As long as Mirabel had known Mr. Peter Adebayo, she always knew something was wrong with him. Call it the holy spirit, intuition, or maybe jazz; she knew he had a lot of baggage.

Emotional baggage.

Mirabel was thrilled when she resumed the position of Mr. Peter’s personal assistant. "Kirk and Clara Law Firm" was one of the best firms in Lagos. Many people wanted to work there- She was not very motivated about the money- which was good, but the experience. It was an honor to learn from Peter, the son of the law enthusiast, Micheal Adebayo.

Humorously nicknamed "Nigerian Christian Grey" by the young female workers, Peter Johnson was a 36-year-old partner in a law firm. After Mirabel's last year in the university, she wanted great experience and a feel of the law world, and Peter could help out with her dream.

With Peter, Mirabel learned many things about Law, especially in Nigeria. Mirabel was convinced that the Nigerian Law was not respected. The Law was either the greedy politicians or the elites in the society who had tons of money at their disposal. She was intent on changing that. She had high dreams of being a judge, executing fair judgment on any case, and reducing the number of wrongfully convicted felons.

Mr. Peter was a lot of help, providing her with lessons, even unconsciously.

One thing Mirabel also found out was that Peter was a walking mental case. Peter had many problems, and Mirabel only knew because she was his assistant.

To everyone, he was a shark in the law firm. He succeeded in multiple law cases. He took care of his family. He provided his girlfriend with lots of care, money, and love in the world.

He was an all-rounder. Everyone was in awe of everything he could do.

Mirabel knew it all and saw a man suffering but hiding. He was hiding his battles. His father, the owner of the law firm, was stuck in a coma after a life-threatening car accident. His mother urged him to take control of a company he never wanted to be a part of. Even though he had studied law, he wanted to be an artist. His younger sister was a drug addict on a quest to ruin her life. His girlfriend was a greedy material girl who billed him for EVERYTHING.

He was going through a lot, and no one noticed.

Mirabel had also taken note of all his tactics to hide the fact that he was in distress. He would stay at work for hours, working hard, burying himself in millions of paperwork. He used his work as a form of escapism.

The young girl wondered how people did not know that he was suffering. She considered herself an expert on mental health, especially with men. She had been surrounded by mentally suffering men but chose not to say anything.

Her older brother, Derek, was the family's breadwinner after his father died from cancer. The mother, Sarah, and her extended family started placing high demands on him after the patriarch’s death. He began to work multiple jobs; he would stay up at night. He hardly slept, used to sniff drugs and mix all sorts of content in his room. He claimed it was to gain energy, but Mirabel knew better. She was not naive like the rest of her family.

Mirabel had brought Derek’s mental state to her mother's attention, and all the woman said was, "He has to work hard to fend for us."

Ridiculous!

Mirabel was angered by her mother’s response and tried hard to let her brother open up. All he had said was that he was stressed but needed to help the family. It came at a horrible time. Mirabel's sister, Valerie, had been knocked up by the gang member, Scatter-teeth. The wretched man told her to get an abortion, and she feared for her life. She birthed twins. Poor Derek had to work for an additional two people.

All that work and Derek lost his life. He slept and didn't wake up.

Sarah thought her village people intended to steal all the men in her family. Mirabel knew that Derek had died because he was taking in too much. "Maybe God had taken his son away from you emotionless leeches." Mirabel wanted to say to her family but chose not to.

Seeing Derek's case, Mirabel knew that Mr. Peter was suffering. He needed help and needed it quickly. She was put in a difficult situation- she couldn't urge him to open up to her because that would be a lack of boundaries on her part.

A part of her yearned to hug him, to tell him that he didn't have to act tough. Problems cut across genders, and crying was allowed.

Mirabel didn't know what the fuss of crying was about. Derek did not shed a tear when their father died. When he wanted to show the slightest emotion, Sarah's sister, Farida, told him," Don't cry. Men don't cry."

Society places too many restrictions on men- if they show they are struggling, there could be problems. The insensitive community would tell them, "You're acting like a woman."

