Cyber Lover

Episode 11

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 thebkitchen, Brenda had obviously not taken bothbher breakfast and lunch. Jane became angry.

The girl had emaciated badly and would soonbbe sick if the situation was not properlybhandled! She left the kitchen to confront her,bbut 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 notbfainted again,” bantered Michael. “No I have

not fainted and I promise you that I won‟tbfaint again,” she replied, trying so hard tobsound cheerful. “Ok. One of these days I‟ll

come around and see how you are doing….bPerhaps 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.