Once Upon A Bet

/36/ Control

Dedicated to luisaespinolamajo, thanks a lot for all the incredible support so far <333

My heart picked up at those glacial blue eyes I hadn't seen in the past ten days. They pierced through me as soon as I opened the door, concealing rather strong emotions in that wall of ice that got me feeling unease and apprehensive.

There she stood, all neat and perfect in the middle of the dim landing that look even more lame with her imposing presence there. She looked so out of place, yet it still gave off the impression he held all the power, like the world would just bend at her will when she asked and I felt myself shrinking, insignificant under her powerful display of elegance and natural domination.

Her eyes scanned me up and down, narrowing slightly and making me fold my arms after I softly pulled the door ajar behind me, coming to stand a good couple feet from her, knowing I need to get over with this as pianless as possible-

"Novella." her voice squeezed my heart in a tight grip, erasing all the little preparation I manage in the last couple minutes.

Everything in me shut down, leaving a numb tingling spread from my tummy to my limbs, leaving a nasty aftertaste. My mouth was dry, my heart was ragged and the small feeling of melancholy and longing was replaced by this brutal anxiety I've been feeling ever since I get back.

"Mother..."

"So this is where you've been staying? In this...." her eyes analyze once more the wasted paper walls and faint scent of thai food, scrunching her nose in disgust. "This dump." I flinched at her tone. "Alright, you got your little moment. Now let's go home."

No. No no no no no- "N-no."

"No?" her nostrils flared. "What do you mean no?"

"Just that." I cast my gaze to the floor between us, as holding hers turned up to be too hard. "No."

Even with my focus on her feet, I could feel  the way her eyes narrowed, piercing through my chest like a knife, making it difficult to breathe. "You got no idea, what we've done to cover your little rebellious act and still people spread rumors. Congrats, you got the family all shaken and upside down. What else do you want?"

It pierced through my heart, bringing an awful familiar pressure behind my eyes. Those were her first worries seeing after all these days apart? No apology or sorrow, just remorse that this was making people get nosy about the way I embarrassed them, I didn't even know why I expected something else or why it still hurt but the thing was that it did ache. It squeezed my chest like a bloody compressor.

I took one step back, reaching for the knob. "If that's all-"

"They called from the therapist." she rushed making my heart halted, freezing my muscles all over. Oh my God. She wasn't supposed to know about that. "Apparently next session has to be rescheduled from 4 to 5pm. I mean, a therapist?" se repeated in disbelief knowing ow she got my attention. "Why are they calling us home? Why are they asking for you?" I gulped but my mouth was too dry, turning slowly to see her judjamental scowl forming again. "What is all of it about?"

"I'm seeing a therapist." I confessed slowly but to my further embarrassment she snorted.

"I gathered that much, but why?" she pressed making me flinch. "And why am I just knowing about it now?"

"I-it's not easy to tell you things-" but she interrupted me again.

"Is this why you ran away? Because your.... problems or whatever you're having?" I didn't answer, I couldn't. It was too shameful and vulnerable. And her exasperation and huff wasn't really helping. She let out a frustrated sigh, calming herself before she tries against slowly, in a more controlled tone: "Novella, why are you going to a therapist?"