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When I was 18, I got diagnosed with bone cancer. It was tough to deal with because I was in my first year of university. I struggled with pain and nausea at random points in the day. My friends were great. They would help me write my name on the attendance when I had to miss classes. A lot of money went into making sure I survived. Although my mum kept telling me that all I had to do was eat well and rest, I believed my doctors had told her how long I had to live. In the meantime, I wanted my own money. I started looking for jobs that paid students.

I was on the lookout for ushering jobs or gigs as a movie extra when I saw the opening for the role of a talk show host. I rehearsed my lines and anticipated the audition. On the day, however, nothing went the way I planned. I forgot my lines and stammered through the audition. I kept looking at the camera when I wasn’t supposed to. When the crew tried to correct me, I started crying. It was very embarrassing. At the end of it, a man walked up to me as I was arranging to leave. He asked if I knew who he was. I said, “No,” but I was curious about why he’d think I knew him. He didn’t explain himself, instead, he told me his name was Tobi Afolabi* and asked me to Google him. I was running late, so we exchanged numbers, but I kept thinking, “What the Bleep is this one feeling like?” At home, I found out that he was a popular media personality in the north, and he was also the producer of the show I was auditioning for.

That night, he called, and we talked. I didn’t like him at first. I thought he was too old — he was 27, I was 19. I imagined that he would be boring, so I aired his texts a lot. Also, I was sick — I didn’t see the need to pursue any romantic relationship knowing it could end in pain for both parties. I had no hair and lost weight every day, so when he texted me things like, “You’re the prettiest thing I’ve ever seen,” I was sure he was lying.

When he was done with the show, he came back to town and asked to meet up. One afternoon in June, I went over to his place. He made us lunch and officially asked me to be his girlfriend. I told him I was dying and it would be unfair to date him. At some point, I started crying. He didn’t say much while I spoke. He listened and didn’t interrupt. He looked bored. I started feeling weird — how could he not be moved by my plight?

I went home late that day. My mum started yelling the minute she saw me. She was always shouting at me. I expected she would be nicer to me since I was sick but it was like she became worse. She would tell me, “It’s like you like being sick. You must enjoy the attention that it brings because you’re not even trying to fight it.”

That night Tobi called to ask if I had gotten home safely, and I started crying. I told him about my mother being mean to me and how my sister picks on me. He said nothing about it after I finished talking. He just asked if we could see the next day.

I went to his place the next day and after chilling for a while, I asked why he didn’t say anything about everything I had told him the previous day. He asked what I wanted him to say. I started crying again. He asked why I was crying, and when I told him he had hurt my feelings, he responded with, “Has crying fixed your feelings now?” He then told me that I loved to play the victim and that I think I have monopoly on grief. He said, “So what if you’re dying? At least you know it’s coming. Everyone is going to die eventually. You should take advantage of it and make each day count, instead of crying and whining all the time.”

I was too shocked to say anything to him. I carried myself home to cry. I don’t know how, but the next day, I went to see him again. I told him he hurt my feelings. He apologised, but he insisted that he wouldn’t take his words back. He said I had a rare opportunity to try everything I wanted to do before my time was up. He made me write a list of all the things I would like to do. My diet was quite strict so on my list, I wrote things like “I want to eat 20 bars of chocolate” and “I want to get drunk until I pass out”.

I was scared to travel because I didn’t want to have a seizure or blackout on the way, but Tobi made me travel with him a lot. Whenever he had a movie or wedding to shoot, he took me with him. He got used to my episodes — he could tell when one was coming even before I knew. He would talk to his doctor friend to get me new medication. If I complained of one discomfort, he would throw the drugs out and look for another one. My mum wasn’t like that — she gave me whatever the doctor gave me and didn’t care if they made me puke my brains out or lose my appetite. Tobi wanted to know everything. “Does this make your migraines better? Does your throat itch? Your tongue is a weird colour, let me have a closer look at it.” Soon he found a combination that I was fine with, then I had more energy to do things with him. We went hiking, we had picnics, we went to the cinema to see movies. Whenever someone was rude to me, he would insist I have my say. He told me it wasn’t healthy to hide my dissatisfaction. At first, it was hard for me to do that, but soon enough, when people stared at my hair for too long, I would ask if there was a problem. He made me feel like a different person — a normal, beautiful and happy person.

