Young Writers Society

Elaine thought that what was happening outside was more enlightening than the scene from within the vehicle she sat. The treetops fell over the road, emphasized by the small trickle of air that bellowed the leaves to and fro. The leaves themselves were timid and brownish from the coldness that devoured them. It was difficult for her to resist watching the leaves break away from the bark they hung, twirling lonesomely down to the road below. Each time she was graced with the opportunity to travel the back roads came with it a feeling of pure delirium; why did so many choose not to drive down them? Was it really that they had so little time to spare?
Dan turned the knob to the radio counterclockwise as something wretched began to plague the airwaves, switching channel to channel in search of something decent. As he fell short of such an achievement he shut off the radio and gave Elaine several awkward side glances, unable to shake the unease that pulsed through him. She didn't notice him whatsoever and was turned from him in the passenger seat, eyes adjusted firmly out the window.
"Elaine?" Dan broke the weary silence, digging his nails into his endlessly itchy scalp. 
"Hmm?" Elaine didn't look his way and kept her head against the window, continuing to eyeball the outside world.
"You're quiet, is something wrong?"
"Oh, no, I just really love the scenery out here," She turned her head his way, flashing a smile that revealed the tips of her front teeth. "I'm looking forward to meeting Weston in person."
"Everything I've said about him is true, I swear."
"Hopefully. It isn't every day you come across someone so...so..."
"Idiotic?"
"Eccentric?"
"Don't be soft on him, he really is pretty idiotic. He'll probably give you one hell of a headache talking your ear away if you let him."
"So I'll have a headache all day, is that it? A pleasant way to spend my time off..."
As soon as they pulled into the parking lot of Dan's office, Dan pointed out Weston's beat-up car as he noted aloud "He's here early, as usual," 
"He must really love it here,"
"I don't understand why, either."
"Didn't you adore it here when you first started? How could you forget!"
Dan parked the car and the two began towards the front entrance of the building. The air was especially frigid that morning, and the winds that occasionally swept by was a numbing addition. Upon noticing Elaine was limping some steps behind, Dan insisted she return to the car and retrieve her crutches. Elaine wouldn't budge on the matter, and they argued for a few agonizing minutes until she gave in. 
When she returned to his side, hobbling with much effort, Dan saw that the curls in her hair had already begun to frizzle. 
"I hate these things," she mumbled as they continued towards the door. Dan was by her side, walking slowly to keep up while tugging  at one of Elaine's frazzled chestnut waves, examining it whimsically.
"El, relax, I don't want you limping around like that. It's bad for your leg."
"As if these crutches have me limping any less!"
"And one day you won't be limping at all—aren't you hoping it'd be sometime soon?"
The couple entered, Dan stationing the door open for Elaine and she hobbled past him, waving happily to the secretary who was already on the phone with a cup of coffee held against her lips.
Although Elaine had been there before, she was looking onto everything with a sense of newfound fascination, even in the hallway which was a bland shade of white the entire way down. As soon as Dan had unlocked the door to his office, Weston was eagerly making his move to greet Dan. Dan once more held the door for Elaine and she began to shuffle her way inside. Hectic commotion could be heard from within Weston's room across the hall and in seconds he had opened the door with a loud "Good morning!"
Elaine nearly fell forward in shock, knocking the end her boot into her crutch from Weston's shouts. The only thing stopping her from falling was Dan snatching a fistful of her sleeve. 
Weston jumped a little before his smile melted away regretfully. "Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't know Dan brought company along!"
"That's right, sure did," Dan patted Elaine's shoulder as she turned to face Weston. "My assistant's clocking in for the day."
"I'm not your—"
"Assistant!" Weston lit up. "It's Elaine! You look different from in that picture Dan showed me!"
"Picture?"
"Yep, that lovely one he keeps in his wallet."
She laughed. "How sweet, I didn't know he kept a picture of me!"
"I'm still here, you know," Dan interjected with a frown. "At least wait until I'm not around."
"Don't be so sour!" Weston's smile widened. "I think you should show off that picture all the time! Though I assume it was an older photo, was it?" His eyebrows tensed thoughtfully as he examined Elaine. "See, her hair wasn't this long...and she didn't have as many freckles there around her nose. Oh, and she didn't have those uncomfortable looking crutches." 
