Scarlett Johansson | One-Shots (1)

Problems Pt. 2

Scarlett:
Callie and I walk out of our marriage counselor's building. There's a safe distance between us. Callie stays quiet. I reach for her hand but she quickly finds another use for it instead of putting it in mine. I don't know if she did that intentionally, but it hurt. I swallow back tears as I sit in the passenger seat of the car.

"I'm meeting Ariana for lunch so I'm just dropping you off," Callie finally says about halfway home.

"Okay." I keep my eyes glued to the road speeding past the window under us until we get home. She pulls up the long driveway and puts the car in park.

"I don't want to be pushy but I have to go," she says when I don't get out.

I go for the door handle but freeze. I turn back around to look at her. "Are you leaving me?" I finally spit out.

She sighs. "Scarlett–"

"Please just tell me the truth. Are you leaving me?"

"No. Can we talk about this when I get back?"

"Fine." I force myself to leave and don't turn around.

-

Callie:
I pull into the high-class restaurant's parking lot. Walking into the restaurant, there are two guards at the door who stop me before I can go in.

"I'm here for lunch with Ariana," I tell them impatiently, showing them my ID before they ask for it. They let me pass so I head to the back of the restaurant where I find Ariana Grande already in a round booth waiting for me. "Hey, sorry I'm a few minutes late."

"It's no problem. Is everything okay?"

"Just marriage problems, what's new?" I say with a sad breath.

"Any progress with the therapy?"

"I don't know. We've been in it for a few weeks but things still feel tense. And maybe it's meant to feel tense at first but I thought things would feel at least a little better by now."

"Just give it more time. If it's meant to be, it'll be."

"I'm trying, you know? Like I'm trying to remember that we're in therapy to get better and it's not going to be a waste of time. You know, when I was dropping her off today, she asked me if I was leaving her. I said no because I really don't want to leave her. I'm not planning on it. But the fact that she even asked me that? That can't be a good sign," I vent.

"Callie." Ariana takes my hand from across the table. "I think she's just as scared as you are. I know for a fact she doesn't want to end the marriage. You know what I've learned?"

"What?"

"Talking through things helps."

"We do enough of that in therapy."

"I'm not talking about therapy. I bet it'll do more if you talk—civically may I add—on your own. Just the two of you."

"For years, all we did was fight. Who's to say it won't be any different now?"

"You're in therapy."

"I thought you said you weren't talking about therapy," I say with a teasing smirk.

"Isn't it crazy how everything comes around in a full circle? It's almost like it's meant to be."

"Don't give me hope."

"I'm not. I speak facts, Callie."

"I hope you speak the truth, not false facts."

-

Pulling into the driveway, I realize I've been out with Ariana longer than I expected. I pull into the garage and head inside. I find Scarlett on the living room couch with a glass of red wine and a movie playing on the TV.