Helanie:
I walked back to my room, feeling like I wanted to rip someone’s head off. It was all her fault. Lucy was such a bitch. When Norman returned, he found me staring at him with my arms folded across my chest.
"How was the session?" I asked, my tone almost too sharp.
"It was just okay. Nothing really good came out of it, but I guess it’ll take time before she opens up," he said. I started nodding.
"True, true." I think he noticed how I was acting because, as he walked toward the bathroom, he suddenly stopped.
"What’s going on? You look really stressed," he said, walking over and sitting down to hold my hand. He held it in his lap, gripping it tightly, like he was trying to say he’d never let me go.
"Why don’t you tell me what happened?" I countered, getting aggressive even though he was being nice.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"Norman, I was outside your office." I didn’t explain where I had been or what I saw. I just wanted him to come clean. He stared at my face, then lowered his eyes and shook his head.
"I didn’t want to tell you and stress you out. But – were you spying on us?" he said, almost flicking the tip of my nose. I grunted at him angrily.
"Yes, I was. I have every reason to do that," I said, watching him shake his head.
"It’s unethical," he reminded me. It’s what Cora said too.
"And isn’t it unethical that she kissed you?" I snapped. "There’s no such thing as unethical between husband and wife. I deserve to know everything."
"Listen, it was just a peck. I didn’t even feel it. I told her not to do that again," he said, then cupped my face in his hand. "Please don’t stress so much. The more I try to calm you down, the more stressed you get," he added.
But I wagged my finger. "Nope. That’s not everything. It was a very calculated move by her. Why did you have to be the one giving her a therapy session? Huh, Mr. Big Guy?" I pinched his chest, and he quickly covered it with his hand to stop me from doing it again.
"You’re so cute," he said, pinching my cheek.
"I have to do it because of the 10th floor. You know Helanie—others won’t understand. They might call her insane. They’ve never come across the 10th floor," he said.
And at that point, I had to ask, "And you have?"
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