broken and bruised episode 25 &26

BROKEN AND BRUISED

Episode 25

Ten minutes after Mel left the councillor's office, Tobi also paid a visit to the counsellor with his own version of the confusion, the Secretary let's him in to the office and he's warmly welcomed by the jolly woman

"I have been expecting you Mr Tobias"

"Thank you so much miss, I'm so sorry for scheduling this unexpectedly but it's urgent"

"I can see from your face.... take a seat and tell me all about it"

"Thank you" he takes a seat and looks her in the eyes

"I'm afraid I'm Falling for Melanie if at all I haven't fallen in love with her already" this is so surprising to the counsellor

"You're in love with Melanie?..... does she know this"

"Nooo....I don't know if it's OK for her to know but my heart couldn't contain it alone, I needed to let it out and that's why I thought of you"

"Tobi, are you really sure what you're feeling is love, remember you told me you felt you needed to help her, maybe it's the closeness you too feel, the pity you feel for her that you're trying to confuse with love"

"No you can't say that miss, I have been working closely with intelligent women for years but non has ever had the same effect Mel is having on me.....I have tried to fight this but I don't think I can anymore, I just want to know what I should do....so can you help me, she doesn't even know I'm here"

"This is something serious, I don't know if it's the best thing to do if you confess your love to her right now.....you see, people take different period time to heal.....it would have been better if you knew how Mel feels about you but again that's something dangerous, you may think just because she's so comfortable around you, she has healed when in reality she hasn't"

"So you think I should keep my feelings to myself" she studies his face and then leans closer

"Look me in the eyes.......you see, this is against my professional code of ethics but I'm going to break it for a while I'm not supposed to tell you this but..... would you believe me if I tell you Mel is feeling the same thing?"

"Feeling what"

"This confusion"

"How did you find out....did she tell you"

"Doesn't matter how I found out but that's the matter here, Mel thinks she's feeling more than she should and that scares her"

"Then that's a good sign.... you see, it means she's ready for another relationship"

"Not so fast Tobi.... first you need to answer these questions as honestly as possible...... are you really sure what you're feeling is love?"

"Well I have had a girlfriend before but what i felt for her back then was not any where close to what I'm feeling now so yes I'm sure it's love"

"alright but are you really sure that you're willing to start a relationship with a rape victim who is already pregnant as a result, and carrying the baby that came as a result of that horrible night" he thinks if only she knew, but he's not going to tell her he's the father, he only stares at her with sincerity and swears that's not a problem and that will never be "

"Well then.....but for now I think the best thing is to let her carry her pregnancy without anything to interrupt, make sure to tell her about how you feel about her when you're truly sure about your feelings.....you're a good man with a Golden heart but your family won't think the way you do, are you willing to protect, fight and defend her from all the attacks she's going to get"

"Thank you very much.... I'm happy I made the right decision to come here"

"You can always count on me whenever you need my help and let me tell you this......I feel so proud of you and you're truly a hero" Tobi doesn't think what she said was necessary but thanks her again and again.......... he comes out of the office to head to his office when he posses by his car

"Melanie is in love with me???.... this is the best news I have ever heard and this deserves celebration" he gets in and gives her a call but her phone is unreachable........

Mel had decided to walk on her way home, she needed time to think and contemplate her next move, she can't tell If she wants to stay away from Tobi or she wants to be with him every minute, she realizes she's actually missing him....there is a strange attachment she feels towards him, she just doesn't know why but she has this strange feeling that Tobi should be the father of her child, she just doesn't know how that can be possible but she can't help it, she feels she should at least hear his voice so she gets out her phone only to realize her battery is down

"What do I do....can I wait till when he passes by in the evening so I can see him, what if he doesn't even pass by" she continues to walk

"What do I do???..... what do I do.... huh!!! or Tobi! what do you really think of me...is what Mum said all true.... why don't you say it then"..... she gets to the Boda Boda stage and decides to take one and asks the bike man to drop her at the Safi offices, without wasting time, they get going and in ten minutes time they arrive at the office, she pays the bike man and with smiles gets to the reception area where she's so surprised to find miss Janet all gloomy and in no make-up today

