Chapter 16 #3
“Neil! Do you even know how to knock?” My sister bleated in irritation as soon as she spotted me. She was lying on the bed and, alarmed, pulled out her earbuds. I scrutinized her and saw that she was wearing a pair of black leggings and, naturally, my blue sweatshirt.
“And do you know how to ask permission before you touch my stuff?” I put my hands on my hips and tried to adopt a stern posture. Chloe’s gray eyes moved from my naked torso to my tight jeans, and she cocked an eyebrow at me.
“It’s January, Neil. Shirtless season is over,” she noted sarcastically and shook her head, making her blond ponytail swing from one shoulder to the other. Then she put her earbuds back in and went back to ignoring me.
“I’m shirtless because you stole my fucking sweatshirt!” I shouted, yanking the earbuds out of her ears impetuously. My sister winced and puffed out her cheeks like an outraged child.
“You’re so moody! You have a giant wardrobe, and you’re getting on my ass about one damn sweatshirt?
” she said defensively, jumping off the bed.
She faced me boldly, poking an index finger into my chest. It was nothing new for us: Chloe and I argued frequently.
Usually because she would sneak into my room and steal my things without asking.
“That’s the one I want! It’s my favorite!” I groused again, and then, with a taunting smile, I tucked her earbuds into my back pocket.
“Neil…” she wheedled, stepping closer. “You know I love you. Let’s not fight.” She hugged me. I knew exactly what she was doing. She was trying to sweet-talk me. I was weak against our sibling bond, and both Chloe and Logan knew it.
“Would you please let me keep your sweatshirt? On an unrelated note—you look great; those muscles are popping. Have you changed your workout? Because you look crazy ripped, for real!” Chloe gave me a sneaky smile and batted her eyelashes as she balanced the point of her chin on my chest, still hugging me.
“Don’t pander to me; it won’t work. I have your earbuds, and you’re not going to get them back until—” I trailed off when Chloe stepped back from our embrace, the exact same earbuds cupped in one hand.
What the fuck?
She’d weaseled them out of my pocket after distracting me with a hug.
“What an asshole,” I chuckled, shaking my head. She laughed triumphantly and sat back down on the bed.
“I learned from the master.” She gave a superior shrug, but I immediately stopped paying attention to her when I noticed what looked like a party invitation tossed haphazardly next to her.
I frowned and, in a catlike leap, grabbed it out from under her.
“Neil!” She hopped off the bed and tried to grab the paper from me, but I raised it up high to read it.
“A masquerade party.” My rigid, stern voice was enough to quell her as I brushed aside all her attempts to get the invitation back. Chloe shook the hair out of her face and gave me a nervous look.
“I can explain…” she backpedaled with a gulp.
“What’s to explain? You’re not going!” I crushed the paper in one hand and tossed it to the ground, giving her a hard stare.
She wasn’t going to a college party, one where drugs were floating around everywhere and there were veritable rivers of alcohol.
It was completely inappropriate for a young girl like her.
“Correct,” she confirmed, making me frown.
What?
“I’m not going to go,” she explained, letting herself flop down on the bed. “Madison was here, and she left the invitation, but I’ve already said I’m not going.” She sighed and fiddled with the hem of the sweatshirt like she was trying to vent some of the tension she felt.
“You sure?” I asked her, hoping she wasn’t lying to me.
“Positive.” She nodded and leaned back, putting her earbuds back in and effectively ending our conversation. I decided that, for once, I would just trust her. I wasn’t even going to ask who’d given that invitation to Madison, even though Chloe surely knew.
I didn’t want to ban my sister from having fun, but my caution was justified. I couldn’t have her just walking around freely with some maniac on my tail. Player could attack anyone at any time, and I had to prevent any more harm from coming to my family.
My mind was stuffed full of worries as I went back to my room and pulled on a different hoodie before retrieving my car keys and heading downstairs, ready to go to Dr. Lively’s office.
I hadn’t actually made the decision to resume therapy, but I did feel the need to talk to my therapist and have him listen to me.
Yes, I could expect that most of what I said would make it back to my mother, but he was still the one who had successfully communicated with my demons, the only one who understood my problems and maybe could even suggest a good solution.
