She could've kept quiet and waited to see when they arrived, but patience wasn't her strongest trait. Her gut was telling her that she wouldn't like where they were heading. She knew that road very well. It led to her dad's office, aka, the country's best medical facility. But why?
"Are you going to tell me where we're going now? It's getting dark outside.", Freya asked then instead of blindly waiting.
"We're almost there.", he told her.
"Where?",
"Dr. Sapna's.",
Her eyebrows popped up unconsciously, "Isn't she a psychiatrist?",
"She is.",
"Why are you taking me to see a psychiatrist?",
Mr. Thing couldn't answer her.
"I'm not crazy, dad.", Freya said, voice shaking with fear.
"Your mom's death affected all of us. But it affected you the most.",
"I'm not crazy!",
"What did you say in the dining room? Your mom's right? She knew we'd argue? Do you see your mom? Was she in the room with us? Is she still alive? Do the dead talk?", Mr. Thing was unstable, and so was Freya.
"Stop the car!", she ordered,
"You need treatment before you lose yourself!",
"STOP THE GODDAMN CAR DAD!",
The tires screeched as he suddenly hit the breaks. They stopped alongside the road. They were fuming, having a hard time organizing their thoughts.
"Freya", her dad began after a while of silence, "You want to drop out of college. I never once forced you to be something you don't want to be because I trusted you'd finally make the right choice. When you chose Arts as your high school major, I let you. I still had hope. But every time we sit at that table, you bring up something new, something I can't comprehend. A fashion designer?",
"It's what I love, and I'm good at it.",
"We already have enough brands in the world. You think people would walk past CHANEL, or BALMAIN, or TOM FORD to come buy a dress from you Freya? It's going to take years for you to find success. People don't care that you can sew. Defend someone in court and win, people will care. Remove a tumor from somebody's brain, people will care. Fly a plane from Europe to Australia, the world will applaud you. But you want to make shirts?",
"Do I embarrass you, dad? Among your 3 daughters, I'm such a disappointment, aren't I?",
"I never said that.",
Freya opened the door and got out of the car. She was burning with anger, but she didn't want to pour it all on him. She chose to blame the world for creating all these social standards of what means to be successful and what's not.
"The fact that you, the most uncaring man I know, knows about CHANEL, BALMAIN and TOM FORD should tell you something.", she spoke to him from the window, "Life is all about doing what you love, what makes you feel alive. If you listen to people, they'll rob you of your most happiest version of yourself.",
She had no intention of prolonging the talk. She was done. She said what she said, and after that she crossed the road. There was a bus stop on the other side of the road, and she climbed on the first bus that arrived. Was it her first time riding a public bus? Yes, it was. Did she know what she was doing? Absolutely not.
…
Winslow stared at her phone ringing for the third time. It was the same new number and she knew who it belonged to. She took a deep breath. It was exhausting in an uncool way. She was too tired to even draw a line on it.
"Yeah?", she answered the phone.
"Finally, you answered.", it was the voice of Christopher Vanguard, a voice filled with relief.
"Well, you never stopped calling, so might as well.",
"When you gave me your number I thought you were okay with me calling.",
"When I gave you my number I knew you'd call, I'd ignore it and eventually you'd stop. Seeing how stubborn and persistent you are, my plan failed.",
Christopher chuckled, "Do you know what that means?",
"Nothing, it means nothing.",
"No, it means God wants us to communicate with each other.",
Winslow threw herself on the sofa, kicked the shoes off her feet and started unbuttoning her tight shirt. It was evening, coming straight home from River's apartment. She'd had a long day.
"Let me just be honest with you, Vanguard.", she proceeded, "I'm a different person now.",
"How?", he asked, interested.
"Those reckless nights filled with reckless fucking reckless boys have stopped. I stopped. You already know when you saw me the other day.",
"Wait", he gulped, she heard it, "Am I going to be a step-father?",
"What?", she laughed scoffily, "What are you talking about?",
"The pregnancy test you bought, was it positive?",
"No, it wasn't.", she said, "That's what I'm saying. I had a pregnant scare and it really made me think. I've let go of the old Winslow. This is the new me. And I don't have random sex with guys anymore.",
"That's good then. Take me with you.", he said, kind of begged,
"Take you where, Vanguard.",
"In your journey of self-discovery, take me with you. I just want to be a part of it.",
"It's going to be impossible. You see, I already know who you are inside out.",
"Maybe I'm also a new man on a self-discovery journey like you.",
"Why? You also had a pregnancy scare?",
Christopher laughed. For some reason, he had the most melodic laugh Winslow had ever heard. And when he stopped, she wished he could laugh again. Her subconscious was already finding him attractive before it hit her.
"After I left the resort last year, the only thing I thought about was the night we shared.", Christopher confessed, "I tried finding that feeling in different girls but I couldn't. That feeling was only found in you, with you, together. And so I prayed to God. I told our heavenly father that if he let me meet you again, I promised to be a better man and hopefully the only man for you. I have a feeling that he's answered my prayer.",
"It was just a coincidence.",
"A coincidence means right place, right time.",
Winslow smiled as she shook her head, "Let me ask you something, Vanguard.",
"Go ahead.",
"Between Freya and Cora, who were you in love with?", she asked.
He heaved an exhale, "Back then?",
"Yeah, back then.",
"Cora.",
"And Freya?",
"She's an attractive girl. Any man would want to be with her.",
"Are you saying Cora isn't attractive?",
"She is, but Freya's aura drew me in. My heart belonged to Cora, but my _",
"Dick belonged to Freya.",
Christopher chuckled embarrassedly, "Well, that was back then. I'm different now.",
"Said the chameleon camouflaged in blue. But that didn't make it an alligator. It was still a chameleon.",
"I only ask for a chance to prove it.",
Winslow slowly sat up straight, "We'll see. Time will tell.", she told him.
***