“Knock, knock.”
“Loren! Hey, how are you?” Imogen sat up on her bed from her prone position. She’d been lying on her stomach reading a book. A smile graced her face as I walked in.
“Do you want me to leave this door open or shut?”
“Open’s fine. There’s nobody else on the floor.”
I wanted to disagree that her brother was, in fact, on the floor, but it was her choice, and I figured she knew the risks. So, I left it open and walked in, looking around the massive room and taking it in.
“Where can I sit?” I asked, falling into my role, easily giving her control of the environment.
“How about we sit over on the couch?”
I looked around her room as I moved and was amazed at the size of it. It was an incredible space with two levels. Her bed was on the upper level, and then a lower section held her entertainment center with a couch, oversized chair, and a TV. There was also a bar area with a fridge, microwave, and small counter that was stocked with snacks. She had a reading window and a keyboard in the corner.
“Wow, this place is awesome. I’m kind of jealous of your room.”
“Thanks. Attie let me design it when I moved in.”
“Well, you did great. I love the colors.”
Her room was done in soft lavender and grey. It was feminine and delicate without being obnoxiously girly. She had fun posters and paintings on the wall, a shelf of well-loved books, including her Harry Potter ones on the top. The sight made me smile, remembering our conversation the first day. There were musical notes on the walls and what looked like sheet paper framed as well. One even had a butterfly painted in watercolors over it. The room was a fun look into who Imogen was and gave me insight into what she cared about. Sitting down, I waited for her to settle.
“Is it me? Or is it a little bit more uncomfortable this way?”
Chuckling, I agreed. “Yes, of course, because at least with my office, it was neutral and obvious what the meeting was about, but here it’s your bedroom. While that could be comforting, it also confuses it for you. But remember, this isn’t like therapy anymore, so it doesn’t have to be so formal, either. Would it be easier if we went somewhere else?”
“No, it’s fine. It’s just making me laugh how nervous I felt.”
“Well, it’s also been a few months, so you haven’t had to really broach uncomfortable topics. We don’t have to talk about the hard stuff today either. We can talk about whatever. I just want to be in your life, whatever that looks like. With how things have changed with other relationships in my life and yours, it just wasn’t ethical or prudent for me to stay in that role without me crossing boundaries. I care about you, Imogen, and I want to help, but only with what you’re willing to share.”
“That makes sense,” she said, smiling softly. “I’m glad you’re here. I’ve missed talking to you.”
“I missed you too, sweet girl. How have you been since I last saw you?”
“Some good days and bad days. It was really hard at first not being able to reach out to you or Jude. I was furious at Atticus for a while. I even slapped him.” She ducked her head at the comment, her cheeks tinting red.
My eyebrows raised as well, “Oh, wow. How did he respond?”
This had her lifting her head, a small blush as she grinned. “He wasn’t too happy about it. Though, Sax told me good form later,” she giggled. I couldn’t help but join her, completely seeing Sax making a comment like that. “After that, I tried to work out my anger through music.”
“Speaking of, it really was beautiful when I heard you playing the other day.”
“Thank you,” she blushed. “I used to love music, but then after everything, it was hard to play. Once I started talking to you, getting all those emotions out, I found I could start playing again. In the past couple of months, I actually started composing some songs. It’s been really therapeutic.”
“Oh, that’s amazing, Imogen!”
“I don’t know what it means for my future, but it has been nice, at least to get that piece of myself back.”
“Definitely,” I agreed. “How have you been with everything else? The bombing was a pretty traumatic event. Did it trigger any of the stuff we’d started to talk about?”
“Yeah, I think that’s why I went off on Atticus, because I was stressed, and what did you call it, a heightened state?”
I nodded, confirming.
“Yeah, well at that moment, I’d cast him as my dad. I was tired of the family taking people away from me, basically. It took me about a week to finally pull myself out of the loop and remind myself he wasn’t my dad. Atticus has never done anything to harm me, and he’s always put my best interest first. I apologized, and he said he understood. So things are better between us.”
“That’s really good to hear. Again, I’m impressed.”