John sat on a couch in a small office. An elderly Arab man sat behind a desk with a pen and paper, jotting down what was being said. The fan just outside the door blocked any noise from leaving the room as John talked on about his issues.
“Sorry, I’m just not used to this doc,” John apologized. “It takes time to get used to coming here again, spilling my guts out and all. I haven’t done this since… the accident.” He fell silent as he remembered the pain from his previous visits in Los Angeles.
“Don’t worry about the distant past just yet.” The doctor said, “we can worry about that when the time comes. For now I need you to explain more about, Flutterby, is it?”
“It’s Fluttershy,” he corrected. “But things have been different ever since that night two weeks ago.”
“Care to explain?” The doctor scripted the gist of the conversation.
“I never seemed so attached to anyone before she came along. No matter how much I scream at her, I always feel the need to apologize and make her feel happy again. I have always been a ‘for-yourself’ kind of guy, but I always did things for her, even if it made me feel uncomfortable.” John explained. “Ever since the accident, I’ve been trying to come up with a reason to hate her, to get her away from me. All it does was drive me closer to her.”
“And why do you suppose this happens?” the doctor asked, “why do you think she comes closer to you no matter how much you want to dislike her?”
John sat silent as he thought of the question. “I guess,” John’s eyes began to water. “I guess it’s because she reminds me of her so much.” He remembered the smile he fell in love with, however he the face of the one he was trying to remember was covered by the new one that entered his life.
“John,” the doctor looked at the whimpering man with worry. “When I was sent your charts from four years ago, you were grieving over your fiancée. When I saw you last week, your grief was in its final stages. You no longer seemed to fight for your fiancée. You had something new to fight for.”
John fell silent as he thought deeply on the words of his therapist. His mind was at full attention to what he was going to say.
“This new woman has been replacing the your old love, creating the motivation to take you off that final step of grief.” He continued. “However, you said last time that she was leaving on the seventh of October, is that correct?”
“That’s what the agency told me. Just two more weeks, and she’s out of my life.” John was saddened to say that.
“But what I notice is you have a problem accepting loss. You have lost a lot in your life, and you feel uncomfortable losing any more.” The therapist added.
“I know, I know.” John replied with sorrow. “I want to stay with her, but she doesn’t belong here. She’s been having problems adapting. And the cameras haven’t been making things easy for her. I believe she may be afraid to go outside now that there are people following her everywhere she goes.”
“This town became popular ever since we learned about the portal,” he commented.
“I’m glad they gave her a temporary visa, so I don’t have to hide her anymore.” John continued to ramble on. “She can even come with me to work. However, she has trouble getting used to the cuisine of the others. She cries when she sees where the meat comes from, and how we prepare it. And that’s not the worst part. She has a tendency to eat grass and she doesn’t seem to grasp what is appropriate to wear outside. She found some ripped pants in the bag we gave her, and she still tried to walk out with her ass showing.”
“Things are hard to adapt to.” The therapist calmly said. “I had trouble adapting to the climate when I came here. I am from the desert, and storms like the one last month still scare me. But that brings me back to the question I asked you last week.” He took a serious turn. “Why do you do these things for her?”
John looked at the doctor. “Honestly, I’m still unsure. I could say it is because I believe in a better life if I help those around me, but I’ve killed too many people to get that. Or it could be because I want to make a better name for myself than others believe I am.” He paused for a moment as he tried to phrase his words the best way he could. “But one thought keeps coming into my mind. I… I think I love her.”
______________________________________
Fluttershy sat in the waiting room watching the television. The children’s cartoons was still entertaining with the bright colors and peaceful messages. She refused to look at the door, as she felt anxious someone would burst in and take her photo again. She didn’t have time to relax when she was out in public.
The door next to her opened as John walked out with a fake smile. Fluttershy could tell something was wrong, but after what they went through for the past two weeks, she didn’t feel the need to ask.
“I have to come back next week, again,” he said to her as he lifted his appointment card.
Fluttershy simply just smiled and nodded as she walked towards him. John blushed at the sight and felt himself grow warmer as the woman embraced his arm.
“I think they followed us again. Can we walk out the back?” She replied with a soft tone.
John looked at the door. “The car is up front, you know.” He explained. “We just need to be careful. Okay?”
The pair slowly made their way out the door as a barrage of photographers came into view flash after flash, blinding Fluttershy as they made their way into the car, a newer and less damaged Honda Civic.
John carefully drove around the crowd, waving his arm in anger as he forced his way through.
“I still can’t get used to this,” Fluttershy commented as the group fell behind.
After a soft chuckle John looked bleakly at the road. With his eyes focused on the road, he thought heavily on what his therapist said. He could not think of a sure reason he was with her. He thought of who he had become in the last three weeks. He came from few friends, and a hate for the world. Now he had a woman from another world sitting in his car.
‘She has done nothing but help me,’ he thought to himself. ‘I can’t even think of one thing she did that was bad for me. She even helped with those damn kids.’
_______________________________________
It was a quiet evening. John fell asleep after a long day at work. Though the house was unfamiliar to him, he still felt comfortable resting on his new bed. Fluttershy and him were alone in the house for that night, since Earl was working the late shift.
