honest, or not.
Did it even matter?
She was the bitch.
Ice queen.
It wasn’t like anyone expected different.
Viktoria walked down the hallway that led to the door at the very end. She knocked once on the white wood and waited for the usual permission to enter.
“Come in,” Cindy called from within the office.
She took one deep breath—just enough to settle the tightening of her chest and the racing of her heart. Truthfully, it didn’t help at all. It was just yet another little white lie that Viktoria liked to tell herself, because if she could pretend she was fine, then that was all that mattered to her at the end of the day.
She knew she was a mess.
No one else needed to.
“How long has it been, Viktoria?” the therapist asked as she entered the room. “A few months, hmm?”
Viktoria nodded as she headed for the spot she usually sat in while they had their hour of time. A white chaise in the corner of the room facing the only large window in the office. She could sit on the chaise, turn to the window, and watch the people with their normal, unbroken minds walking to and from wherever they were going while she was once again forced to spill all her secrets and pain.
It was easier.
She was all for the easy things …
“About that long,” Viktoria said.
She sat on the chaise and turned her back to Cindy, but she knew the woman wouldn’t mind. The therapist was up for whatever made a patient feel comfortable. She would talk to Viktoria like the two were looking one another in the face, and not like she was speaking to her back. She appreciated that.
“I decided to take my brother’s advice after I came back from my vacation, and come see you,” Viktoria said.
Cindy made a noise under her breath. “And how is he—I’m assuming you’re talking about Konstantin, because the other one … Kolya, correct?”
“Kolya is the oldest.”
“Yes, Kolya. He doesn’t discuss your personal business in the same way that Konstantin does, right?”
“Kolya is smart.”
“Or he thinks it’s better to leave you be.”
Viktoria could hear the amusement in Cindy’s voice and she didn’t need to turn around to know that the woman was probably wearing a soft smile to match, too. She’d spent enough time sitting in this office to know exactly what Cindy looked, like depending on her mood or temperament that day.
The woman had never once changed her sharp, angular brown bob, and she always kept a pair of large, black-rimmed glasses on the top of her head because she needed them to read. She preferred pencil skirts and silk blouses to pant suits, and she kept her face clear of makeup for the most part, except the occasional lip balm. She was soft-featured, brown-eyed, and her round face was made to look slightly longer by the bob that she always kept pin-straight.
“Kolya is … easier not to talk to,” Viktoria admitted.
“So you’ve said before.” Cindy sighed, and then asked, “So, why did Konstantin think you should make an appointment with me after it’s been so long? He’s probably moved out of your house in Melrose by now, hasn’t he? The last time we spoke, he was apparently getting married. I assume that panned out.”
“He did get married, and he is out of my house.”
Thankfully, she added silently.
She loved Konstantin, of course, and was grateful for the fact that he moved into her house with no questions asked after … everything had happened. He was there, just a room away, to wake her out of nightmares that seemed constant night after night. He was there to see her through the first few weeks of panic attack after panic attack when she’d seen strangers walk past her house.
And he also drove her crazy.
They were not the same people. Konstantin had his habits, and Viktoria had hers. Her brother, before his wife, had also greatly enjoyed the company of other women. He was a smartass, and with that came a sharp tongue.
Yes, she appreciated him being there.
She was also glad he’d left.
“Also,” Cindy murmured, “do not think that I forgot about the fact you didn’t answer my question. Why did your brother think you should make a trip to visit me?”
Viktoria frowned at the glare of her reflection in the window. She wasn’t sure if Cindy could see it or not, and she didn’t care either way. “I went to visit my dad in Russia, and that always … screws with my head.”
“Is that all?”
“Before