Page 78 of Unspoken Lies

“He does, and he also spoke to them,” she says, rolling her eyes.

The fact that she has to work this hard to convince him of something this simple is annoying to me.

“You sound upset,”he says mildly, and I have to swallow my fucking growl. “Are you going to work?”

“Yes, they’re actually my bosses. I know we’ve discussed this already as well,” Rachelle says grimly. “I am not quitting, and my stepfather also agrees with me. You asked me about how work has been, as well as the events of the last few days. They are no different than when you asked me the day after it happened.”

Oh fuck no. She told him all of this and he’s making her repeat it to see if the details are different? My hand palms one of my knives, wishing it was possible to yank someone through the phone to stab them.

“I see,”Dr. Michaels says with a sigh. “How are you sleeping? You sound tired.”

“A few hours at a time and then I’m wide awake. I don’t sleep well alone,” she says.

Her hand reaches out to sit on top of mine, reminding me to breathe.

“And you slept better when you were at Lili’s house?” he asks. My heart soars at the fact that they’ve talked about me before plummeting at his next words. “Do you think that you should be jumping into a relationship right now, Rachel? You said you were there with Lili and your stepbrother who was recently released from prison. He’s an ex-convict.”

“And?” she asks. “I don’t care about that.”

“This is your future, and you’re in a fragile place in your life,” he reminds her. “Dating anyone right now would be a mistake.”

Dr. Michaels continues in this vein, and Rachelle rises as she begins to pace. She’ll intermittently listen before interjecting a comment here or there. I told her I’d be quiet, but I’m getting more and more antsy as I listen to him attempt to pull apart everything that she says.

It’s a combination of gaslighting and almost well meaning logic to confuse her. I’m unsure of what he’s trying to achieve except to isolate her.

“Come on. You told me to get a job, and my bosses are the Kings!” she finally exclaims, annoyed. “I’m not a child. I’m fully capable of making decisions despite your efforts to pull the logic out of them. Part of my homework is to learn how to stick by my decisions, irrespective of your feelings about them. It doesn’t matter if I’m dating one, two, or five people.”

“Five,”he gasps as I roll my eyes. Ugh, this man is completely impossible.

“Yes, five. At this time, I no longer believe you have my best interests at heart,” Rachelle says firmly. “I’m firing you as my therapist and I am going to find a new doctor to look over my current medication and revise it if necessary. I’m throwing the Haldol down the toilet. I do not need nor want it in my apartment.”

“I think you’re being reactive,”Dr. Michaels soothes as I wrinkle my nose. I really dislike the way he’s speaking to her. “Dating five people at once is much too complicated for you. Not to mention giving them any sort of chance after what they did. You’ve come so far.”

“I’m well aware of everything I’ve gone through,” she says. “My life is complicated, and I don’t think I’ll ever be able to find closure without finding out what their motivation was forburying me alive that night. I need this. My stepfather agrees. If you dislike it, take it up with him. Good bye.”

Hanging up, she drops the phone on the table in disgust.

“We’ve been on the phone for two hours before you came over,” she groans. “I’m so tired of talking.”

“Come here,” I say softly.

Rachelle walks over and flops onto the couch, resting her head in my lap. My fingers run through her hair, and I can feel her body beginning to relax. There’s so much tension inside of it, though I probably wouldn’t have handled the call she just had with as much grace as she did.

A few minutes later, her eyes begin to droop and she drifts to sleep. Frowning, I decide food can wait while she rests. I’m not happy that she’s not sleeping. While I have been resisting moving her into my house, I don’t think I can hold out anymore.

Me:

Her therapist is a dick, sir.

Mr. Emil:

He’s supposed to be the best, but he’s not helping her. I’m going to have to fire him.

Me:

Don’t bother, Rachelle already did. She’s asleep.

There’s a long pause,so I do what any self respecting girl would do: I send him a photo of her sleeping in my lap.