Marcy sat in the waiting room of the psychiatrist's office laying down on a red velvet couch as the sound of her phone game echoed through the room, slowly but surely annoying the neglectful twenty something aged secretary who occupied her time with a game of solitary. Walter sat in the adjacent room with Melissa and Dr. Andrea Plummer, being challenged by the sharp criticism and cheap-shots being served to him.
"I mean...I don't even know what I can say at this point. No matter what I say, I'm predisposed to smart ass comments" Walter said, calmly.
"Do you think that she's stripped you of your armor--is that it?" Dr. Plummer asked. Walter's phone began to vibrate, repeatedly.
"My armor? I didn't know that I had to be so defensive" Walter responded, silencing the phone on his hip. " I'm not saying anything that he doesn't already know; the challenge is getting him to comprehend and respond. Instead he puts up... that brick wall that I have to try to break through with my bare fucking fist" Melissa said dramatically.
"Well communication is the basis to any relationship, do you feel like there's something that shouldn't be revealed for the sake of your marriage Walter?" Walter sat up a bit, uncomfortable from the question. "Look, I'm not a stranger to comprehension, ok? I answered the call to over a half million Goddamned people, the last four years. The problem is that I have too many stones being casted at me at once"
"Explain it, Walter" Dr. Plummer said.
"What do you want, a list? I have corporate bloodhounds possibly employing hackers -cyber terrorists if you will- to smear my campaign; I have a federal agent who instead of finding the person or persons responsible for this mess, has me under a microscope like I'm Jordan fucking Belfort; I have a daughter, a grown woman, who can't even look me in the eyes and rarely smiles because some sick son of a bitch assaulted her in a school shower, years ago-now shes a fucking junkie. Only a few months shy of having her own bus route; and finally, a wife with a sullen attitude and an insatiable urge for red wine and psychoactives"
Melissa eyed Walter with a dangerous stare. Her acrylic nails seemed to sharpen as she clawed the arm of the leather chair out of unchecked angst. "This charade that we're running for the sake of public image isn't really helping either. But that's all a part of the game though, isn't it?" Melissa said, smiling spitefully. "Is that to say that you weren't enjoying the trial separation Melissa or that you were?" Dr. Plummer asked. Walter quickly intervened. "No, that wasn't a trial separation, a trial is 30 days or less. That was a paid vacation in Manhattan for almost 2 months with my kids, under the guise of looking for a rehab clinic" Walter said.
"Our kids. And we would still be in New York, due to the fact that you can't do a better job of acknowledging your eldest daughter's existence Walter. This is irrefutable" Melissa said. "Are you still blaming me for that Melissa? ...Look at me" Melissa turned her head towards Walter. "I couldn't have done anything else about it. Is there not enough wine and Xanax in the world that can convince you?" Walter said.
"Why? Because the father of her rapist helped to fund your war chest? Fuck you, Walter" Melissa said.
"Let's watch the insults. Keep it friendly, we're just opening that line of communication and breaking down that brick wall; not with our fists but with honesty--and a bit of explosive humor it seems" Dr. Plummer said sarcastically. "Yeah humor. This would make one hell of a dramatic comedy Andrea, wouldn't it?" Melissa said jokingly.
"Can you say that the controversy surrounding these email leaks doesn't have any truth to them, Walter? That it is in fact the work of individuals trying to compromise your campaign even if that takes ruining your marriage?" Dr. Plummer asked. Walter hesitated before his response. "...I can honestly say that there are people that want to destroy me; why wouldn't they, this is politics"
"Do you want to make things work or are we just coming to a temporary compromise?" Dr. Plummer asked. "No. Of course it's not a temporary compromise, at least from my point of view. It never was supposed to be one, anyway"
Melissa's phone began to vibrate. A text from Marcy.
She pressed the button on the side of the phone, silencing it. "Melissa, do you feel like we're bringing down that barrier?" Dr. Plummer asked. Melissa's phone vibrated again, this time she received a text from Scott and silenced her phone again. She planted her phone deep in her purse and said "Yes. I do. I, um. Marcy has an appointment that we completely forgot about"
"We have five minutes left. That's your response? Really?" Walter responded. Knock! Knock! Knock! Marcy opened the door and peeked her head in."Just a minute, wait outside Marcy, please!" Dr. Plummer shouted. "Sorry mom I'm starving, are you guys almost finished?" Marcy whined.
"Yes, really" Melissa stands and walked towards Dr. Plummer, her arm extended for the obligatory handshake. "Thank you Dr. Plummer" Melissa said, shaking her hand. "Same time next week Melissa" Walter then approached Dr. Plummer. "Uh, I need to speak to Walter for just a moment Melissa" "Be my guess Doc" she said before grabbing her purse from off the couch and exiting the room.
"What was that about?" Plummer uttered. "What do you mean?" "This is politics? You think she doesn't already know that Walt? I'll tell you what, you keep on being condescending, this is going to get worse for you" "You think I'm deliberately trying to be an asshole? I have a hard enough time trying to convince her not to take this to divorce lawyers. In the middle of my campaign!" Walter whispers loudly.
"And somehow you believe this entire situation is a spontaneous circumstance?"
Walter shook his head."What? What do you mean?" He asked.
"Karma Walter. Or you can just call it irony, whatever works for you" "Those emails were doctored, Andrea" He said. "Regardless if they were or weren't, for someone to go through the trouble of breaching your personal information to the point that the FBI is involved. This might be the best time for you to open up and not keep her in the dark. The further this thing goes, the harder it'll be to get your wife back, if not for the marriage, witness testimony alone if it comes to it" Walter remained silent. He was able to process her criticism but ultimately he discarded anything that didn't fit his own personal narrative.
He simply nodded his head.
"Don't be condescending Walter. I'll see you next week if you're in town" Dr. Plummer said.
Her phone vibrated along with Walters. They both received a text notification which read:
WEATHER ADVISORY. STORM WARNING. HEAVY RAIN AND STRONG WIND UP TO 70 MPH. PLEASE GET TO SHELTER AS SOON AS POSSIBLE .