BEHIND THE PAINT

CHAPTER FORTY TWO

CHAPTER FORTY TWO
The second day of therapy started out just like the first. Chloe stared on the big brown door that stood in between her and her long awaited emotional confrontation with herself through her Dr Coleman,her best friend.
"You know..You don't always have to knock right" Zendaya said, after letting her in. Chloe did not know what else to do.

Zee might have still been her bestie but in that moment and time,she was automatically opened to take her as someone more serious and stable. Her therapist.
"Yeah..umm..yeah.." she responded, sniffling away as she avoid direct eye contact with zendeya while making her way into the room and back on the grey couch she last sat on.
" Woah...are you ok..did something happen" Zendaya asked, shutting the door gently and walking over to her blue chair.
"Yeah.. yeah..I'm just.. let's get back to the painting" Chloe replied,still fighting her tears away.
"Choe, I know I'm your therapist but I'm also your best friend....if we're going to do this ,I need to know what's going on" Zendaya said honestly.
"Fine .. then let's not do this " Chloe said ,about to cry.
"Kk very funny... Now spill" Zendaya initiated.
"Tom has a.. someone..and..I don't know why ...it's fucking with me so much" Chloe responded, giving in. She could never hold herself back with zendeya.
"Ok... okay...sooo...wow..how does that make you feel" zendeya breathed , trying so hard not to feel deep with her like last time.
"I just told you...I don't know.." Chloe said.
"Okay..let's put that on the board...the painting " zendeya said.
"Kk yes.. I've realized that you were pregnant when you painted that..this was a time when you where going through the toughest transitions of life" she called out.
"Yeah...the only other time I've ever been scared " Chloe said , watching her write something down.
"What's the first..." Zee asked.
"Losing Dad... nothing..and I mean nothing has ever scared the shit out of me..." Chloe said.
"What about Tom..and his... someone " Zendaya trailed.
"Kk oh I'm not scared of that... Just broken,hurt even but not scared" Chloe lightly chuckled, wanting to cry.
"Oh yeah..and why's that" zee asked , taking down something again.
"Because kk Tom and I aren't even a thing..you know that.. we're just two people trying to raise a baby girl into a woman." Chloe responded.
"I know that part ..but I still can't shake the fact that you aren't scared to lose him," Zendaya expressed.
"When I found out Tom wasn't into me , my entire self felt shaken" she said.
"and I'm sorry, again " Chloe apologized.
"No , it's not about...agh don't you see" Zendaya groaned.
"The fact that you're not scared but just hurt to lose him isn't normal, Chloe... because you love the fûck out of  him" she said, honestly.
"Well,you can't really be scared to lose what you never had ...I kinda just saw it coming." Chloe spelled out.
"Just saw it coming..ok..we have a word for that in the psychology world " Zendaya managed to intrinsically State.
"It's called the self fulfilling prophecy" she said.

"Oooooohh " Chloe sounded out, seeming impressed.
"Kk ah no it's a bad thing " Zendaya said.
"Oh..." Chloe drained.
"Yeah... it's when we expect someone or something to act a certain way towards us so we treat them like they will until they do" Zendaya explained.
"You thought,Thomas was gonna eventually leave you ... Will get back to that.. so you treated him like he had until he did and you where like...seeeee" she trailed off.
"Ohhhhhhhhhh... you're good " Chloe admitted, nodding her head.
"Duhh bitch..now to figure out why you gave Tom the prophecy and what's behind the painting, because those two entities are related " Zendaya told her.
"Ok..let's go.." Chloe spoke up, sitting attentively.
"You talked about your Dad's death being the one thing you feared the most and that the period you experienced throughout your pregnancy triggered that fear." Zendeya asked.
"Yeah..that shit was scary zee ..like I'm getting goose bumps just thinking about it " Chloe replied, shuttering.
"Your pregnancy period was compared to the feeling you had when your dad died..can you tell me why..what was going on in your head at that time that was so bad.. it had you thinking about your Dad " Zendaya asked.
"Ok ummm...my future,I guess ...I wasn't even sure you and I would still be besties after that..then Tom" Chloe began.
"I mean , I knew I'd never lose you completely but Tom.." she went on, shaking her head.
"So it's the adjustment to the changes you thought would take place that scared you" zendeya said and Chloe gave her a nod.
"you did your painting after you confirmed that some things would never change...me , Tom. " She trailed.
"Yes but..I still have thoughts or dreams where he's not there. You are there but ...not him" Chloe interrupted.
"And who's him..your Dad " Zendaya asked .
"No..my.. Tom " Chloe said, locking down.
"Sometimes it's like everything's normal but he's not ... isn't there" she cried. Again,all Zendaya wanted to do was hug her but she had to be strong.
"Sounds to me like you have a classical conditioning problem." Zendeya told her.

"Problem..." Chloe sniffled.
"No,it's quite normal actually...you see sometimes human beings respond to certain stimuli that make them automatically act a certain way" Zendaya said.
"This stimuli can be anything..food ,beer ,a bell...your stimuli is your pain, your fear" she explained.
"Of when I lost Dad " Chloe said, wanting to cry.
"Yeah.. think about it.Can you think of any other male figure that has affected you this much since your dad" Zendaya asked and she shook her head.
"Exactly..Chloe , I've known you since highschool..your prom date was Mr Rogers from the band play kkk" she giggled.
"Thanks for that reminder " Chloe pointed out.
"Away from that...you know the saying, girls fall for boys like their fathers and boys Their mothers.." Zendaya started.
"You have fallen for someone just like your Dad " she said.
"Well I wouldn't say , like..." Chloe streamed.
"Well I know what you mean and no it is not the skin color I'm bombing about, bitch " Zendaya slapped off.
"I'm talking about his personality,his character..the things he says to you especially when you need to hear them the most ... Tom's just like your Dad, otherwise he wouldn't have triggered you to respond to that familiar stimuli " she exhaled. Chloe didn't need to be convinced because it all made sense to her

. All of it.
"Which is also why you never really like him because he was the one guy since your Dad that moved your attention in a certain way..you never really gave a fuck about romance until Tom happened" Zendaya added on.
"So you really worked on a degree while doing fashion huuuhh" was all she could say.
"Bitch focus...my degree won't mean shit if we don't figure this out" zendeya alerted.
"You know why you timed Thomas out...but do you know who's behind that painting " she asked.
"Oh my God...kkk .. Yes.." Chloe said as though an idea just had just popped in.
"Can you explain it to me ...in five sentences, that's all I need" Zendaya asked , getting ready to write it down.
"Actually..I can do it in two" she said, sitting up to face her best friend with a smile.