Distract and Sedate H.S

Chapter Six

I pressed my cup to the tank's outlet. A thin necklace of water streamed into my glass until it was almost full. I reverted my hand and reached up to a high cabinet, feeling in the dark for sleeping pills. My fingers skimmed over it and I brought them down. I padded across soft carpets with cold feet and climbed back into bed, setting the pills on my bedside table, sliding the draw in. It would be too late to consume one now. I needed to do some thinking anyway.

I gulped down my water and my glass was placed next to the lamp. Dipping into the bed, I pulled the blanket up to my chest.

Somewhere in the last few hours I had realised something crucial. An answer, a new problem.

Harold... Harry had everything I'd ever wanted. He had Darcy, a father of his own. It wasn't perfect, but it was all I have ever dreamt of. He had a nice big house, huge garden.

You had to wonder how he had fallen into this deep spiral. By the time he saw it, he was going to be chin deep in quick sand. Alcohol, woman, too many bars to remember -- I had seen it destroy men and their children.

I don't know why this family particularly, but I had to do everything in my power to help. It was a permanent vow as of now.

I mentally created an itinerary for Harry. I would have to use methods I used on some of the teens with drinking addictions.

The right thing to do was avert him to a proper social worker, but in the back of my head I wanted to be the one to help Harry. I could, but that wasn't my motive. It was something partly greedy and partly bigger than the both of us, an unknown force possessing me to do it. Yes, that's what I'd tell the Magistrate court. Someone possessed me.

I sighed and moved my thoughts to Darcy. She had been side-lining my worries since I'd met her. At first when I heard about her nightmares, I had thought it was for Harry's attention. Now I realised she believed Harry needed the attention. She had subconsciously taken roll as daughter and wife in one and it has put strain on her. She's had no motherly nurture. At the age four she seemed to have swayed toward looking for options as mothers. Harry needed to teach her that she couldn't imagine any woman to take the roll, especially if he one day found a girlfriend.

There was also her social anxiety. I needed to see that in play before forming any notations about it.

The grandfather seemed like a nice man, close with Darcy. He probably had to help out with her. Could Harry cope alone?

The home evaluation had ended short, so I missed some vital information I had gone in for. One thing I had realised was that Darcy brought it out a good side of him. That was his weakness. It was my job to exploit it.

***

"Sorry, Hazel," Valerie hissed between pants as she paced into my office, two hours late. "I'm so sorry," she repeated.

"What's the excuse this time?"

"I got an audition." Her face lit up and she leaned against the wall behind her, as if her legs had gone weak. "I finally got it, Hazel."

"Oh my God," I breathed, scrambling to my feet and getting around the desk. "You got the audition?"

"Yes!" She dived into my arms and hugged me with everything she had. I felt the excitement radiating off her. "I scored the main role, Hazel. It's going to be the next big blockbuster. They said I was perfect for the role."

I bit my lip and leaned over my desk, pulling out the bottle of Champaign in the corner. Her eyes widened before her laughter filled the room, even her nose scrunching in amusement.

"A family gave it to me on the last session. I was saving it up, and granted, I think we've found a good reason."

"You could get fired," she muttered half-heartedly as she took it from me. She used a nail file from her bag to lever the cork, and it shot into the room, causing me to shriek in surprise. We both laughed again and she turned to look around the room for glasses.