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.