"They are uncomfortable. I can't stand them!"
"You're always so helpful, Weston." Dan, who had been holding the door open by its handle, moved aside as to allow Elaine entrance as he said "But we've got to be going, I'm afraid. El's got to assist me with stuff, you know how it is."
"Right, right, of course! That's no problem at all, but I...wait!" Weston snatched the end of the door before Dan could close it entirely, peeking though the crack and to the other side at Dan's face. 
"Yeah, what is it?" 
"Why don't we have lunch together? I'll go pick up something later and we can eat in the break room!"
"You don't have to buy us lunch, Weston."
"I don't mind!"
"Alright, I'll pay for our share and you can go get it, how's that?"
"Right, it's just fine either way!"
"Well then,"
"Er, wait a sec!" Weston caught the door with his hand a second time. "...Actually, there's something else I wanted to ask..."
"What?"
"About tomorrow...you know...isn't that your next appointment with Lindsay?"
"Kind of weird how you're already keeping track of that. What about it?"
"Can you maybe offhandedly let her know I read her novel?"
"You tell her. You're the one who thinks she was looking at you lustfully. If you're so certain—"
"You won't tell me what she said about me, how am I supposed to know?"
"She mentioned you, alright? Scram, Weston."
"Wait! Just be sure she knows I'm on my fifth time reading it!" 
Dan shut the door at last, running his fingers through the only tussle of dirty blonde hair that remained concealing his forehead. He already had a bit of a headache from Weston. He moped to his desk and sat down, opening his email with a long and drowsy yawn. Elaine was going through Dan's bookcase as she held her reading glasses against her nose. She plucked a textbook about mood disorders from the second shelf down and said "Weston doesn't seem too bad."
"He isn't until he doesn't shut up...I've only got two morning sessions today, would you believe that?" Dan was scrolling through emails searching only for new patient inquiries. With Elaine present he could not help but express his concerns aloud. "And none of this crap is for anyone new. There's a lot of emails about my book and I've got no problem marking those as spam."
His last remark grabbed her attention, and in moments she had set the textbook aside while eagerly questioning him as she strode towards his desk. "What? You have fan-mail? Let me see!"
"I wouldn't call it—El, cut it out—"
She was at his side, pushing him and leaning down for a better view at the monitor. She had already disregarded her crutches across the room and Dan decided he wouldn't nag her over it. She had taken hold of the mouse and was clicking away. "Why are you leaving them all unread? They seem to like your research--look here at this one, 'It should be required reading for psych majors'...quite the suggestion!" 
And that's all it would ever be, but wasn't it obvious to her? None of the messages meant much to Dan anymore, for he knew realistically his work would never be widely accepted let alone recognized. The emails always contained the same sort of content and there was the occasional person that would debunk his theories entirely in an extremely detailed manner. 
Elaine had moved on to other messages, reading them aloud as she went along. Dan was barely conscious of her narrative, however he was becoming increasingly aware of her presence. As close as she was, he could make out her shape from beneath her navy blue coat. The scarf she wore around her neck was also wrapped around her long hair, keeping it in place as it fell down her front side and to her waist. Unfortunately, her hair was blocking Dan from proper view of her breasts and he was having trouble visualizing them at that moment. What a pity that was! Luckily the rest of her presented more for him to leer at. She wore a cozy black skirt that emphasized her hips, nearly reaching her knees, and navy blue leggings that matched her coat, clinging viciously to her skin as if they would never part from it.
He nervously scratched his head and looked away, as if he had committed the worst of crimes merely over desiring her. It seemed she had come across a particularly intriguing message because she had stopped her narration and was staring at the message with pursed lips and squinted eyes.
"Elaine," He glanced her way. "I should start working—why don't you go squander my bookcase some more or something?"
"You should really read through these messages." she eagerly clicked another unread email.
"Maybe another time."
Elaine stood and turned to face him, a stern expression tensing her freckled nose. She removed her glasses and set them aside. "I don't care if you read them or not, but..."
"What?"
