Dear Me… With Love, Ivy.

Episode 4.

“Come out o. Come out. Ashawo, come out.” The lady shouted, clapping her hands repeatedly as she paced desperately at Ivy’s doorstep.

One after the other, the girls started coming out of their rooms, gathering round the lady, whispering and murmuring as they waited expectantly for the scene that will soon unfold.

“Come out o, ashawo. If hin sure for una, come out now.” The lady shouted again, banging unceasingly on Ivy’s door.

“Una dey fear abi? You no fit face me? I no go commot if una no come out. I dey wait o.”

By then, most of the girls were already guessing what could had happened, as they whispered to themselves in low tones.

“Wetin dey shele for here?” Doyinsola, one of Madam Iris’s favourite asked angrily, as she approached where they gathered. The loud shouts and persistent door banging had woken her up from her sleep, which made her set out angrily to find out what caused the noise.

The girls cleared the way for her as she finally reached their side.

“You no fit talk?” She yelled, about to lose her temper.

“Tell that ashawo, Ivy or wetin be her name, to come out.” The lady said directly to Doyinsola.

“Wetin this one dey talk bayi?” Doyinsola snapped.

The girls laughter rang out loudly.

“I no dey joke oh. I get matter to settle with her.”

“Ta le leyi? Wetin you wan do with Ivy?” Moyo asked with pure disdain.

“I no get time for your questions. Just…”

Before she could complete her sentence, Doyinsola slapped her hard across the face.

“Na me you dey follow talk laidat. E ma gbami oh.” Doyinsola said angrily, clapping her hands.

The lady made to reply as she fumed angrily, but Doyinsola cut her off.

“Wait sef. Shey no be the new girl be this ni? Eva or wetin dem name you?”

“Her name is Eva.” A girl affirmed.

“Oshey jhare.” Doyinsola said to the girl.

“You get mind oh, babe.” She sneered. “ You con bring your broomstick body con meet Ivy. You sabi who she be for this yard?”

Without hesitating, Eva fired back at her. “Who is she? If she get mind, mak she con face me herself. Abi shey na you be her mouthpiece?”

Doyinsola made to launch at her, but a door opening stopped her. And there stood Ivy, so calm and collected. At her presence, all the whispers and murmurs stopped. Even Doyinsola edged closer to her side. Glancing round, her gaze met that of Eva, who stared hard back at her. She gave Eva a tight smile and walked to where she stood.

Quickly and as if well-calculated, Eva swung her hand to slap Ivy, but having seen it coming, Ivy held her hand before it could smack her.

“Chill babe.” She smirked at Eva. “Why this act nah?”

Eva snatched her hand away from Ivy’s hold, glaring daggers at her.

“If na cat- fight you wan fight, I don’t do such.” Ivy stated, raising her hands in mock surrender.

“You just dey waste your time, Eva. Ivy no go fight.” One of the girls said annoyingly.

Realizing that fact, Eva calmed down a bit.

“Why una con thief my client na? Na from him I dey profit most. Hin no fresh, babe.”

Laughing out loud, Ivy replied her. “You be newbie, abi? I fit see am for your body.” She paused, taking a quick scan of the girls. “Tell me, who Ivy be for this yard?”

As if they were expecting the question, they all chorused, hailing her, “Ivy be the mamosh!”

“Who Ivy be for this yard?” She asked again.

 “Mamosh!” They hailed.

“So babe, I no dey thief client, okay? I hand-pick any.” She smirked.

“But…”

“Come off it jhoor.” Doyinsola snapped at her. “You’d better get used to the order here. Hin no fit change.”

“Oshey jhare.” Ivy smiled at her, giving her a high-five.

“I don’t bark nor bite Eva,” Ivy said, stalking closer to her intimidatingly, “but I can do worse than that. There had better be no repeat of this.”

Eva looked so terrified that she could voice out no reply.

“Know your place and you will enjoy your stay here.”

With a flip of her finger, she indicated that she was done. Doyinsola followed after her as she made her way to her room.

At her exit, the girls dispersed, each throwing one or two comments at Eva as they passed her by.

. . .

“I’m at the building now – just getting out of my car.” Erica said to the person on the other line, her phone placed firmly against her left ear. Wasting no time, she picked up her handbag, got out of her car and locked it up.

Existing the parking lot, she set her pace towards the building, still on the phone.

“– oh, are you the lady in black standing at the entrance?”

“You are the one, right? – Alright – surprisingly enough, I’m clothed in black as well – I’ll cut the call now.”