But when I got to the clinic twenty minutes later…
“What do you mean he isn’t here today?” I said again to Mrs. Kate, the dumpy woman who sat behind the desk in the waiting room. She peered at me over her round glasses and sighed.
“It means you will need to come back another day. Or possibly make an appointment for once,” she said impatiently. I headed for the exit, letting out a stream of profanities under my breath.
It had taken me so long to get up the nerve to go there, and just as I finally managed it, my own terrible luck got in my way. I probably wasn’t going to go back. The urge to have a conversation with my therapist probably wouldn’t reappear so readily…
“Neil.”
I halted when someone called out to me. I frowned and noticed Dr. Keller in one of his typical suits, staring at me in a curious, focused manner.
“Good to see you, son. How are you doing?” He smiled, and I cocked an eyebrow in my typical sardonic fashion.
What the hell did he want now? I hadn’t talked to him since the time I ran into him at the bar.
“Hi,” I said simply, tucking my hands into my jacket pockets.
“Were you hoping to see Krug? He had an event today so he had to postpone his appointments and—”
I didn’t let him finish. “No, I was just passing through. I thought I’d talk to him really quick, but don’t worry about it. It wasn’t important.” I shrugged, and he took another step toward me.
“Would you like to go for a walk in the garden with me?” He offered abruptly, and I regarded him skeptically.
Why was this guy always trying to get in my business?
We barely knew each other, and yet every time we met, he tried to have a conversation with me.
He wasn’t my therapist, though, and I was reluctant to trust him with anything.
“I’ve got things to do,” I answered bluntly, and he walked around me, heading for the door.
“Great. Let’s get going then,” he said, like I’d accepted his invitation.
What, did he want to screw with my head the way he usually did in his office?
Still, I followed him outside, curious to see what he was thinking. As soon as I stepped outside, cold air caressed my face. I spotted Dr. Keller not far away and walked over to him, trampling the ornamental plants along the enormous avenue that ran through the garden outside the clinic.
The shrink stood perfectly still, facing an impressive fountain that I’d seen every time I came to the clinic but hadn’t really dwelled on.
This time, however, I examined it more carefully.
I looked at the dolphin in the middle of the water feature, made from cement mixed with marble dust. It perched proudly, as free as the real thing, with a pearl caught in its mouth.
Just looking at it, my lips curled into a faint but genuine smile.
Then I focused on the drops of water, disrupting the pool below.
They shimmered in the sun like countless blue crystals, just like Babygirl’s eyes.
All of a sudden, I imagined some invisible hand crafting a surreal painting, tracing the outlines of Selene’s pale face and waves of auburn hair against the background of a cloudless blue sky.
Something as inexplicable as she was. Something as immense.
A work of art.
That’s what Selene was, but I would never say it.
“Do you know the legend of the dolphin and the pearl?” Dr. Keller noted my presence and spoke again, not looking at me.
“Again with this shit, Dr. Keller?” I burst out before lighting a cigarette and sucking in as much of the smoke as my lungs would allow.
“Call me John,” he responded quietly while I continued to smoke, looking indifferent.
“Okay, John. Let me be clear: I don’t want to listen to your shit,” I retorted, just to irritate the little doctor who seemed to have such enviable self-control.
“In myths and legends from around the world, the dolphin is a friend to man, a symbol of good against occult or evil powers,” Keller began, completely ignoring what I’d said.
“They represent the link between the earthly world and that of the spirit. They embody the cycle of life, death, and rebirth.”
“Why do you have this stupid fucking habit of talking even when I don’t want to listen?” I asked him, truly annoyed as I sucked the smoke from my Winston, but John just gave me a sideways look and continued staring at the dolphin, ignoring my attitude.
“I love this fountain because the dolphin symbolizes inner strength, the search for one’s destiny, and freedom, which is a value innate to all humans.” He just kept going, and I rolled my eyes, becoming resigned to the knowledge that he was going to talk regardless of my total lack of interest.
“The pearl he carries in his mouth symbolizes purification from evil. There’s an ancient legend that says when a dolphin finds a pearl and swims away, clutching it like that, it means good luck.
It means he had found the right path. He has a lodestar to follow so he will no longer get lost in the vastness of the ocean,” he explained, a soft smile on his lined face.