Mindful Beauty

8) Her Observations

"What an idiot." Mr. Kim's voice was heard even after the office door was closed, and Ella laughed, drawing her attention back to her laptop.

Damien, on the other hand, paid attention to her. Just now, she had addressed both Mr. Kim and Mr. Pruette by their first names. Maybe she would be more comfortable if they addressed each other by their first names instead. However, just before he could say something, Ella beat him to it.

"You're visiting Jamie again today, right?" She bit down on her lip, watching as Damien nodded in agreement. "I just wanted to check if it's still okay that I go with you?" Her eye pupils seemed to enlarge preciously when asking the question, and Damien quickly looked away.

"Sure. We'll leave in another three hours."

Ella didn't say anything else, and neither did Damien. In fact, Damien would even go out of his way just to make sure that he didn't have to talk to her to even look up to see her. All of the thoughts that had recently been invading his mind proved to make him uncomfortable. He couldn't understand his recent fascination with how her hair bounced with her every step or how her eyes were so bright whenever she would look at something that even just the least bit endearing to her. Instead, he drowned and lost himself in his work, something that always proved effective. It wasn't until Ella was standing right in front of him with a pink notebook and pen in hand that he was brought back to reality.

"Sorry," she smiled sheepishly, and suddenly, her cheeks turned a light shade of pink. "I just figured I should let you know of the time."

Damien checked his watch, realizing that it was time to go. "Oh, right." He agreed, and they both grabbed their belongings before leaving in Damien's vehicle again.

"Could I talk to her this time?" Ella asked Damien as they were being escorted through the facility. "I kind of want to get a feel for some things."

"Sounds good." Damien agreed, letting Ella sit beside him this time instead of standing in the background.

Calmer than last time, Ella sat straight, leaning a little closer to the table in eagerness to finally speak to Jamie herself rather than just listening to the conversation. Once the doors opened, Ella jumped up, smiling warmly at the inmate that seemed just a tad bit better than last time.

"Hi, Mrs. Parker. I'm Ella Cortesa." Ella outstretched her hand, and Jamie seemed wary but had a firm handshake.

"What's going on?" Jamie looked at Damien expectantly.

"She's a psychologist that is here to help us with your case, Mrs. Parker." Damien reassured her, pulling out a few documents.

"Do people think I'm crazy?" Jamie's voice raised in tone, clearly nervous. "Why?" She sputtered out in disbelief.

"No," Ella firmly said, drawing Jamie's attention back to her. "Despite popular belief, people out of their sane minds are not the only ones who need psychological help. I'm just here to help you and try to get others out there understanding what exactly it was that you went through." Ella gently explained, and Jamie nodded, still not seeming to understand very well what was happening. "I'm really sorry to ask this of you, I understand that it can be painful and hard for you, but I really need to know in order to understand and help you better."

"As long as it helps to get me out of here." Jamie nodded, wiping some stray tears that had fallen.

Ella looked at Damien briefly, and Damien nodded, silently letting her know that he also got what Jamie had said.

"Could you please walk me through the events that happened that day?"

So Mrs. Parker did. Ella repeated her words over and over again as she walked through the crime scene after leaving the facility.