Page 14 of Release Me

“Jeez, so serious,” I roll my eyes at him.

“You’re twenty-three?”

“Yes,” I respond, boredom apparent in my tone.

“I’d like to know more about you, what can you tell me?”

I stare at him. This is the same shit I went through with Dr. Lewis, yet I don’t feel the same animosity toward him. Why? It unnerves me, and I don’t like it.

“I…” I start, but I don’t know what to say. Not even a smart comment comes to mind.

“Don’t think too hard about it,” he coaches. “Anything, little or big.”

He sits patiently while I try to root around in my mind for a piece of information about myself. Why is this so fucking hard? Just make something up if you can’t think of anything.

“I don’t know. Can’t you just ask me questions?”

“Sure, we can do it that way, I just wanted to give you the opportunity to speak freely.”

“Well,that’sdifferent,” I mutter under my breath.

“What’s different?”

“Being able to speak freely.”

“Is it not allowed here?” Dr. Dick looks around his office jokingly as if he’s searching for a microphone or video camera that’s been hidden there.

Idon’toutwardly express the fact that I find his joke funny, but I do giggle to myself on the inside.

“No, it’s not that. It’s just, anytime I would speak freely in a session with Dr. Lewis, she would get angry and tell Dr. S, then I would get into trouble. It’s why I never opened up to her. She didn’t want to hear what I had to say.”

“Could it be what you had to say was derogatory toward her?”

“Ofcourse,it was! She’s—”

“A stupid cunt. I know.”

This time I can’t keep the small smile from appearing on my face. Dr. Dick’s face mirrors my own, and it tugs at my heartstrings a little bit. The feeling is foreign, and it shocks me, removing my smile before I meant to.

“Okay, so,” he clears his throat. “I read a little about what landed you in here. Do you want to talk about that?”

“Not really.”

“Okay, just know that we will eventually get there. You’llneed to talk about it sooner or later.”

I nod in agreement as he begins to ask the next question.

“Let’s start at the beginning then. Where did you grow up?”

I take a deep breath and groan loudly because I don’t want to talk about this either.

“Is that a sore subject?”

“Uhh, yeah, kind of.”

“I understand. I don’t like talking about my childhood either, but this is a safe space, Brynn. I want you to be open with me. I meant what I said last night. You can trust me. Completely.”

His eyes flash dangerously when he sayscompletely, and I don’t know whether or not to be scared or turned on. I think back to how I felt last night down in isolation. I was weak, and he saw me break. That part scares me. But the pleasure I felt when I looked into his eyes as I came apart was powerful.I want to experience it again. I don’t remember ever feeling that way before. There is more to Dr. Dick. There is a reason for the delicious darkness in his stare, and I’m going to find out what it is.

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