#TENDER_BEAUTY
EPISODE 9
Richa-rd sat in his office not looking very happy. Tony had told him about Deji’s memory loss and how he only remembered the traumatic accident and his heart reached out to him. He knew that that state was far better than death and even though Deji had lost his memory, he still gave thanks to God. He promised himself to do all that he can to see that Deji recovers his memory. Deji’s parents including Adewale and some friends c@m£ to the hospital and Richa-rd had explained the situation to them. He noticed that they were not happy with his loss of memory but were glad all the same thanking him for his help. Although Deji should be around 24 to 25 years by his scrutiny, his parents fussed over him like a newly born baby while he just looked at them confused.
He went into the bathroom to wash his hands and when he saw his reflection in the toilet mirror, he noticed that he looked drawn and stressed so made a mental note to have a vacation sometime soon. He left his office and went into Deji’s room to check on him and saw his parents with him. Deji looked at him upon arrival and smiled at him. After greeting the parents, he looked at Deji, smiled back and asked, “How is the good patient doing today?”
“I am feeling much better Doctor Richa-rd ” Deji said still smiling.
“You can call me Richa-rd ”, Richa-rd said feeling a little bit awkward having a young guy like him call him so formally. He wouldn’t have felt awkward if he had not taken Deji’s case personal.
Deji smiled the more and asked, “When would I recover my memory doctor? I feel awkward when I see people I don’t remember treat me with so much familiarity”.
Richa-rd nodded sympathetically and said, “Very soon. A psychologist would be here to check on you on Monday and I think in a very short while, you would recall even the day you were born”. Deji laughed at the joke and asked another thing,
“Can I at least stand up and walk about a bit? I feel like I have been lying on this be-d since the day I was born”. Richa-rd laughed slightly was about to talk when Deji’s mother said,
“no, you are not standing up from this be-d yet o, ma koba mi iwo omo yi”, she said aggressively.
“He can stand up and have the nurses push him around in a wheel chair for a few minutes”, Richa-rd said softly even though Deji’s mother did not buy the idea. After convincing her that it is a good idea, he left and on the way, told nurse Titi to carry out the as-signment.
Tony had taken the evening off to rest at home and prepare for service the next day and Richa-rd also felt he should do the same thing. He was glad that Tony had convinced the Human Resource Dep@rtment to employ Belina even though he knew she could have been easily employed without his interference, she is exceedingly brilliant. Even though he still haven’t seen her he had seen her credentials and test papers and have acknowledged that she must be a genius. He knew that she was going throu-gh a tough time by what Tony told him the other day and he was glad that she would be working there. He sat down in his office anticipating her arrival on Monday and how it would help Deji’s memory.
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Sunday pas-sed without any unusual event only that I did not attend my church and I had to attend Prisca’s church. The church was a very big church and the service was so enjoyable but I was not used to being a bench warmer. Prisca is a p@rt of the dancers in the church so she did not seat with us. I forgot totally about Tunji and my past intentionally pushing it behind it knowing fully well that when you dwells on his past and problems you remain stagnant.
Monday c@m£ and before I knew it, I was dressing up for work. I had anticipated this day and I found myself waking up many times in the night to check the time. As I dressed up, I stared at Prisca as she dressed up for work. She had studied Accountancy and was now working as a cashier in GTB, one of the newest banks in Nigeria. I had complained about the strain of the job but she ba-rely felt it because she loved the job so much, one would think counting money is her hobby. She looked smashing in the navy blue trou-ser suit and white camisole she was putting on. Her light skin complemented the cloth perfectly and I felt that the cloth could only have been made with her in mind. I commented on her appearance and she laughed heartily.
I took out the white Sk-irt suit that mum had purchased notwithstanding the cost and placed it on the be-d. She had said that white is mainly used in the hospital and had purchased it and another white which was a trou-ser suit. I took out a purple camisole and after putting it on, I put on the suit.
Prisca stood open mouthed as she gazed at me. I knew I looked good even without looking at the mirror but I didn’t think it warranted such drama. “Belina”, she g@sped.
“What?” I asked alarmed. She dragged me to the front of the standing mirror and it was my turn to open my mouth. I stared at my reflection in the mirror unbelievably. I looked so woow. As I looked at myself, tears formed in my eyes and I f0rç£d it back immediately; tears just seem to come frequently these days, I thought. The suit fitted my b©dy like a second skin, the Sk-irt was just on my knees and the purple camisole just seemed to bring everything down to perfection. I moved away from the mirror and I saw Prisca holding out a pair of purple and white shoe.
She looked at me and said emphatically, “this is my shoe and you must wear it today. I have not worn it once and I might as well give it to you”. I looked at the shoe and noted that it would be perfect on the dress so I took it without thinking twice and when I wore it, I had to agree that I looked excellent.
“Oh baby, plea-se be careful with Tony there o, because I am sure that all the guys there would be falling on each other just to have a glimpse of you”, she had said looking very serious. I laughed and told her she was exaggerating but she said she wasn’t. we both knew that Tony is madly in love with her so she didn’t mind my appearance at all. Her br@nch was just a bike away from the house so we both left our room around 6:35am and went to the kitchen in order to have a little breakfast before setting out. When we entered the kitchen, we met mummy preparing breakfast and when she turned to look at us, her eyes wi-de-ned. Prisca laughed at her reaction as we both greeted her.
She inspected both of us with her eyes and she looked at me in awe. “You are so beautiful in this suit, thank God I bought it”, I went to hvg her affectionately uttering words of appreciation. After that, we ate in a hurry and set out.