"I just really think you should finish the rest of your research. You were so excited about publishing more of it! Why did you stop?"
Dan said nothing, even if the answer sat at the tip of his tongue. He had a strong suspicion that she knew the answer, too. They relished the silence for a little until Elaine broke it. "It'll do you a lot of good to finish it up. Just think about all the publicity you'd get! Don't you want new patients?"
"My first book certainly didn't garner any new—"
"But look at all these emails coming in, and they're recent, too. Maybe it just took a few years for your work to circulate? Now that it's more popular there's no doubt a second book will get you new patients, right?"
"Alright, I'll think about it." He didn't argue the subject further, and whether he planned to think about it or not hadn't really crossed him. She moved closer to him, eyeing him from where he sat, ruffling his hair. "I've been worried about you, Dan."
He frowned. "There's no need to worry."
"I see, well..." Unease became clear in her voice. "It's just that you still seem pretty sad most of the time. You said we should be honest about how we're feeling, so..."
She knew! She knew he was depressed! Was it always so obvious? It must have been! What should he say?
Nervousness began to devour him. He wanted to tell her what he was thinking but it seemed wrong and out of place. "I don't know, El...can we discuss this later?"
She pulled her hand away from his dark blonde stocks and nodded, appearing ashamed as if her question had been far too personal to discuss between husband and wife. 
Elaine turned away, about to return to her place across the room before Dan stopped her, abruptly taking hold of her arm to pull her into his lap. Her giggles from having been bestowed on to his lap became outright laughter as he smothered her face in kisses.
"Don't try to walk away with an expression like that!" he professed, pausing his attack for a moment to say so.
"I wasn't!" she could barely speak from in-between her laughter. "Oh cut it out!"
Of course he didn't, and he could tell she didn't mind it. He became more intimate, meeting his lips with hers as he brought his hands down, pawing at her body. She welcomed his advances and they were content like this for several minutes until she squeaked out of pain. Dan immediately pulled his hands away from her, confused as to what he had done, certain he hadn't been so lost in his passion to have hurt her. "What is it? What's wrong?"
She was covering her face with her hand, enabling Dan from getting a proper view of her expression. Even so, she looked very sickly and finally she uttered "My leg,"
Right, her leg! He had been handling her thighs before her outburst of pain. And just like that, their moment was ruined and he had been reminded of all that he lost half a year ago. He carefully helped her from his lap as he saw her forcing herself to her feet, and she wobbled in her attempt to stay standing, her teeth clenched. 
"El, did you take your pain medicine this morning? It doesn't look like you did..."
"Shit," her eyes were watering and she was supporting herself with the help of his desk. "It really hurts."
"Where are your pills?"
"...In my bag." she mumbled.
He received the bottle and plopped two pills onto the palm of his hand, eyeing the unsightly large dollops before handing them to Elaine. She took them from him, taking her time to glare at them as if they were the root of all her problems before plopping them into her mouth.
From then onward Dan found that morning to be unbearably slow. With patient folders skewed across his desk, Elaine must have concluded him immensely busy, even though the reality of it was that he could stand to be interrupted. He often looked up to her, watching her curiously. At first she spent some time reading through his bookshelf. A little later she had gone to grading papers she had in her bag, positioning herself comfortably on his tattered red couch. Weston eventually dropped in during his free hour to tell them he was running out to grab lunch. 
That was when the wretched phone call came. Elaine had taken a break from grading and had finally struck up the courage to interrupt Dan from working. They were talking away, with Dan speaking of something amusing Weston had done earlier in the week when the phone ringing shrilly cut him short. It even surprised him that he had an incoming call, and he frantically hit the speaker button, certain it was for a new patient.
"Sir?" The secretary's voice sounded from the speaker phone. "You've got a call, should I patch it through?"
"Who's calling?"
"It's Colin, sir."
Dan groaned. "Well tell him to fuck off."
The secretary giggled and popped her gum. "Sure thing sir!"
Within minutes after Dan hung up, his phone was ringing once more. This time he knew it was Colin. He clicked the speaker button and questioned "Is it Colin again?"
"Yes, sir,"
"What does he want?"
