Chapter Four (part two): The tip of the Iceburg
Thursday March 15th '07, 2:00 p.m.
"All ready to go?" Dr. Williamson asked.
"Yes I am, and thank you." Gabrielle replied as Dr. Williamson pulled away from the hotel.
"For what?" Dr. Williamson as the bus Becky was on pulled up to the hotel as they left, "That was close."
"Yeah it was, and I'm thanking you for listening. I mean I know it's your job but it still helps to be able to get this stuff off my chest. Becky just doesn't undertand, she never has and she never will." Gabrielle replied as she watched the buildings go by.
Dr. Williamson was unsure how to repond. The way he saw it he could answer in two ways: the perfessional psychiatrist way or the more personal friend like way. The last thing he wanted to do was offend Gabrielle, he didn't want her to shut herself in so he chose the latter of the two.
"You're very welcome. This may sound rediculous but I know what it's like to have to hide your emotions and bottle things around those who don't understand, it's not fun. I want you to remember that you don't have to hide your feelings from me, I'll be there for you." Dr. Williamson said and the he thought, That was so corny it belongs on a soap-opera.
"That wasn't rediculous and I will. Now may I ask where it is we're going?" Gabrielle said as she looked at Dr. Williamson, they had just left the city and were now in the countryside.
"You can ask but all good things come to those who wait. We don't want to spoil the surprise." Dr. Williamson said with a smile.
Gabrielle chuckled, Dr. Williamson was proving to be a very interesting man. For the first time in a long time Gabrielle felt a genuine happiness.
"Alright Doctor, I'll play along. I do enjoy a good surprise." Gabrielle said returning the smile.
Twenty minutes later Dr. Lector pulled up the drive way to his countryside home, and was pleased to see Gabrielle had the same look on her face as she did on the Versailles tour.
"You like it?" asked the Doctor.
"It's beautiful, Dr Williamson! I take it you live here." Gabrielle asked as she got out of the car.
"Yes I do." Dr. Williamson as he popped the trunk and got out of the Jag, "You can put your money with your other things if you wish. They can stay in the trunk till we get back to your hotel."
"Okay, thanks." Gabrielle said as she put her money in with her bag from the gift shop, "It must be great living out here. Being able to come home to a nice, peaceful, quite countryside after a stressful day at work."
I need a house like this Gabrielle thought to herself as Dr. Williamson shut the trunk and lead her to the front door.
Here we go. Dr. Lector thought to himself as he unlocked the front door and opened it for Gabrielle then said alowd, "After you, Ms. Helfire."
Gabrielle walked into the house and found herself in what she assumed to be the living room. As she looked around she saw a fireplace, beautiful paintings on the walls and beautiful furniture. The only electronic device in the room was the phone that was on an end table next to one of the two couches.
"Would you like something to drink? I have milk, juice, water..." Dr. Williamson asked as he watched Gabrielle.
"Umm...water's fine. Thank you." Gabrielle said as she turned to face him and noticed he had taken off his hat and sun glasses.
"Alright, well have a seat on the couches and I'll be back in a moment." Dr. Williamson said as he gestured to the couches then left in the opposite direction.
Gabrielle walked over to the couch and sat down on the nearest one. As she waited she woundered if Becky had even noticed she wasn't at the hotel. She decided to turn her phone on and find out. As her phone came on Gabrielle saw Dr. Williamson walk back into the room with two glasses of water.
"Here you are." Dr. Williamson said as he handed Gabrielle her water, "Has she noticed you're gone yet."
"Thats what I'm gonna find out now." Gabrielle replied as she took the glass from Dr. Williamson, "Well I don't have voice mail or a missed text message. I'll check the recent calls list, Becky doesn't always leave a message."
Gabrielle expertly went through her phone to the correct menu. Seeing no missed calls she exited the menu with a half hearted chuckle put her phone and purse on the coffee table infront of her and took a sip of her water.
"I take that as a no." Dr. Williamson said as he put two coasters on the table and sat down on the couch across from Gabrielle.
"You would be correct. She's two wrapped up in herself to notice. Which I guess can be a good thing, it means I won't be getting a text message every five minutes." Gabrielle said as she sat back.
