"A good marriage would be between a blind wife and a deaf husband." -Michel de Montaigne
The wall clock strikes ten in the morning.
Todd and I stand up at the same time to shake hands with our counselor. She tells us to sit down with only a gesture of her hands and we oblige her.
I can't help but notice her tight pencil skirt and long legs as she sits in front of us. As I run a hand through my rough hair, my hand stops midway through when I notice her wavy black hair. Immediately, I bring my hand down in my lap.
"Good morning, Todd, Stella," she says, resting her forearms on the table.
"Morning," we reply in unison.
"How are you doing today?"
"Just fine."
Her lips curl up in an amused smile. "Do you guys always reply together?"
"No!"
I feel like rolling my eyes, but I don't.
I wonder what kind of questions she'll ask us.
As soon as she opens a file, I take this as my chance to take a good look at her office. A good number of love posters with cheesy quotes capture my attention and I groan inwardly 'cause this situation is humiliating.
"So...Todd and Stella, tell me something about your relationship?" she asks, her voice almost like cuckoo bird.
"Look," I glance at her nameplate, "Caroline, there's nothing to tell about it."
"Well, I think there might be something sweet that you guys would want to share. Right, Todd?"
"Uh, I don't think so."
I take in a deep breath and Todd's fresh and crisp cologne fills my nostrils. The fragrance that I once so dearly loved is now suffocating me.
"Okay, so do you have heated arguments often?" she asks, darting her eyes between the both of us.
I let out a humorless laugh.
"Always, we fight always. Todd seems to find excuses to fight with me."
"Excuse me, but you're the one who starts every fight," he says, his lips pressed into a thin line.
"Yeah, right."
"Okay, now stop it and try to remember why you are here. You're here because you think there's still a ray of hope that your relationship will bloom once again."
"No, that's definitely not the reason we're here," I say.
Caroline tilts her head, narrowing her eyes at me.
Turning my head, I point my index finger at the glass window behind me. "Do you see those people?"
"Yeah..."
"They're our parents and they're the compelling reason we're here. I don't know why they think we're made for each other and that our relationship should be given another chance," Todd says, frowning.
My relationship with Todd doesn't need to be discussed or to be worked on because there's nothing left in it. Two years of my marriage with him have been a nightmare that I want to forget as soon as possible. I got into a terrible mess once I decided to marry him.
It was solely my decision and I blame nobody for my mistake.
We would quibble over the smallest of matters and soon fierce arguments got into our routine. At times, I would cry myself to sleep, hoping my troubles would soon evaporate away.
Over the time, I've come to realize that nothing can fix our marriage because the situation has deteriorated. Any relationship is like an iron bar-once it begins to rust, it only follows the path to destruction.
Life kept on smacking me, until one day, I moved out of his house and decided to stay at my parent's place. Things changed for the better; my life became simpler.
You know, you connect with someone instantly and then after a little while you realize you two can't even breathe in the same space, that's how I describe our relationship.
"Please do us a favor and tell them nothing can be done now. Tell them it's all over," I say.
"Look, I can't do that. I can't tell whether or not you should separate; that's not my job. Not every relationship is conflict-free and that's why I'm here-to help you resolve your issues."
"Caroline, you're way too positive and that's...unhealthy," Todd muses.
Caroline chuckles, putting her hand over her mouth.
I look over Todd, finding him glancing at Caroline's cleavage and then instantly looking away.
Sit up straight woman, my husband's getting uncomfortable, I want to say, but I don't.
She smiles, "You know, my goal in life is to unite as many couples as possible. Not even a single couple has gone from here with a broken heart."
"Our case is slightly different. We might prove to be a hurdle in your way," I say, half-smiling.
I tap my fingers on the handles of my chair, when suddenly my gaze fixes on the photo frame of a middle-aged man on Caroline's desk.
Caroline answers my unasked question, "This is my husband."
I look through my lashes to find her smiling, her eyes shining.
Without even looking at her, I speak, "Your only husband?"
Todd sighs.
"Yes, my only husband, Stella," she says through gritted teeth.
I nod. "Interesting."
"See, if you think I'm going to dabble in this counseling, then you're wrong. This counseling will tell what future holds for each one of you," she says, lifting her head.
"Please, let's just get over with this," Todd murmurs.
"How long have you two been together?" she asks next.
"More than two years," I reply.
She smiles at Todd. "What initially attracted you to Stella?"
