Obsessions ⇢ Tony Stark

25 | The Dangers of Gnocchi

The next couple of weeks passed very quickly for Eleanora, between appointments with Dr Wren and Doctor Evans, going to the gym, meditating, doing puzzles, journaling and going out with her friends as much as she could.

She knew she was doing well, but it wasn't until she was showering in her bathroom after going to the gym with Katie and she caught sight of herself in the mirror as she was drying herself that she realised just how far she had come. She definitely didn't have a great relationship with mirrors, usually going between obsessively scrutinising herself in the mirror and avoiding her reflection entirely.

However, that morning, Eleanora stood in front of the mirror and stared at her body in the mirror and she felt... indifferent. As odd as it sounded, that was huge progress. For someone used to feeling ashamed at the sight of her own body, the fact that she could stare at herself, and even start pointing out things that she like about herself was astounding.

She trailed her fingers over her stomach, her chest, her hips and felt... the vaguest, hardly noticeable sense of acceptance. It was huge.

Returning to her bedroom to get dressed, Eleanora threw on her self-love t-shirt and a pair of leggings. When she stepped back out, she just grinned at Katie and hugged the girl tightly.

"What's up with you?" she asked in amusement, squeezing her around her middle.

"I just... I just feel good."

Katie smiled fondly at her. "I'm glad."

• • •

Eleanora had been under the impression that Tony was not a very affectionate person, but over the last few weeks, she had noticed him becoming more open to touch, often throwing his arm over her shoulder and hugging her more often and not just for comfort when she was upset. And she really liked it, however, it also made it harder and harder to deny possibility that maybe, just maybe, she saw the boy as something more than a friend (but that was an understatement, even if she didn't want to admit it).

She'd been thinking a lot about her family recently, particularly her parents and what their plan was for her. Or rather, what their plan was when they finally decided she had strayed too far from their plan for her and labelled her a waste of time. It was inevitable, really.

They wouldn't cut her off would they? Sure, she'd been stubborn and petty and disappointed them but they were still her parents.

Don't be an idiot, she told herself. The only reason they're paying for your treatment is because you're threatening the family reputation.

With everything that had happened, Eleanora knew she was on thin ice and it was only a matter of time before they properly disowned her. And honestly? The cutting off contact part didn't bother her that much - she hardly saw her parents that often anyway and that was because she didn't want to, because they made her feel like shit. It was more so the financial aspect that was going to be a problem. Her parents were considerably wealthy, but not a cent of that was actually hers.

If they cut her off, how would she pay for the rest of her college fees? How would she pay for rent, her appointments, food? If she wanted to be truly free of Reginald and Beatrice, she needed to be able to support herself so that they couldn't use that against her. She needed a job.

And that was how Eleanora ended up in the public library, writing up various versions of a resume at a typewriter. Except she had never written a resume before, had no idea what you were actually meant to put on it and was getting increasingly frustrated as the pile of scrunched up pieces of paper grew.