Page 32 of Hooked on a Demon
She holds in the giggle that wants to come loose atround of jam, instead reassuringly responding, “Absolutely.” Eliana stands, putting her hand out for Calista to take. “First, we want to start at the bar. Stand with it at your side and place your left hand on top.” Calista stands in front of Eliana and follows her directions. “Do you remember first position?”
“Yes,” Calista says before turning her feet out and bringing her feet together.
“Good. Straighten your back.”
She does.
“Good. Now, with your right leg, you’re going to put it out in front of you and point your toes.” She watches Calista perform the movement. “Wonderful. Now sweep your foot around to the back like you’re making half a circle. When you get to the back, you bring your foot forward again and return to first position.”
Eliana moves to stand in front of Calista. She demonstrates the movement, then steps away from the bar to watch as Calista repeats it. “You try.”
Calista holds herself up straight, sweeps her leg around perfectly, and returns to the starting position as if she were a professional and had been doing it all her life. “Perfect! Do you want to try again to make sure you remember?”
Calista beams. “Yes!”
“Go ahead.” Eliana gestures with her hand, signaling for Calista to go, and then claps enthusiastically when Calista is done. Seeing her little stars master these moves never fails to fill her heart.
“You ready, Callie?” her mom says from the doorway.
“Yes, Mom! Thank you, Miss Oaks.”
“Anytime,” Eliana calls out as she watches Calista run to her mom.
With that being her last class of the day, Elliana quickly sweeps the room before turning the studio lights off. She gathers her things from her locker in the staff room and says goodnight to Bellamy on her way out. Perhaps, unfortunately, she can’t go straight home. Instead, it’s off to see Dr. Colson for an evening therapy session.
On the drive over, she works through what she would like to talk about, but knows that they both allow the conversation to go wherever it needs to. She’s avoided talking about Declan so far, but she can’t leave that much longer.
She pulls into the parking lot at Colson’s building, parks, and then makes her way inside, finding his office like it’s second nature. Which it practically is, at this point. She tries to keep her appointments pretty regular. Or at least as regular as her work allows. Everything for the showcase is starting to ramp up, so that may get in the way for a bit, but she does what she can to stay consistent with Colson because it helps her keep it together.
“Come on in. Have a seat,” Dr. Colson says, holding the door for her. “How have you been this week?”
“I’ve been good.”
He sits opposite her, picks up his pad and pen, and poises them on his knee, as usual. “Just good?”
It’s funny the little routines they both have fallen into. She sits on the small couch, sliding her feet out of her ankle boots, and brings them onto the cushion beside her. She leans onto the arm and picks at the fluffs on the hem of her sweater. “I’ve met someone.” She flicks her eyes up at him, looking for a response, but he gives nothing away, which is probably a good thing given his profession. Can’t have your therapist making faces at every big revelation and all that.
“And how does that make you feel?”
“Scared. Anxious. Uncertain. Content.”
“Why those feelings? Why scared first?” he asks, making notes.
It’s a good question. She hadn’t considered the order of her response; she listed how they came to her. “My last relationship wasn’t a good one. So scared seemed to fit.”
“What happened in your last relationship that makes you scared of this one?”
She picks at the fluff on her leggings, running her hands over her thighs as she thinks. Eliana hasn’t shared the details of what happened with Sam with anyone other than Kaia, and Kaia’s like a steel trap with personal information, so no one else knows. Not even Everest. “Things with Sam didn’t end well. Frankly, they didn’tgowell either. We were together for two years, and he was possessive and controlling. By the time I ended things, he had alienated me from almost all of my friends. The only one I had managed to keep in contact with was Kaia, and even then, that was spotty. He didn’t know I was still talking to her, but she helped me find a way out. When I left, I deleted his number and left everything I had worked towards behind. ”
“So why are you scared about this new relationship?”
“Because it’s new. Because I’m worried it will end up the same way things did with Sam.” Saying all of this aloud is hard. She’s got some distance between her now and the ending, or rather, fleeing, of that relationship, so that she can talk about it. But the pain of admitting how he chipped away at who she was is still there. It’s a rumble of anger under her skin, reminding her of how being with Sam forever changed her.
“Has this new person done anything to make you think they are similar to Sam?”
She tilts her head back, resting it on the back of the couch, looking up at the ceiling as she thinks through every interaction with Declan so far. “Nothing immediately stands out. Though, to be fair, we haven’t actually gone out yet. You know, just the two of us. But what if…” She trails off. Colson waits for her to finish her thought. “But what if he’s hiding it? What if he’s stealthy about it, like Sam was? Making me become a shell of myself, one tiny piece at a time.”
“What if he’s not?”
