The Symphony

Useless Repetition

Walls keep everybody out.
Boundaries teach people where the door is.
- Mark Graves
______

I've already been here for three days and to say I'm having the worst time of my life, is an understatement. They keep trying to get me to go to dinner with Clarissa, even after I've told them no countless times. It's the only thing, besides business, that we talk about actually. I've been hesitant to tell them about Mina for fear they'll criticize her.

Don't get me wrong, I don't give a fuck if they like her or not. It won't change my love for her regardless. My fear is that they'll say something rude and I'll lose my shit on them. My parents have never been on the receiving end of my anger, few people have. Given the love I have for Wilhemina, I can already see that being a bad situation if they criticize her.

My reaction to Clarissa only being the tip of the iceberg. I knew she'd back off about it after a sneak peek but my parents aren't as easy. I'm going over some documents when I get a knock on the hotel door. I'm on the phone with Mina so I let her know I'm going to get the door real quick.

I open the door only to see the person I least wanted it to be. "Hey char" she says trying to enter, I put my arm across the frame not allowing her to pass. "What are you doing here?" I ask, being conscious of my volume since Wilhemina is still on the phone. "Well what do you think? I'm here to talk..." she says pushing against my arm gently.

"How many times do I have to tell you that I do not wanna talk to you? You can tell my parents I said fuck off because I'm happy with who I'm with" I tell her. "Oh come on, Charlie. Stop being like that. Just let me in" she whines, "leave right now, Clarissa" I warn her. "No. I want to talk to you and I'm not leaving until I do" she asserts, crossing her arms in an attempt to be intimidating.

"I hope you have fun freezing in the hallway then" I quip, pushing the door in her face. She stops it with her hand and pushes back, surprisingly stronger than I remembered. "I said I want to talk. You're going to let me in" she argued, "I'm not gonna do shit, actually. My girlfriend is on the phone right now and she's a lot less forgiving than me so I suggest you get the fuck out before I call security" I say.

"You wouldn't" she challenges, narrowing her eyes as she gets closer to me. "Try me" I reply, slamming the door in her face this time and locking it. I take a deep breath and walk back over to the couch, taking a seat and resuming my work. "Who was it?" Mina asks, "just an annoying friend of my parents" I reply which isn't a total lie. 

I mean... she's not one of my friends. "Oh? What did she want?" she asks and I glance at her momentarily. Did she assume it was a woman or did she hear us? "She wanted to talk, but I know it wasn't anything important" I sigh. "Mm" she hums, turning away from the camera to type harshly on her laptop.

She's mad. "Baby?" I call her, "mhm" she hums softly. "What's wrong?" I ask, "nothing. Nothing at all" she lies. "You sure? You seem a little upset, no offense" I point out, "I'm not. I have to go, I'll talk to you later" she replies. Before I can argue she hangs up on me leaving me confused and quite honestly agitated.

Calling her has been the best part of my days here and now she's acting weird. I text her 'good night' because I know we won't talk again before I go to sleep. I demanded a day to myself tomorrow in hopes that I could catch up with Wilhemina. We haven't really talked a lot since I've been here, mostly just being on the phone for the other's presence.

That looks like it might not happen though, so I might just sleep instead. As much as I'm dreading it, I know I have to talk to my parents as well. Them sending Clarissa over, or at the very least giving her my hotel, crossed a line. Maybe I'll do that first thing and then make up for it with the rest of my day.