"Are you always optimistic?" Dr. Williamson asked with a chuckle.
"Most of the time. Mum says I get it from her, but she also thinks I automaticaly find the good in any situation because I've developed a habit of trying to keep everyone who's around me happy." Gabrielle replied drinking more of her water.
"What do you think? Do you agree with her?" Dr. Williamson asked.
"Yes I do. Ever since I was little thats was my main goal when I was around people." Gabrielle replied as she sat forward and put her glass on one of the coasters, "My mum suffered from depression after she got devorced. I remember dressing up in her clothes and doing little skits just to make her smile. I hated seeing her sad and it upset me more because I didn't know exactly why. I knew it had to do with my father but I had no idea what he had done. When I was around my father I was always on my best behavior so as not to anger him. When my father met Karren, his current wife, I saw how she made him happy. I did what ever I could to make her happy with me and like me, I wanted her to stay with my father so he would be happy and not angry."
"What about with your mother and step-father?" Dr. Williamson asked when Gabrielle paused, she was off to a good start and he wanted her to keep going.
"Heh, mum was always easier to make happy than my father. I remember one time when she was really upset. She was curled up on the couch staring blankly at the TV, almost like she was looking right through it. I remember puting on my play doctors uniform and walking out of my room with the play clipboard and stethascope." Gabrielle replied with a small smile, "I walked right up to her and put the scope to her head. Then I put it on her shoulder and where I thought her heart should be. I remember talking to my pretend nurse and saying 'she seems alright, but she's sad. nurse please go get me the laughing gas tank.' Mum cracked a smile and I tilted my head and looked at her, when she broke out laughing I dropped my clip board and stethascope and jumped into arms and gave her the bigest hug I could manage before she started tickling me."
Gabrielle chuckled and dropped her gaze from Dr. Williamson to her glass.
After a minute of silience Gabrielle continued, "When mum met Steve I became defensive. I knew father had hurt my mum bad, even though I didn't know exactly what it was he had done, I knew it wasn't something small. So I appointed myself my mother's personal body gard, I wasn't gonna let anyone hurt my mum again. The first few times Steve came to the house I never left my mums side, not even for a second. I never talked to him, I just glared at him trying to find any sign that he intended to hurt my mum. Then about the fifth time he came over he asked to talk to me alone, and he asked me why I never smiled or laughed when he was around. I told him I was my mother's body gard and was in charge of keeping her safe. I told him that I wouldn't allow anyone to hurt her. And when he asked how I had become such a good body gard I told him that I knew my father had hurt her bad, and wouldn't allow her to be hurt anymore. He seemed to understand and promised me that he would never try to hurt mum, and with that we had a sort of contract. I had come to trust he would keep his word and he knew that if he ever did hurt her I would be all over him."
Gabrielle paused to take a breath and a sip of water.
"And has he kept his word?" Dr. Williamson asked as he put his now empty glass on the other coaster.
"So far as I've seen yes. And he still knows that if he ever hurt her today he'd have to go through me, because now I know what my father has done to my mother and I won't tolerate it from anyone else. Over the years I have come to love Steve like he was my father. He has always been fun and has always paid attention to my mother and I. Mum and Steve are the only two people I have never had to try to please. It always came naturally, mom or Steve would say or do something I though was funny and I would go with the flow and build on it. There have been times when I'd have them laughing for hours. Theres one thing that Steve did that trully earned my respect when I was younger, and that was when I was three and a half. He asked me if he could marry my mother, and what was awesome was that he hadn't even bought the engagement ring yet. When I said yes he took me to the jewlery store to help him pick it out, and he even asked for ideas on how he should propose." Gabrielle smiled and looked back at Dr. Williamson.
