So, this is loosely based off of the movie Mr. and Mrs. Smith.
Hope you're enjoying it.
As I walk into the bathroom, I notice that this room is tastefully done as well. In a warm olive tone for the walls and a dark wood on the floors and crown moldings.
I quickly do my business, wash my hands before looking at myself in the rectangular multiple framed mirror.
I decided it wouldn't hurt to apply a little bit of makeup. So I reach back to let half of the hair down from the chignon, letting loose a few wisps of hair to frame my face before I apply a light layer of eyeliner and reapply my dusty rose matte lipstick, before dropping everything back into my purse.
Exiting the bathroom, without missing a beat, I make my way back towards the reception area. Ignoring her as I walk past the double door.
I only just walk past the doors when I am pulled to the side.
"Would it have killed you to listen to me?" He asks, softly speaking into my ear.
I roll my eyes at him, snatching my arm from his grip before stepping away from him. "Not really. Besides, what does it matter? I didn't do anything. I simply spoke to her."
"I heard what you said, Bella. You practically threatened to kill the poor girl." He said, tensely.
"So what if I did. I got the message across. Problem solved." I softly replied, pushing past him.
The tension between us is high by the time we walk into the large office. I notice much like the wide reception area, this office is also spacious. Though the walls are made of dark wood, the floor is layered with dark gray carpeting and black leather seating.
A large bookshelf covers the better part of the back wall along with three rows of credentials, all set behind a large cherry wood desk.
I ignore Edward's heated gaze, as I turn towards the coat rack and slowly unbutton my coat. I hang it up along with my bag before heading to my seat.
With a final sigh, I finally look up to see a man with salt and pepper black hair, well into his forties sitting on a large chair, with a notepad on his lap.
I smiled making my way towards him, with an extended hand.
"Good morning. You must be Isabella." He says, standing up and giving me his hand to shake.
"It's Bella. A pleasure to meet you." I replied with a soft smile.
"Frank Aspen." He replies as we all take a seat. "Now, Edward tells me you are the one that originally suggested coming to counseling…" he adds, looking at me expectantly.
I nod, as I cross my ankles and smoothing out the skirt of my dress, before looking at him. I can feel Edward's gaze boring into the side of my face as I stare ahead unblinkingly.
"Can you tell me a little about yourselves?" He asks as he scribbles something down on the pad.
I swallow thickly, twisting the thick platinum band around my left ring finger, and the small thin band on my right hand.
"Ok, I'll go first," Edward says, smiling nervously. "Let me just say, um, that we don't really need to be here." He adds, before looking at me with a warm smile.
Dr. Aspen nods in response, before jotting down something on his pad.
Edward nodded before continuing to talk. "So, we've been married for five years—" he begins before I interrupt him, "Six." I corrected him automatically.
He nods, "Five, six years." He corrects, as I nod in response. "This is like- a checkup for us." He explained, gesturing with his hands, to me while I attempted to keep myself calm as he continued to talk out of his ass. " A chance to poke around the engine, maybe change the oil… replace a seal or two." He drifts off, with a shrug.
I watch as Dr. Aspen's otherwise serious expression turns to an amused one.
"Very well then, let's pop that hood, now, shall we?" He suggests, smiling at us, encouragingly. His eyes flicked down to his yellow note pad before flicking back at us. "Alright, I am going to begin by asking you two a series of questions. I need you two to answer as honestly as possible." He says, nodding once more.
"On a scale of one to ten, how happy are you as a couple?" He asks, looking up at us, expectantly.
Edward's eyes flicker toward mine in response to the question before turning back to the doctor, "Wait. Ten being perfectly happy and one being totally miserable?" He inquired, raising a brow.
I closed my eyes fighting the urge to roll my eyes at him before letting out a deep breath, as I clasped my hands together and took another deep breath, before looking forward once more.
"Just answer instinctively." The doctor replied in response.
I could hear and feel as Edward turned in his seat to look at me, "Are you ready?" He asked me.
I let out a deep breath before nodding, "Eight." We both reply simultaneously.
My eyes widen when he shoots the next question at us without missing a beat, this time a more intimate one. "How often do you have sex?" He asked, staring at us intently.
I felt my jaw drop slightly before I snapped it closed, as Edward coughed into his hand, looking away from me. " I don't— I don't understand the question," I answered honestly, while I weave and unweave my fingers, crossing my left leg over my right to keep it from bouncing up and down.
"Yeah is this liked the last one? Like a 'one to ten' thing?" Edward asked, leaning forward in his seat slightly. "Yeah, is one a little or is one nothing, because technically speaking zero would be nothing." I pointed out raising my hands in question.
"How about we try to vary it down? How about this week? How many times have you had sex this week?" He asked.
I could feel my face heat up, my eyes flickering to look out the window, before I flickering back to look at the doctor, and then suddenly finding my cuticles more and more interesting. As I began to push them back with the nail of my thumb.
"Could we go to the weekend?" Edward asked, as his brows scrunched up as he thought back to the last time we had sex, almost three weeks ago.
"Sure." Dr. Aspen replied, nodding slowly at him.
We weren't able to answer explaining that we both had long hours, and half the time hardly saw each other until we were preparing to go to bed.
"Alright. Many couples usually tend to avoid the topic, it's completely fine." He said, assuringly. "Let's move on shall we?" He muttered. "Describe how you first met."
A smile pulled at my face, as I thought of the place we met. I sighed with a wistful smile, "Well, it was in Columbia." I replied.
"Bogota, Five years ago..." Edward said, smiling too,
"Six," I replied, staring ahead, once more trying to restrain myself from doing anything stupid for the twentieth time this morning.
"Right, five or six years ago," Edward replied rubbing his hands together. "I was on vacation, had been there for maybe a week or so, drinking at the hotel I was staying in. I think it was two days before I was back at my office. Anyway, it was probably a little afternoon, I was at the bar, and the authorities were looking for someone who was causing trouble. They were taking in tourists and single men and women in for questioning. I had just finished my drink when two officers before they yell for someone to stop. When I turned around there she was…." He finished, drifting off as his eyes glazed over, and I fought to keep my amusement at bay.
"Honestly, I was on vacation as well, went to Columbia to sightsee and visiting another friend of mine. Well, I had just gotten back from visiting my friend and her family and decided to stop for a drink. By this time, of course, the police and everything had turned chaotic. Officers yelling in the middle of the streets, shots begging fired. So, I walked in through the first door I could find, though they were following me and asking for my identification and if I was alone." I explained, shrugging lightly.
"Just as they were going to reach for her, I stopped them and told them she was with me. Then we proceeded to go to my room for safety and to avoid being questioned further. After that, we exchanged contact information, and the relationship progressed from there." Edward added with a shrug.
"Interesting. How long did you date each other before getting married?" He finally asked, looking at the clock before looking back at us.
"For a few months," I replied, staring out the window.
"Ah, so not long… Well, I want you two to think of something for me. I want you two to think of your partner's most admirable qualities."
"Do we need to write them down?" I wondered, quietly.
"If it makes you more comfortable. Then yes. Write 'em down. Bring 'em with you for next week's session. Alright?" He instructed, looking at both of us.
"Okay, sure, we can do that…" Edward replied, nodding to himself.
As we all stand, we take a step forward to shake Dr. Aspen's hand and retrieving our coats before he guides us back towards the reception area.