conversations stretch from texts to lunches, from board games at his apartment to a kiss she never asks for. When she pulls away, Olisah mistakes her withdrawal for indecision. The next morning, he stands in her living room while Namdi drinks coffee, and confesses everything. The kiss. The love he claims she shares. Zara freezes as her husband’s mug hits the floor. The days that follow run thick with silence. Namdi stops coming home for dinner. The place she used to set remains empty. But grief cracks open a door that neglect had sealed shut. One night, he sits on the edge of their bed and finally asks what she needs. Words spill out—not accusations, but admissions. His obsession with the business made him blind. Her loneliness made her careless. They cry without touching, then touch without speaking. A television show on healthy relationships becomes their unspoken curriculum, watched side by side with their daughter asleep in the next room. When Zara’s father calls with an invitation for the family to visit, Namdi picks up the phone and hands it to her with a nod that says more than any apology could. They begin packing that night.