* * *

Tina Adeosun watched the approaching figure mouth-agaped. Big glossy brown eyes stared at her nervously. She was the epitome of beautiful…dark and beautiful. Her big brown eyes were shiny that she swore she could see her reflection in them. Her long brown hair pulled to one side of her shoulders in bouncy waves of curls, her skin glowing, and her make-up was absolutely flawless. She was wearing a black pencil dress that clung to her so perfectly and black louboutin. She looked gorgeous.

Tina had always being one to appreciate beauty whenever she sighted one. But this struck her.

Recovering from her speechless state, her lips stretched into a beautiful smile, flashing her perfectly lined white teeth.

“Hi!” She chirped cheerily.

“Hi.” The lady replied hesitantly and flashed a smile of her own, even though hers was no where compared to Tina’s.

“You must be Erica?” Tina asked in a sweet tone.

“Yes. Edith-Erica Adeoye.”

Closing the space between them, Tina pulled her into a warm embrace.

“I’m Tina Adeosun. It’s nice meeting you. You’re really beautiful, Erica.”

Erica smiled her thanks. “I wouldn’t call you a plain Jane either.”

“Your comment just made my day.” Tina said happily. “Your doofus of a brother should have told me about you earlier, but no, he will always be Edward.”

Erica grinned widely, “You must be really close to my brother.”

“Best friends.” She beamed. “I’m kinda annoyed with him about just knowing you, though.”

“Well, we’ve met now and I like you already. Does that make you feel better?”

“Yeah yeah. Friends?” Tina asked cheerily.

Erica smiled sweetly at her, “Let’s see.”

Taking no offense to her reply, Tina nodded.

“I shouldn’t keep you standing out here, let’s go in.”

Together, they walked inside the building and took an elevator to Tina’s office floor. After saying their hellos to Tina’s secretary, they went into her office.

Admiringly, Erica took in every details of Tina’s office. Her office was full of warm tones. The walls were pastel yellow, there was a giant brown bookcase filled with books. There were artworks displayed on the walls and three comfy chairs in the room along with her desk.

“I can feel the warmth in here.” Erica said nicely.

“Glad you love it. Have your seat please.” Tina said in reply.

“Oh. Thanks.”

“What would you like to have?”

“Water will do. Thanks.”

“You sure?” Tina asked.

“Yeah.”

Tina picked out a bottled water from the mini fridge, placed it on a tray with a glass cup and set it before her. She then went to make herself a cup of coffee before taking her seat beside her.

“Can you trust me?” Tina asked out of the blues.

Erica raised an eyebrow at her, “Why that?”

Tina chuckled. “Don’t be surprised. I guess Edward didn’t tell you much about me.”

She took a sip from her mug. “After getting my client to be comfortable around me, I don’t waste time anymore.”

“Oh… So you believe that I’m comfortable around you already?” Erica deadpanned.

“Are you not?” Tina smiled.

“No… oh…Yes, I am.” Erica replied, stumbling over her words.

“I know.” Tina said, raising her mug cup to her lips again. “You relaxed when I hugged you. The tension had worn off since then.” She said casually.

Erica opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out.

“How…?”

“It’s my job. I’m your therapist, don’t forget.”

Erica smiled. “It’s just that…you have this aura around you that screams calm and warmth. Maybe that was why I warmed up to you easily.”

At her words, Tina cooed childishly, covering her face with her palms.

“You know why I asked that question when I should had rather asked about your details?”

Erica shook her head in the negative.

“Because along the way I will get to know. But for now, I need to know you – the real you, and you need to know as well. And to get to that, you have to be able to trust me.”

“I guess you’re saying that all you need is the inner definition of me, right?

“Right!”

“Well, I believe I can trust you.”

Tina smiled, “That’s a step forward for us.”

“I trust you.” She reframed.

Tina clasped her hands together, grinning widely. “We can start our talk then.”

“But it’s okay if you’re not ready for any serious discussion yet. We can just get to knowing more about each other.” She added.

“I’m ready. I don’t want these pent-up emotions anymore.”

“Alright. So, how do you feel?”

Hesitating and swallowing words after words, Erica kept on glancing at her nervously.

“Can I do this?” She asked in a whisper.

Catching her words, Tina scotted closer to her.

“Hey, look at me Erica.” She implored gently.

Erica raised her head and fixed her gaze on her.

“You can. I’m ready to listen. I won’t blame or judge you for anything. Don’t back out now, please.”

“I’m not used to telling others how I feel.” She shrugged.

“Let’s make this a first then.”