"I still remember the night he proposed." Gabrielle continued, "It was a week after we had bought the ring, by that time we had come up with our own code so we could talk about it with mum in the room and she wouldn't have any idea what we were talking about. He told my in our speacial code before dinner that he was going to do it after dinner, and it took all my energy to keep the secret. After dinnner Steve and I cleared the table and when that was done I remember jumping up and down saying 'Do it Steve do it! If I try to keep it a secret any longer I'll burst!' He laughed and said 'Are you sure?' I gave this look like 'Duh' and he winked at me. When mum asked what was going on I just sqealed and ran around the table several times to keep form splilling the secret. I still remember the look on mum's face when he finally proposed, it was the best thing I had ever seen. I remember jumping up and down yelling 'say yes! do it mum! say yes, say yes, say yes!' and I let out a big whoop when she did. That was one of the best days of my life."
Gabrielle paused again and took another sip of water.
"How did your father react when he heard your mother was getting remaried?" Dr. Williamson asked calmly.
"To be quite honest with you, I'm not sure. Steve moved in with us after mum axcepted the proposal and was the one to answer the door the next time me father came to pick me up for his visitation. He made no mention of it when I was with him, and I never talked to him about it because it was my special thing and I didn't want him to ruin it, but two months later he proposed to Karren. He always was the jelous type." Gabrielle answered, "I was part of mum's bridal party and they even made me part of the ceramony. When the priest asked me if I had any objections to Steve marrying my mother I stood up as tall as I could and said 'No sir, I do not. I'm for it all the way' Then I turned around and said to all the guests 'Steve even let me pick out the engagement ring!' Then I turned back around and said 'How cool is that!' Every one laughed, god I felt like the luckiest daughter that day. I stayed with Steve's parents while they were on their honeymoon, and when they got back I remember running up to them yelling 'yay mum and dad are home!' Mom's mouth dropped open and Steve had a smile on his face from ear to ear when they heard it. I jumped straight into Steve's arms and gave him the biggest hug I could muster. He told me he was honored that I called him dad and I looked him square in the eye and told him he earned it and deserved it. I've called him dad ever since, and I still see his eyes light up when I say it."
Just then Gabrielle's phone vibrated. Gabrielle glared at it upset to have been interupted but picked it up any way.
When she saw Becky's number she sighed and said, "Well, here we go."
Dr. Williamson chuckled at the remark then was quite as Gabrielle picked up.
"Hello..." Gabrielle answered.
"Where the hell are you?!?!" both Gabrielle and Dr. Williamson heard Becky scream, "It's two thirty and you're not here!!!"
Becky was yelling so loud Gabrielle had to hold the phone away from her ear.
"Your point being what Becky?" Gabrielle asked as calmly as she could, she could feel her anger building as she said, "I wasn't aware I was to lock myself in my room after the tour, and why do you care?"
"Are you kidding me?!?" Becky screamed, "I thought we were tour buddies. Why did you ditch me?!?"
Dr. Williamson's eyebrows shot up and Gabrielle gave him a 'You've got to be kidding me!' kind of look.
"How can I ditch you if you weren't even around?" Gabrielle asked as she felt herself start to shake a little.
"I told you I would see you on the bus! You weren't there missy!" Becky threw back.
Okay this ends now Gabrielle thought to herself no longer able to hold back her anger.
"Oh, like you fricken noticed." Gabrielle shot back angrilly, "You were probably too busy talking to Carla about clubing with French boys you didn't even notice I never got on, so don't give me that crap."
"Yes we did, and we were worried sick abo..." Becky started before Gabrielle interupted her.
"Bull shit!" Gabrielle yelled, "If you were so fricken worried, why did you wait so goddamn long to call huh?"
Gabrielle didn't even wait for an answer from Becky she just kept yelling, "Let me guess, you and Carla were looking for something to wear to impress your little boy toys in our closet and your realized that all you have to chose from is your clothes and hers! You had no idea I wasn't on the bus 'cause you and Carla were so wrapped up in yourselves you had no time to give a damn about anyone else!"
There was silence on the other end of the phone so Gabrielle said, "Yeah, thats what I thought. Well ya can't borrow ANY my clothes OR shoes, because you can't be trusted to return them."
"Why are you being such a bitch?" Becky finally responded, "And I don't undestand why you locked your suit cases, wanna explain that to me? Because I don't see a reason for it."
"I've already explained it, and had you been listening you would know the answer to that question." Gabrielle shot back, she was standing by this time and was pacing back and forth infront of the fireplace.
