Sex Therapy

Damn Ben!

The first rays of light burned her swollen eyes as Kaya tossed uncomfortably in the stiff bed.

Everything in her life felt like it was churning slowly on a broken rotting wheel.

She sighed, laying in bed looking up at nothing, frozen in blankness. Her red puffy eyes dropped with fatigue and her fingers throbbed achingly as she tightly held the sheets in a tense stressful fist.

It was like waking up to the wreckage of a nightmare, everything was dismal, void, blank and empty except for the dry blistering hurt that cut her lips.

A gentle knock on her cabin door gave her just enough life to call out, "come in" her voice crackled lifelessly.

She wondered who could be coming by this early in the morning and who would crucify her today?

She had lost everything. She was buried in a cocoon of disgust and vileness. The woman she had become for the sake of love was a monster, a disaster and she hated herself for the people she had caused the most pain too.

Keith stepped through the door, he looked beaten and ragged. He had spent the night weeping, "we have a phone meeting with Dr. Drew, I called her because I believe this is a crisis" he whispered looking down at his feet.

It hurt too much to look at his wife she just reminded him of a love that had been stolen away.

The usual spark of hope that glistened in Keith's eyes were now distinguished and replaced with a dimming copper hue that reminded Kaya of dry autumn leaves.

If anyone believed that pain couldn't physically manifest, they had not seen Keith. He wore his pain like a suffocating ill-looking tattered jacket.

Keith always looked nice and pristine, but today you wouldn't be able to tell the difference between him and a homeless man sitting in a pile of garbage under a bridge.

He was still wearing the clothes from last night, a gray simple shirt that was now wrinkled and stained. His hair stood up in a deranged and unkempt matter, not to mention his body  reeked of poor hygiene habits.

Keith's eyes were full of crust and it was clear from the tiny food particles in his gums that he had not brushed his teeth either.

In truth, Keith smelled and looked awful but nothing was worse than what was going on in his mind.

Kaya quickly grabbed a robe without arguing and followed Keith out to the ship foyer where breakfast was being served.

The air was full of the rich aroma of fresh coffee beans and pancakes as the lively clank and clatter of dishes filled their eardrums and people trickled into the dining commons.

Kaya looked out on this particularly sunny day and marveled at how beautiful it was. She forgot that the world moved on despite one's problems. Life and nature looked upon humanity with indifference, as it kept the pace and despite the pain of yesterday, time would love and forget all...

The seas were calm and playful and people were laughing and yawning as they slowly awoke to enjoy life. Even the birds stretched their silver feathered wings against the sky, playing with the fleecy white lace of the clouds as the dipped and dived in the universal cyan blue playground.

A nice sea breeze refreshed her senses, wiping off some of the self-loathing and imbrue that stained her heart like old metallic blood.

As they walked down a hallway Kaya tried to stand close to Keith, the top of her shoulder bone grazed him. She looked into his eyes hoping her touch would register but he was leagues away, she might as well have touched a stone.