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TASHA

“ Y ou do realize something will go wrong on this vacation, right?” I said through the phone as I moved around my office.

“Don’t say that. You’ll jinx us!” my best friend Josie Scott scolded with a laugh, but I was right. Something always went wrong on vacations, whether you forgot to pack underwear, got the wrong hotel room, or worse, missed your flight, thanks to delays.

“Are you excited to go?” I asked, although I already knew the answer. This vacation was the only thing Josie could talk about for the last few weeks. Literally every single day, my phone had at least two to three messages from Josie talking about this trip.

When her boyfriend, Wyatt Boone, the captain of the Toronto Knights hockey team, won the Cup Championship game a few months ago, Josie threw a small party to celebrate. But with the hockey season about to start again, Jo thought why not take a trip with our entire group of friends to celebrate?

After aligning everyone's schedules, all eight of us were set to go to Whitsunday Island . A beautiful island off the coast of Australia that looked beyond beautiful in the photos Josie sent to the group chat. Bright blue waters and gorgeous, sandy beaches. A cute little town.

“Of course! Are you packed yet?”

“Jo, we leave in four days.”

“So? You don’t want to forget anything.”

I'd known Josie since University and knew how she could get. She was the type to pack days ahead and then stress that she forgot something. It wouldn’t surprise me if she already had her bags packed and sitting by the door, ready to go. She was the “airport dad” who got there hours early and made sure everyone had their tickets and waited at the terminal way earlier than needed.

“I promise I’ll start packing when I get home from work,” I said as I went over to my desk to grab my notepad. My next patient was set to come any moment.

“Remember, we’ll be there for five days,” she reminded me.

“Thanks, Mom,” I teased, knowing she meant well. “I better go, babe. I have a patient coming. I’ll text you later.”

I barely ended the call when a knock sounded on my office door.

“Come in,” I called out, snatching up a pen as soon as the door opened. I smiled at the sight of my next patient, a young seventeen-year-old girl who I’d been seeing for the past three months.

“How have you been, Lily?” I asked as I took a seat in my chair across from hers.

“I’ve been good.”

Inwardly, I cheered at the fact she didn’t stutter and was actually looking at my face. When Lily first came to me, she couldn’t sit still for longer than a minute, always messing with her hands, clothing, or hair. She wouldn’t even look up at me the first week. The poor girl had such bad social anxiety, along with a few other things, that brought her here.

I was pleased with the progress we had made these last few months. In just a short amount of time, I'd seen Lily slowly come out of her shell more and more. She held conversations now and even cracked some jokes.

It was people, or kids, like Lily, that made me love my job as a counselor. A lot of people assumed I was a psychiatrist, and I guess in a way I was, but I didn’t prescribe medication. I was here to listen to anyone who needed someone to talk to. To be the soundboard for whatever they were going through.

While I loved my job, it was also very draining. It could be incredibly hard hearing things from patients. Some days were more emotionally draining than others, but knowing I'd made a little difference in someone's life made it all worth it.

I hadn’t always known I wanted to be a counselor. Ever since I could remember, it was an unwritten rule that I would follow in my parent's footsteps. Be a part of the family business, but it was the last thing I wanted. I wanted to pave my own path and do something that gave me a purpose of my own.

It wasn’t until the end of my freshman year in university when I took a psychology class that I knew what I wanted to do. Growing up, I may not have had someone who listened to me, but I could be that for someone else.

“How has school been?” I asked as I settled back in my chair.

“It’s been good.”

With that, Lily launched into how her week went. The once shy girl talked animatedly while I gladly sat back and let her talk. “I-I think I’m going to go hang out with some girls from school on Friday,” Lily said, her words surprising me .

“Oh really?” That was the first time she’d ever mentioned hanging out with anyone from school. One of the main reasons her parents brought her to me was because she wasn’t making friends. She was shutting herself off from talking or meeting people. So, hearing her say this brought a smile to my face.

“A girl from my history class asked me,” Lily said shyly. She played with her fingers as she spoke, but I could tell from her body language that she was suppressing her excitement.

“That’s great, Lily. What are you guys going to do?”

“Maybe go to the mall and see a movie.”

“I’m proud of you, Lily. This is a big step for you. Going out and making friends is exciting.”

“Yeah,” she whispered. I knew she was nervous, and I had a feeling she might try to talk herself out of going. Setting my notepad aside, I sat forward a bit.

“I promise it will be fun. Just be yourself and don’t overthink it. Be in the here and now, okay?” My voice was gentle as I spoke. I didn’t want to push her, but I also wanted her to know she didn’t need to be in her head and worry. Which I knew she tended to do.

“O-Okay, I can do that.” She nodded.

“But always remember, if you don’t like something or don’t want to do anything, say something or call your parents, okay?” Again, she nodded. Seeing the clock above her hit an hour, I slowly stood up. “When I get back, you can tell me all about it.” Definitely going to be one appointment I was looking forward to having.

