Episode 10.Micheal gets Interested.
922 Words
JANE came home early from work and met
Brenda watching television in the sitting room.
Her roommate still looked unkempt and was
obviously not concentrating on the program
going on. She was absent - minded and
oblivious of her immediate environment. This
had been her condition since she came back
from the hospital five days ago. Jane knew
that there was very little she could do to bring
her friend out of her depression, but at least
she was going to try her best. “I came back
early so that the two of us can go out
together. We can visit a fast food or any other
interesting place,” she gently said after
dropping her bag and sitting beside her friend.
Brenda slowly looked at her. “Welcome home,
but I don‟t want to go anywhere,” she said. “I
hope you don‟t mind. I just want to stay at
home, that‟s all.” “But you have barely
stepped outside since you came back from the
hospital. Why don‟t you take some time out?
It could change your mood, you know.”
“I am worthless; I am just a piece of rag.
What do I need to change my mood for? So
that another man will see me, convince me
that I am his all and all only for me to be
dumped like a piece of rag? No, I just want to
be left alone.” Brenda‟s situation was getting
out of hand and Jane was beginning to think
that she won‟t be able to handle her this time.
She‟d witnessed two of Brenda‟s previous
broken relationships, and sadly, unlike her,
Brenda had always had plenty of male
admirers but somehow seemed to always fall
for the wrong set of guys. Jane had been
brokenhearted before but the relationship had
not been as deep and intense like all of
Brenda‟s three broken relationships and she
had found it easy to get over it.
Right now, she was in a serious relationship
with her wedding date just by the corner. “Oh,
c‟mon Honey,” she tried to soot; placing a
hand on her friend‟s left shoulder. “You‟ll get
over it…he‟s not even as cool as Benjamin!”
“Yeah, Benjamin,” the other girl remembered.
Her first serious love. “Yeah…that one was
sure cute…and treated me like an angel!” “You
two had a very rosy relationship,” her friend
chipped in, trying to strengthen her ploy. “So
rosy that I found myself unconsciously getting
envious of you!” And they both laughed at this
silly incident in their past. “It was that bad…,”
remembered Brenda. You almost hated me for
no reason!” “‟Cuz not…,” defended Jane. “I
just wanted the marriage to happen.” “But it
never did….”
And Jane sighed. Another mood swing was
about to envelope her friend. Barely eight
months into the relationship, Brenda had
discovered that Benjamin had gotten another
girl pregnant. Without any remorse, Benjamin
had accepted responsibility for the baby,
shoving Brenda away as if she never really
mattered.
Jane had been there for her and made sure
that she didn‟t allow the breakup to
discourage her, and luckily enough, Brenda
was strong and gradually got over Benjamin.
But the scar still remained, despite her
promising herself to be more careful with
men. A promise she quickly failed to keep for
herself, really. His name was Derek Hunter and
he had come into Brenda‟s life four months
later. An improved version of Benjamin, Derek
was intelligent, smart and handsome.
He was also very judicious and with little
stress, he was able to convince Brenda to fall
in love. Brenda was proud of Derek; he was a
very confident man and made Brenda feel
secured. Brenda trusted him and relied so
much on his sense of judgment. He helped
Brenda in living an organized life especially as
regards her school activities. The relationship
lasted only seventeen months. Derek worked
with an oil company and was sent for three
months training at a far away city. After a
month, he stopped calling Brenda and his
number was not available. No effort in trying
to reach him worked, but she found out from
his work place that he was perfectly alright.
Therefore, she decided to wait for him to come
back despite her worries. And after three
months, Derek had called her to tell her he
would be back in a week‟s time, without
bothering to explain anything. Fair enough, he
came back as soon as the three months was
up, but sadly, he had turned into a different
person! He stopped calling, claiming to be
very busy and asked Brenda not to come
around unless he asked her to do so. He never
did. “What‟re you thinking, girl?” Jane
suddenly asked her, trying so hard to think up
another tactic to get her friend out of the
house. “Derek?” “Oh, him….” “Do you know I
decided to pay him a surprise visit when he
came back after those three months?”
“Brenda, don‟t do this to yourself,”
admonished Jane.
- Writer