" Good morning Janet " she tries to sound as friendly as possible

"To you I'm Miss Janet not flatly Janet...... you're not my friend and I don't intend to become your friend either" Mel can't believe this Lady is this cruel, she wonders how she was able to convince Tobi to get this position, she tries to ignore her cruelty anyway

"Is Tobi in" Janet looks around as if she's not aware they are the only ones in the room

"Are you talking to me?..... was it my boss you referred to as Tobi..... I can't believe you're this indisciplined ....."

"What's your problem with me....have we had any encounter before"

"I don't have any reason to explain myself to you, if you're here to start work, do so, go to where your supervisor is and stop asking for people who care less if you're here or not" just then Jane comes out and hears the last bit of the conversation and she's so furious with Janet

"Good morning Melanie" Mel turns to face Jane and they smile at each other and share a hug

"Morning Jane how are you"

"Very fine Darling, are you starting today"

"Not really.... I came to see...."

"Tobi Right??" Janet is more shocked even Jane is calling him by his names.....

"He's on his way, he just called saying he was taking care of something important but he's on his way....you can wait for him, the office is open"

"Thanks...."

"Go on in.....I will follow you" she wait till when Mel was out of ear shot and turns to face Janet tge witch

"If you know what's good for you and still value your position in this company, drop the bitterness and get along with miss Melanie and listen careful......drop this stupid fantasy about Tobi ever noticing you and start looking for a suitable young man out there because he's never going to notice you........ but the next time you do what you did today, Tobi will definitely get to know about it because personally I will tell him"

"Is that a warning?"

"No it's a threat".....

Tobi drives and packs his car at a supermarket, he hoped out and heads in....he doesn't even know what he wants to pick but he felt he needed to pick something for Mel, he picks her favourite vanilla flavoured ice cream, some biscuits, he's going to keep the ice cream in his fridge until when he leaves the office, he will drop it at Mel's in the evening,...... he picks a red Rose and heads out, he's not going to give the rose to her just yet, he will wait till when it's the right time to confess his feeling to her but he could not resist the urge to write on a pad and stamp it on the rose, he throws it in the shopping bag and heads to the office, it's now coming to 11am...........

it took him less than ten minutes to reach the office, he collects his bag and the shopping bag and heads inside

" Good morning Janet "

"Morning sir.....welcome" her usual smile is there

"Thanks.... anything new?"

"No...nothing but Jane is in her office"

"Good...." he heads directly to his office and pushes it open only to see Mel sleeping in his chair resting her head on the hard office table

"Melanie....What time did you even get here" he asks but she's not hearing him, he walks over to her and touches her warm forehead, she wakes up sharply

"Are you sick?....do you have a fever" she shakes her head indicating no

"Just hungry....it's like I never had breakfast"

"Here take this, I got this for you and had plans of taking it to you on my way home..... why didn't you call to tell me you were coming" Mel grabs the bag

"My battery was dead and I had no plans of coming here in the first place..... what's in here" she asks and Tobi realises he had made a huge mistake but before he can react, Mel gets the rose out

"Who is this for"

"I got it for Jane.... to thank her for always doing her works expectedly and for being so obedient.... hand it here, I shall give it to her, you can't hold or read something that's not yours" he wants to take it from her but Mel is not letting him get it that easily

"Did you say Jane?.... since when has she changed her name or is it her second name?" Tobi is so busted and embarrassed

"To the best woman in the entire world, the most beautiful from inside out..... I love you Melanie and forever will" she reads out loud and Tobi is so dumbfounded.....

