Chapter 4

• "Oh my baby," Patricia said tearfully as she slid her hand back and forth over Steph still ruffled hair. "You have made us so much worried about you. You now look like my real daughter again." Dr Harvey and the strange woman laughed slightly at that.
• "And you are?" Stephanie said to the strange woman.
• The woman quickly sombered up and outstretched her hands for a firm handshake. "Pardon my manners." She said. "My name is Sandra Ross. I am a psychologist…a capable and seasoned counsellor."
• Stephanie groaned and rolled her eyes dramatically. "Dad? Mum? Really? You had to bring a counselor for me. For what bulshit? Is that what you both went out on a Saturday to do? Look for a counsellor for me?"
• "Calm down, Pumpkin." Her father said in a pleading tone.
• "You were looking so disconsolate over the past few days. It had gotten out of hand so we needed to get you help if that was what it would take for you not to go over the edge and become more of yourself, Stephanie." Her mother said.
• Stephanie rolled her eyes again while leaving them to go into the kitchen to go collect her food from the kitchen. That was the only thing making sense to her now. Not what her father and her mother were doing right now.
• For goodness sake, she was twenty four. Twenty four not fourteen. Her parents going to seek the help of a professional counsellor that would help her and this was done without her permission? Nah, her parents were making her decision to leave Los Angeles way easier than they knew.
• By the time she came back from the kitchen, the woman who's name Stephanie could no longer remember had left and it was only her exasperated parents that were left still standing in close to the doorway. Their eyes followed her every step as they wondered how on earth the destabilized Stephanie that had not showered and eaten for days had changed to this clean and calm Stephanie who had even gone to the kitchen to order for her food.
• "Look, Pumpkin." Her father began. " That was way out of line for us to do. But remember it is because we were so worried about you. Our intentions were genuine. You are our only child and so—"
• "Really? Dad, really?" Stephanie cut in even though her mouth was full with what she was eating. She swallowed and then said, "Is it that or you were afraid that the longer I start in that destabilized state if mine, the more absolute I would be in my decision to leave Los Angeles. So you decided to do everything g in your power to bring me back to a normal state so I can quickly come back to my senses and do not be leave this place. Is that not it, Dad?"
• Dr Harvey swallowed and his Adam apple in his throat moved up and down but he didn't say anything.
• Patricia eyes narrowed. "Hey, you young woman. Calm down. It's not cool to get sassy at your Dad and I when you know how much you are cared for by us. We have been worried sick the past three days watching you feel as if everything g that had happened was your fault. So yes we had brought that Counsellor from downtown, paid heavily for her services hoping that you get to finally reason things concerning the drastic decision you made but we had also done it because we are so worried about you and what you may be feeling. So do not go sassy on us and make us demon too. We are not. The sooner you realize that we are on your side, the better for you."
• For some time, after Patricia stopped talking, there were silence and limited movement between them. In fact, Steph almost had finished her meal before her mum dropped her bag in the chair close to her and slid down beside her daughter to hold her in a firm hug.
• "Mum, Dad, my mind is still made up about leaving Los Angekes. Please do not emotionally blackmail that I would then decide to stay. I might stay but I will not look at you both the same way."
• "You are my only child. Some things you do will always bring heartache to my heart. But I am a woman and to be honest, woman to woman, I can fully understand why you would want to do such. I get why you want to have your own space. Same thing happened to me. I um…don't know about your father but me… I fully endorse your decision my love. I support you. I will always support you. And I am really glad that you are okay now."
• That made tears to pool in Stephanie eyes without knowing. She returned the hug and said in a voice filled with gratitude. "Thank you so much for this, Mum."
• Her Dad didn't say anything. Rather he walked up the stairs that led to his room. Both mother and daughter watched his retreating figure then Patricia turned to Stephanie. "I will talk to him for you. That's for sure."
• "Thank you so much mum. For everything. For realizing how I need to be my own person and not be a sublet. Thank you so much for fighting for me after realizing that. Thank you."
• "Don't mention, Steph."
• They were like that for sometime before Stephanie took excuse for her mum to go into her room so that she can handle some re.equired things she had left hanging for the past three days.
• Patricia watched her leave then stayed in the sitting room for some time before leaving.
• The ache in her heart was palpable but she was not lying when she said she understood the phase that her only child was in.
• After all, had she not moved to Los Angele mot only because the Hollywood city was full for opportunities but because she wanted some fresh air after her heart had been broken in such a crushing way a number of times.
• Like mother like child, People do say.
• She just hoped that the same saying applies in this case not only to having heart breaks from callous substandard men, not only to seeking and having a fresh start but also finding and receiving true love the way she had unexpectedly found it when she had met Harvey.
• Talk of the devil. She had to go meet him and talk to him as she had promised Stephanie.
• After knowing and loving Harvey for over twenty five years, she knew by now how his thought process was. She understood by now how his emotional template worked. So she could see through his actions and understand the angle he was coming from. Harvey had gone from rags to riches through sweat and hard work so he could provide for his family. So he could not understand…he would never understand why one of those that mattered the most to him would be running far way from the comfort and luxury he was giving them. It was like saying that Stephanie was rejecting him too if she could reject all that he represented.
• That first, she had not gone into the medical field as wished by her father and expected by everyone else but rather had gone into a career that diverged so wide from her father represented.
• Then she was choosing to stay as far as she could from both of them because she was tired of people living in this town that had hurt her so much.—John Philip who had betted with her heart, Liam Smith who had deliberately gotten close to her so he steal from them as long as he could and then Stevie who had been dating another woman as long as he had been dating another woman, had gotten the woman pregnant and was not man enough to tell her all these heartbreaking news in person but in an email.
• Her Harvey was feeling that Stephanie may be wanting to leave Los Angeles because the men who had broken her heart had done so because of the kind of man her father was. That perhaps, Stephanie was hating him as well because of everything that had happened to him
• Of course, Patricia knew Stephanie was not feeling that way at all. In fact she knew how her daughter loved her father so much. It was just that the need to be somewhere else was vibrating in Stephanie so much. It was a need that she recognized because it had vibrated in her as well. So it was not necessarily because she hated her family. She had come to that age where the need for her to swim on foreign waters to test her swimming ability resonated deeply in her.
• Patricia understood what Stephanie was feeling and talking about even though it would be painful to watch her parents go. So as she climbed up the stairs to go to the bedroom she and Harvey had shared for over twenty five years, she hoped she could make her husband understand as well.