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Richa-rd went to the kitchen to heat some water for his tea and after that, he went to dress up. He remembered that the Psychologist would be there today and he wanted to be there early enough so that she would start with Deji. He looked at the time and noticed that it was just some minutes past 7. He went back to the kitchen and prepared the tea. He took out sliced bre-ad and ate in a hurry. He had been living in this mini flat ap@rtment for the past six years. Immediately he finished his university education at the age of 21, he had moved out of his father’s mansion and moved into this ap@rtment wanting to achieve something on his own. He had been planning for this since his secondary school days and instead of spending all he was given then, he had been able to save a whole lot of money. He had worked for one year in a very big hospital, saving everything that c@m£ his way. His father hadn’t objected to his yearn then and had been very supportive.
His phone rang just as he was about leaving the house. He looked at the caller and noticed that it was his father. “Hello dad”, he said into the mouthpiece of his phone.
“how are you son?”, his father asked.
“I am fine dad, I was just thinking about you”, he said with a smile.
“Really, you would tell me all about it when you get here” he said.
“What do you mean dad?”
“I nee-d to see you now, it is very urgent”, he said on a serious note.
“Hope no problem sir?” Richa-rd asked looking worried.
“No problem, but I must see you now”, he emphasized. Richa-rd sighed looking worried,
“I am on my way”.
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The hospital was bubbling with life and this Monday was definitely a good one. Tony sat up in his office chair as he arranged all the files on his table. His secretary had done a good job though but he always took it as a point of duty to crosscheck and rearranged them again. His phone went alive and he picked immediately. “Rich, wat’s up?” he asked as a way of greeting.
“Hey tony, pale just call me now o, he wants me to come over”, he said in a mixture of pidgin and normal English”
Tony laughed, “I don tell you say make you dey speak normal English, pidgin no sweet for your mouth”, he said. Richa-rd laughed also,
“Shey it is your mouth it sweet inside?” Tony laughed again and instead of answering, he asked,
“hope there is no problem with p man o”.
“I hope not, anyways, I just wanted you to make sure that the new psychologist, eeehm, Miss Belina, attends to Deji today”, he said.
“oh, ok, no prob, say hello to dad for me”, Tony said and after some minutes he hung up and almost immediately, his intercom rang and when he picked it, his secretary informed him that Belina was waiting to see him. ‘Just in time’, Tony thought and told his secretary to let her in.
He checked out some files and when he heard a knock, he said, ‘come in’ as he pasted a friendly smile on his face. Immediately she stepped in, his smile froze and disappeared altogether as his eyes devoured her not able to believe she was the same person he had rescued three or rather two days ago.
********************
I sighed inwardly obviously tired of receiving the numerous stares but instead of the problem to reduce, it seemed to be getting worse. I had sailed into the hospital premises and had been extremely amazed when I saw the mas-sive building. I had heard of that hospital and how efficient they are but I never imagined something this big and I silently praised the owner of such a big investment. The security men had welcomed me so well that I felt they shouldn’t do better when they are welcoming the GM. The stares I received from people almost made me trip so many times and I had to gather enough courage to walk past them without jittering. I raised my head up and walked glamorously into the hospital. After introducing myself at the reception, I had been directed to Tony’s office and I was glad that I would finally be seeing a familiar face. After waiting for close to ten minutes with his personal secretary, I was let in and when I received the same ‘check her out’ stare from him again, I shuddered. I remembered the words of Prisca and laughed outwardly. Tony was brou-ght back from his reverie and he was ashamed of himself because I saw the flush in his face.
“I… I am sorry, it is just that you… you look very different from what I saw on ehm Friday, no Saturday. You were very beautiful despite the condition but you look mind b!owing and my mind was b!own away when you entered”, he explained then pointed at a seat opposite him. I smiled and switched on my professional look as my face seemed to do no other thing other than smile.
“You don’t have to worry, Tony, I trust you and know you won’t dare forsake my pretty friend”, I said but it was more of a question because he laughed out and did the ‘I cross my heart’ thing. I didn’t have to ask because I had known Tony and knew beyond doubt that he loves Prisca de-eply; he just seemed to be born a flir-t.
“you would be safe with me but I cannot say the same for others”, he said wi-nking at me and I blu-shed slightly. The discussion was alre-ady moving to the area I did not fancy so I just said, “I think I can handle them”.
He smiled and bec@m£ professional within the twi-nkle of an eye. He handed over the employment letter since I hadn’t taken it yet, “My secretary would show you to your office in the next floor. This floor is strictly for physical treatments and the next floor is for physical thera-pies, counseling and psychological aids. You would be in-charge of the psychological aids dep@rtment and you would be visiting the thera-py dep@rtment every Wednesday to have sessions with the depressed patients. You are to attend to one patient at a time and you are also to maintain a strictly professional affair with your patients. You would only work Mondays to Friday and you are to resume work by 8 am and close 5pm. You have a personal secretary to yourself and also have a large working area to aid your work. Your salary is alre-ady written in your employment letter, I can’t tell you ‘cos I don’t know what is there. All these things and others I have not mentioned are in your staff brochure which is alre-ady in your office.” He said finally pausing. I smiled and voiced my appreciation but as I was about to stand up, he st©pped me. “wait, I know you have just arrived but you alre-ady have one patient. My secretary would give you his file which explains his case and the time for his sessions daily”. He pressed a number in the intercom and his secretary c@m£ in in a flash. He explained everything she nee-ded to do to her and when he was throu-gh, I stood up and he shook my hands, “Welcome to Best Results Hospital”
“Thank you sir”, I said and followed the secretary out of the office.
WATCH OUT FOR EPISODE 10