“I won’t appreciate a pity party.” She mumbled.

Tina smiled. “I won’t.”

She kept on looking at Erica, silently pleading with her.

“I feel lost, like I don’t know what is true anymore, including myself.”

Tina breathed out, “Okay?”

As if propelled by something unknown, she continued.

“I don’t find happiness in myself.” She said sadly.

“This thing inside my head convinces me that I can be surrounded by millions of people and still feel like I am the only one on earth, and when I am alone, I’m too alone. And the worst part is that it comes at random. I can feel the best one minute, and something can tip the scales – it can be anything – and then I’m sucked in a dark abyss, moving through life without so much as feeling. I feel too much. I become too much. And then I have to pretend like it doesn’t affect me.” She paused to catch her breathe.

“I hate myself sometimes.”

Tina kept on listening silently, noting some things in her notepad.

“I don’t know who I am anymore. I doubt if I had ever known.” She said sorrowfully. “For years, there had been something wrong with me, and I can’t let it go. All I do now is to bask in nothing – to bask in my emptiness.”

“Basking in nothing.” Tina said thoughtfully. “A lot has happened, right?”

“More than a lot.”

“Do you know since when?”

“It’s been a consistent battle since the age of nine – maybe even younger – where I felt like I had no one to go to.”

“And no one knew of these feelings?”

“No one really.”

“Not even your parents?”

She gave a bitter laugh. “They might have contributed in some ways to my situation.”

Tina nodded. “And your friends?”

The closest emotion that came to her was pain. “I have no friends, I’m an alone person. A little bit boring, and not very easy to interact with. I know many people, but I’m not close to anyone enough to call such person a friend.” She sighed. “My brother is my only friend, and you also.”

Tina’s smile was immediate.

“I’m by your side now. With God, all these too shall pass – everything will soon be a thing of the past.”

“I hope so.” Erica mumbled.

“Thanks for opening up, Erica. It means a lot.”

Erica laughed, and for some while, Tina was lost in that sweet sound.

“Don’t thank me yet. What will happen by the time you get to know everything, and I mean, everything?” Erica said, with an air-quote on ‘everything’.

Tina joined in the laughter as well. “But still, everything starts from here.”

“Yeah. Who says therapy and counselling sessions are that easy?”

“I can relate dear. Easy, isn’t a word for it, both for the therapist and the person undergoing the therapy. But so far, it’s been God all the way.”

“You won’t even strike one as a therapist on a first meet.” Erica commented.

Tina grinned widely. “I’ve been told that many times. It’s the deal for me though, I can’t imagine myself doing something else. My work is my bliss.”

“That’s great.”

“Yeah.” Tina affirmed.

“Edward told me you just got back from your NYSC service.”

“Right. That was two months back.”

“You must be really young then. Young and beautiful.” Tina complimented.

“I guess. I’m 22.” Erica replied, smiling.

Tina eyes gleamed with joy. “Twenty-two? Our ages are close then. I’m two years older.”

Smiling widely, Erica said, “So lucky of me to have an older friend then.”

“I should let you leave now. I’ve taken enough of your time for today. It was nice meeting you, Erica.” Tina said as they stood up.

“Oh, it’s the other way round, I took your time.” Erica countered. “And it was nice meeting you as well.”

“We should meet again on Saturday.”

“Yeah, Saturday will be okay. By what time?”

“Will 12 noon do?”

“Right. I have nothing planned for Saturday.”

“Okay then. Till later.”

“And Tina?” Erica called.

The other lady fixed her gaze on her.

“I keep thinking about what every other person might be thinking about me. I don’t approve of myself, but live on other people’s approval of me. And I’m so overly self-conscious and self-doubting. My worth… I don’t know what to do.”

Tina gently placed her hands on her shoulder. “Erica, your worth isn’t defined by the opinions of others. Who you are isn’t defined by what they see. You know you deserve better because you are better, and if anyone tried to tell you that you’re not enough, then know that you are enough to many people out there. You are enough to God.”

“And if that person can’t see you for who you really are, then it’s their loss. It shouldn’t change anything about you.” She added.

“Thank you, Tina.”

They hugged each other warmly and Tina escorted Erica to the exit before returning to her office.

I guess I’m well on my way to becoming who my inner person wants to be. I hope I meet her soon. Erica thought within herself happily.

“Just like you, she is basking in nothing as well. We have to turn your emptiness into fullness.”

As she gently whispered “As you will, Lord” in her heart, she couldn’t help but wonder who it could be.

To be continued…