"He keeps saying it's important. He has something referring to a patient you're seeing tomorrow and he needs you to go pick it up today."
"Why can't he drop it off himself?"
"He said he had something to do, so it has to be now..."
"Damn it, fine, tell him I'm sending someone over now."
"Yes, sir."
He clicked the speaker button and the call ended. "You don't mind doing that for me, do you El?"
"Oh, well, I don't know..."
"Why not? You could always catch up with Colin."
"Ohh...that sounds nice..."
Dan was unable to hear the disinterest in her voice. He was moving the folders spread around his desk to the side. "I'd go but I have a patient to see in about ten minutes...if he's on time for once, that is."
"Actually, Dan..."
"Yeah?"
"I'm honestly not very fond of—"
"I'm back!" Slamming Dan's door open carelessly, Weston had returned. It caused Elaine to jump, but Dan remained seated and sorting his folders. "Great, you're back."
"I brought sandwiches!" Weston held up the bag.
"That's good, can you do me a favor?"
"Anything!"
"Can you walk with Elaine to pick up something from across the street?"
"From Colin?"
"Yeah, he's being a prick about it and says it needs to be now. It's your free hour right?"
Weston made a face. "Riiight, well, he really got on my ass last week that time I dressed casually..."
"You're not casual now though. I promise he won't bother you, just grab the stuff and come back."
And so after assuring Elaine would take her crutches, Dan beckoned the two to their errand. They both looked equally unnerved. As they headed out the building and into the bright light of the day, Weston was struggling to find just what to say to Elaine. Dwelling in such thoughts caused him to occasionally lose track of his pace, as he would speed several steps ahead of Elaine before slowing down to be at her side once more. It kept coming to him how pathetic she looked when she was maneuvering about with those crutches. 
"So I take it Dan needed your help today?" It was the only thing Weston could think to say as they reached the nearing street that was of a reckless looking intersection. 
"No, not really," Elaine stopped beside him in front of the crosswalk, straightening away her scarf from her hair. "I had today off and I was hoping to spend some time with him, but he was spouting this and that about how he had patients to see today and he couldn't take the day off." she shrugged as she finally removed her scarf, reaching up to place it around Weston's shoulders. "I thought I might as well tag along."
"How nice! And what do you do for a living?"
"Dan doesn't tell you anything, does he?"
"Not a thing!" he exhaled heavily. "But he seems like the kinda guy who doesn't tell anyone much of anything about himself."
"That's just like him, alright. I teach a class at the elementary school nearby."
"Teaching, huh? That's gotta be fun, isn't it?"
They crossed the street as the light signaled them to, and before it did Elaine had tied her hair back behind her. 
"Are you sure you want to do this?"
Weston glanced to her curiously. They were halfway across at this point. "What do you mean? They're not gonna attack me, are they?"
"Attack you?" 
"I know they're all curious about who Dan could have possibly hired..."
"They are?"
"If you ask me, they're all just jealous of Dan's work. They're going to think he hired some kind of genius but I'm no genius! Hell, I really don't have a clue why he hired me—of all people!"
Elaine flinched. He didn't even know that it hadn't been Dan who hired him? The familiar three-story building in front of them was starting to look more intimidating than she remembered it. She knew they remodeled the building every few years to keep it looking new and desirable, and its clean look contributed to its popularity. The building was cut a little lower than usual for something of three stories, and the recently coated white paint gave it a sort of new-and-coming appeal. Upon arriving after climbing the staircase to the second floor (the first floor was intake patients) they entered through the automatic door to find a crowded lobby. Nearly every chair was taken and the air felt warm and stuffy. Those seated were watching the televisions that hung from above, all playing the same channel and placed in different spots in the lobby for better viewing. There was a group therapy waiting nearest the door, and they were standing crammed together. Some of the group was speaking to one another in soft whispers, and the rest of the lot was looking remorseful. 
Weston and Elaine squeezed their way through, only to end up near the secretary's desk where another line of people awaited them to undertake. Weston shrank away when he saw a few psychiatrists talking, crossing the lobby and disappearing into the hallway.
