After the breakdown she had in her son's room she knew she had to talk to her mother. Slowly picking up her phone in deliberation, she decided to just get it over with. She dialed her mum's number in hopes that she wouldn't pick the call.

"Hello Ewa, how are you?" Her mum asked immediately she picked the call. "I'm fine, mum, How are you too?". She asked. One thing she knew was to always say she was fine because any other reply could earn her a lecture she wasn't ready for. "I'm okay my dear. Why are you calling by this time? Does it have anything to do with Timi? How is he doing?" Her mum asked. Right. She called for a reason. She had almost forgot. After a few seconds of uncomfortable silence and overthinking she said it. "Daddy is dead".

There was an awkward silence spanning for more time than she was comfortable with, she could hear her mum take deep breaths "Mummy are you okay?" She asked. "Yes I am, why wouldn't I be". "Well, you have been quiet for quite a while and your breath intake seemed uneven" She replied her mum. "There's nothing to say Ewa and I am absolutely fine. Why don't you go to bed, shouldn't you be waking up early tomorrow? Goodnight" Her mum abruptly said barely giving her anytime to say any other thing. With that statement she heard the long beep that indicated her mum had cut the call. She had wondered how she would react when she told her the news.

She wouldn't say she found her mother's behaviour and response to this news absolutely weird but she did expect a little more emotion from her. Knowing her mum, she would probably cry immediately after that phone call but then it was her dad. Realising how late it was, she shut her eyes in hopes that she would get some sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~

The sound of her alarm cried out a little louder than it should have that morning, leaving her confused for more than a minute. She pushed it off her bedside table which led to the battery falling out. At least she got the silence she wanted she said to herself as she fixed it back.

Walking to her window, she opened the curtains but before she did, she could hear the downpour of the rain on her roof. She had seen worse days, she thought to herself. She went to her son's room and woke him up. "Mummy go away, I want to sleep" He said once she tapped him. "What have I told you about being a grumpy person and talking to me however you please in the morning" She asked in a bid to get him to talk. "That it's not right" He replied in a question like manner still refusing to get up. She walked over to the room opposite his and plugged the kettle, she picked his clothes out and ironed them then came back to still see him lying in the bed.

"Get up now, Timi" She said with a voice a little louder than usual, it was probably due to the frustration from her monthly flow because she never really raised her voice. He grumbled something underneath his breath and reluctantly greeted her. "Okay get in the bathtub already, we don't have much time" She said once she walked in with the warm water for his bath.

After about 45 minutes, she and her son were ready. "Okay, hope we aren't missing anything" she said to herself as she put her own breakfast in a Ziploc bag.

Upon entering the building of her office, she kept her head down and made her way straight to the elevator. Once she got to her floor, she got off and started walking briskly towards her office but whoever she was trying to escape from that morning seemed to have been waiting for her right next to her office.

"Ewa you left without completing your assignment yesterday. What exactly is the problem this time?" Her boss said. "I'm really sorry Mrs Chidera, I had something I had to deal with at home" She replied. "I doubt if I can keep up with you having to deal with home problems all the time, if you can't handle this job let me know so I can give it to someone more committed and willing. We had to reschedule the meeting for your patient yesterday when we found out you weren't around. That is absolutely unprofessional and it defies the standard of this workplace" her boss had just said her greatest nightmare in that statement. " I'm absolutely capable ma and I'm really sorry once again" Her boss huffed and walked away on hearing her reply. Sighing, she walked to her office. This was the second time she had been asked if she could handle it and on the two occasions on which she had been asked, she had tried to convince both her boss and herself that she could do it. She had to have faith in herself.

"Mrs Ewa, your patient is here. Can I send him in." The receptionist said over the landline. "Yes please, send him in. Thank you." She replied. "Alright ma". She quickly closed the file of the patient she had been reading and placed it on the rack beside her table. Once she heard a knock on the door, she took two deep breaths and told the person to come in. He looked nothing like the passport she had seen on the file she thought to herself as she looked at her new client. " Good morning Mr Demola, I'm your psychologist, Miss Ewatomi" She said as she stood to give him a handshake. "Good morning, Miss Ewatomi" He said as he took her handshake. "Okay Mr Demola, please have your seat. This session is to run for an hour so I'm starting my timer now" She said and gave him a small smile. The client couldn't be as hard as they painted him to be she thought to herself.

"Okay let's start with the basic questions. Why are you here?" She asked gently. "Everyone thinks the death of my brother has taken a huge toll on me" He replied without expression and barely any emotion. He was straightforward.

"Has it?" She asked. He looked down from her face to his fingers and she knew he wasn't going to answer. They kept quiet like that for about two minutes before he spoke. "I remember where I know you from now" He said. "So you know me?" She asked. He wasn't comfortable enough to tell her what his brother's death had caused him but he also remembered he had seen her before now and that was something to talk about. "You were the woman that came to ask if I was the Uber driver yesterday" He said. "Oh right. Yeah, I'm really sorry about that. The mapping and all. The driver got it wrong" She replied. He nodded and they fell into silence again. "Do you think the death of your brother has taken a hufe toll on you, Mr Demola" She asked again after sometime. He sighed and then spoke.

"Right. You psychologists think that you can fix people. To be honest I really don't want to be here" He said as he looked at every part of her office but where she was seated. "I won't say I'm not like the other psychologists, we are trained the same way but saying we believe we can fix people is absolutely wrong. It shows that you might not understand what this process is really about. Also I think you have a reason why you are here even if you don't want to be". She said. He sighed again. From her experience that showed that he was exhausted. "Can we do this some other time? I don't think I want to do this today" He replied. Since pushing patients never really worked she agreed after sometime of trying to take note of his movements. "I think that's fine but only for today. The receptionist must have printed your schedule so please make sure you collect it. We should be meeting again sometime this week" She said. He nodded and stood up to leave. "It was nice to meet you, Mr Demola" She said. He nodded again and left.

She took his file out to write her observations and she realised she couldn't really write much on the emotions she saw. Her new patient had exhibited traits a little out of the ordinary she thought to herself.