I'd Give Up Everything If Only For Your Good
"Dr. Valley will see you now," said the receptionist who was so obviously a vampire.
After the little incident back at the hotel room, we'd drove to the therapist's office in a highly awkward silence. When we'd arrived we'd been told to wait in the well, waiting room. That particular awkward silence lasted for exactly ten minutes and forty eight seconds. Until the receptionist saved us all.
We all literally sprung up at the same time, grateful for the end to the silence.
"Great," I said, with a surprising lack of sarcasm. I actually was glad. During those awful awkward silences I'd done a lot of thinking and I'd come to a conclusion. We really did need help.
"Fantastic," Ghost hissed, sarcasm dripping off of every syllable.
"Let's get this circus on the road," Hattie said.
The woman nodded and led us to door with a gold plague next to it reading "Dr. Mildred Margaret Fisher Valley."
"That's a mouthful . . ." I mumbled as the receptionist opened the door for us.
"That's what she said . . ." Ghost muttered, smirking as he strode past me into the office.
"Well she was lying," Hattie giggled as she followed him in.
I sighed gratefully. They were back to normal.
I followed them in. The office was nice and spacious. There were potted plants in the corners and paintings on the wall. A large ornate, red rug decorated the dark, polished hard wood floors. For seating there were two leather arm chairs and one leather couch that looked just like the ones in therapist office's in movies. There was a large mahogany desk across the room with a black leather chair behind it. Sitting in it was a woman.
She was obviously a vampire. If the purple irises didn't give it away, then the unnatural pale beauty did. She appeared to be in her mid-thirties when she was changed, and had short black hair that cut off severly at her chin. She was dressed in a formal power suit.
"Hello children," she said melodically, her hands clasped on the desk in front of her, "Take a seat."
"I get the couch!" Hattie said, jumping onto the leather couch and making herself comfy.
Ghost and I silent sat down in the armchairs. I noticed Ghost studying the collection of degrees that hung on the wall behind the desk. I also noticed Dr. Valley studying us. Much more intently then a normal person, I might add.
"We gonna get started?" Hattie asked impatiently.
Dr. Valley's eyes zoned in on her. "You must be Hattie," she guessed.
"What was your first clue?" she asked sarcastically.
"Your impatience and frank disregard for manners," she said calmly without any malice.
"Sounds about right to me," Ghost muttered.
Dr. Valley's eyes moved to him. "And obviously you're Xander," she said.
"It's Ghost, actually," he informed her.
"Interesting," she said.
Her eyes finally moved on to me. She studied me briefly and then offered a small smile that I didn't return.
"And you must be Charlotte," she assumed.
I nodded. "You can just call me Lottie."
She nodded in return. "I'm Dr. Valley," she said to everyone, "It's a pleasure to meet you. I've heard a lot about you three."
"I'm sure you have," Hattie muttered. I could tell by her tone and challenging expression that she was still miffed about the Doctor's earlier analysis of her.
I assumed that Dr. Valley picked up on Hattie's annoyance, but she didn't acknowledge it.
"I'm going to cut down to the chase children," she said, "For our first session I would like to have a group therapy atmosphere between the three of you."
The three of us all looked at each other. I knew we were all thinking the same thing. "I am not talking about my problems in front of these people."
"Why?" Ghost demanded.
"Let's just say that some associates of mine overheard you're little spat back at the hotel," she said.
"You had people spying on us?" I realized.
She didn't act guilty or reproachful. "I had to get a sense of the way you all interacted," she said simply, "T'was merely professional."
"Since when is it professional to spy on people?" Hattie growled.
"You need to learn to get a hold on that temper," Dr. Valley said, "Something I've derived from what my associates have told me."
"Okay, so you heard us all fighting," Ghost said, "But why do we have to have group therapy because of it?"
"Because I think it would be beneficial for all of you to understand how the other people are feeling. As to avoid preying upon their insecurities," she said.