"This place is way bigger than the pictures make it look!" He leaned down to Elaine so that she could hear his whispers. "And those psychiatrists were most definitely eyeing us!"
"Relax," Elaine whispered in return. "Let's just find Colin so we can leave."
"Excuse me, you two!"
A doctor was approaching them at top speed. He reached them and stood curtly, his sunken face driven downward with age. He brought his clipboard up to his face and lectured "How many times do I have to say it—a group stays together no matter what! Let's have your names then?"
"Oh, no—we're not part of—we're looking for Colin." Elaine finally blurted. 
"Who's looking?" He lowered his clipboard, scowling.
"Elaine Phillips—and this is—"
"Weston Moore," Weston nervously struck in. "Y'know, because everyone wants Moore—ow!"
"We've just come from across the street to pick something up from Colin..."
After Weston whimpered "You kicked me, how could you kick me, Elaine?!" the old man's sternness had melted away and he looked less wrinkled as a grin fell upon his pale face. "Ha, Phillips! As in Daniel Phillips I assume? And so you're Elaine!"
Weston was cast aside for these next few minutes. The doctor brought her forward to chat her ear off and she handled it well—too well. It was obvious she had had the same conversation hundreds of times. The man spoke a little of Dan's book, then began on about the accident resulting in Elaine's broken leg. Weston had not before known the cause of her injury, but that it had been a car wreck didn't surprise him. He had expected something of the sort, judging by what little he knew of Dan, but he hadn't been certain. After that the old man left claiming he was off to fetch Colin. 
It was just as Weston guessed, however. He was certain there wasn't a doctor there who hadn't read Dan's work. Surely they thought of him as competition and it was all because of one measly research book. Elaine was standing silently beside Weston as they waited. She was fixated on the ground, her eyelids half shut and her face lined from wryness. 
When Colin arrived it felt as if someone had let loose a snake to slither across the carpet, leaving those who noticed him cautious of his presence. He had strode to the two after entering, avoiding a woman who was walking up to the secretary's desk along the way. His long legs made him look especially lanky, as well as attributing to his fast pace. Colin greeted Elaine and took no notice of Weston, but Weston could care less. The familiar air Colin possessed around Elaine seemed to triple when he reminisced to her of their college years.
"And my, it's much different from when we were in school, isn't it?"
"Very different, you're right." Elaine obviously didn't care for any sort of discussion. It was either Colin's topics or Colin himself. Weston wasn't a genius and he knew that well, but even a child of three months old could pick up Colin's flirtatious mannerisms. Colin was standing close to Elaine and even once during their conversation he pulled playfully at a lock of her hair (the only bit of hair shriveled down and away from her bun) as he said "And your hair's grown! It's almost as long as it was back in college!"
It was repulsive. At times Elaine would let the true nature of her feelings surface; during these moments where she failed to conceal her expressions properly, she looked just as repulsed as Weston was. Though soon, as their conversation was coming to a close and Colin had since handed Elaine the papers that Dan needed, Weston happened to hear something intriguing. He was only half paying attention to them by that time, eyeing an attractive woman at the end of the room while one inch of his brain was picking him apart for admiring a woman who wasn't Lindsay. 
"How is the search for the culprit going, by the way?" This question from Colin revived Weston's interest, and he looked over quickly to engulf more of their conversation. "Has there been any luck in finding him?"
"I'm not sure...the police haven't contacted us in some time." It was strange how Elaine could make such a phrase sound as repeated as a "good morning" ought to be.
"Brighten up, they're bound to get somewhere with that case. How are things with Daniel? Last I heard you two had been considering divorce as an option."
"Where did you hear that?" she was a little startled.
"I don't know, exactly—that kind of talk is pretty common here. Don't feel so down about it, alright? There's nothing wrong in admitting it. Divorce rates soar after couples lose their kids so suddenly like that. There was this book I lent Daniel on coping with a fantastic section on child loss. Has he given that a read, do you know by chance?"
Weston doesn't know if Elaine answered Colin's question. All he recalls were those seconds where he had tied together what he knew—sloppy, ill-aligned handwriting riddled in textbooks, a wife with a broken leg, and the bent photograph of a young boy with dirty blonde hair and a half-toothed smile that had been stuffed carefully behind Elaine's photograph within Dan's wallet. It all made perfect sense. 
