Salt And Pepper

Hers: The Riddance

"So, you've been hearing this Mickey since when?"I ask.

"Ever since the burglary."he answers, looking really pissed.

Although it isn't abnormal to hear voices during depression, I'm shocked. I don't even know why. Being a psychologist, I should've known he was going through this but this guy is way too guarded.

"Look, don't judge me, okay? I've been through a lot and I still am. I just needed someone trustworthy to talk to, and who could be better than someone who doesn't even exist?"he says.

"Someone to talk to? Isn't that why I'm here?"I ask.

"I said 'trustworthy'"Jason says in a mocking tone.

"From now on, you are going to talk to me. About anything. Anything that you would talk to Mickey about."I say, ignoring his remark.

He just stares at me as if I'm the crazy guy.

"And why on earth would I do that?"he laughs.

"Because I'm your therapist. And you have to follow my orders."I say.

He just shakes his head and walks back to his room, leaving me alone, with my broken Mac. I'm so angry but I unfortunately cannot express my anger. I clear the mess he left behind which takes a lot of time.

By the time I get rid of all the tiny glass pieces, it's almost time for lunch. I've been having takeouts for the past few days, time for healthy eating! I go to the kitchen to check for groceries, there's nothing except for vegetables and fruits. I'm not particularly fond of veggies, except for mushrooms maybe. And luckily, there are mushrooms and salad leaves. Yay! Living alone for such a long time has taught me to cook decently so I prepare a nice mushroom salad topped with olives.

Suddenly the door clicks open and Jason walks in. "Where were you?!"I ask.

"Like you even noticed my absence."he snorts. "Anyway, since I don't have access to my car, I took the cab and got you this."he hands me the package he'd been holding. I open it and find a brand new Mac, even a better version than my old one.

"Jeez, thanks. But you seriously didn't have to buy me a new one."I say.

"Whatever. I don't like owing to anyone."he says and vanishes into his room.

Our daily evening session goes just how the past two have been going. I do most of the talking and he just sits there, least bothered and yawning every now and then. Okay, I've had enough of this.

"Get up. Put on your shoes. Fast."I say.

"What? Why?"he asks.

"Since you have no interest in my verbal counseling, we're gonna go to the park and try to clear your head."I tell him.

"Dude. I'm sorry, I'll pay attention now, I swear!"he says like a child.

I just stare at him and he finally gets up.

"We could've taken a cab, you know."he says once we reach the park. I decided to make him walk.

"Physical exercise helps a lot in clearing our heads."I say. "Besides, the walking was just a warm up."I continue as I smirk.

"What do you mean?"he says as he widens his eyes at me.

"Jogging. Only three rounds today, though."I say.

"Only three?"he asks, really taken aback. Hasn't this guy ever heard of exercising?

"Mr Jason Salt, this is what you get for not paying attention."I simply say.

We complete all three rounds in one whole hour! Jason would hardly complete a lap and he would stop, panting. Then after every round  he'd take a water break. But he seems a bit lighter, seeing as he told me about this amazing Chinese restaurant himself and we got some takeout from there.

We have dinner together on the sofa but no one talks as Jason puts on some old artistic movie. After dinner, we both go into our respective rooms and I instantly fall asleep because of the exercising and heavy food.

...

I'm woken up by the sound of loud knocking on my door.

"Pepper! Open the door! Pepper!!"someone says.

I look at the watch, it's 3:15 AM. What the hell?

I open the door to see Jason standing there, sweating. "What could you possibly want at this hour?!"I ask.

"I need to t-talk... I think I'm r-ready..."he fumbles as he says.

"Whatever it is, can't it wait till the morning?! I was trying to get some sleep!"I snap at him.

"Pepper, I've been having nightmares. Besides, aren't you getting paid for this? And the reason why Bryce shifted you here is so that I can approach you whenever I want to."he says.

"Ugh. Fine."I say.