Episode 11
“I really don‟t need to know what happened.”
“I found him at home with a lady who was
obviously his lover!” “Please, dear . . . don‟t…”
“And he surprisingly walked me out, telling me
he‟ll see me and work things out! Again, he
never did…. Can you believe that – that
a-----e?” Now, she was so close to tears, and
Jane could only bring her close for a
consoling hug. Of course, she could remember
what happened next. Brenda had cried day
and night after all this, going through self-
torture. It was only with Jane‟s help that she
was able to get over it, although it was never
easy.
She did get over it eventually. And knowing
how hard it was for Brenda before getting over
that last breakup before Adam had come
along, Jane was sure the present situation
was beyond what she could handle. If
possible, she knew she would need to get
Brenda professional help. God, the girl was
turning into a vegetable! She left her in the
sitting room and walked into the kitchen, for
she was famished. From the look of the
kitchen, Brenda had obviously not taken both
her breakfast and lunch. Jane became angry.
The girl had emaciated badly and would soon
be sick if the situation was not properly
handled! She left the kitchen to confront her,
but heard her cell phone ring and stopped in
her tracks as Brenda answered. “Hello?” “Hi,
it‟s me, Michael.” “Oh…Michael.” “How are
you?” “I am fine; in fact, I am stronger than
you can imagine….” “That‟s nice to hear. And
how is your friend, Jane?” “She is fine. She
just came back from work.” Brenda looked up
at her friend, who was observing her from the
kitchen door. “I just called to find out how you
are doing and make sure that you have not
fainted again,” bantered Michael. “No I have
not fainted and I promise you that I won‟t
faint again,” she replied, trying so hard to
sound cheerful. “Ok. One of these days I‟ll
come around and see how you are doing….
Perhaps we could go out together and get to
know each other better?” Brenda suddenly got
angry. “Well, Mr. Michael, I appreciate your
kindness, but I will appreciate it better if you
forget about knowing us better. I believe you
have better things to do; we are equally busy
over here.”
There was silence. “Well, that is okay. I just
want to wish you all the best. I will call you
some other time.” The line went dead before
she could reply. Of course, she wasn‟t
expecting him to do that; she‟d thought he
was going to insist. Well, it was all for the
best. He‟d better not call again. She casually
dropped the phone and fixed her eyes on the
television. However, Jane continued to stare
at her. It was like Brenda had already
forgotten that she was in the house. “Who was
that on the phone?” Brenda gave her a boring
look. “Michael? He just called to say hi. You
remember him? The guy….” “Yes, I remember,”
Jane cut in.
“Should I bring you something to eat?” “No,
thanks.” “Look, Brenda….” She gently sat down
beside her friend. “I don‟t like the idea of you
not eating anything. Look at you; do you want
to starve yourself to death? You are getting so
thin and unkempt!” “I am not hungry, Jane.
Besides who cares about how I look? I might
as well look like a scarecrow, does it matter?”
“Yes it does. And you might as well get sick
as well! Have you thought of that? Don‟t you
think I care about you?”
“Jane, I think it‟s best if you stop worrying
about me.
I promise you that I will take care of myself,
just let me handle this my way this time. I will
eat when I feel like doing so, but for now, I
don‟t feel like eating and there is nothing I
can do about it.” “Then let‟s just take a walk,”
her friend persistently pleaded. “No. Not now,
maybe some other time. Right now, I don‟t feel
like doing anything.” Some other time. This
had been her language since the breakup with
Adam. Jane helplessly left the room. She was
seriously thinking about Brenda. The poor girl
needed help but she could never help her with
this attitude of „handling it her own way.‟ She
felt so frustrated that she could not find a
way to help her friend. Something had to be
done fast before the situation got out of
hand. Brenda might turn suicidal.
This thought made her more uncomfortable.
She could not do this alone; otherwise, her
friend would continue to waste. She thought of
alerting Brenda‟s parents, but then thought
better of it. It won‟t be necessary to burden
her poor parents, and Brenda would sure not
be happy with her. Her fiancé, Brad Stephens,
had not been able to come around to visit
Brenda since the breakup because of his tight
work schedule. He had not bothered to call
either, knowing it would be best if he spoke
with her in person, although he made sure he
got feedback on the poor girl‟s situation from
Jane. Brad liked Brenda. He thought Brenda‟s
friendship with his fiancée a very healthy
thing for her and had always encouraged it.
He was also fond of Brenda because Jane
admired her a lot.
