“How does it make me ๐ง๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ญ? Are you fucking serious right now? This is what I’m paying for
from an internationally-renowned psychiatrist?” Trent ranted, pacing the tastefully-furnished
office and running a hand through his sleek bronze hair. “My marriage ended
before it even began because my fiancรฉe was jealous of my best friend. My other
best friend was brainwashed into marrying this guy who’s jealous of ๐ฎ๐ฆ. I had an actual social group for the first time in my life and we
went from being a fun group of friends to probably THE most toxic couple-versus-couple,
oh and let me just add that most of the people in the couples don’t even ๐ญ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฆ
each other! Let’s see. Faustus resents that he’s been blackmailed
on pain of death to marry his wife. Nathaniel hates how controlling George has
become. I loved Rebecca to death, almost literally, but I’ve had to face up to
the fact that that girl is a mess, which ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ
lead us to Serena’s situation—Sebastian’s situation? I
don’t know—ugh, don’t even get me started on that. And you want to know how it
makes me ๐ง๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ญ. How would it make YOU feel, Dr. Lecter?”
Hannibal watched impassively as the man who’d
entered his office meek and mild-mannered now paced frantically like an
agitated caged tiger. He couldn’t answer Trent’s question; if any of his
friendships had had that level of drama, he hadn’t paid enough attention to let
it affect him. He chose to deflect. “We’re not here to talk about me, Trent.”
Trent barked out a bitter laugh. “No, of
course not. God forbid a psychiatrist actually be useful.”
“I could write you a prescription, if you’d
like,” Hannibal offered, “but I think in this case it is important to identify
how you feel. Untangle your thoughts, if you will.”
Trent sat down and pinched the bridge of
his nose. “I… I don’t know,” he said.
Hannibal waited for Trent to elaborate; he didn’t.
“You’ve told me about your friends. You haven’t told me about you. It makes it
harder to recommend treatment, don’t you agree?”
Trent agreed. “Okay… uh… I was born in Des
Moines, Iowa. My mother’s great, father’s—was—an ass. He, uh, left my mother
for her sister. They had a child together. We never really got along. I almost
drowned in our pool the day my half-sister was born. My best friend was our
next-door neighbor. We practically lived together till college, and then we ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฅ live together. We were very close, but…” He sighed. “We were going
to date but I met this girl and it all went out the window. I chased after her
my entire adult life. Got hit by a bus after rescuing her from her first
wedding. She shoved me off a rooftop into a pool. Broke every bone in my body
both times, but I still loved her. I thought we’d be great together. I thought
we were written in the stars. My best friend was also my lawyer and ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ her. I thought it was just jealousy at first, because of what
happened in college, but…” Trent shrugged. “I guess sometimes if you can’t
trust your instincts, you should trust your friend’s, right?”
*x*
While Trent was awkwardly recapping the
last 30 years of his life to his new psychiatrist, said best friend was waiting
outside the building, sitting on the steps and smoking a clove. The doctor’s
next appointment parked and, approaching the steps, commented, “I don’t think
you’re allowed to smoke out here.”
Bright teal eyes met cobalt blue. “What are
you, a cop?”
A slight huff of amusement, accompanied by
a twitch of the lips that could almost be a smile. “I’m FBI. Special agent.”
“Really.” The hooded figure pursed his lips
and nodded slowly, as if taking this in. “What a coincidence. I’m special, too.”
Noting the agent’s blank stare, he chuckled. “I had dyslexia and selective
mutism as a kid,” he explained. Spreading his arms, he added, “But look at me
now. Passed the Bar on acid, and I never shut up.”
After a pause, the agent spoke. “You do
know I’m not the psychiatrist.”
“Well, that ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ be awkward, considering I dropped my friend off for his appointment
almost an hour ago.” He held out a clove. “Smoke?”
“Uh… No, thanks. I have a headache.”
“Suit yourself.”
*x*
“I’m afraid our hour is up,” Hannibal said.
He’d at least had the grace to wait until Trent had finished his latest run-on
sentence. He believed in old-world politeness, a set of habits so
deeply-ingrained that they held fast even through his eagerness to see his next
patient.
“Okay.” Trent’s meek demeanor had returned.
“I’ll see you again next week.”
When he left the office, he collided with a
scruffy, harrowed man. His apology was brushed off with an awkward nod, but Trent
couldn’t help but observe aloud, with his signature grin, “I have a friend who
smokes cloves, too!”
The other patient seemed to look at him
now, not through him. “Your cologne is clove-based. Seems to be a popular
scent.”
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