Episode 26

Ofelia has been waiting for Melanie who seems to be no where close to home, she's so worried about her whereabouts because she's sure the people around have not forgotten about her embarrassing wedding day though they still haven't heard about Mel being raped,so she's so worried about what people are going to say to upset her once they meet on the way, Ofelia just keeps moving up and down pacing, any person who comes towards the direction of their home, she thinks it's Melanie even when she clearly remembers why Mel was putting on, the pressure because too much when she tired her number for the umpteenth time yet it was switched off, her sister Jessica who remained to stay with them since she also has no where to go to had to ask her sister to sit down at least

"I'm sure Melanie is OK and she might be on her way back.... to me the fact that she's even trying to get out there and live her life without caring what others say is the only thing that counts"

"Listen to yourself Jessica, you're talking like you have not seen how so broken Melanie has been in these four months"

"Yes....would you rather she spends all her days and nights locked up in her tiny room, wail in depression, develop posttraumatic stress disorder and finally take her own life"

"I never say that"

"Then cool down, the works doesn't only revolve around Mel, people will always talk and get tired in the end, if she gets out there they will talk, if she remains indoors still they shall talk so there is really nothing we can do about the human nature....but if you're not satisfied with my way of understanding you can actually call her and asks if she's OK"

"That's the problem, that's what gets me more worried, her phone is switched off"

"Then call Tobi and let's find out, she might be with him"

"That's impossible too, I was spying in on their phone conversion and she had asked him not to come see in the morning, she told him she had somewhere she needed to go to.... she even rejected his offer for a ride there"

"Then it's obvious she's still wherever she had gone to"

"Mel is pregnant and shouldn't be staying out late"

"And since when has pregnancy become a disease?.... Mel is fine and alright, maybe it's her battery she had forgotten to charge in the night and that's why her phone isn't going through" Ofelia looks like she's getting her sister's point

"I just hope she's not where I'm thinking she might be"

"And where could that be?" Ofelia takes a stool and sits next to her sister

"I had a long talk with our daughter last night"

"About what"

"Tobias of course who else"

"But how did the conversation even came about? I don't get it"

"Here is the thing, juts a few months ago Mel was so much in love with Roland and almost became his wife......but even though the wedding didn't go through and Ronald didn't come look for her to explain things over, we both here saw how Mel continued to suffer for that already finished love, she would cry and refuse to eat and there was only one person who was able to pull her through that difficulty"

"Tobi"

"Yes Tobi"

"And so....."

"Now Jessy, the problem is, Melanie had no idea she had won his heart, she had no idea Tobi the ever gentleman had already fallen for her until when I told her yesterday to keep her distance and reject the Job offer from him"

"What did she say"

"She refused,....she never even believed me when I told her Tobi was in love with her"

"If at all what you say you saw about Tobi is true, if he's truly in love with Melanie.... then what's wrong with that, is he not a single man?, is he not as good looking? has he not done enough for your daughter to deserve her?.... tell me what"

" Did you just listen to yourself Jessy, aside from the fact that Mel is carrying another man's pregnancy that is still a long way to be delivered, she's still in love with Ronald I'm sure "

"You think Tobi doesn't know she was raped and carrying a rapist's blood?.... well he knows, how sure are you that he can't be the man in her life, I'm beginning to think that maybe he was one of the people who admired her from a distance and couldn't make their interests known since she was already taken by then"

"That's not possible..... Tobi is not just any ordinary person"

"And so was Ronald yet he fell in love with her without any problem so the same way he did so can Tobi also"

"But she loves Ronald"

"Says who?.... she used to, she can learn to love Tobi too so we shouldn't meddle...... I might not have been there to watch her grow and know how she's like when she feels but I can assure you in the few months that I have had with Melanie and a few moments I have interacted with Tobi..... I have gotten to know only the two of them can give each other the happiness they both deserve and no one else.... if that's how it is when they are just friends, I wonder how it would be if they were couple..... I so much wish to witness that so don't meddle"

"What if she still loves Ronald"

"Then let Mel be the one to decide that, after all Tobi has not told her about his feelings for her but if that coward you call Ronald who I don't even know ever shows up to confused this beautiful story that's just getting started, he will have me to deal with....he lost the right to claim our daughter the day he left her so ashamed in front of the pastor at the alter" Ofelia knows her sister very well and knows she would do whatever she's saying so she just hopes this doesn't ever happen.............

