11. Lemon

Ray pulled up in front of a stark white building. Her mother stepped out and slammed the door shut.

Ray didn't like getting her mother to the one place she felt like herself, with Dr. Bush, but it was what he wanted, and she had to go along with it. It had been just three days since her last session, and she was eager to talk to him, but her mother's presence only made her uneasy.

"I'll be back in a moment."

Ray left her mother standing, and drove around to park her car. Once parked, she stepped out, stretched her legs, and feeling a knot in the pit of her stomach slowly pushing up her throat, she took a deep breath and  started towards the entrance of the building. April was still standing where Ray had left her.

"Come along, mom."

She walked past her mother and through the entrance inside the building, without glancing back, but the sharp falls of her mother's shoes hitting the floor let her know that her mother was not far behind. After talking to the receptionist, she flicked her finger in the direction of the chairs, and her mother followed her to the seating area without question. After waiting in dead uncomfortable silence for approximately twenty minutes, her name was called.

"Ray Cole?"

"Yes, here."

The receptionist inclined her head. 

"Dr. Bush will see you now."

Ray brushed her hand along the soft silk of her skirt and stood up on her feet, quickly walking towards the door behind the receptionist. She turned back once, her eyes locking onto her mother's, then just as swiftly, she looked away, and stepped into Dr. Bush's domain.

"Dr. Bush?"

Dr. Bush looked up from his laptop screen, and smiled warmly.

"Hello, Miss. Cole. Please sit. How was your day?"

Slowly seating herself, Ray let loose a sigh.

"Fine, thank you."

Dr. Bush set his laptop aside, and gently placed his hands flat on the table.

"Now, Ray, I'll get straight to the point. Is your mother here?"

Ray nodded stiffly.

"Yes. She's waiting downstairs."

"Alright. We'll come to that later, but know that I will talk to her, in your absence, after this."

Ray nodded stiffly again. Dr. Bush watched her.

"Does that bother you?"

Ray looked down.

"A little."

"But I trust you, and you should trust me as well, so do not let it bother you. It's protocol. Now, how have you been? These last three days?"

Ray smiled.

"I contacted "Mary's Home For Children", since my sister and I used to frequent it a few years back; Scar still does. So, seeing it on your list, I went back."

 "And how do you feel, going back?"

Ray smiled.

"It felt good."

Though he smiled in return, Dr. Bush seemed to remember something, and his smile changed to a frown.

"Uh, Doctor?"

"A minute, Ray, I totally forgot this the last time."

Rummaging through his papers on the desk, he shifted his files and pushed his laptop aside, and continued shifting things around and searching for something, and then - pulled his phone out from underneath a file.

"Ah, yes..."

Ray watched him with her eyes narrowed. She felt curious, but kept her mouth shut. Dr. Bush pulled his laptop close again, then looking through his phone, he set it aside, and for a while only the sound of tapping of fingers on keys ensued in the silence. 

"Hm."

Dr. Bush straightened on his chair.

"You must forgive me, I had totally forgotten about this the last time. Would you mind giving me your cellphone?"

 Ray looked at him quizzically.

"My cellphone, Dr. Bush?"

Lips twitching, Dr. Bush put his forward.

"Unless I have suddenly developed a case of stumbling over my words or stuttering, I believe that's exactly what I said, clearly. Now, I respect user's privacy of course, so I'm definitely not going to-"

"It's alright, Doctor. I was only wondering aloud."

Placing her phone on his palm, she withdrew her hand. Dr. Bush didn't even seem to look at the model clearly; he attached a cord, connected the phone to his laptop, and started tapping on the keys again. After only a minute, the phone was given back to her.

"You will see, that I have just given you a playlist of sorts. I'd forgotten to give it to you last time, so here it is. Now, there is nothing like music really, when nothing can make your day better. So, this is a playlist, with instrumental songs, that are just perfect to make your day better. All you need is a pair of ear-phones and your cell-phone - with some battery life. And, you'll be feeling far, far better than you were seconds before."

Ray raised an eyebrow.

"You're giving me songs?"

Dr. Bush raised both his eyebrows.

"Yes. Because, why not?" 