"Can we just get this over with?" I sighed. I was sick of this meaningless argument.
"Good idea. We'll start with you Lottie," she said bluntly, "I understand that you have a fear of death."
I squirmed uncomfortably. "Doesn't everybody?" I answered.
"Don't avoid confronting the problem Lottie," she advised, "It's unhealthy. But allow me to edit that previous statement anyway. I understand that you have an advanced fear of death."
I shifted again. "Yeah . . . I do."
"And why is that?" she asked.
My eyes met Ghost's briefly before I looked away quickly. "I died once . . . Twice actually. It was . . . really scary. The first time I was like in heaven or something. At first it was great, but then I was alone because," I chocked on the words, "- because Ghost left me."
"Ahh yes. You and Ghost are a couple I understand," she said and I noticed that she wasn't reading off of anything. Vampire memory.
"Yeah," I said.
"And are you in love?" she asked bluntly.
I was surprised by how upfront she was but I tried not to focus on it. "Uh yeah . . . yes we are."
"So allow me to make sure I have this right," she said, "You're biggest fear in life is to be without the man you love?"
"Yes," I answered without meeting anybody's eyes.
"Sounds to me like you're demonstrating some of the signs of codependence," she decided.
"You think I'm a codependent?" I exclaimed.
"I'm aware that it is unprofessional to come to an analysis so soon after meeting you," she said, "But I have been given extensive background information on all of you. I had some predetermined bias before even meeting you."
"What makes you think I'm a codependent?" I demanded, ignoring her.
"Well, there are a few things. One of the biggest being how attached you are to your boyfriend. You feel that you cannot exist in a world without him, is that so?" she asked.
"It's called love," I hissed, getting angry, "Clearly you've never experienced it."
She stayed completely neutral. "People lose loved ones all the time. They mourn and they move on. You seem incapable of even surviving without Ghost."
"That's the only reason you think I'm a codependent?" I demanded.
"Of course not. That would be unprofessional. My records say that you're a very selfless person. You like to make others happy," she said. "Is this true?"
"Yeah. And that's a bad thing?"
"No . . . But it is if you start putting other's needs before your own."
"And what makes you think that I do that?" I snapped.
"My records contain reports that you highly revere your boyfriend, Ghost. So much that you 'would do anything to make him happy.' It seems that you often overlook his flaws and are constantly trying to 'fix' him," she continued.
"That's what love is. Overlooking someone's flaws and trying to make them a better person. Wanting to make them happy," I explained heatidly.
"Do you agree with this statement? You are happiest when making him happy?" she asked.
"Yes," I said, "Fully."
"And you don't think that that's unhealthy?" she wondered, "That you live only to serve someone else?"
"I didn't say that I live to serve him," I protested.
"If I recall, you said that you would 'do anything to make him happy.' Correct? That sounds a lot like servitude to me, doesn't it Charlotte?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Not if both people feel the same way," I snapped.
"A good argument," she allowed, "But my records also say that the object of your dependency, Ghost, is a bit of a narcissus. Although, my analysis of the data is that he actually suffers from low self esteem and uses fake arrogance to compensate for his lack of self worth and to keep people from taking advantage of him. But I'll get to that later. My point is that narcissists (or even those who appear to be narcissistic) are magnets to codependents, like yourself."
My eyes flashed to Ghost and Lottie. They'd both been silent throughout this, probably afraid that they'd make things worse. Ghost seemed distressed. His face showed that he was thinking deeply about something. Hattie just looked stunned.
"For the last time!" I shouted, standing up, "I am not codependent! I am in love with Ghost which is why I want to make him happy. And I'm not codependent because he loves me too! Don't you Ghost?"
"Looking for validation of your own feelings?" she inquired, "Self doubt? Viewing other's opinions higher then your own? All signs of codependence my dear."
"Okay that is enough!" I yelled, "I am not freaking codependent!"
"We'll get back to your denial issues in a bit Lottie," she said, "But for now I'd like to get started on Ghost."