Tony wasn't sure whether he had laughed out loud at the lightning fast curveball that had been thrown at him or shuddered dramatically but his brain went into frenzy as he tried to recover. Feeling the seconds of his silence drop away like a million shells he managed to sputter, "Talk about who, Sir?"
Folding his arms, Doctor Bellows frowned slightly before repeating himself, "Jeannie." He watched the same 'deer in headlights facing imminent impact' expression pass across the Major's face before it was quickly swallowed, "The girl you told me about three months ago, the one that distracted you so. The one I'm sure distracts you now."
"What…what are you talking about, Sir?" Tony stammered, still struggling to recover.
"I would have said it speaks for itself." The Doctor intoned sternly, lowering his head but keeping his eyes focused on the squirming Major. "I have been watching you very closely since we had that meeting three months ago, Major Nelson. Very closely indeed. At first I put down your distraction and erratic behaviour down to jealousy but even though I've noticed a subsidence in the odd occurrences that usually surround you around here lately, your distraction appears to be caused by something else. I am loath to give you this warning Major, but unless you tell me explicitly what's bothering you, and help me work with you to set this issue aside, I will have to report to General Schaffer that you're unfit for the space flight tomorrow. Is it that clear?"
"Yes, Sir." Tony nodded, looking away into a far-off corner of the room. His heart thudding and a nauseous lump rising in his throat.
Seeing that the Major wasn't going to be forthcoming in opening up to him, Doctor Bellows relaxed his stance slightly and decided to try to coax out a lead. "Did you tell Jeannie how you feel about her?"
Resigned, Tony shook his head. "Not exactly, I wanted to but…" He trailed off, while his mouth closed his mind continued talking. Mentally he was telling Doctor Bellows everything. Everything about being on the cusp of finally confessing his feelings to Jeannie but her sister picking the perfect time to scupper that plan. Almost relaying word for word the discussion between the two Jeannies and the confusion he'd felt as he'd tried to interpret what they were saying. The arrival of, he couldn't say his name, before everything became horrifically clear and he exploded in a furious mass that left him devastated and confused.
"But?" The Doctor picked up – tearing Tony away from his internal dialogue, pushing deeper into the opening he could see forming in the Major's shell. "What happened, Major? Why couldn't you tell her how you felt?"
He put it as simply as he could, as simply as his exhausted mind would allow. "She'd already made her feelings for the other man pretty clear. They had a history together. She didn't tell me that they'd been something before until I found out." The nauseous lump in his throat threatened to overtake him at his admittance, "I reacted pretty badly and now for all I know I've probably pushed them together. I told her to get out of my house and never come back, the same to him too. I haven't seen or heard from them since." 'And I probably never will again' he added to himself.
"Ah." Doctor Bellows stated simply before tilting his head back and looking at the ceiling. Though part of him relished in the fact he'd finally been able to get a frank and open, without any wild connotations, account from the Major, a larger part of him felt a small form of sympathy. Lowering his head, he glanced a moment at the window behind the Major, taking a breath before offering some advice he hoped would help. "Then I would say you have two options, Major. Number one is to acknowledge how badly you feel about your actions and the reasons why, find her and tell her how you feel. Of course if she has formed a relationship with this other gentleman you may find your interest in her isn't reciprocated. However, there's a likelihood that she isn't even seeing this man and with any luck she'll be receptive to what you have to say and choose you. With a little bit of work on both sides everything will work out fine." He paused as he watched his words sinking in before continuing, "Option number two is to simply forget about her and move on. If you think there's no hope in reaching her, or you can't forgive what she's done, then you have to accept things for what they are and concentrate on other matters. And other women." Doctor Bellows finished, feeling satisfied that he had made at least a small amount of headway. "Now how do you feel now you've gotten things off your chest?"
Shifting his gaze from the space just centimetres from his desk, Tony looked up at the Doctor. He studied his feelings for a moment, running through the myriad thoughts drifting through his mind. He realised he had never had as frank a discussion with the man as this one. Despite not having divulged the full story of he and Jeannie, he felt a sense of relief at offloading even a small segment of his troubles. Laying them open to someone he had done his utmost for years avoiding telling anything to.
"Better, I think." He stood and did something he had never visualised himself doing. Reaching out a hand he waited for the Doctor to do likewise and shook hands with him, smiling as he said, "Thank you."
A warm, non-threatening smile, lifted the corners of Doctor Bellows' mouth. He could sense a shift in the Major that satisfied, for now, the matter that irked him. Releasing the Major's hand he turned to leave the office with the words, "I will see you tomorrow Major, bright and early for your flight tomorrow morning. Don't be late."
A multi-layered wave of relief washed over Tony as his office door closed in the wake of the departing Doctor and he sank into his chair. Had it really been that easy to satisfy Doctor Bellows' demand? Was opening up all it took to keep his place on the space flight? Was he relieved because he'd shared in some small measure his feelings and what had happened or because he'd finally been able to speak, not as the Master of what five years ago had been nothing more than a fictional being, but as a man, a normal man?
He felt a dip in his lightened spirits as he played upon the last. Looking inside himself he couldn't determine the location of the answer. Though he tried to seek it, it eluded him. At what point had the Doctor's words turned his thoughts? Which option presented to him had loosened the lump in his throat? Why had a single thought clouded the burgeoning clarity of his feelings?
Coming to a decision he lifted the receiver of his telephone and dialled for the switchboard. As the voice on the other line asked who he wished to be connected to he waited to be put through the person he requested. Within moments the phone was answered and he allowed himself a smile as leant forward on the desk and enthusiastically suggested, "Hey Rog, why don't we take a little look at that black book of yours?"