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“Are you breaking up with me?” I ask, amused.
“I… I don’t know,” she responds honestly.
“We’re not optional. It’s court-ordered. The Queen of Katantia herself has appointed these sessions,” I remind her. While my son Alex is overseas, this is how I bond with my son’s wife and her boyfriend, who is also my protégé, my favorite second-in-command. We go to therapy. We don’t take pills. Kamila does, occasionally, when her seizures resurge. We smoke weed and crack jokes at our strange lives on top of the palace, reminiscing about the ghosts that haunt us.
“Yes, but the queen and her boyfriend have been making progress. You…”
I let her have a moment.Choose your words wisely.
“Just go,” she blurts out, and I’m momentarily stunned. She’s been flustered before, but her professionalism dominates her presence. I don’t affect her on any other day, and I wonder what’s changed today. “The front office will notify you.”
“About what?” I ask, tilting my head to the side.
“Your new psychiatrist. We’ve had a new influx of physicians from—”
“You think they’ll get to me?”
She nods.
“All right.”
I glance at her one last time. Kamila won’t like this development. I’ll miss Ivy Lin and her clean-cut attitude. Her light blush always managed to amuse me. She’s the best at her job, and I doubt that anyone else will extract a word out of me, but I’ll let her have her meltdown.
“Goodbye, Mr. Winters. I truly hope you get the help you deserve.”
I don’t give her anything but a quick nod. I’m out of her office before she can stop me.
* * *
It’s beena couple of hours, and I still haven’t thought of an excuse to drop out of my therapy sessions.
I park my Cadillac Escalade in the parking facility inside the palace compound. Scanning each car I walk by, it takes me a couple of minutes to reach the palace. I shake myself out of my compulsive needs.
At the entrance, I’m greeted by men I’ve hired. I know their names. Every single person that works in this compound has been vetted and tested by me. I let them pat me down and scan my palace ID card. After all, I must set an example for the rest of the compound, and I’m very well aware of the power I yield.
Once inside, I hurry up the five floors of stairs. I don’t use the elevators because they’re for pussies. I’m in my fucking fifties, but I take these stairs like I own them.
“Good morning, Jordan,” the girl at the queen’s reception greets me. Maddie’s a teenager, but she puts on herfuck meeyes every time she sees me. I’d have her fired because I don’t do pathetic little girls, but Kamila hired this girl to give her a chance at a steady job. She’s been in and out of homes since her parents abandoned her in Katantia four years ago. I can’t blame her for wanting a father figure in her life. I’m a father to many already, and I don’t do charity.
“Good morning,” I say to Maddie. “Where’s Felicita?”
Today, Maddie’s hair is blue, taking after the queen’s scandalous teen years of everchanging hair colors. She tucks a lock of hair behind her ear, biting her lower lip. “Your sister’s just down the hall in the baby’s playroom.”
“Thank you. Have a nice day.” I roll my eyes once she’s out of my sight. I put up with the thirsty girls of Katantia because of my family. That’s not a fucking lie. I don’t need women to boost my ego. It’s already thick enough.
3013 and counting. Not a single charge. I’ve never been put in handcuffs in my entire life.
The windows I pass are as tall as I am, showing me Katantia’s sunny day. I say I hate it, but in all honesty, life’s been calmer ever since I came here.
I enter the playroom and find Felicita on the floor, kneeling and clapping for our young king. He’s jumping up and down in his activity center. His daddy sent it to him from America. It’s fish-themed after an animated movie we watch every other Sunday.
My sister notices my presence, and she gets up from the floor. She’s surprised to see me back so early. Never one to miss a chance to look good, she’s in a long flowery dress and heels. How she manages the heels and my grandson, I have no idea. Her auburn hair is loose, wavy, and long over the shoulder. Her teal eyes study me, picking me apart. She’s tiny in a family of giants like her daughter, but she’ll cut you in two if you let her. It’s in the family. She asks, “How was your therapy session?”
She hugs me, and I hug her back, comforted by the fact she’s still here. We live together, and she sleeps on the same floor as I do in her home. I still need confirmation of her presence.
“It was all right,” I tell her. The game noises and music stop. I glance at my grandson, and he meets my eyes.
Immediately, I take on the role Felicita and I have seemingly been made for. We’re the grandparents that everyone relies on. Our kids and their kids come first. “How’s my king doing today?”