Fluttershy was watching television when she heard some talking outside. She peeked out the window to see who it was. As she pulled the curtain she noticed three hooded boys walking up to the civic.
One of the boys crouched underneath the car to with a screwdriver as he jabbed again and again to under the back of the car. Fluttershy felt compelled to investigate.
She opened the door as soon as there was a scrape followed by a splash from liquid pouring out of the car. She ran over to the boys, as she remembered what that liquid was from their trips to a station with hoses.
“Stop!” She shouted at the boys. “What do you think you’re doing?”
One of the boys immediately ran off cursing up a storm with every step. One of the boys fell back in shock as the other stood up and glared menacingly at the woman. “I know you.” The boy said, his face in clear view of the woman. “You’re that slut who lives with the murderer.”
Fluttershy looked angrily at the boy as he spouted on about John.
“Why are you with him?” he continued, “you know, he’s just going to kill you like his last girlfriend.”
“How dare you.” She said. “How dare you say such horrid things about John? He has been through a lot of bad things, why would you hurt his carriage?”
“He doesn’t need them.” The boy replied. “He killed his girlfriend for the winning lottery ticket. It is all blood money. I just want the whole town to see what I saw on his Facebook page.”
“Joe, don’t you think this is a bit too far?” The other boy tried to reason with him.
“Shut up. I want this murderer out of town and I will stop at nothing to make him leave” he said as he took out his match book and struck a match.
Angered by the words, Fluttershy raised her hand and struck the boy across his face. The boy flinched and dropped the lit match in the liquid, causing it to ignite. The ground erupted in flames, flushing the boys out from hiding and into the street. Their leader was caught in the flames, his shirt and pants already spattered in fuel.
Inside, the screams awoke John. He bolted out of the bed and ran outside to see Fluttershy rolling the boy in the grass trying to drown the flames, both screaming and crying. John ran to the phone and dialed for help as he looked outside and saw his car had been engulfed in flames as well.
As he waited for the fire department to arrive, he grabbed a fire extinguisher from underneath the sink and did a quick spray on the boy before attempting to salvage his already ruined car.
As the emergency team came, the boy lay on the ground in shock. His blank stares at John and Fluttershy as they moved around him were enough to show how sorry he felt over the damage he caused.
The boy looked at John just as he was taken in the ambulance with his hand cuffed to the gurney. He repented for all the things he did to the man who saved him that night.
_______________________________________
‘I could thank her again for getting rid of another problem,’ he thought to himself, ‘but I did let her pick the car from the lot.’
John had arrived at the house, repaired and newly painted, and exited the car to see the aftermath of the fire from last week. Fluttershy carefully walked into the house trying to get around any photographers that may be hiding around the corner.
“Relax, Fluttershy,” John said with a grin. “Most of them are gone. They are focused on the portal now. It’s only a week until it opens.”
Fluttershy smiled at him as she was reminded that she was so close to being reunited with her friends. The feeling made her hop into the house with glee as John opened the door into the remodeled house. John had to still get used to a clean home with new furniture.
“Everything has been new ever since I met her.” He whispered to himself as he walked past the living room and towards the kitchen phone. He noticed a red number twelve flashing on the kitchen. With a grunt, he seeded through the messages.
“Hi, this is Dianne from the Denver Sun, I was wondering if we could get an exclusive interview with Flutt—” John pressed the ‘delete key on the phone.
“Hello, this is Mike from Fox—”
“This is Andrew calling from CN—”
“How are you doing. This is Alice from New York—”
“This is Sam from—”
The calls were getting to John’s nerves. He was about to delete all the messages, however one call from an elderly lady that caught his attention.
“Johnny, it’s me, Gladys. As you remember the party is this Friday and I was wondering if you could bring some of your famous Horchata for Joe’s birthday. Can you make enough for thirty people? I have a jug big enough if you need it. I’ll see you then, bye.”
John slapped his forehead as he remembered the party. He quickly rushed over to the pantry to see if he had enough ingredients to make the drink. He didn’t have enough rice. He cursed to himself silently for forgetting the party.
He looked over to Fluttershy as he thought of whether to take her along or leave her alone. He saw her practicing her writing on the notebook he bought her. ‘I’ve been dragging her around everywhere I went.’ He thought to himself.
“Fluttershy,” he called to her. “I’m gonna get some things from the store. You don’t mind staying here, do you?”
“Oh, I don’t mind.” She said with a soft smile.
John couldn’t help but smile back. “Don’t answer the phone or door until I get back.” He instructed.
He felt strange leaving her alone in his home. His mind kept going back and forth between what the doctor told him.
_______________________________________
“John, do you feel you have fallen in love too quickly?” The doctor told the man who was torn between his want and need.
“I-I don’t know,” John stammered. “I guess I may have. I don’t know.”
“John, I fear you are just replacing your ex with her.” The doctor said with worry. “It might not be true love. Just an infatuation for a hole you want to fill.”
John stared at his shoes, holding his hands between his knees. “I-I just don’t know what it could be. All I know is, I don’t want her to leave.”
“You have to make sure she feels the same way first.” The doctor replied, “I know how bad it feels to have those feelings to find out the other person doesn’t have them too. Be careful with her. It’s best to find out how they feel about it before it’s too late.”