For Rachel

4

 Rachel woke up to the blaring sound of her alarm clock and a bed void of any cats.

She grabbed her pillow and shoved it over her head to block out the sound. But just when she thought she was safe, a very large and very heavy body jumped on her back and meowed loudly in her ear.

In retaliation Rachel rolled over and trapped Garfield in her blanket.

"Well, aren't you just the cutest little baby." She cooed as she wrapped the cat in a swaddle.

Garfield narrowed his eyes at her and hissed.

"What? Is the wittle baby hungry."

Rachel started her way downstairs with Garfield still swaddled in her blanket and headed over to the cupboard to get his food out.

Garfield started wiggling in her hold, "Gosh, fine. I'll let you down." She said as she sat him down.

He darted away from her, only turning around to give her a glare before he went over to the back door that was casting warm sunlight onto the wood floors and laid down.

Rachel heated up a breakfast sandwich and fed Garfield, leaving the house in a sunny mood.

____

Malaya talked about her daughter a lot during their session. It was obvious how much she loved the little girl. And it made sense since they were all each other had.

While in the middle of talking, she broke out into a coughing fit.

"Are you ok? Do you need some water?" Rachel asked, concern lacing her voice.

She started to reach over to the plastic water dispenser next to her couch but was stopped by Malaya's voice.

"No, no I'm fine. Happens when I talk to much." She responded with a chuckle while rubbing her forehead.

"Ok," Rachel said unsure, "but if you're not feeling well, we can end early."

"No I'm fine, lets continue."

"Right then, looks like you're supposed to be taking Lexapro. Have you?" she looked through the papers on her clipboard.

Malaya sighed, "When I remember yes."

Rachel frowned.

"It's nothing to be concerned about." She hurriedly said, "It just gets so hectic in the house sometimes that I forget."

Rachel just hummed.

They continued with the rest of their therapy session, mainly talking about Malaya's week and the improving state of her mental health.

"You know, I've always wanted a little garden for me and Bella," she gave a wistful sigh," Me and my momma used to have one, but that was when we lived in a bigger house. I don't think our apartment would be able to handle a garden." She chuckled.

"What was your garden at your old home like?" Rachel asked.

"Oh it was beautiful. My mom planted anything and everything and always let me pick when the food was ripe. I hope one day I can give Bella some of the joys that I had as a kid."

"For your sake I hope you can too, and if it means anything, I think you're doing an excellent job at keeping her happy."

Malaya bashfully looked down at her lap, "Thanks."

Before long their session finally came to an end and Malaya was leaving the office, returning it to its original state.

Except for the little chocolate sitting in her place.

Rachel picked it up and read the note that she knew would be there.

"Walk the earth as if you are kissing it with your feet."

She smiled when she read it, knowing that appreciating the earth is definitely something that Malaya does.

That had been something that Rachel had been doing more often, smiling. But It was hard not to when she had a friend like Malaya. Because it was beautiful really, how much she lived each day like its her last and appreciated her life so much.

____

Rachel had a patient who had started coming to therapy only a couple months ago after her dad passed. Her name was NaCumbea, Bea for short.

Her mother was native American and came from the flathead reservation in Montana. She fell in love with a white man and had kids with him.

They lived on the reservation until Bea got a sickness that threatened her life, causing them to move away from the area and near where her father's family lived. And when she got better, they had decided to continue staying where they were as it was more financially sustainable for the family.

Though Bea had said that her mom had plans of moving back to her old home to reconnect with her family seeing as all her children were grown and had stable lives.

But unlike her brothers, Bea was not only suffering from the loss of their father, but she had a hard case of, what she felt was, imposter syndrome that had been eating away at her ever since college.

She had told Rachel at the beginning of their sessions that it's been hard entering spaces where she didn't feel like she belonged, because those spaces were not built for her to belong.

So for the past couple months Rachel had been trying ways to help Bea overcome her imposter syndrome and be more confident in, not only work, but life too.

And for the first time in weeks Rachel felt confident in saying that Bea had, in a way, overcame that small part that was holding herself back. Not that she was taking credit for it or anything, but Bea has been more willing to open up about her feelings without holding back. It had been one of the mental exercises that Rachel had been making her do.

"Have you ever thought about how many people think about you? It's so bizarre."

"How so?" Rachel asked.

"Well just imagine someone, out of the blue, thinking of your face. Something happens; they remember you. Your favorite song, how you dress, the way you talk, the look in your eyes when you are happy. They remember that about you, even if you haven't seen each other in years. Everything in life is a reminder of a person, a place, a moment. You may think you've forgotten, but you haven't."

"That's a beautiful way to look at it."

She hummed in response.

"Has your mom already packed to move back home?" Rachel asked.

"Yeah, I'm going to go back to the reservation with her for a couple weeks to help her settle back in."

And with that, another session was over, and Rachel was packing up to go back home.

"Hey Rachel before you go, me and a couple colleagues were going to go out for dinner, and we were wondering if you wanted to join?" Her assistant's head popped in through her door.

Rachel thought about it for a moment, "Yeah, I guess I'm free tonight. Same place as usual?"

"You betcha." Her assistant smiled before walking back out the door.

So for that night, Rachel spent her evening surrounded by co-workers that she could call friends, eating and enjoying the night. 

~~~~

YOU'RE INSECURE

I don't know what to put here.