He introduced me to his family and they were nice to me. It was different because, in my family, we didn’t send each other like that.

He bought me things to help my moods like scented candles, chocolates and ointments. At this point, I was always wearing wigs because I was self-conscious about how I looked, so he bought me a lot of wigs, along with scarfs and hats.

He laced my drinks with painkillers. He introduced me to weed and it helped me feel better. I was in love with him, so I would have tried anything. One time in school, we were asked to read The Lion and The Jewel, but I was too weak to complete the task. It was one of my bad days. I kept throwing up and my body hurt when I moved. I was worried I was going to fail the course.

He came to my house that night with a new hard drive. I was like, “What the Bleep kind of gift is this?” But when I plugged it into my system, I found that he made me an animation of The Lion and The Jewel. It’s still the most thoughtful gift I’ve ever received in my entire life. Of course, I passed the course.

The sex was the best thing ever. Before him, I was too shy to have sex completely naked. I would keep my shirt on and cover myself with a blanket, but he wasn’t having any of that. He kept emphasizing how beautiful I was. He said my dark skin was flawless, and he loved it.

Continue: https://www.zikoko.com/money/hustle/therapists-are-not-saviours-a-week-in-the-life-of-a-grief-counsellor/

Tobi is a real player who knows how to pull the strings. Never in a rush and yet took her resisting walls away.

Op, I beg when u are less busy, don't forget to come and continue.

Foodqueen:
Op, I beg when u are less busy, don't forget to come and continue.

Hey. Read the full article here: https://www.zikoko.com/money/hustle/therapists-are-not-saviours-a-week-in-the-life-of-a-grief-counsellor/

BigCabal:
Hey. Read the full article here: https://www.zikoko.com/money/hustle/therapists-are-not-saviours-a-week-in-the-life-of-a-grief-counsellor/

I won't click any shit.

Foodqueen:
I won't click any shit.

Okurr!

Ogbeni post the full story here, we aren't clicking no damn link

Someone kind should copy and paste the story here biko

La cliq La huzy

I won't finish the story

I hate the part where he had to leave you...

If I was Tobi, I would hav flown you abroad for better treatment...i hate to see people suffer especially people I care about .

Norphiee I won't let u down. Gimme a chance.

Op is creative, but a better way of getting traffic in your website is this

Divide your story into parts.
Update the thread with the subsequent parts daily.
Leave your blog-link below every part.

Let nairalanders be the choosers on whether to click your blog to read the complete story or wait for your daily update.

This is my humble and honest opinion.

Nice story but I’m not continuing again .. thanks

The end?

The story is not even in the link sef... you'll still have to pay to access it

BigDawsNet:
I won't finish the story

I hate the part where he had to leave you...

If I was Tobi, I would hav fly you abroad for better treatment...i hate to see people suffer especially people I care about .

.

Bro it's flown

Lights up my kpoli in peace

Dreyton36:
.

Bro it's flown

Lights up my kpoli in peace

My bad!

You smoke? That's bad you know ....

BigDawsNet:
My bad!

You smoke? That's bad you know ....

Appreciate the correction, and leave my kpoli alone thanks

So you that was going to die and was sick all the time was also having sex... Sex dey sweet you when death is around your corner.

Dreyton36:
Appreciate the correction, and leave my kpoli alone thanks

One of my homie used to say Friends that smoke together can live together in peace

BigDawsNet:
One of my homie used to say Friends that smoke together can live together in peace

He's a wise guy

Lights up my kpoli in peace