"What you don't trust your own best friend? C'mon you know I would never take you clothes." Becky tried to say in her sweetest voice.
"Don't try to pull that sweet talk shit on me, you know it doesn't work and you've always been a bad liar so don't expect me to believe you." Gabrielle fired and Dr. Lector could taste the poisoness tone in her voice and she continued, "The only person you care about is yourself, you conceited little bitch and I'm sick of it. I'm done talking to you."
And with that Gabrielle ended the call. She the preceded to call her chaperone.
"Hello Mrs. Mathews?..." Gabrielle said still shaking from her argument with Becky, "...she did...well I'm fine...sorry I just got into a fight with her and I didn't give myself time to calm down before I called you...I was woundering if I could get my room switched...Well if I'm roomed with her any longer we're gonna go home with one less student, and I'm not the one who's gonna be missing...Well you said when we first got here that there was one girl who had their own room...Well Carla seems to be her new best friend...uh hu...really you would do that?...Thank you so much Mrs. Mathews I owe you big...I'm fine, I met a psychiatrist monday and he's helping me with my stuff...about half an hour...I'll be there for dinner...alrighty thanks again...Yeah my stuff is in my suit case, oh and Mrs. Mathews?...My mum sent a care package and it under the vanity in my room. Could you have them grab that as well?...Thanks...buh bye."
Gabrielle ended the call and looked at Dr. Williamson with a weak smile. The fight took more out of her than she thought it would. Gabrielle sat back down on the couch and tried to take a sip of water, but when she picked up the glass she found she was shaking to much to be able to take a drink without spilling water all over herself so she put the glass down and tried to calm her nerves.
"Hold on." Dr. Williamson said as he rose from where he was sitting and left the room.
A minute later he came back carrying a straw and a pitcher of water. He refilled Gabrielle's half empty glass and put the straw in it. Then he refilled his own glass grabbed another coaster and put the pitcher on it as he sat back down.
"Thank you Doctor." Gabrielle said as she leaned closer to the table and drank her water from the straw.
Gabrielle then quickly remember her low cut shirt and brought her hand up to cover what the shirt didn't. It only took Gabrielle half a minute to drain her glass. As Gabrielle sat back, Dr. Williamson once again refilled her glass.
"Do you feel better after telling Ms. Perry what you really thought of her?" Dr. Williamson asked as he sat back.
"Yes, I'm glad I don't have to play pretend anymore, it really wears a person down. And now I have my own room, thank god. Dinner is going to be hard enough to get through, if I had to share a room with Becky tonight nobody in the hotel would be able to get any sleep. I feel like I just got rid an unnecissary responsability, and I feel a little lighter." Gabrielle replied with another weak smile.
"Feeling lighter is a good thing. It means you were able to let go of something painful. Its a step in the right direction." Dr. Williamson said and then he asked gently, "Did you need a rest or would you like to continue with the conversation we were having before we were interupted?"
"I don't need a break, we can continue with our conversation. Where were we though, before the interuption." Gabrielle replied as she sat forward and crossed her legs.
"You were talking about the first time you called your step-father 'dad' and how it still makes him light up today." Dr. Williamson said as he refreshed Gabrielle's memory.
"Oh yeah, thank you. Yeah mum still lights up if she's in the room when I call him dad. I rarely call him by his first name, it just doesn't feel right. I think the only time I've called him by his first name after the wedding was at his family reunion. I had yelled out 'Dad!' when I was trying to get his attention and I had seven guys answer me, so I yelled out his first name and waved to make sure I got the right 'dad'." Gabrielle said as she continued her trip down memory lane.
"I remember when I was thirteen, he came up to me one day and asked me if he could adopt me. I screamed yes at the top of my lungs and gave him a huge hug. The only problem with that plan was that my father had to sign the document giving his permission for Steve to adopt me, and he told my mother, Steve and I that if he let Steve adopt me then Karren had to be alowed to adopt me as well. I think my mother and I said no at the same time. Karren actually tried to force me to call her mom for the first few years after she had married my father, and then when my brother was born she used the excuse that I was to call her mom because she didn't want my brother to call her by her first name to keep me calling her mom. I totally disregarded the excuse and from then on called her by her first name. I didn't, and still don't, feel that she deserves the title mom from me, it hurts to call her mom so I just don't do it." Gabrielle said as she finished that little section of memories.