Ray smiled. Of course, why not. 

The next few minutes, Ray went over the standard questions she was asked. Things she'd learned to ask her own future patients.

For example, rating her happiness on a scale of 1 to 10, the difference she was feeling - if at all - after a week of therapy, and what colour she was feeling like that day.

After another round of how music helps, the change in number of sessions a week - which had primarily been twice and now only once - and what the orphanage could really do for her, it was time to go.

"Give them my name, okay?"

"Yes doctor, I will."

Dr. Bush nodded once.

"Alright. Send your mother in."

Ray's smile dropped.

Dr. Bush had lowered his eyes to his files, but looked back up again, only to see Ray's stiff posture and stoic expression.

Dr. Bush gave her a look.

"Don't. If you do not stop this, there's no use to what we have going on here. Now hustle. And if it causes too much pain, there's always that playlist I gave you. After all, there's no better time than now. Remember, I want to help you. You and you alone. Now help me help you. Go."

"Sorry doctor."

Feeling slightly, only slightly foolish, Ray ran back the way to the waiting room. Eyes falling on her mother, who was staring at the wall, she walked closer, and cleared her throat.

"Mom?"

Her mother looked startled, then looking around, her eyes rested on Ray.

"Oh, you."

"Dr. Bush wants to see you now."

 Nodding in reply, April got up from her seat, and walked towards Ray.

"Which way?"

Ray turned around and her mother followed. Then showing her the door, Ray walked away. It really wasn't that easy.

****

"Oh, you're back."

Ray pursed her lips. Why did Holly sound so unhappy to have her back?

"Yes...? Uh, when I came here two days back, I said I wanted to have my membership checked, and then-"

"Yes, yes." 

Holly put her palm up. The universal sign of 'wait'.

So Ray waited. After a moment of waiting, Holly Warren, who was not looking so irritated anymore, gestured at her to go with her. Up along the staircase, as Ray followed her, Holly started talking.

"No need for a new membership card. We're glad to have you back. Anyone with a  working set of hands and a good heart is always welcome here. You're back here after Dr. Bush recommended this place, you say?"

"Er, yes."

"Oh. Then I suppose, it would be best to put you up in the origami classes then. Lord knows we need more people there. And since you say Dr. Bush... Well, origami's best for you now. It'll help you too."

Aah. So That was why she was being set up for origami, thought Ray. Because she was 'sent' by Dr. Bush. Was she going to have any patients of his working alongside her? 

"Come along now. What's the matter?"

Ray only shook her head in reply, and followed her.

They stopped in front of a room where - from where she stood - Ray could already see kids tiny and old, the older kids working on pieces of paper, and the tiny ones tearing theirs off or doing similar silly things. 

Holly strode inside without announcing herself, and Ray peered inside to see her talking to a girl no older than twenty. Holly turned around and gestured at her, calling her inside. The girl beside Holly gave her a nervous but blank stare, which sort of looked a little weird, so Ray only managed to nod in response.

"So, Ms. Cole. This is Mauve. She'll tell you all you have to do. This is where you'll be everyday. Amazing, right? You'll hardly have to do much work. It will be like playing around, while the rest of us go around doing some real 'work', working our back off. Anyway, I'd best be off. You can get acquainted with Mauve and the kids. Oh, you do know Origami, don't you?"

Ray let out her breath with a groan.

"That is a matter of perception. I liked origami when I was younger, and did as much as kids do for fun. So, some might say I know enough, and others will say I know too little."

Holly opened her mouth to say something, but the devise in her hand lit up, and a Mozart classic started playing. With an alarmed look, Holly answered her phone.

"Yes? Yes, yes. Oh. Now? Of course, of course. Oh, no no. We are grateful to have him grace us with his presence. Yes, please. No, not at all. Yes, thank you."

Ray only stared at her confused, while Holly tapped on her phone a few times, wiped her face with her hand, then putting her hand up and shaking it while muttering that she'd have to run, she ran away shouting "It's them, it's them!"

