Coffee, tea? Or me?

HAPPINESS IS A BUTTERFLY- Part I

HAPPINESS IS A BUTTERFLY

If he's as bad as they say,

then I guess I'm cursed.

Looking into his eyes,

I think he's already hurt

He's already hurt.

I

After the last episode with his girlfriend, James had flown back to London as he felt the need to see his therapist in person. James would usually have online sessions once a week but the time difference and his commitments didn't make it easy to maintain a regular schedule and he had missed the previous appointment. After the last fight with Lucy, he knew he couldn't afford to neglect his mental health so he had decided he would have made the extra effort of flying to London and have face to face sessions at least twice a month, starting right away.

"How are you, James?" Asked the therapist, a brunette in her fifties called Ruth, casually dressed in black trousers and a grey turtle neck, a big amber pendant on her chest.

"Tired," said the actor. "A bit dazed but overall good".

"I'm happy to hear that and I'm happy you decided to see me in person," she smiled kindly. "In your call, you said something happened?"

James nodded."Yes, I had a fight with Lucy a few days ago."

"Tell me about it," Ruth offered.

James told her about the episode, recounting the events that had led to their fight and the woman listened in silence, taking notes on the yellow pad on her lap.

"Ok, let's work through it," she said when James had finished his report. "What made you frustrated in the first place?"

James looked away briefly, thinking about the way he had felt.

"I think it all started because I wanted to be alone with Lucy and she was just too nice with that reporter, he talked to her for a while, asking all sorts of questions."

Ruth scribbled something on the pad. "When you say too nice, you mean flirtatious?"

"No, not at all. I mean she was just very pleasant, kind." He sighed. "I know she's always nice to everyone but...I don't know, I think I found it inappropriate to be so open and casual with a reporter."

"Why are you shaking your head?" The woman asked.

"Because I had time to think it through and I realise it sounds so idiotic.."

Ruth looked at him from under her glasses." Remember James, we're not here to judge but to understand. So you became frustrated at her because you believed her behaviour was inappropriate?"

"Maybe." James scratched the back of his neck. "She had a situation a couple of months ago involving the press and it wasn't a pleasant one. Her privacy was violated, she was followed home and some pictures were taken without her permission...Anyway, I think what annoyed me was how easily she seemed to have moved on from that. Plus we had a discussion about how irritating and intrusive the press can be, that same afternoon...I was trying to protect her because I know better in this case but she just doesn't listen..."

"So you felt belittled by her behaviour?"

"Yes, I think that's it". 

The therapist nodded and noted something down. "Then what happened?"

"When she stopped replying during our fight my frustration just skyrocketed. I don't know, maybe I thought she was not taking me seriously, you know, you don't argue with fools..."