The Perfection in Love - Part One

Chapter 7 - Essential Assessment Skills for Couple and Family Therapists

Olive sighed as she absently thumbed through her Essential Assessment Skills for Couple and Family Therapists textbook. She was getting nowhere. She had decided to go for her MFT program because she loved love. Family was the most important thing to her, even though she had not really had the white-picket-fence kind of family. Her mom had skipped out early in the game, before Olive was five. Her father had tried his best, but in trying to be both parents, he had ended up being none.

From the first day Olive had seen Henry's family, she knew she wanted something like what they had. A few years later, she found out who she wanted it with. But he had never seen it with her.

When Henry first introduced Oyin to Olive as his girlfriend, she thought he was just experimenting – as horrible a thought as that was.

That all changed when he began to mistakenly refer to her as 'Oyin.' Olive had found it so annoying that he had found it easier to say 'Oyin,' a name he had only known for a few months than to say 'Olive,' a name he had practically heard all his life.

Then, one day, to further rub salt into the gaping wound in her heart, he had asked her what kind of ring she thought Oyin would like.

That day, her heart had shattered into a million pieces. For years, she had hoped and waited for him to smile at her with something other than friendship in his eyes. His question had destroyed every ounce of hope she had left.

She had taken the heartbreak pretty well, even attending both of their weddings - she had drawn the line at being involved in the planning, though. When Henry had asked about her aloofness, she had claimed preoccupation with her graduate school applications. He had not probed further, too focused on his bride-to-be and her family.

Now, over a year later, she was still as in love with him as she had ever been. And boy, she had tried so hard not to love him. When Henry had called to invite her over for a couple of weeks, claiming he missed her and needed a familiar face, she had jumped at the opportunity to see him.

She missed her best friend. And a part of her heart, the part that was still in love with him (so, the whole thing), hoped that maybe he was realizing that he, too, was in love with her.

She looked at the time. It was 12:58pm. They were supposed to be back from church by now. She sighed as her stomach grumbled. This was the part of Henry that she did not understand, which Oyin apparently did. How could a normal guy like Henry actually believe that there was a Higher Being somewhere who controlled affairs on earth?

She shook her head. Not her. She would stick to her empirical facts, intelligent reasoning and personal improvement, thank you very much. She could not deny, though, that his beliefs were what had set him apart from other guys from middle school all the way to college. In late middle school, when guys became more interested in lady parts, Henry had always been a gentleman. Even in college, he exuded a maturity that drew girls to him. Every girl wanted a nice guy, and Henry was it. He had been it for her, too.

Feeling a little guilty at having these thoughts in Henry's matrimonial home, she shook her head as if to physically ward away the thoughts. She stood from her bed, grabbed her laptop and phone and headed to the kitchen.

Before long, she was seated comfortably at the kitchen island, a plate of hot food to her right, and an empty Microsoft Word Document in front of her.

She had not been staring at the page long, when she heard the steady whirring of the garage motor. She looked at her food and laptop. Could she make her escape before someone saw her?

The very-near sound of Oyin's snort-filled laughter answered her.

Great. She could not leave without them spotting her.