Margot was an enigma.
Charya Sok met a whole lot of women in his life, patients, friends, acquaintances. The man thought he had seen them all, but Margot was an alien. She blocked him in his office until his first appointment arrived and refused to leave without booking the next.
One could think she sought some attention, perhaps no one listened to her, but no, Margot captured an audience. She whisked up facts in a way that just made one want to sit and listen like a small village's folklore storyteller. Even her daily life appeared to be an epic fantasy. Margot was no damsel in despair; her mind was active, always multi-tasking and assessing information. She rebounded on anything. Margot missed her true vocation; Charya would have seen the woman animating the political debates on BFM [french news channel].
Charya's grandmother, who was a holistic practician, would relish a patient like Margot. Even for him, Margot was the manna that tickled and teased his knowledge. The woman saw right; her condition intrigued him more than she could suspect from day one.
How could someone as energetic, easygoing, with all the thirty-something-checklist elements ticked off and a balanced life break a cycle that ran on autopilot?
Margot was part of the lucky women who had it all.
So how come?
Charya was almost a hundred percent sure it had something to do with her boyfriend.
During the conversation, she often referred to him as a partner instead of a companion or spouse, which was a lot more endearing. The appellations used alone indicated something was off for the doctor. Also, she never pronounced his name. She often used him as an umbrella to underline the fact she wasn't available.
Even though Charya knew the best thing to do was transfer Margot and her file to a colleague, he decided to pursue the sessions.
She challenged him. According to her, he was all words and no action. The woman sure ranted; she even unleashed the unwarranted sentence of "and to think my taxes serve to remunerate you." Yep, Margot's mouth was savage, and the only way to stop her would be to clamp it shut with a definite answer to her problem.
"Clement, calling Charya. Are you with us, man?"
The day was over, and like every Friday, Charya drank with his graduate buddies. It was a routine he liked. It allowed Charya to decompress but also to connect with people who understood his preoccupations.
"I was saying, when are you going to tie the knot with beautiful Fay?"
They had finished teasing Hadrien, and now it was his turn.
"Eh," Charya took a sip of his beer, "I want to practice a little more and establish myself before."
Hadrien shoved him, "bro, come on, how more established do you wish to be? The woman has been waiting for you like forever."
"Guys, there are some aspects of our relationship you just can't understand."
"What, do you want to play the tradition, finance, and cultural differences vinyl? Stop that shit," Robert said as he drank his Tequilla shot in one go.
His friends were right; he stalled. Charya couldn't explain as much as he loved Fay; something prevented him from going all the way. Unlike Margot, his sex life was fireworks, yet something held him. Not from popping the question as the tacit agreement already existed. No, it was something else. What made him want to pluck his hair out strand by strand was not to locate the cause of his problem. Marriage was not a fickle matter. Charya planned to do it once and keep it together until the end of his lifeline. One could call it cold-feet, but the term did not fit the man sincerely desired to spend his life with Fay.
"Dude, what are you waiting for? Put a ring on it before another snatches her up, and you find yourself at her wedding but sitting in the aisle while she says I do to someone else."
Hadrien chuckled, "Robert, you should stop watching Korean dramas with your girlfriend."
Robert just moved in with an intern from his service at Necker children's hospital. Though French like Robert, the woman was a total Kdrama addict. Still, in the honeymoon phase of their relationship, Robert bent to every whim, which included watching the dramas with her while wearing and face mask and eating Kimchi ramen. Everything some cultural appropriation squad would reprimand. The woman genuinely loved Korea and Asia. Colette's fetish sometimes made Robert uneasy, wildly, when she squealed and blushed at the sight of Jo Il-sung, Hyun Bin, and Kim Soo Hyun.
"I can't stop watching them unless I want a cold war. Besides, Colette watches Free Fights and football with me, so it's fifty-fifty. And you can talk, tell me who buys every shade of pink item referenced by Pantone he sees because Beth loves the color?"
"Shut up," Hadrien retorted.
Like Charya, he and his fiancee had been together for years, and like Charya, he was french-born but of Asian heritage by his Vietnamese parents. The similarities stopped there. Hadrian's parents accepted their future daughter-in-law from Scotland with open arms and without any apprehension. Beth had a strong Scottish accent, red hair, and a small curvy frame making one want to hug her all the time. Even though the couple had been together for over six years, the only words she said in French were bonjour, au revoir, merci, où sont les toilets, and j'ai faim [hello, goodbye, where is the bathrooms and I'm hungry]. One could say she knew the essential.
Last but not least, there was Clement.
How could one define friendship in 2020 without having a friendly or salty gay homie?
No pun intended; Clement was no add-on-cameo, their friendship mirrored society. Whoever believed their entourage was LQBTQ+ free required to take the red pill, the friends thought.
Clement was the voice to calm all tension and stress with his butt length, honey-blond hair that he tied in the knot like a buddha.
When one complained about their girlfriend, he would shrug and say be gay.
"So Charya, you haven't answered our question; what's wrong with you tonight?"
"I'm thinking about a case I encountered."
"What about it?"
"During the check-up, the person told me they renounced to sex. They have a low libido, a stressful job, and family life."
"Classic," Robert said as he drank the droplets of his Heineken.
Charya frowned, "why do you say that?"
"You summed it up, job, stress plus family. I bet it's a woman, in her thirties with one or two kids and a man she believes isn't helping her because she does everything best."
Robert focused on his friend's expression," I saw right, didn't I?"
"She's not exactly like that; she has this quirky personality. She's funny and so over the top. I don't understand."
"It could be a cover for a low self-esteem or a poor body image issue," Clement added as he beat lashes at the waiter who deposited another set of Tequilla shots and lemons quarters.
"No, she's a confident one."
Robert shook his head, "so Charya, did I see, right?"
"Eh, she's in her thirties, but--."
"Bingo, I'm telling you, I only date chicks between twenty-three and twenty-nine years old for that reason. I note their birthday. I set the alarm and make sure I'm out of there before they blow their thirty candles. Women from that age and up are extraterrestrial. If we're from Mars, and most women are from Venus, there are these subcategories with the valkyries from the Valhalla of the other planets. She's probably from Mercury if she communicates well."
Clement smiled, "guys, I don't know if you've noticed, but our little Charya mentioned another woman."
"Yeah, Charya, since when?" Robert teased.
"Stop it, guys, she's a patient."
"Is she cute?"
Charya bit his inner cheeks to prevent them from rising to blush, "she has a boyfriend and a child."
"We didn't ask for her status. We asked whether she's cute?" Clement said as he drank his shot.
Hadrien smirked, "he only has eyes for Fay. The men acquired tunnel vision the day he set eyes on her."
His friend's words were an echo as it was Charya's own expression that invaded his mind, "attraction is healthy," followed by Margot's, "doctor, are you looking at me properly."
Charya looked at Margot accurately.
"Dude, go on, marry Fay, and pave the way for us."
Margot x Mercury, yeah, the description seemed correct.