HOOK, LINE AND SINKER (Episode 13 - Episode Finale)

Three weeks later

"Thank you so much" She stretched out her hand to shake the outstretched hand of her doctor - Mrs. Williams. She preferred to call her that. She was her counselling psychologist but she'd rather just call her Doctor to make herself feel better about the entire arrangement. It had been a rather stressful exercise having to admit painful truths and literally confess those truths during the sessions.

"You're always welcome." Mrs. Williams smiled back.

" So I'll see you..."

"Friday." She moved the chair she was previously sitting on back to its former position and made her way to the door.

"And I promise to be here on time" She gave a reassuring smile before shutting the door.

She stopped outside the door for a few seconds to catch her breath before making her way out of the building. The sessions were becoming more hectic. She had just spent the last hour trying to convince her doctor that she could never forgive her mother. She excused Father. She was certain that he had no hand in the  entire plan. For Pete's sake, he was a man of God. He would never approve of abortion, she had yelled when the counselor tried to imply otherwise in a bid to emphasize the importance of forgiving her mum as one of the factors that will hasten her healing process. Her healing process was hinged on a whole lot of things, including the next line of action, she thought.

She walked briskly out of the building and sighted him immediately. He was always on time. She smiled inwardly but maintained a straight face as she approached his car.

"Hey..." He turned off the ignition and got out of the car. He met her halfway and tried to give her a side hug but she withdrew.

"How did it go? You look..."

"It went well. Thank you." She cut in without looking at him. She walked straight to the car and dropped her bag on the bonnet.

"Okay... Making progress, I presume?" He walked behind her.

"Yeah, sure." She unzipped the bag and brought out a small envelope from the side purse.

"Here." She handed the envelope to him.

"What's this?" He was confused from the moment she first responded coldly but he tried to ignore her demeanor. She was delicate and could not be misunderstood at this time. Besides, he had offered his support voluntarily. He took the envelope from her and tried to examine the content without opening it.

"That's the last piece of you I have." She cleared her throat and said with a straight face.

"Errm. I'm not sure I understand you. Have I done something wrong? Did I say something I shouldn't have..."

"No. You've done nothing wrong, at least not recently." She picked her bag from the bonnet and began to zip it.

"In fact, you've done everything right this time. But it's time I let you go. I know you've been showing up because you think you owe me..." She raised her head up to look at him.

"But up until this very moment. You don't. And I don't want you to keep punishing yourself for nothing" She continued.

"No. Who told you that?" Marcus ran his fingers through his hair and sighed.

"I'm doing this because you're my friend. A very good one at that, Okay? And friends help each other." He continued.

Bisola sighed before responding.

"Well, you're not my friend. At least, not anymore. I can't take any more gifts from you. And that includes this precious vintage ring of your late mum; the one I held on to for so long with the hope that you'll return to me." She paused and looked down. This was harder than she had imagined and rehearsed with the counselor.

She had suggested throwing the ring away but her doctor insisted that she gave it back. She didn't trust Bisola enough to throw it away, and she had good reasons not to, especially since Bisola still allowed Marcus to foot the bill for her sessions and also pick her up after each session.

"You need to let him go. It may seem that you're making him pay for how he treated you and the way he abandoned you. You're probably blaming the abortion on his absence because you think you would have kept the baby and not gone through all that you went through if he was around... " The counselor had said, while Bisola argued tooth and nail to justify her reasons for accepting gifts from Marcus.

She would rather argue than admit that Mrs. Williams was right about everything. She had taken the ring with her everywhere she went these past few years without even realizing how deep her attachment to the ring was.

"Trust me. Your attachment to this tiny piece of ring and his continuous presence in your life won't help your healing process... You need to give it back and let him go." Mrs. Williams had said.

"It also includes payment of the balance of my counseling sessions." Bisola raised her head this time and continued with a polite smile.

"What balance? Bisola let me do this, please. I really don't know what... " Marcus struggled to find words. Yes, he felt the need to compensate Bisola for all she went through because of him but it was more than that for him. She still reminded him of his mother and he was not ready to loose that connection.

 

"You don't have to say anything, okay? Go home. Go to your wife." She said as she began making her way to the nearest bus stop.

"Wait. Let me take you home. Okay? This last time. I don't want you getting hurt." Marcus said as he hurried after her.

"Thank you Marcus but I'll be fine. I always will." She said without looking back. She flagged down the next yellow cab and made her way to the office.

As the cool breeze blew her hair, she thought of other rehearsed conversations with her doctor; conversations she had to engage in with the other people upon which her healing process was hinged - conversations with Sharon, her god-son and her mum.

She could do this. She would this; she would get better for herself, Bisola said to herself as she alighted at the bus stop of her office.

"Hey sunshine... " His timing couldn't be more perfect. His voice was everything she needed to hear. She smiled as she lifted her head to meet his gaze.

"Hi moonshine..." She said underneath her breath as she walked towards him.

"Thought you were not coming back again, as per new levels" Akin laughed as she gave her a side hug.

"What new levels?" She said as she looked away shyly.

"You know you can say that loud..." He whispered into her ears with a mischievous smile plastered to his face, before holding her left hand.

"Say what loud?" She let out a small laugh while ignoring his question. She breathed in the cool air as they both walked into the office holding hands.

***The End***

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HOOK, LINE AND SINKER By Faith Olatunbosun