Fireworks 3 and 4

Chapter 6ixty

    "Hi."

    "Hello." Brief hand shake. "Please, have a seat."

    The office was clean and minimalistic in nature. Not many knick knacks on the bookshelves. A potted plant in the corner of the room, a window with a gorgeous view of the city, and a wide cherrywood desk with a name plaque doubling as a paperweight. The name on the plaque read Theodore Wesley.

    As Drake seated himself, he regarded Theodore with a once-over. The man was well-dressed. Tailored suit, Italian dress shoes that any modicum of light would bounce off of, a disarming white smile, and a pair of wire-rimmed glasses perched on the bridge of his nose. He was a few shades darker than Drake, but most women would probably say that he was just as attractive, if not more so. 

    "Never thought I'd have you seated before me for a session," Theodore remarked. "We can start off simple. How are you doing today?"

    "I am..." Drake paused and turned his head, trying to sort out his own feelings. "I'm doing okay."

    "Okay?" The therapist repeated.

    Drake nodded. "I guess that's probably a little vague."

    "Just a bit," Theodore agreed. "It looks like you may still be working on assigning names to the emotions you're feeling. So, let's try this: what brought you in here today?"

    Drake took a deep breath and leaned back in his seat. "There are a lot of things going on in my life right now. My life feels...chaotic. I feel a lack of control, like...things are happening around me, things that I caused that are no longer under my control."

    Theodore's brows drew together, as he scribbled a few notes. "A lot of things, such as...?"

    "These sessions are confidential, right?" Drake asked, suddenly feeling nervous.

    Wearing a pleasant smile on his face, the therapist carefully set down the pen on the end table beside his chair. "Unless you threaten harm to others or yourself, these sessions are confidential. That is the standard disclosure I give to patients. Because you're...you, I will also add that I will not run to the press or media and give them details from our sessions. That would be a serious ethical violation on my part."

    Drake nodded slowly, but was still debating on whether or not he should have scheduled this appointment and come here today. "I'm not sure how well you keep up with the news. Some of it is a cliff's notes version of what is going on in my life. I'm in a relationship with Mia Thomas. We hit a rough patch a while back, and I conceived a son with someone else. I handled it very poorly, accused my son's mother of trapping me, laid all the blame with her because of how ashamed I was of myself, and nearly ruined the relationship with the love of my life." He paused to take a few steadying, deep breaths. Then he continued. "The love of my life, Mia, did take me back. I'm so grateful for that, but she's preparing for a tour and I'm writing new music while helping to take care of my son. Our time together is limited and when we are together, it's like... sometimes she's fully in it, and fully with me, and I can tell she wants to be with me. Other times, it's like...she remembers what I did to her and she isn't sure whether she should trust me with her heart, her body, or her soul. It's tearing me apart. I'm trying to give her time and space and whatever she needs, because she deserves it, but...it breaks my heart whenever she rejects my advances." He lapsed into silence.

    Instead of breaking the silence, Theodore joined in on the silence.

    Drake shook his head. "There I go, playing the victim. It breaks my heart whenever she rejects me, and here she's had to deal with me having a kid with someone else."