Summer

Are you ready? Katya just stared at her. She immediately started thinking about her job. How cool is it that you get paid to listen? She would love that kind of job. Then she remembered that she is a terrible listener. He had made her a terrible listener. She just couldn’t stomach the thought of listening to him. That option was definitely out of the table. “Katya!” she called out to her. She was startled back to reality. It dawned on her that she was not alone. She loved her office. It was very open with those glass walls, overlooking a garden. It looked very beautiful. It reminded her of her life back in the village. That kind of peace and freedom.

“yes” she answered.

“Well, go ahead” she told her.

“But where do I start?” Katya asked.

“Mmmh let’s see. You can start about how you met” she told her. Katya smiled and looked at her. She remembered the day like the sun rose every morning. She began.

“I met him in summer. Funny or ironic enough, the day was cold. It was on a Wednesday. I had summer classes. The classes were not the problem, but I hated that particular lesson that I had in the morning. The instructor was too boring and I always thought he didn’t know how to present his lesson. I was coming from class; I remember it was about 11am. Now that I think about it, I was born at 11am. Anyway, I was going to meet my friend in her art gallery. I walked slowly alongside the road, listening to music. You could tell from watching me from a distance that I was really bored. It was one of those days. Little did I know, that at the other side of the road, a new life awaited me. I don’t know why, but as I approached the door to the art gallery, I felt really nervous. I became uneasy. I remember that I even hesitated to open the door. That was very unlike me. But I eventually did. He was right there standing, his back to me. I felt a wave of shock flow through my entire body. I don’t know why, but after I opened the door, the only or the first person I saw was him. I mean the room had other people. Even to date, he still gives me that kind of uneasiness. I can never quite relax around him. He was there standing like the room belonged to him. Very cocky I thought. You know that kind of ego that men have. Well, I think he is the epitome of that ego. He was talking to my friend, the one who owned the art gallery. Chatting away. I could tell that he was very funny, because my friend laughed a lot. But then, she was always comic. My friend. She saw me and signaled for me to join them. I hesitated just a sec before taking that step. But then I took it. I smiled and walked towards them. He never looked behind. It was like as if he didn’t care. You know, that don’t care attitude. When I got to them, my friend introduced us. It’s very funny that I cannot remember my friends name, considering that she had quite an impact in my life at that point. He looked at me and it was as if he was smiling cynically. He had a very sinister smile. That I remember. But he was very good looking. Stylish too in his own way. Tall too, it seemed like he overpowered me. I felt small at his presence. I said hello and we shook hands. I can’t remember who extended a hand first between both of us. Not that it matters. I can’t remember what happened after that. I barely have any memory of the after events of that meeting. But from that moment I knew that I want to know who he was. he was also a very good artist and I loved art. It is one of my passions. From then on, we saw each other frequently. What captured me the most was his different point of view in everything. We always disagreed from the first day we started talking. He always saw the other side. And I don’t know, but that was a big source of arguments in what became our relationship. Life was good. Love lived there. It was us against the world. I won’t lie but he broke my heart a couple of times. I did cry a few times too. I was always like, why does love have to hurt this much? You know. But I was committed. I mean I was in love. The thought of not having him in my life never seemed like an option. But now, I don’t even know what to do. He wants to take my child away from me. Our child. We built that business together from the ground. We did it! We might have been terrible team mates. We made a couple of mistakes along the way but we did it. You know! That achievement and with the person you love. He wants to sell it, saying that we will make better money than we could ever dream of. I don’t think that he sees the level of potential that it has. He doesn’t see what I see in it. He does not understand me!” at this point Katya seemed like she wanted to cry. She was exhausted. Her heart felt like giving up.

“Do you understand him?” she asked her

Katya looked at her with contempt. She thought, I’m paying you and you are taking his side? But she never said that. She thought about it for a moment and started to relax. She thought about that question carefully. She was always so impulsive. Always reacting in an impulse. That had been of the source of her many problems. But yet, it was one of the greatest sources of all the joys she had had in life.

“of course, I do, and his reasoning does not make sense. I have even analyzed it from a statistical point of view. You know using numbers to make my point clearer. But he still wont listen. He always finds a way to argue.” Katya answered.

“You did mention that he always had a different point of view from yours” she told her. Katya smiled at that. She was right about that. But what was she going to do about the business. She loved it. She did not want to let it go. She also loved him. But it has to be both of them or at least one of them. She thought.

“Why don’t you tell me why you don’t want to sell the business?” she asked her

“Because it is my dream. It was my dream. And I found him and he shared a dream with me. Together we combined those drams and it became this business. We made it exist. I just don’t want to let it go. I’m very sure that the person who buys it, won’t fulfill what I have for it. They won’t see the dream. They won’t see the potential I see. What if it just dies even before I leave this world. Or even shortly after I leave the world. I want it to be our legacy. Our family’s legacy. Our generation. For family.” At this point Katya felt hopeless. She seemed like she was done. Like it was the end of life.

“Why does he need the money?” she asked her.

“He says that it will help us accomplish other dreams in our life. other dreams. I mean, what does that even mean? I don’t want to lose him. I don’t want to leave him. But I don’t want to lose the business either. The best thing at this point is that he can’t sell it without my signature. I don’t know what to do.”

“I will see you next week.” She told her. Katya looked at the wall and saw that it was time.

“that’s it?” she asked her

“What do you mean”

“After all that I have said. You didn’t even tell me what to do. I mean, you did not tell me anything that I don’t know” Katya told her.

“Well, that is kind of the point. I will see you next week same time.” She told her.

Katya left the office feeling drained. But at least she felt some kind of uneasiness. She felt empty. She felt like she had let go of a huge load on her shoulder. It was her first time to attend therapy. She had run out of options and thought to consult the point of a stranger. Maybe they would bring new insights into her life. she thought. As she walked back to the office. She realized that it was summer. How odd is that. And if there was any relationship, what awaited her at the other side?