Ron walked calmly into Doctor Monroe’s office and sat down on the leather recliner. He leaned back, put his feet up so that he was comfortable. He felt at peace today and not the slightest bit annoyed that he had to attend the counselling session.
Doctor Monroe smiled at Ron, then greeted him, “Good morning Ron, how are you feeling today?”
“I’m feel great today Doctor, thank you for asking” responded Ron.
The doctor looked at Ron critically then spoke, “You certainly look very composed today, have you been self-medicating again?”
Ron shook his head, “No doctor I promised I wouldn’t do that anymore.”
Again the doctor gave a critical look. “That’s good to hear and I’m glad you are so relaxed today, out bursts like last time really don’t do you any favours.” The doctor paused as if weighing up some options in his mind then continued. “You do realise that I had to report your little … episode … to the Lord’s Council. I wish I hadn’t had to but …”
Ron waved the doctors comments away before interjecting. “No No that’s okay doctor. I realise that what I did was very wrong. Outbursts like that are what got me into this situation. If I am to get better, I must learn to control myself.”
The doctor nodded. “Yes that’s right, you must develop strategies for coping. Find a happy place inside you when you feel you are losing control.”
Ron eagerly nodded.
There was a long pause before the doctor continued. “So tell me about your first wife, how did you meet her?”
For a moment a glimmer of annoyance passed across Ron’s face but he answered in a serene and well measured voice. “Yes, Clara. I met her at a battalion dance in Pezzack. General Galdor had been good enough to employee just about every prostitute in Pezzack to help make the night special for his soldiers.”
The doctor nodded and wrote in his clinical book.
“So we danced, later we f…” Ron cut himself short then rephrased what he was about so say, “we had sexual intercourse.”
Again the doctor nodded. “So she was a prostitute?”
Ron nodded. “Yes a prostitute.”
“Hmmm… but you fell in love?” The doctor asked
Ron for a moment hesitated then said. “Yeah sure, we did. Plus you get an extra allowance if you’ve got a wife. So we got married.”
“You married her, even though she was a prostitute?”
Ron shook his head. “I didn’t know she was a prostitute, I thought she was a baker. That’s what she told me at the dance. I didn’t find out until later that she was a dirty slut prostitute.”
The doctor leaned back as if trying to fully absorb what Ron just told him. “How did you discover that she was a prostitute?”
“The way she spoke to any guy that came into the bakery.” Answered Ron, “She always smiled and flirted and asked how their day was. That kind of thing.”
The doctor looked at Ron quizzically. “So she was a baker?”
Ron shrugged, “She was prostitute, she just worked at the bakery to find clients.”
“She told you that?” Asked the doctor.
Ron shook his head. “Nope she denied it, being a prostitute that is. She didn’t admit it until right at the end.”
“Right.” Said the doctor. “If we can go back to how you discovered that she was a prostitute. It must’ve have been more than just flirting with guys in the shop?”
Ron nodded, “Yep, sometimes guys would leave her a big tip.”
There was a long pause, as the doctor waited for Ron to continue before realising that he wasn’t going to say anymore.
“That’s it?” asked the doctor. He seemed a little incredulous.
Ron solemnly nodded. “We couldn’t have wives in the barracks and I spent most of my time there. Being an apprentice doctor meant I had to work longer shifts. I also heard stuff from the soldiers. They all seemed to know her. Plus I could see the way they sniggered at me behind my back. I knew something was up.”
Ron continued. “And I heard she sometimes went to the inn. Having drinks and stuff. Slutting around.”
The doctor sighed and asked another question.”How long did this go on?”
Ron took a moment to answer as he thought back. “About a year I reckon. I hadn’t seen her for a few months and …”
The doctor interjected. “You hadn’t seen her in months? You never left the barracks to visit her? Not even in your downtime? Weekends? Leave?”
Ron shook his head. “Nope. I liked the barracks. Plus I’d started supplying drugs, so I needed to spend time cooking. Besides she never visited me.”
“But you said wives weren’t allowed on base?”
