“Efe!” a male voice startled her. “Sir!” “There is a customer coming for this, his name is Chief Adewale; look out for him and give this to him”. She quickly picked up the envelope ,“okay sir”. She worried because Biola had been absent from work and it scared the hell out of her but she wasn’t the type of person to wear her emotions on her sleeves. A very intelligent and observant person, Efe understood that most of her colleagues at work treated her the way they did because she was the clerk and because she didn’t dress up to their standard. The most important thing was that she didn’t care what people thought about her. She stopped caring after cancer.
She was born Efe Ogene Omorighe in Benin with a silver spoon in her mouth – more of a diamond spoon. Her father, Chief Ogene Omorighe owned the Hillside hotel chain with fifty hotels and resorts across the continent and her mother was a homemaker. It took them more time than they expected to have a child. So when Efe came along, Joy Ogene Omorighe quit her job in an advertising agency to take care of her child. Efe, as the only child of a billionaire father and a mother who gave her all her time, was spoilt rotten and threw ridiculous tantrums whenever she didn’t get what she wanted. And as the years went by she eventually turned into an egotistic vain doll.
“Efe!” a male voice startled her. “There is a customer here to see you, Chief Adewale”. “Oh oh yes”, she picked up an envelope and rushed to the customer service area “Good afternoon sir, I was told to give this to you”, she respectfully handed the envelope to a regally dressed man in his fifties. He hesitated for a couple of seconds before collecting the envelope from her .“What is your name?” he asked, his eyes inquiring on her facial features. “Efe Ogene”, she already knew he was one of her father’s business partners; it was one of the reasons she hated going towards the customer service area and meeting customers
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“Ogene Omorighe’s daughter?” an excitement grew on his face as she nodded. “How are you? In fact I was on the phone with your father this morning”. Efe tried very hard to remain polite and before she knew it the conversation was over and she was back in her cubicle thinking about her life and how far she had come; how much she had changed. Those who knew Efe before she was diagnosed with cancer would never recognize her in her current state even if they were smacked in the face a billion and one times.
The day was still vivid in her mind; almost two years ago. “Mum!! Ngozi brought only three dresses!” It was her twenty-second birthday and she was throwing a huge party as usual and changing into four dresses throughout the party. She screamed and threw tantrums as usual and got everything she wanted for the party including the latest BMW X6 which wasn’t even the best part of the night; as the night came to a close her father announced to her that she had gotten into Cambridge University to study law, it was supposed to be a perfect day. “Daddy will you come visit me?” she asked, they were all in the parlour with close family and friends “Of course my love…. Are you okay?” he noticed her pupil roll back and before she could say anything, she was on the floor convulsing.
When she became conscious she was in the hospital listening to the doctor tell her that she had brain cancer. “So I am going to die?” she repeated and her devastated parents tried to encourage her by saying otherwise. “It’s cancer of the brain, how many people do you know that survived brain cancer?” a serious look on her face. “Honey, we aren’t all the same”, her mother responded promising her all the best health professionals and medication in the world. They could afford it yes but even if she survived it “it always comes back” she thought. Slowly, nothing mattered anymore; not school or looking beautiful or staying on top of the social world. She went from being an egotistic vain doll to fighting for her life and fight she did.
“Seventy per cent cancer free”, she whispered unconsciously and quickly scanned the room to make sure that no one heard her. It was true that she was now seventy per cent cancer-free but the fear of it coming back was an unwanted relative she had to live with. Doshima walked past her and she remembered that Biola has been absent from work for two days then she started worrying again.
“Biola… Biola BIola” Efe called softly as she walked into Biola’s apartment. The front door was unlocked, and the CD player was playing a sad song on repeat. Efe walked in slowly until she saw Biola lying on the ground and quickly rushed to her. “Biola!!” she screamed. She was inundated with fear, “oh no!!!” she mentally confirmed that Biola had taken her life “Biola!!” she screamed harder while shaking Biola’s unresponsive body and she viciously searched her handbag for her phone.
She ran outside to get help from neighbors but unfortunately nobody was in sight. It was a very serene area. Efe was frantic. She dialed her phone .“Mama!!!” she screamed into the phone “she is dead… she is dead”. Her mother tried to calm her down to no avail. Efe told her mother that morning about Biola and how worried she was that she hadn’t seen her in two days. Joy was very proud of who her daughter had become “maybe she will come to work today just stop worrying, you know it’s not good for your BP” she handed Efe her lunch and bottle of medication for the day. “
Nobody is around to help…. She is dead mum” Efe was already crying profusely and her mind was clouded “what should I do? I don’t know what to do” “Efe!” her mother shouted to gain her focus “go back inside and confirm if she is breathing or not while I get you help in ten minutes, text me the address immediately” her mother was always very calm during emergencies. Efe ran back in to do as her mother said.
When she got back in, Biola was gone and the small stain of blood on the floor was gone as well. “Biola Biola” she called with a croaking voice, she was scared and confused; slowly walking towards the bathroom, when she peeped she saw Biola standing in front of her bathroom mirror and began to scream, Biola started screaming as well and they screamed for a couple of seconds “why are we screaming” Biola asked “because you were dead and now you are a ghost… are you alive?” she poked Biola and Biola smacked her finger away. “I was unconscious for a couple of hours” “you mean three days… are you okay?” Efe’s expression went from scared to wonder as her eyes noticed Biola’s face and body. There were a lot of changes on Biola’s face and body. The potion had worked Biola got what she wanted. Beauty
Her hair was long to her waist with a natural shine and waves like that of Madame Deloris herself, her eyelashes were very thick, long and carefully organized on both her lower and upper eyelids. She had a fair olive skin that glowed whether it was day or night; it was soft, so soft like that of a new born yet very firm, her body was lean as it could be with a beautiful hourglass figure.
Efe moved closer to her and noticed her high cheekbones and the colour of her eyes, there had different colours painted in them “your eyes Biola… there are like the Van Gogh’s starry night” Efe said looking at Biola in awe “what is that?” “The most beautiful painting in the world” Efe replied inspecting Biola’s eyes
Her body was indeed perfect and she had the beauty promised her by Madame Deloris. “I almost don’t look like a human being in a good way” Biola smiled revealing dimples on both her cheeks. The wonder that had become Biola’s new body carried both of them away that they talked till dawn forgetting that there was work in the morning and sleep was far off in another city bothering someone else.
When Biola drank Madame Deloris’ potion, it first made her unconscious for three days in order for IBE, the spirit of beauty, to work on her body and soul. She was now a new person a different woman… Biola Adeyemi was gone… gone forever; but she would only realise this in years to come.
