Solace

Chapter Five

He took a deep breath and soon enough, the door opened, revealing a lady in early forties with black hair, dressed in a white v-neck, a grey cardigan and black trousers. She wore a polite smile on her face and her eyes sparkled when she saw Louis stood in front of her.

"You must be Louis." She said, the tone to her voice calm but excited at the same time.

She opened the door wider, allowing Louis to step inside. Louis did so, and followed the lady. She motioned for him to sit on one of the couches in the room and carried on talking.

"Nice to meet you," She reached her hand out to Louis, "I'm Anne."

They shook hands and Louis had no idea whether or not to go out of the room, write a 'hello' on a piece of paper or simply sign it.

He settled on a simple smile and pushed his hands in between his thighs, not knowing what to do with them.

"Louis, I see you're quite uncomfortable," The lady noticed, "Please, know that I understand sign language and therefore you shouldn't hesitate to sign to me."

Louis nodded shyly, looking around the room.

"You don't believe me, do you?" She chuckled. Louis shook his head shamefully because the way he was behaving was stupid and he knew it. He should believe her, she was a therapist but Louis' mind was fucked up and nothing or no-one could help it.

"Try me." She smirked and Louis could tell that she was a playful character, which essentially made Louis smile at her.

Louis didn't know whether or not to do something, he just sat there unknowingly. He was lost; he rarely found himself surrounded by people quite fond of humor, wanting to share it with him. He was simply one of those people who didn't deserve to laugh in other's opinions.

"Go on, sign something." The lady prompted.

He breathed because gaining trust wasn't an easy thing for Louis. From what he knew, she could just laugh at the way Louis has to communicate with others.

"I'm Louis." He simply signed, hoping for the best.

"Nice to meet you Louis." She smiled and looked Louis straight in the eye, "Before we start, you should relax a little, I see you're quite tense. For your information, I'm not going to hurt you or laugh at you and everything that will happen in this room will stay between these walls, okay?"

Louis nodded slowly, wanting to feel more comfortable. He even took a few deep breaths in order to try and steady his heartbeat.

"Would you like some tea?" The lady - Anne - asked and stoop up. Her tiny frame walked a few feet towards a kettle set on a table and turned back towards Louis to see his response.

Although Louis hated tea, unless him or his mum made it, he accepted, nodding shyly.

"Right on it." The therapist chuckled and set the water to boil. She took out two mugs and placed a triangle tea bag in each one.

Once the water boiled, she poured the hot liquid three-quarters in.

"Sugar?" She asked Louis while grabbing the milk.

"Two please." Louis signed hesitantly, still not sure about whether or not the fact that Anne told him that she understands sign language was a lie or not.

But then again, why would she lie? There was no point, right?

Anne grabbed the two mugs and passed one to Louis, sitting on the couch opposite, sipping on her fresh tea.

Although Louis was hesitant to try it, he didn't want to show it. His lips touched the top of the mug and parted them a little, at the same time which he tilted the mug slightly, allowing the liquid to enter his throat.