Ron stopped for a moment then shook his slowly. “Right. Yes of course. Silly of me, but she could’ve sent me a message. That’s not the point, the point is she tricked me and made a fool of me. Being a prostitute and all.”
The doctor gave Ron a stern look. “Ron. Did you ever catch her soliciting herself or find proof that she was a prostitute.”
Ron looked confused. “What do you mean? I just gave you the proof. I’m not stupid, I could see what was happening. Flirting. Going out. Getting big tips. And don’t forget she admitted it to me in the end.”
The doctor continued to press. “Okay so tell me about the time she admitted it.”
Ron continued. “Well when I worked it all out, I started to come home more often. We’d mostly argue. I’d tell her I’d found out what she was up to and it needed to stop. That she was embarrassing me; that everyone was laughing at me behind my back but the little harlot would deny it. She said I was making it all up. I was imagining things. That she loved me more than anything.”
“She would then start to lay the blame on me. I was never home, she needed to get out. She never blah blah blah. One day I got real angry. I might’ve hit her once and then she said something about giving up. She said it was all true that she was a prostitute. That she had nothing more to say, that I should leave and never come back.”
There was a long pause then the doctor said. “So what did you do?”
Ron looked a little surprised. “Well I never came back. Why would I? She’d confessed that she was a dirty prostitute…” Ron stopped as if remembering something.
“No wait I did go back once. I missed her and went to see her. I offered to pay her for a night, you know to keep things professional. She had some guy with her and he went all ape shit. I assumed he got all upset because he’d paid for her. I would’ve come back a bit later, I offered do as much, but this guy just came at me.”
“’Course I beat him off easily enough, smashed him good. She was all tears and swearing like a prostitute does. Foul mouthed little slut. Then she gets a knife and charges at me. Seriously, I didn’t think she was that stupid. Anyway I took the knife off her and told her to not be so hysterical. She had a bit blood on her; I think I accidentally cut her … nothing serious though. Then I walked away. Still got that knife somewhere.”
Ron shrugged in a baffled kind of way.
After another period of silence the doctor spoke. “So what happened next?”
Ron shrugged. "The next day I got transferred, was on the first ship out of port that morning. It was all very sudden, not quite sure what the urgency was all about but it suited me fine."
The doctor vigorously jotted down some more notes, then asked, “So did you ever see her again?”
Ron shook his head. “ I did return to Pezzack eventually just before I got kicked out of the army. That was during the strix rebellion. We were blockading Pezzack so I never got a chance to go in and look for her.”
“Did you want to look for her?”
Ron nodded. “Yes. I felt bad about what happened… I had been foolish.”
The doctor nodded. “Good. Good. So what would you have said to her.”
Ron sighed. “Well I’ve been with a lot of whores since then and I’ve come to realise they aren’t that bad. I mean they are dirty sluts and usually diseased, but I’ve developed a serum for dealing with that. They tend to try and rip you off or steal from you as well. Anyway I would’ve said its okay to be a slut whore if that’s what she really wanted. I mean I could’ve found her lots of business in the barracks. I guess what I’m saying is I should’ve respected her slutiness and been supportive of it.”
The doctor sat back and looked a little disappointed. He silently wrote some more notes, shaking his head.
“One more question Ron, were you using many drugs back then.”
Ron nodded his head. “Yes of course I was … let me think Flayleaf, Opium, Pesh, Scour, Shiver and Zerk.”
“Hmmm that’s a lot of drugs Ron, do you think it could’ve affected your judgement? Perception of things?”
Ron gave a confused look as if he didn’t quite understand the question. “Of course it did, it gave me great insights into what they can do to the mind and body. I would’ve never been able to develop my mutagen if it wasn’t for the drugs.”
The doctor tried to reframe his question. “But do you think it could’ve affected your relationship with Clara.”
Ron looked at the doctor as if he were stupid. “Why would it? She never took any drugs. I experimented only on myself and never at home.”
The doctor was about to speak but then stopped before looking at the time. “Ah nevermind. I think we’ve done enough today. May I say Ron, I appreciate your candour today. I think it has been very … fruitful.”
“Thank you doctor” said Ron as he pulled himself up from the recliner.
He felt really happy with himself.
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