She sipped the coffee and looked down at her phone, hesitating before hitting call on the number.
It rang a few times before a husky feminine voice answered. "Dr. Amara Maroni."
Zephyr had a girl crush on Amara and she wasn't even ashamed about it. A few days ago, she'd found Amara's contact in her husband's study next to Dante's, and saved it, knowing she was a practicing therapist. More importantly, she was family, and she wouldn't pose a danger to Alpha.
"Hi Amara," Zephyr greeted. "This is Zephyr Villanova. Alpha's wife. We met briefly at your wedding."
"Of course," she could hear the surprise in the other woman's voice.
"Is this a good time to talk?" Zephyr asked, tracing the rim of her mug with her finger. "I need your professional opinion about... someone."
There was some background noise, and Amara returned, sounding serious. "Okay. First, I want you to know whatever you tell me will stay confidential between us. You can be open about whatever you want to discuss. I'm here."
Total goddess.
Zephyr took a deep breath, making sure she was alone in the corner. "Someone I knew a few years ago met with an accident. I recently met... him again but he has no memory of me or the accident. My question is, is it possible that reminding him of our time would affect him adversely? Because his brain had to be keeping certain things away from him for protecting him, right? Or is..." she trailed off, controlling her mouth before it ran away in her nervousness.
Amara listened, taking her time to reply, her voice soft. "The brain is very tricky, Zephyr. It can lock away traumas for entire lifetimes to protect people. Have you spent any time with this person now?"
"Yes."
"And he doesn't remember you? Not one thing? Even a hint of familiarity?" she asked to confirm.
"No," Zephyr shook her head.
Amara's tone turned sympathetic. "Then I'm sorry. My suggestion in cases like this is to not remind the patient of the traumatic incident or anything that surrounds it. It can trigger some extremely adverse responses, even psychotic breakdowns in certain cases. If his brain is suppressing you or your memories, the kind thing would be simply starting fresh."
Zephyr stared at the table. "I tried that, and it's not working."
Amara hesitated. "Is it Alpha?"
"Yeah."
"I'm sorry," the compassion in the other woman's voice almost undid her.
Zephyr felt her nose burn. "Thank you for your help. I'm just at a loss at what to do now." And she spilled the entire story, the scheme about the marriage, the distance he kept between them, everything to the woman who listened on without judgment.
When she was done, Amara spoke again. "I have some advice but more as a friend than a professional."
"Shoot."
Amara chuckled. "Don't say that around these people. They'll take you literally."
Zephyr smiled but waited for the other woman to talk.
"I don't know Alpha very well," Amara began. "But he and Dante are very similar in some ways, and it makes sense. In my case, the one thing that always pushed Dante over the edge to act was distance. Specifically, me putting distance between us in any way. I'm not saying it'll work with Alpha, but given that you're at an impasse, it might tip you over either way."
"But at least I'll know if there's any hope or if we're doomed." Zephyr mulled over the idea. She liked it, mainly because she was already feeling drained with always closing the gap between them. Maybe she needed to stop for a bit, just recharge, not go anywhere but no walk to him either. It had merit. Plus the woman giving the advice had sustained a relationship with a guy like Dante for over a decade, so it had good merit.
"Thank you, Amara," Zephyr spoke sincerely. "You've been really helpful."
"Of course. I'm really glad you felt you could reach out to me." Tempest's wail came in the background, and Amara sighed. "Remind me to never have another kid."
Zephyr felt her lips curl. "Dante doesn't help? I thought he was a hands-on dad."
"Oh, he is," Amara confirmed. "When she's playing and happy. Is he hands-on when she's cranky and driving me up a wall? Nope. He's nowhere in the house. It's like the man has an internal radar or something. I'm thinking of giving him some distance treatment myself."
Chuckling at that, Zephyr let Amara go attend to her niece and she sipped the coffee, her mood dipping again. She took as much time and space as she wanted, ordered a caramel latte, and read a gothic romance set on a castle on her phone app. Customers came and went, it got dark outside, and finally, after two hours of sitting there, she paid the bill and got out, still feeling low.