And of course Jane had spoken with her
fiancé about Brenda‟s condition three days
ago. He had sympathetically advised her to
contact Dr. Chris and allow the doctor to
handle the situation. At the time, Jane had
thought it a nice idea, but her friend had
become overtly hostile ever since she got wind
of the entire arrangement.
Episode 12
She came back to the living room, where
Brenda still had her eyes fixed on the
television. “Brenda, look you…” “Please don‟t
start again, Jane!” the other girl quickly cut
in. “You‟ve refused to see Dr. Chris ever since I
told you I met him some days back…why is
that?” “You sure know why, Jane!” snapped
her friend, her exasperation very visible.
“Don‟t you ever give up? God!” “No I won‟t in
your case!” affirmed Jane. “Dr. Chris said he‟ll
need to see you, and…” “And I‟ll never see
him!” Jane had never expected this vehement
refusal from her friend and lost every will to
continue the conversation. What could she do
now? Brenda had refused to see anyone!
Michael. Yes, perhaps she should involve
Michael. But wouldn‟t she be taking matters
too far? Her friend may not like his
involvement, and besides; she was not sure of
what Michael could do. Dr. Chris had informed
her that he was a Social Psychologist. He
should therefore know something about
matters like this.
Michael had called twice since he left them at
the hospital. Jane wasn‟t sure if the young
man had feelings for Brenda or not. It won‟t
be a good idea to bring him in if he had any
intention of asking her out. Maybe he was just
concerned for the poor girl he rescued from
the street. He had seemed genuinely interested
in helping Brenda. Jane was confused. She
had sought for Brad‟s advice earlier that
morning, but Brad had neither encouraged nor
discouraged her. Perhaps she should talk to
Michael first and beg him to offer professional
help to her poor friend. Even if he intended
dating Brenda, she could beg him to keep that
aside for now and concentrate only on helping
her get over her depression.
Jane did not know much about depression,
but she had heard about people who had
committed suicide or developed psychological
problems due to their inability to cope with
their depression. She loved Brenda. They had
gotten so close right from the first minute
they‟d interacted with each other in their first
year at the university, and the last thing she
wanted right then was for anything bad or
worse than this to happen to her friend. She
would never forgive herself. “Suit yourself!”
she finally said and walked away. Brenda felt
her outburst had been excessively harsh and
sadly watched the only friend she had ever
known for some time walk out of the room
with an argument hanging over them both. It
did not have to be this way. She cursed her
travails for everything. * * * Michael dropped
his cell phone and stared at it as if he was
seeing it for the first time. Why was she so
defensive? Did she actually turn his request to
pay her a simple visit down? Dr. Chris had
said that she was suffering from heartbreak.
The heartbreak must have gotten deep down
into her brain. He wished he could see her and
talk with her so that he can infer how
depressed she was. She really sounded
depressed on the phone. Normally, ladies
would want to be kind enough to people who
helped them or at least pretend to like them
just to show they are grateful, but Brenda had
politely asked him not to come around. Well,
he mustn‟t draw conclusions just like that. Oh
God, he really wanted to see her again, but he
didn‟t want to visit her without her approval.
He didn‟t want to be a nuisance and make a
fool of himself. How could he get the chance
to get to know her better?
He was concerned for Brenda and would really
like to know what actually happened. Why
would somebody in his right senses hurt such
a harmless-looking girl? He wished he could
get the chance to know her better, take care of
her, and probably start a relationship if things
worked out well. Surprisingly Michael had
found himself thinking about her since the day
he set his eyes on her. A feeling he had not
felt for a long time. This was what he had
been waiting for and he would do anything
within his power to get her attention. The
news of the heartbreak could be a good one
for him, given his secondary intention, but
first, he must get the details of everything
that happened to her. Sadly, he was out of
ideas on how he was going to get the
information he wanted. A sudden knock on his
door startled him, and then he remembered
that he was expecting a friend. Joel had
called him thirty minutes ago and told him
that he was already on his way to his house.
“The door is open.”
He didn‟t have the strength for security
precautions. Joel Jackson, a dark short but
thick man walked into the sitting room. Joel
had a smile, which usually contracted his
entire face. A smile that always appeared
genuine, but never sincere. He got married six
months ago, but was always calling on
Michael concerning his wife and how best to
handle her. According to him, she seemed to
be a different woman from the woman he had
proposed to before the wedding! She was
becoming more and more difficult every day
and the way Joel complained, Michael was
not sure the marriage would last two years.
Joel worked in the bank. Of late, his work,
combined with his marriage, gave him less
time to hang out with his friends. Michael‟s
complaint about not seeing him often had led
to the evening visit.
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