It Should Have Been Like This (The Revised Version)

Chapter 63: Healing Conversation

I quietly walked into my therapist's office, a heavy weight pressing down on my heart, diminishing any sense of joy. Miss Beira Sinclair raised her head from the book she had been reading and offered me a warm, empathetic smile. But when she saw the distress etched across my features, her expression fell. She closed the book and clasped her hands before her, dropping the professional demeanor she typically maintained. Beira spoke to me then as a friend and a mother, using whatever means necessary to ensure I would listen.

I dropped my bag on the desk and plopped down in the chair with a heavy, exhausted huff. "I'm so fucking exhausted," I confessed.

"I can see that. I'll assume things with Rominic are not going well," she stated matter-of-factly. I sighed deeply in response. Beira leaned back in her chair and gave it a gentle spin, humming softly. "How have you been?"

"I just said I'm exhausted, in every possible way. Rominic can't seem to see anything beyond his work right now, and it saddens me. The children can't even get him to engage with them—"

"In other words, you miss him," she interjected, her expression shifting to one of knowing understanding. I opened my mouth to instinctively deny it, but her warning arch of the brow immediately silenced me. Beira knew better than to allow me to continue denying my true feelings. "You miss him, and you want to help him ease his worries. And on top of that, you're still sexually frustrated."

"No shit, Sherlock," I muttered under my breath, the acknowledgment of my unspoken thoughts weighing heavily upon me.

Beira chuckled and picked up a pen from her desk, rolling it between her nimble fingers. "What about your health? Have you been eating well?" I nodded eagerly, still feeling a twinge of resentment at being forced to confront the truth. "Sleeping well? Wait, that might be hard considering your current situation," she mused aloud. I nodded in agreement with her astute observation.

Beira tilted her head thoughtfully and hummed softly. "Have you had any more mental breakdowns since the last time we spoke? Any urge to harm yourself?" I shook my head negatively in response to her questions. A broad smile spread across her face. "And how do you feel since reuniting with your friends? Lighter, perhaps?"

"Yes, exactly. We've been chatting a lot. I even added Rominic's sisters to the group, and they've been getting along well with the girls." I paused, a grin spreading across my own face. "Oh, right, Anna connected me with a college friend of mine again. Her name is Susanna Sparrow. You ought to know her, considering you're such a big fan of opera and Broadway…" I giggled as I watched Beira's eyes fly wide open. I already knew she was a devoted admirer of Susanna, given the pictures stamped to her office wall and the singer's song as her ringtone.

"No freaking way! Sussy and you were friends!" Beira exclaimed, her excitement palpable.

I nodded. "Yes, that's right. I met her in college. Back then, Susanna had come in disguise and was somewhat ostracized for being perceived as 'weird' by the other students. I don't even recall how it happened, but I ended up being her first true friend. And as you know, whoever is my friend, is Anna's friend as well. We were incredibly close back then, and it was through me that Susanna eventually met the rest of the group, leading to her meeting her current husband."

I paused, a wistful smile crossing my lips. "Then, after she became a mega-star, we barely stayed in touch. Shortly after that, I met Rominic, and my focus shifted entirely to him."

Beira's eyes widened in realization, and she snapped her fingers. "Wow! So you were there when she met her husband? Then you must be the 'late best friend' she's mentioned in interviews—the one she could never quite remember the real name of, and just nicknamed 'Purple'!"