Bad Love

Chapter 4

The last time Melissa was depressed was when she and Andrew had broken up four years ago. That time Andrew had been there to help her out of it, this time she was alone. She didn't like talking to her parents, they were too well armed and she couldn't talk with them as therapists without being aware the entire time that they were her parents. So she wallowed. During the day she slept 'til noon, not caring that she was missing classes, and at night she stayed up until the early hours of the morning. She'd always known she didn't have him, that it was impossible for her to have him, and that eventually something would come along that would take him away from her, but she'd never imagined that something would be Jasmine, the woman that, in Andrew's eyes, had no equal.

Melissa hadn't been like this before she'd met Andrew, she'd had friends and had been for the most part normal. The unattainableness of him that she'd perceived when she'd first met him had led her to become fixated on him and contemptuous of others. It was impossible for her to go back to the person she was five years ago, she'd known Andrew too long. She had to find a way to move forward as the person that she'd become and decided after a year of wavering on her major that she would study Creative Writing, and for inspiration she would look back over the entirety of her relationship with Andrew.

* * *

Sally had been volunteering her services to the local schools ever since she'd started her practice. Andrew was referred to her by the principal at his high school, who had had Andrew's numerous stories about suicide brought to his attention by Andrew's English teacher. The first thing that Sally observed about Andrew was that he was not suicidal. He was highly alert when he entered her office, walking territorially and looking around appraisingly. His manner was almost hostile, like an immediate challenging of her authority.

"Andrew, why don't you sit down," she said to him.

"You're a child psychologist," he responded without moving, looking at the books on her shelves, as if he hadn't heard her.

"Yes, I am."

He turned his attention back to her and examined her with a critical eye.

"Is something the matter?" She asked, feeling uncomfortable under his gaze.

"Are you a child psychologist because you're not up to dealing with the complex problems of adults?"

Sally had never been asked this question before; it was imperative that she assert her authority.

"Andrew let's sit down."

Andrew took a seat on the chair opposite her and for the first time since he'd entered her office Sally had control of the room. They talked, and Andrew proved to be her smartest, most challenging patient. Their first session was a success. Sally was able to discover that the reason for his anti-social behaviour, absenteeism and outbursts at school was that he found his teachers and peers exasperating and was skipping school to go to the library to read, and that the stories about suicide were a practical joke. At home there wasn't much difference, he had as low an opinion of his parents and his brother as he did his teachers and peers and spent almost all of his time at home in his room. Their first session was a success, Sally had gained Andrew's trust and, more importantly, respect, and Andrew had been unreserved in his openness with her.

Andrew quickly became her favourite patient. She extended his sessions from the usual fifty minutes to ninety minutes, and spent many nights talking about him with her husband, which is how Melissa came to learn of him. Melissa had a nose for trouble and after several nights of eavesdropping on her parents conversations about Andrew she realized that she wasn't going to be able to stay away from him. She knew which days her mother saw Andrew and spent an afternoon looking out of her window for when he would arrive. Her mother saw two boys that afternoon, she waited to see which one stayed for ninety minutes and when he exited her office she left the house and followed him until they were a safe distance from her house.