When she had finished Gabrielle noticed she was no longer shaking and was glad her body finally decided to calm down.
"Well you certainly have your priorities straight when it comes to parent status, thats good. And you don't feel guilty that you call your step-father 'dad' but you don't call your step-mother mom?" Dr. Williamson asked.
"Nope, Karren hasn't been in my life enough for her to deserve me to call her mom, at least in my opinion." Gabrielle replied as she took a sip of her water, pushing the straw out of the way so she could drink right out of the glass, "I think we've strayed way off our initial subject."
"Thats not necissarily a bad thing." Dr. Williamson said with a small smile. "Trying to make sure everyone around is happy and stays happy can be a good habit, but if you become too concerned with keeping people happy you could end up losing yourself and that is not good. I think you've gotten through enough for one day, why don't we talk about something lighter."
"Alright..." Gabrielle said as she put he glass back on the coffee table, "What did you have in mind?"
For the next four hours Gabrielle and Dr. Williamson talked about many things. They talked about plays, plays that had been made into movies, and movies that had been made into plays. They also talked about books and their favorites authors. Gabrielle was glad she had decided to leave with Dr. Williamson today. He treated her as an equal and not as just another teenager, he trully respected her.
"Very nice Ms. Helfire. You are a very good driver." Dr. Williamson said as Gabrielle turned off the Jag and handed him the keys.
Dr. Williamson had sugested Gabrielle drive back to the hotel. He said it would help her get used to driving in Europe. Gabrielle almost fell over when he had asked, never in her life did she think she would ever have the privilage of driving such a fabulous car.
"Thank you Doctor. Both mum and Steve took my driving for hours before my road test, I passed with a perfect score." Gabrielle said with a smile as she unbuckled and got out of the Jag.
"That I have no doubt of." Dr. Williamson said with a chuckle as he popped the trunk so Gabrielle could retrieve her bags.
"There you are!" Gabrielle heard her teacher call as Dr. Williamson shut the trunk.
"Hi Mrs. Mathews, I told you I'd be back for dinner." Gabrielle said with a smile as she turned to her teacher.
"I must say, I was starting to get worried." Mrs. Mathews said as she gave Gabrielle a hug.
The hug wasn't necissarily for Gabrielle's benifit. Mrs. Mathews was just reasuring herself that Gabrielle was infact safe and no harm had come to her.
"Becky's dramatic personality probably didn't help any when she told you I wasn't with her." Gabrielle said as she rolled her eyes.
"She made it seem like you were dead. I was going to call you but my phone died almost right after I hung up with her. I tell ya that girl would make a great actress. And how is this?" Mrs. Mathews asked as she acknowlaged Dr. Williamson.
"Doctor Richard Williamson, ma'am." Dr. Williamson answered as he shook Mrs. Mathews's hand, "I'm the psychiatrist Mr. Helfire mentioned the last time she talked to you."
"I see, well thank you for keeping her safe Doctor. Now I must take Gabby inside, it's there's only ten minutes till dinner and I need to show her where her new room is." said Mrs. Mathews as she looked at Gabrielle, "Your new room is on the fifth floor with the teachers."
"Nice." Gabrielle said and she turned to Dr. Williamson and said, "Thank you Doctor, see you tomorrow?"
"How's nine-thirty?" Dr. Williamson asked, "That way we can get to the opera house before any tours come in."
"Sounds like a plan. I'll see you tomorrow then. Good night Doctor." Gabrielle replied.
"Good night Ms. Helfire." Dr. Williamson said as he nodded then headed to the driverside of his car.
Gabrielle followed Mrs. Mathews into the hotel as Dr. Williamson got into his Jag and started it. When he saw that they were inside Dr. Williamson pulled away from the hotel and headed home.
Buyah! Take that Becky!!! LOL!!! Reviews Please!!!