Ray turned to Mauve to find her looking a little pale, and then she too dashed off towards a stack of papers kept on her desk inside the room, and with rapid fingers started to fold them into paper structures. Ray stood there a little confused, then walking up to Mauve, she turned her head to see what the kids where doing, and found them all straightening up their clothes or working even more furiously on the pieces of paper held in their tiny hands, while even the tiniest ones where no longer tearing of papers or chewing them, but following their elder friends' examples - getting the idea that they had to get serious with the atmosphere surrounding them - and they too pulled out whole colourful papers and attempted to fold them into whatever they could make them into.

"Er, what's going on? Is somebody important 'gracing' this place with their presence?'"

Mauve gave her a terse nod, then stuffing a bunch of papers into Ray's hands, she continued folding papers. She already had a fish, a butterfly, a tie, and a cap completed and kept on her desk, while her fingers kept making more structures.      

Ray glared at the stack of coloured papers in her hands, then placing her stack on the desk and pulling out a chair from the ones kept in a stack at the corner of the room, she too sat down and started making what came first to her mind. A boat.

While working on the boat, she cleared her throat, and turned to Mauve, who was making more and more things. Pulling her chair a little closer to Mauve's, she cleared her throat again.

"Uh, Mauve, we weren't properly introduced. I'm Ray. Um, can you tell me who is coming here, today?"

Mauve looked up at her, then whispered in a soft voice. 

"Them. The Ascent Industries."

Ray took in the information, then turned to look at her colleague again.

"Ascent?"

Mauve nodded in reply.

"Who are they?"

Mauve looked up at her with wide eyes, then whispered in that soft, scratchy voice of hers again. Ray momentarily realised the fact that the room was so quiet now, that even though a pale Mauve was whispering and not talking aloud, she could hear her.

"The Ascent? Half the sweet packaged products in our markets are theirs. The Ascent Sour-belts? The Ascent Cocoa Powder cases?"

Ray jumped on her seat. 

"Them? THE Ascent! No wonder Ms. Warren's so flustered. When are they coming? Didn't you know they were coming?"

Mauve nodded again.

"Yes. We knew. Only that they were supposed to be here a day later. Not today."

Silence. 

Ray processed the information. Then quietly went back to creating another boat.

****

Mauve was finally feeling comfortable with her presence, and was teaching her how to make a fish, when she heard too many footsteps outside their door. Disturbed by the noise, she turned to look outside, when Holly came running inside, followed by four more people, all of whom were men, one in particular catching her eye - who looked like the most important of them all, his demeanor too powerful. The other three seemed to surround him, but not quite, leaving a gap of a few inches between him and their group of three. 

She'd just taken in their appearances when she felt a hand tugging her up, so she stood up, and found Mauve snatching her hand back, looking even paler.

"Mauve, Ray, meet Mr. Knight. He's the CEO of the Ascent Industries, and it is because of his gracious decision that we have got such an opportunity offered to us, the likes of which we have never had before. Here is his personal assistant, Mr. Kim Sonjen, and this is Mr. Cliffe, and Mr. Rider."

Everyone shook hands, and Holly excitedly chattered on, calling Mr. Knight to show her kids, who were now unnaturally quiet. Mr. Knight only replied once or twice, then walking back to his men, he nodded once towards both Ray and Mauve. It was then that Mr. Knight seemed to turn back around again towards Ray with narrowed eyes, and looked at her with interest in his eyes. Uncomfortable, Ray gave him a small smile, and Mr. Knight turned back and walked out the door, curling his fingers and gesturing at his men. Holly rushed out behind them, and the room seemed to feel lighter. Ray realised she was still standing quite still.

She dropped down to her chair and released the breath she hadn't known she had been holding, and wiped her sweaty forehead with her hand.

She hadn't even registered what the CEO looked like, with things happening so fast, but she'd seen his eyes. They were a chocolate brown. The sunlight falling on his face as he'd turned back to look at her had made it easy to discern their colour, with the distance between Ray and his position by the door not being much, but the colour wasn't what made her shift on her seat queasily. It was the last look he'd given her. All with his eyes. 

~*~

So what do you think?

Comment what you thought, and keep showing me some love!

Also, felt like showing you guys an old cover I'd made for this book. What do you think?

See you next chapter,

Orlena