Benita tried as much as possible to keep her face expressionless throughout the evening. But she could not achieve the same feat with her mind. She kept ruminating over the possibility of what she feared. She tried to play back the scene in her head as much as she could, as she lay on the bed. She could remember vividly how Ugo was trying to feed her a mouthful of Trippa Alla Fiorentina, an Italian delicacy, when a man’s voice had summoned everyone’s attention. She had turned to look only to see the man moving around with lofty proud gait. She could hear him over again. It was the best careful well-rehearsed devil-may-care speech she had ever listened to. She could see again as the smile on the face of the woman, the one the man was addressing, had melted in an instant and replaced with what she suspected would be hot tears. A proposal turned bad! The man had carried out his break-up with the woman with a reckless abandon. It was a sad scene.
Benita being a practicing mind therapist had had to go after the woman as she ran out of the restaurant. It was actually her timely intervention that had prevented the visibly distraught woman from being run over by an oncoming car. She and Ugo had had to take her home with them. And she had become her client afterwards. Benita had tagged the woman’s heart healing process Action X. She had made the woman come to accept and view what happened to her as a failed project. Action X was a program involving a woman whose heart was broken and the man responsible for that. The man during the therapeutic sessions that had lasted for six weeks had always been referred to as Subject A and woman as Object B. The man and the woman were never called by their real names. Object B had been so cooperative as the therapy course didn’t exceed the stipulated duration. She was one client she had enjoyed working with, because she had made her job very easy. And remembering the last time she saw her, she could tell that Object B had completely got over all the pain Subject A had wreaked on her.
What was disturbing to her now was that she could not understand the essence of the fear that was niggling at her mind. She was being overcome with unjustifiable worries for Ifeoma. She remembered she had tried to shut out the ugly incident that had taken place during her first visit to D’Ellas Kitchen regarding Subject A and Object B from her thoughts as soon as they had walked in. And she had succeeded on that front until that point when Mike had proposed to Ifeoma. Was her fear borne out of her haunted memory of a supposed proposal turned break-up? And then she remembered that she seemed to have come across Mike’s face somewhere before. Subject A? No, he couldn’t be. She tried to get to his face in her mind’s eye. She was convinced she had not even the slightest clear view of his face. There was no doubt that Subject A knew what he was doing that evening with the hat and spectacles he had on, they had given him a perfect disguise. But just as she was trying to push the thought out of her mind, she remembered she had somewhat got a good view of Subject A’s face during one of her therapy session with Object B. She had instructed Object B to destroy every physical memory of Subject A, clothes, gifts, pictures and every other thing that could trigger her memory as part of her healing processes. But she had encouraged her to keep one picture of his she loved the least to look at while affirming some words of avouchment that he wasn’t good enough for her. She had requested to see the picture that Object B had settled for, but she could not remember what the face looked like as she lay on the bed now, clutching at a pillow and staring at nothing.
Just then, she saw Ifeoma walk into the room from a corner of her eye. So, she gathered herself up to take a sitting position.
“Aren’t you going to have your bath again?” Ifeoma said.
“Oh, I will.”
“Alright. And by the way, you’ve been sort of quiet since we got back. Anything the matter?”
“Nothing. I’m good. Maybe I’m just a little tired.”
“Beni, tonight’s no doubt one of the happiest evenings of my life. It still feels like a dream.”
“I’m happy for you, sis.”
“Mike just called to ask if it was possible we could go see my mom this coming weekend.”
“Hmm… he seems to be leaving no stone unturned. It’s ok.” Returned Benita but without any excitement in her voice.
“Mike’s about the best thing that has ever happened to me in a man. I feel so happy and blessed.”
Benita opened arms to take Ifeoma in a warm embrace.
“You deserve to be happy, dear. You sure deserve to be.” She could feel a tear from Ifeoma’s eyes course down her neckline. She held her tightly not knowing what exactly to think. She was supposed to be happy for the woman in her arms but instead she felt fear.
They broke away and Ifeoma encouraged her to go take her shower. Benita began taking off her clothes and waited until Ifeoma was about leaving the room before she made known her resolve.
“I’ll be going over to my place tomorrow.”
Ifeoma stopped immediately in her track.
“What?”
“There’s some urgent issue I need to go address.”
“And when did you decide this?”
“Some few minutes back actually. A client called and from the sound of her voice, I could tell she’s in distress and needs help. You remember asking why I’d been so thoughtful for sometime now, she’s the reason.” Benita herself was surprised at how effortlessly the lie had flowed out from her lips.
“What’s wrong with her?”
“I can’t tell you, dear. The ethics of my job don’t allow that. I’m sorry.” Benita had finished off with a smile.
“OK. So, when are you leaving?”
“It’ll be first thing tomorrow morning.”
“Oh! It’s all right. Let me quickly take my drugs then, so I can help you pack your bag. I’m sure going to miss you here.” Ifeoma said as she left the room.
“You still have me here tonight.” Benita returned with a raised voice, “Enjoy it while it lasts.”
Benita headed for the bathroom thinking. Only one person could help her solve the puzzle on her mind. Only Object B had the key. She just couldn’t wait to see her the next day. “What has to be done has to be done, and quickly too.” She concluded as she got under the shower.
N.B: To find out all about the new twist to the story, let's meet again on Monday 27th December, 2014. Surely, the last hasn't be read on 'Not Safe To Be Loved...'