“Thank you, Ms. Davis.” When Lily stood her shoulders were less by her ears and her head was held a bit higher.

“Anytime, Lily.” I gave her an encouraging smile as I led her out of my office with the promise to see her soon. I made a quick note in my notepad to call her parents and see about cutting her appointments down .

Once Lily was gone, I closed my office door and sat back in my chair with a sigh. It was always a good day when you saw the self-growth of a patient firsthand, especially someone as young as Lily. With no one else scheduled for today, I let myself sit there a bit longer, rolling my neck at the stress building in my shoulders.

With it already being four thirty, I tapped my intercom, telling the girl at the front desk she could go home early. No point in keeping her here when it was just me. The building I worked in had multiple counselors, along with medical offices. All five of us had our own offices but shared two assistants.

With everyone gone, I welcomed the peace and quiet as I twirled in my office chair. I had some paperwork I needed to get done and sorted before our trip, but I took a moment for myself. With back-to-back patients, I was drained.

Knowing that the sooner I got my work done, the sooner I could go home to a glass of wine, I groaned inwardly. I sat up and got to work on finishing up some things, the desire to go home urging me to get it done faster.

No sooner had I picked up my pen, my phone rang. I didn’t bother looking at the name flashing across the screen, figuring it was Josie or one of our other girlfriends.

“Hello?”

“Tasha.” The voice belonged to neither of those options. I sat up straight and gripped my pen.

“Mother.” I couldn’t remember the last time I talked to my mom. It wasn’t often she or my father reached out.

“How have you been?” Normally, that kind of question would come with actual curiosity from people but not my mother. No, it was more of a courtesy to ask but came with an underlying meaning of ‘I don’t really care.’

“Good, I—” I started to answer when she cut me off.

“You won’t believe who your father and I ran into the other day. Ryan…” My mother went off about some son of a wealthy businessman that I had the displeasure of meeting a few times.

Back in the day, my parents would drag me to socialite events, forcing me to interact with people my age who had rich parents like my own. Something I despised. I hated being paraded around by my parents like I was some prized toy.

My parents cared more about how people saw them on the outside than anything else. Didn’t care that their only daughter was miserable. Didn’t care that she only wanted their attention, not their money.

Not wanting to go down that rabbit hole right now, I pinched the bridge of my nose and interrupted my mom.

“Why did you call, Mom?”

“I can’t call and talk to my daughter?” We both knew that was a lie. She didn’t call just to talk to me. She wouldn’t listen even if I did speak. “I wanted to see if you would be attending our yearly gala in a few weeks.”

Ah, there it was. I knew there was a reason behind this phone call, seeing as it's been ages since we last spoke.

I had forgotten that the gala my parents threw every year was coming up. It was supposed to be some charity event but instead it was a party where the wealthiest socialites of Toronto got together to talk business and flaunt their money. For me, it was an affair where I had to wear a suffocating gown and make stupid small talk with people who looked down their noses at everyone.

My mother worded it like I had a choice in going. I didn’t. I was expected to go every year. Robert and Jennifer Davis couldn’t have their only daughter not show up to the biggest socialite party of the year. With them having the biggest law firm in Toronto, there were expectations that I had to uphold . This gala being one of them .

“I’ll have to see about work.”

“You’re still working at that place?” I didn’t miss the disdain in her voice as she spoke about my job. A job she nor my father fully approved of. They wanted me to come work for them at their law firm. When I told them no, I disappointed them to no end, something they loved to remind me of whenever they had the chance.

“Yes, Mom, I am.” I heard her scoff through the phone. It made me grind my teeth together. And this is why I was glad we only talked a few times a year and rarely saw each other in person. I could picture my mom clear as day sticking her nose up and glaring down at me.

“Well, make sure your schedule is clear for the 25th.” Her tone left no room for argument. I was going whether I liked it or not. “If you bring someone, try for a suitable date.” This time, I really had to clench my jaw together to stop from saying something.

A few years ago, I took Josie with me, needing someone by my side. One look at her and my parents immediately deemed her unfit. She didn’t come from a wealthy family or a family of status, so in their eyes she wasn’t good enough to be my friend. Or be in attendance at one of their functions. It had taken everything in me that day not to say anything.

“I have to go. See you in a few weeks.” Not even waiting for a reply back, my mother ended the call. I pulled my phone away from my ear and stared at my screen until it turned black.

Always a joy talking to her. It was basically a call telling me I better be at the gala in a few weeks and nothing else. Not once did she care to know how I was doing or about anything in my life.

Tears pricked the back of my eyes. I wasn’t sure why I still wanted their love and acceptance. I learned long ago that it would never happen, yet there was still a small part of me that hoped one day they would. I should know better than to get my hopes up about anything having to do with them.

Blinking back tears, I took a few breaths before focusing on the paperwork in front of me. There was no point in letting her get to me.

Just brush it off, Tasha.

God, I really did need this vacation.