As professional therapist, she had made a good name for herself. Lesley was always unwearied with her patients, listening to every complaint of theirs. She saw their problems as her own problem and would always follow them up till they are good to go. She had done much for herself and her department at the state hospital where she worked.
All her achievements came through hard work and commitment. She had been working at the hospital for the past six years and had risen to the highest echelon. She was also an On-Air personality with a radio programme that focused on relationships and helping young people find their path in life. Lesley strove to give life to her patients who were struggling with their challenges.
Even at twenty-eight, with an attractive face, a nimble sensuous body
with promise, being in any relationship was not her priority. All she ever cared for was her work and patients. Some even wondered how she mended broken lives and relationships when she was always reclusive.
Her routine cloistered mood never gave her colleagues any chance to come close to her or to notice her periodical grumpy state. For her colleagues “Lesley loved only her work and nothing else”.
Lesley usually sits in her office when she is not out for a programme or seeing a patient. The office is her world. On a certain day like most of her days, she sat at her chair looking unseeingly out of the office window to timeless figures of the city, holding the lid of a drug cover.
She looked dejected. Her mind was filled with grief, wondering on an endless path. Her blotchy and swollen eyes, filled with tears mixed with pain. Her dismal thought was halted when there was a knock on her office door and she had to wipe her tears with the back of her sleeve. The door opened and Kaobi walked in. Kaobi was the least person she wanted to see. In fact she wanted to see no one.
Kaobi was a resident doctor at the hospital. Always with a smile in place and black hair perfectly combed. Having a smiling face in her office was the last thing on her mind. His excited smile immediately turned into a cocky grin as he approached her desk. He tossed a file containing a medical report she was supposed to sign on her desk while staring at her face. Her face was unlike her usual “serious” face she always showcased. Kaobi was familiar with her normal “official” face but today was different, she looked moody. Sad one could say.
“What’s wrong with you?” He asked as he moved closer to her desk while staring into her hazy eyes. He could sense the musky smell of a strong feminine perfume. The anxiety in her eyes told Kaobi all. She collected the file from the table and started flipping through the content to give herself something to do.
“Why do you ask?” her voice was bland as the rest of her face.
“The drugs and the gloomy face”, he said while motioning to the
packs of Xanax in her hands and he was sure he can distinguish between a spiteful face and a sad one.
“Oh… this” she said weakly while trying to put the drugs into her bag.
“It belonged to a patient… Ehmm”, she said in low tone with more bravado then she felt and she hardly glanced at him when talking. That’s unlike the strong lady he knew.
“I collected it from a patient” she added as if she was expected to
say that.
“Okay” Kaobi said and headed towards the door that exits her office, he looked thoughtful as if not convinced by her answer. When he reached the door he stopped abruptly and turned towards her.
“Look, you can talk to a friend if you are having a hard time” and he went on “and we are all psychologists and so can hazard a guess that one is lying.”
The words went through her heart, which made her heart race frantically. And through the veil of tears she found herself giving him a long speculative look.
Lesley’s world have been the one she created for herself, filled with dreams that she had achieved, to let someone in was something that she did not want to do. She knew that she was not herself lately but it was easier for her to believe the truth she told herself than the reflection in the mirror though the reflection is the true self.
“Kaobichimdi” though she did not know when the name escaped her mouth and would want to take it back, she was glad she found someone that knew she was depressed, someone who wanted to share in her problem.
“Can I talk to you?” she said calmly.
The words were magic for him. And for the first time he felt pity for her.
“Yes… of course”
And that was the first for so many things.
Written by Chisimdi Ezeoke