"Answer me Tobi......or should I read it out loud again" Mel is not teasing the so embarrassed Tobi who feels like disappearing from there

"Melanie?.....now this should have been the sales woman's error,.... I'm sure I asked her to write Jane not Melanie" he tries to lie his way out not knowing he's sinking deep

"The sales lady you said....oh I know these mistakes are common but not to worry" she turns to head out with the rose and the card in hand but Tobi runs and stands at the door covering it with his back

"Where are you going"

"To give to Caesar what belongs to him so I'm delivering this to Jane"

"No you can't do that.....I had plans of delivering it myself so hand it here"

"Come with me" she leads him back to the chairs

"sit...." he does

"Tobi I have watched a lot of movies and series, most times in these movies when a boss especially an owner of some big business gets someone a gift, they don't hand it over to them personally, they don't even buy themselves"

"What do you mean"

"I'm still narrating boss......like I said, they normally don't take the gifts personally, they always send their PA's to go buy and deliver, if it's an event they have been invited to attend and yet they are very busy, they would ask their PA's to go attend on their behalf.... so this should have been Jane's job to purchase and deliver but since it's Jane herself who's the receiver, I'm going to do the delivering because I work closely under her supervision.... I'm I right" she teases him the more and he's getting impatient already

"Just forget about this movies you have been corrupting your mind with, forget about the small error the sales lady made and just hand it over to me and we won't have this discussion again here I Promise"

"Are you still insisting it's that sales lady?"

"Have I lied to you before Mel"

"I'm beginning to wonder about that too Tobi... but what's more, how did my name come into this writing because you claim you only told her Jane's name"

"I don't know.... you can't ask me that but maybe she has seen me with you few times we stepped out together, remember we have ever been shopping from there..... why don't we just drop this, your ice cream is going to melt before you even start it, didn't you say you were hungry" in the few seconds he spoke almost everything and Mel is just starring at his face as he fidgets with words

"Hand me that file" she asks

"Which one"

"The one your hand is touching" Tobi picks up the file and hands it over to her, Mel then opens it

"Now tell me....did the sales lady also come here to this office and wrote in your file" Tobi wants to say something but he just chocks on his own words and Mel gets up standing with folded arms

"Give it up boy....you can't explain what you know is an obvious lie so just come clean already" Tobi gathers courage and decides to face Melanie, he had not planned to tell her about his feelings anytime soon but this really is too late to pretend, he takes a deep breath and looks deep in to her eyes searching for that person and feeling the counselor told him, he gathers more courage and takes her hands in his

"Melanie..... I don't know if I should say what I'm about to say I also can not Deny the fact that it's the reality of what's happening..... it's true I wrote those words myself, not for Jane or any other woman but to the most important and special woman I want in my life.... that woman is you Melanie, it's you and nobody else" Mel is so excited and scared at the same time, she wants to Talk but Tobi cuts her short

"I'm not really used to this. I don't know how people do it but I hope I'm not very bad at doing this... don't give your answer yet, but you should never forget every time that I love you so much that I'm scared that my love might hurt you.....I really can't control myself and that's why I couldn't fight the urge to buy you that rose and also write those words, I had no plans if giving it to you just now.....but now you know it, you know everything, how I feel and what I have been thinking.... you're still healing and shouldn't be thinking about this kind of things that's why I'm beginning you, it's now your turn to get away from me.....get away because you can't survive my love, it's too heavy yet it can destroy you and leave you shattered" he leaves her hands and tries to walk out of the office but she calls out to him

"I have seen brokenness I already know how it feels to be shattered but can you at least wait for my answer,..... to hear it too at least, don't you really wish to hear it" she walks over to where he's standing and also takes his hands in hers looking deep into his eyes

"Tobi.... I'm equally for the challenge, I wouldn't mind being destroyed by your toxic heavy love because I have fallen for you too and there is no way out..... I love you Mr Akankwasa".......

To be continued