I didn’t allow the silence
stretch. Once she was silent I found something to say. I didn’t want to appear
naive… like I was forced to be there… like someone was going to punish me if
she learned I’d been to see Isabelle. If a girl was driving a man the man
needed to be talking… he needed to appear to be leading the conversation…
otherwise he’d look like an acquired property. Isabelle’s car smelt really
nice. A cute Kia SUV. Air-conditioned and romantic; and the interior had this…
sapphirine finish. The girl surely had taste. And class. We passed the front of
our neighborhood and I spotted Olisah and Jerry sitting idly outside – my
colleagues at the Parakou shack. They were still here… looking for what
mischief to cause in order to be repatriated. Testing the depth of a river with
both feet was dangerous; someone needed to tell them. Instead of repatriation
they might end up in jail. If only they could improvise… like moi! Isabelle’s
apartment was a good distance away from the place. Good!
She had an equally fine house; not a duplex, but must
have cost only a little less. There was a Honda Accord in the car porch. They
were terraced houses, not separate compounds, so she didn’t have a security
guard. Inside, she ushered me to a seat.
“What can I offer you?” she
asked, sounding quite civil.
She and I sat and
drank wine together, a healthy distance between us. Why would she reserve all
her civility, I thought, for display in the confines of her house, whereas,
outside, she behaved like a tart?
“I’m sorry for what happened
yesterday,” she said.
“You know… you should really be,
‘cuz I was hurt by the scene you created. I was mad at Abbey too.”
“You were?” she asked,
surprised.
“Yes, I was. The two of you
didn’t behave well.”
“But I started it. You shouldn’t
have been mad at her. It was all my fault… I even owe her some serious
apology.”
“Yeah, but she joined in,
thereby accepting your invitation…”
“Wow… you seem to care about
her, Doc!”
“If I didn’t would I be at her
place?”
“But you told us you were simply
conducting therapy, didn’t you?”
“Sure I did. And that hasn’t
changed.”
“And you’re admitting you care
for her?”
“You ever seen a doctor that
didn’t care about his patients?”
“I just want a little clarity
from you… is anything going on between you two? Is it just the therapy between
you guys, or are emotions involved?”
“Well, in this patient-doctor
relationship emotions are involved. To have a genuine outcome, no holds are
barred.”
“So you’re saying that you guys
are sleeping together?”
“I’m not saying that, but it’s
not a strange possibility.”
“It’s part of your job to sleep
with women?”
“It hardly comes to that, but if
and when it does, I do it. ‘Cuz sometimes I need to reach the deepest parts of
my patient, and measure their reactions from being touched there. Not like I
must, but I do my job my way… So it’s either I go in and discover the actual
outcome, or refrain and assume an outcome. At the end of the day, the
credibility of my deductions and the prescriptions I give pave the way to
higher grounds in my career. Guess work and assumptions can’t get me very far,
you know!”
“So
has it arisen that you needed to touch the deepest parts of Abbey?”
“It’s
unethical to discuss my patient with you, ma’am!”
“Thought
we were having a conversation?”
“We
are, but we have hardly heard anything about you.”
“Well, I just think you
shouldn’t be sleeping with Abbey. You shouldn’t sleep with her!” She was
staring at me, as if expecting me to resolve here before her that I wasn’t
going to sleep with her friend. Not like it hadn’t happened already!
I changed the topic.
“So... let’s talk about
you. Who are you... what’s your story? Think you need a shrink?”
“Hell no! Told you I don’t
have emotional issues; I’m fine.”
“Then I take it this is
not a business invitation?”
“It’s
not. Call it a... friendly one. I was just wondering... since it’s work you’re
doing with Abbey, you and I could just... like... survey if we have any common
interests.”
“Like?”
“Like
I like you... you check if you like me too, and so on.”
“Sure
you’re using the right words?”
“How?”
“Like?”
I said.
“You
mean I should use love?”
“I
don’t mean anything!”
“Well,
it’s usually like at first, isn’t it? Before it becomes love... if it becomes
love.”
“It’s
just that... for a start, I like you, otherwise I wouldn’t be here. I like
everybody I meet, until they give me a reason to dislike or love them.”
“Oh
please! Quit generalizing with me!”
“Sorry
about that.”
“It’s
okay,” she said.
“Seriously
Abbey... sorry... Isabelle...” this mistake, though honest it was, hurt her,
“...seriously, if you want there to be an ‘us’ could you wait till the end of
my exercise with your friend?”
“You
mean wait on the wings for you while you... screw... my friend! Do you normally
take people to be fools simply because they like you?” Mischievous.
“Ma’am,
I’ve encountered you thrice, and twice I’ve borne the brunt of your erraticism.
That’s bad for business!” I was visibly pissed, and she knew it.
“I’m
sorry for what I said. I take it back. ‘Twas stupid of me.”
“Isabelle,
when you like someone it’s hardly because of how they appear at the moment.
It’s because of who they grew over many years to become. I’m an honourable man,
and I like to deal fairly with people. If I were not myself in this
circumstance... and would cuddle Abbey at midnights, only to come over here and
cuddle you when she goes to work, then you might not like me as you do. Let’s
do it my way. My therapy with her would be over in just a few days, and I would
move out of her house and be open for whatever. You guys are too close for me
to... shuttle.”
“I
agree. I agree,” she chanted.
“Thank
you mademoiselle!” I said with a huge relief.
After a while of light talks about general stuff, I
said...
“If you don’t mind ma’ am,
I really have to get going.”
“Oh,
I’ll drop you off then, I guess.”
“Not
quite off,” I said, “you’ll drop me just along the way, and I’ll find my way...
And let this visit and this conversation be between us.”
“And
this kiss too,” she said, stretching up to my mouth and paused.
She was too close for me to refuse now, so I took the
proffered lips. A minute long or so. It felt so good, but I didn’t want to
compare it with kissing Abbey.
“That’s for the
road,” she said... “and a little taste of what we shall both be looking forward
to. If you found it nice, then tarry not, come home soon!” Sensuous.
I hugged her, and then kissed her temple. Who felt
better in my arms, she or Abbey? Let no one ask me that! All Isabelle’s petty
arrogance and tarty overtures were really not her. This was who she really was:
nice, lovely, comely, accommodating, and warm. She too deserved an ample slice
of my heart and, by God, as things stood, I intended to give it to her.
She
dropped me off along the road... and I could hail a cab, or walk the short
distance to Abbey’s. This was the route Abbey took home, so we had to hurry.
“There’s
something I might wanna tell you, Doc,” she said pensively.
“Let
it wait ma’am. We’ve done enough talking, and I really gotta go. I don’t need
to start explaining everything to you all over again, do I?” I spoke with discernible
impatience.
“It’s
pretty important!” She sounded resolute.
“Darling...
I don’t want your friend to spot us here. That might jump-start things, and it
wouldn’t serve any of our purposes.”
“I
understand. But in that case we need to meet again. Soon. Tomorrow.”
“You
know...” I thought of a way out, “you could call the house tomorrow, after Abbey
might have gone to work. How ‘bout that?”
She
started the ignition. “That’s smart! I will.” She blew me a kiss and headed
down the split road.
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