Spliced

Previous day...

“And then do you know what he did?

Zephyr shook his head. “What did he do?” he asked feigning as much interest as he could.

“Well he had the audacity to deny the whole entire thing,” Margot sniffed and pulled another tissue out of the box on her lap.

“That must have been very difficult” Zephyr said comfortingly.

“Oh you have no idea” Margot exclaimed, and then continued on another spiel about her husband’s faults.

Zephyr threw out comments and questions where appropriate, never faulting in his ability to appear alert and interested. In a way, he was to some extent. Perhaps not in the details of their lives but in making them feel better. It was part of why he’d chosen this line of work. If listening to a patient for an hour made their lives easier then he always came away feeling like he’d contributed to the world in some way, made it a slightly better place. The worst days were the ones where you knew you could not help. When no matter what you said the patient would leave feeling no different.

Margot was one of his better patients. She was so easily comforted that Zephyr sometimes even enjoyed her sessions.

The clock chimed. Margot stopped mid-sentence and blinked. “Oh time already! I swear time always goes so fast during our sessions.” She smiled then checked her watch. “Oh and Gertrude is coming over at three for afternoon tea.”

Zephyr gave a polite nod.

Margot stood up doing an amazing job of composing herself. “Thank you so much Dr.”

Zephyr nodded politely again. “Of course.”

“And I’ll see you again same time next week.” She chirped “Oh actually can I change my appointment to Wednesday morning? Just for next week, Bonnie’s niece is having a baby shower on Friday and I simply can’t miss it for the world.”

“Let me check my schedule” Zephyr replied as he reached for a large grey folder sitting on a nearby cabinet. He flicked through a couple of pages until he found the right date. “Yes that should be fine, I had a cancellation at eight on Wednesday morning. That’s not too early is it?”

“Oh no, that should be fine” Margot replied with a big smile. “I’ll see you then.” She waved behind her as she headed towards the door.

Zephyr smiled softly as she left. He walked from the office sofa back to his desk and started to tidy through some files. The comfy office was just a room in his house. Just by chance he decided to check his personal phone. Normally he kept it turned off during the day. His clients would contact him on his work phone. But he had an hour free before the last client of the day. He noticed a missed call from Amanda. He sighed and looked at the mess of papers spread across his desk. He really didn’t feel like sorting through them right now. He dialed Amanda’s number and put the phone to his ear.