And with understanding must come action! 
Without thinking properly Weston had stepped forward and said, much too loudly "What's your issue?"
It was definitely the first time Colin was noticing Weston. "Oh so the Moore fellow is here too. How goes your legalization efforts?"
"Just about as shaky as your efforts to sleep with a married woman. Can't have much respect for your 'beloved old friend' beyond that, can you?"
Colin became slightly pink and most of the lobby had turned their watchful eyes from the televisions that had entertained them even with weary advertisements and store jingles blaring. An argument was far more appealing than whatever a television could spew to them.
"Listen here Moore—"
"Just Weston is fine." 
"—I've had enough of you thinking you can do whatever because you work with Daniel. The bastard hasn't had a patient in forever, rightfully so, and it was dumb luck that we had a spare patient to toss his way!"
"You're just jealous of him so you've gotta act out like a child."
"Jealous? Jealous?! He's the one working in a rundown, single-story heap of trash—he's the one who had been begging for a chance to be hired here! Why should I be jealous of him? Have you seen the guy lately? He's lost his damn mind after that accident—just look at how he dresses now! Nonsense that I should let the foul-mouthed fool be—oh, Elaine, wait! Don't go! …Elaine!"
It was too late. Even with her crutches she had almost reached the door, cutting through the line to the secretary's desk, severing it in half until Weston caught up to cut through as well.
When Weston reached her she was headed down the staircase, and with her crutches occasionally slipping off the surface of the stairs, he saw her attempt as a disaster waiting to happen.
"Um, Elaine, maybe there's an elevator inside somewhere?"
"Screw off! I didn't ask for your help back there!"
"I know it, but—"
"I'm tired of pity! Every time I'm here they're wallowing in that accident and Colin always gets too close, the jerk!"
Weston couldn't think of what to say. After all, she even thought him to be pitying her—but he wasn't, was he? Damn, what a horrible psychologist he was! The worst in existence! Any comforting words he once possessed that had helped his patients thus far crumpled themselves up and away from the conscious part of his mind. 
They were almost down the stairs when Elaine slipped up and fell. As Weston expected, the crutches were what caused the mishaps and she stumbled to her knees after Weston barely caught her by the arm. Her crutches went tumbling down to the last step. 
"You're alright?" He asked as she brought her jaded self to stand. She pushed her tangled hair from her face. Her hair had escaped her bun entirely during her fall. "I'm fine..." Elaine couldn't help but look down to her abraded knees and torn leggings. "I mean, just a little scraped up..."
Elaine retrieved her crutches, edging towards them, faltering. She set them by her feet and seated herself.
Weston sat beside her on the last step. "It sounds rough to have to deal with these fucks, I don't blame you."
"They really do steal most of his potential clients. It's like some fierce competition." Elaine's face was resting in her hand. "Dan's had a rough time with it. That's why I hired you…"
"...Oh, so it was you who…"
"I thought you sounded perfect for the job and I figured that maybe you could do Dan some good…"
"He doesn't seem fond of me," Weston shrugged.
"Nonsense!" Pulling her face from hiding, Elaine sternly met eyes with his. Weston thought the freckles below her eyelids gave her blue eyes a speckled appearance. "Dan likes you plenty. He's always smiling when he comes home because he's got some funny tidbit to tell me."
"Really?"
"Really. How else would I know—" she snatched the square framed glasses from his face. "—you're blind as a bat?"
"I'm not—" Weston's face contorted and he covered his eyes. "...Okay I get it, I've got bad eyes—would you believe the price of contacts these days?"
Elaine grinned as he carefully returned the glasses to his eyes, restoring his vision. The world came back to him more vividly than ever, and he noticed things he hadn't before. The sky was several shades brighter and the few clouds that billowed in the air had a tint of orange gifted to them by the angle of the sun. The psychiatry building was a glaring white and quite stubbornly ugly, the pavement below them black and cold and Weston was positive that there were tears in Elaine's eyes. He concluded it to be a smudge on his glasses and said nothing of it.