It was ridiculous! Mirabel was upset that she would have to raise her child in a generation that shunned men's mental health. It wasn't fair. Derek deserved better, and so did Mr. Peter.

She was going to give him help before it was too late. She started by asking him about his day, being intent on his well-being. Mr. Peter would give vague answers and wouldn't smile. Mirabel was not the kind to give up even when the secretary started spreading rumors that she may be trying to get too close to Peter because she wanted an older, wealthy lover.

Mirabel also tried to converse with his crackhead of a sister, Jolade, to implore her to speak more to Mr. Peter. The uncultured girl said," Peter is fine. He can handle everything. He should be able to do so. Why else is he the man of the house? Besides, he has to keep working; where else will I get my weed from?"

If Jolade was Mirabel's friend, God knows what Mirabel would have done. She would have smacked her across the face for her dirty habits and her insensitive mindset. It didn't make sense. People had to know that Peter was struggling.

The worst thing happened. Mirabel had found a bottle of sniper in Peter's cabinet. She had thought of the worst-case scenario- Mr. Peter wanted to end his life.

She wasn't going to let it happen.

He had told her to leave after work; he would still need to review some documents. Mirabel knew he wanted to work late so he could do it. She refused to leave. She paced around her desk, thinking of how to stop it.

Eventually, she walked into his office, overwhelmed with courage and her zest for life. His face contorted in confusion," Mirabel, did you forget something?"

She shook her head, and the subdued words began to roll out," I had a brother who was suffering for a long while. He was working so hard and forgot that he was human. I tried telling my family he was suffering, but no one listened. He slept and didn't wake up. To others, he was sick. But I think he took pills to kill himself, just like you're about to do_"

Mr. Peter opened his mouth to speak, but Mirabel's voice stopped him," I know that I am just your assistant and shouldn't be talking about your personal life, but Mr. Peter, you are doing so much. You are taking on too much. I know you are hurt about your father's health because you two were close...."

Mr. Peter looked down at his desk when his father was brought up. "He was your hero." Mirabel cooed," I know your sister's life is stressing you. Now, you have to be a father to her and a brother to her. People expect you to have everything figured out, but it should not be.... Nobody can handle it all. I don't want you to think that you can."

Tears welled up in her eyes," Please, don't kill yourself. Please."

Peter's eyes locked on hers. No words were said. She expected him to yell at her and tell her it was all lies, but no. Peter didn't say anything, but his eyes did. It read so much pain and hurt.

"What would you suggest I do?" His voice shook," Quit? Tell my mother that I cannot do it?" Mirabel shrugged and quickly suggested," You can take a break, you can do whatever you can, but you're not allowed to keep being strong even when things are not going well. You're human." "And you're doing your best." She added to make him feel good about himself.

Doing your best. Peter thought about it. He was doing his best, but he was struggling. It hurt when none of his family members recognized his strive in the company or the family affairs. His mother came with complaints; his sister only cared about herself. His girlfriend- the one he got for support, only wanted his money. It hurt.

The fact that Mirabel, a little girl who had been working with him for four months, figured he was battling with problems, and his family didn't hurt.

It made him miss his father, the only one who truly understood and cared.

Tears rolled down his cheeks. He tried to hide it from Mirabel, but the sob gave it away- gave away his weakness.

Mirabel took a step forward- she didn't care that he was the boss, she wanted to comfort him. He raised a hand to her, stopping her," Stop... Don't... please."

Mirabel was also shedding tears of her own. He glanced at her with tear-glistening eyes," Men don't cry...."

He sniffed and cleaned his tears, saying more confidently," Men don't cry."

Mirabel stood there, thinking of how the world had failed men, how the world put so much pressure on them, and how they discarded their feelings.

She thought about men who had to hide their battles in work, drugs, and sex. Some had even gained bad habits through their disguising. Then, society would blame them.... What did the world genuinely want?

Mirabel never thought she would hate anything more than she hated the phrase," Men don't cry."