~ Seven Years Later ~
Sade's POV:
"Why hello there, if it isn't my favorite patient," Diana stood from behind her desk with a smile, making her way to its front as I walked through the stained glass door.
"Ugh, stop it-" she laughed as I grimaced, leaning into a side hug. "You know I hate that term, D."
With my Prada handbag at my side, I took a seat on the chic apricot loveseat near her long mahogany desk. Diana resided back at her midnight blue rolling chair, opening her laptop. The pants leg of my tailored suit flapped as I crossed one leg over the other, leaning on the armrest with my elbow.
"How are you my love?"
A sigh, deeper than I intended, escaped my lips as I glanced around Dr. Young's office. "I'm good, I think..."
Her eyes darted from the screen before her to my pondering expression. A quizzical brow arched amongst her face,
"You think? That wasn't your answer a month ago."
"Yeah well a month ago was a month ago," I shrugged. "New month, new me."
That was meant to be a lighthearted joke, yet it didn't receive a laugh.
My therapist lowered her laptop. "Something happen?" The absence of her friendly tone and presence of her doctor tone prompted another sigh to emit from me. Though I quickly waved her off,
"Oh no, it's nothing like that. I just...I don't know, I feel a bit...repetitive these days. A little less alive, if that makes any sense."
Turning her chair to face me head on, she nodded,
"Work not driving you any longer?"
"Oh no, don't get me wrong, I still love my job. The passion's still there, sure, but I- it's like-" another sigh, "I wake up, make or go get coffee, head to work, spend most of the day there, then I come home and watch tv or read, go to bed, then repeat." Struggling to find the right words, I turned my body forward, allowing my eyes to focus on a spot on the light sage green wall. "And a month ago, and even before then, as you said, I was fine with that. But now it's...it's-"
"Things are different?"
"Yes."
There was a usual pause. Anytime I came into Diana's office with something on my chest, she'd wait about thirty seconds afterward to either let everything sink in or allow me the time to say more if needed.
Today, there was more, but I held it back.
"So, what else do you do? For you?" My eyes met hers as confusion took my expression,
"What do you mean?"
"Just what I said. You said you get up, go to work, come home, repeat- but what's in between? Surely Hunter drags you along to nights out, you're only twenty six. And being a very successful and famous fashion designer at such a ripe age, there's events and parties your attendance is required for...."
My eyes trailed to the floor. "Yeah, but I don't wake up in the morning excited or looking forward to that stuff. Not anymore at least."
"What happened then? When did that change?" She asked, standing to join me on the other side of the loveseat. I then looked at her, a sudden sadness in my eyes, though I tried to mask it with uncertainty. "Surely you didn't just wake up one day with this altered outlook on your life?"
