Her Therapist

Chapter 26.

SEBASTIAN

I sigh, as I enter my apartment, tired of nagging with Esther. I left her in the shelter, with the woman I know, who is like my mother, who... I left her with the woman who gifted me that vase Esther broke. I just hope she doesn't break more of her things, that she can get along with her. I warned her that she can get a little bit extra, and that she likes to scream at people, but that she shouldn't care about anything she says. Nanna, as I like to call her, only said:

"Don't worry, Sebastian, I can already feel negative energy from her, but I will make sure she soon turns it into a positive one. You know me."

"Yeah, I know you."

I know her. Nanna is a type of person who would talk about aura and all that stuff that irritates people, though she can read them better than I can, and she didn't need to finish school to do that. So, no doubt Nanna read that Esther radiates with bad energy. I mean, who wouldn't?

What I want to know now is whether Mery is gone? I throw my belongings in the hall, take off my coat, and boots, and before I can yell her name, I already feel the emptiness of my apartment- something that I'm used to, something from which I can't escape. 

When I enter the living room, I see that my prediction was right - she's gone. But something fills my nostrils, and once I turn around to the kitchen, my eyes widen. She prepared me lunch. I enter the kitchen, the same place where I prepared breakfast for Esther twice, but only once she ate it for real, and my eyes fill with tears. 

No one has ever done this for me. No one has ever prepared anything for me, and all of the sudden that feels so intimate, so... special. I feel special. After six months I finally feel special again. Since Lucy. But she's never cooked for me. Mery must be special. That's right. She is special, not me, but I can't help but feel so.

I open the plates to see what she has cooked, and I don't think I've ever seen this much food. I don't think I can eat all of this. Why she hasn't stayed so we can share all of this? We could eat, talk, laugh, and then sleep together afterward, while I draw circles on her bare back. But she's left. And I don't know when she will be back. Or will she even be back?

When I turn on my heel, I see a post-it note on my fridge. Enjoy the meal, it says, I made it with love. 

And then is when I burst into tears. And then is when I realize something horrible. Horrible for Mery. I don't entirely wish I had this meal with her. I wish I had it with Esther.

ESTHER

"No, you should do this..."

"I don't care how should I do this!", I scream at the old woman with whom Sebastian hugged, and gave her a kiss on her cheek. "Can we just get past this, and you can just, you know..." I raise my hands in the air.

"I don't", she says, her expression confused, though suddenly I feel like laughing. But I don't.

"Fire me", I whisper, making fireworks with my hand. "I think it's a great idea." Sebastian then will see how I can't work in a place like this, and he will let me work in some café. And suddenly I want to swear that I will behave in a café. I won't make a mess like I used to.

"No way I will do that, honey, Sebastian left you to me to take care of you, and I won't fire you no matter what you do. So, let's get past this", her voice repeats my words, "and show you how to wash this precious creature." She coos, and I lift my upper lip, irritated.

She calls me by cute nicknames just like Sebastian's girlfriend does. Speaking of her girlfriend... No, no, don't go there. He lied to you, and if he doesn't tell you one secret no one knows, you will stop going to his sessions.