"Well, it wasn't love at first sight at all. I actually don't remember what attracted me because, I mean, look at her...no offense."
I cock an eye at Todd. "What the hell do you mean by 'look at her'?"
Caroline clears her throat, "Stella, please look at me...now, what caused things to go downhill?"
Her simple question stirs numerous unpleasant memories and I feel a sudden tightening in my chest. I don't exactly remember what caused things to go downhill; we started fighting and it seemed to have never stopped.
It has been two months since we last saw each other, and I didn't even want to see his face again because I didn't want to reopen old wounds. I feel so bitter sitting next too Todd because his presence evokes odious memories in my heart.
Instead of explaining everything to her, I opt for a much better response.
"I actually don't remember because, I mean, look at him...no offense." I smirk.
Caroline sighs deeply.
"What is the worst thing you have dealt with in your relationship?" she asks, taking a sip of water from her glass.
"Thanks for getting to the point because I can rant about this all day long," Todd says, sinking back into his chair.
"So. Can. I," I say, flashing him a sly smile.
Caroline puts her glass back on the table with a sickening thud.
"Todd, you go first."
"Thank you for allowing me to speak first, Caroline, I appreciate that. Stella is cynical. She complains about issues that aren't even real issues. She just never see where we are standing and starts fighting and it embarrasses me so much, plus it makes the people around us awkward too," he finishes with a deep breath.
I raise my eyebrows at him. "Are you done?"
He turns his chair around in my direction and leans back with his arms crossed over his chest.
"First of all, there is nothing wrong with being cynical and secondly, I never complain about something useless. You're just melodramatic who loves to create unnecessary drama in every situation. And I am so sick of you taking me for granted."
A pop sound gets my attention as Caroline snaps her fingers for the second time. Todd and I turn our heads, focusing on what she has to say. I'm pretty sure by now she can infer that there's nothing anyone can do to fix our so-called marriage.
"Now, that I have got your attention, here's my next question..."
What will it take to tell this woman to stop trying? Seriously, what is she made up of?
Caroline shoots a series of questions at us and I just try to hammer my point into her head so she can let me get out of here.
I glance at the wall clock and it seems time is moving too slowly for my liking.
"Okay, now the last question. If your relationship was a book or a movie, what would it be titled?" she asks, rubbing her hands together.
I don't have to think twice before answering her, "Unhappily Married."
Todd shrugs. "Same."
"All right," she mumbles, scribbling something down.
"I hope this session proved helpful for the two of you. I've come to a decision and I think it's for the best if you give your relationship one last chance. What I want you to do is live together in the same house for one month and I'm sure things will get better."
I grab onto the edge of her desk so hard I swear my knuckles turn white and stand up at once.
"You've got to be kidding me!"
"No, Stella, I'm very serious about this."
"Well, just so you know, I can't live with him...I hate him so much."
"I hate her too," Todd says, as if that's a competition.
She slowly massages her temples."Relax, okay. I'm not forcing you to do this."
She picks up a stack of files from her desk and walks over to the glass door. As soon as she opens the door, I turn around, boring my eyes into her back.
"Where're you going now?" Todd asks, crinkling his nose.
She grins. "I'm going to inform your parents about this session and what I'm planning to do next to help you both."
I can't find it in me to run after her and stop her from spilling out the information to our parents. Once our parents know about her plans, they'll force me to move in with Todd.
Damn, this woman is clever at getting what she wants.
Unable to move, I just stand with my mouth hanging open.
There's no way I am going to waste one more month of my precious life on Todd. No matter how hard anyone tries, I'm not going to give in to this shit. When I agreed for this counseling, I thought it'd be the last time I'd see Todd. And now I'm gonna make sure I never see him again.
As easy as Caroline put it, it's not that easy to live with someone who you can't tolerate for even a minute. Todd and I have grown apart and it's very unlikely we'll be together again.
On a positive note, it's solely our decision. I'll say no and I'm sure Todd won't agree to this either. Because we both know that not all broken things can be mended.
>>>>>.<<<<<
Hey, so this is my new story and I'm very excited about it. This book is not edited and there'll be typos and (a lot of) grammatical errors. Read at your own risk. Don't say I didn't warn ya.
I like it when someone gives me feedback because that helps me to improve my writing. Also, I know you might feel a bit awkward, but don't worry, things will start to make sense as the story progresses.
Please give this book a chance. It'd mean a lot to me.
*throws a chocolate chip cookie*