Dr. Dre

“Ha. Wild, right?” Astrid let out a breathy chuckle. It wasn’t hard to see she was struggling. Her thumb dug into a stitch in her side. “Signed up for a marathon. Thought it would be fine. I used to run… y’know to things, away from things… This is very different.” 

Andre grinned at the blonde weary blonde, feeling quite sympathetic. “It’s not obvious or anything,” he teased gently, glad that the woman seemed able to laugh off her own misery. Andre nodded, immediately in admiration of his companion’s decision to sign up for something so intense; he probably couldn’t do the same. “I commend your commitment. Marathons are no joke.” He stopped moving backward, granting both of them a break. “Why sign up?”

                       “You totally should. I should too— it’s actually weird that I haven’t yet,” Sofia said, though she had never been a big Yelp reviewer. It was never too late to start though, right?

While Sofia didn’t go to church every Sunday anymore, she grew up doing so, and her faith was important enough to her to make Andre’s answers easily relatable to her. He was clearly a good guy, and everything he listed was a clear indication of just that, which in turn widened the smile pressed to Sofia’s lips.

“I could never make fun of you for saying that,” She said earnestly and gave a slight shake of her head, “I mean, love is important— and it should be something that makes you happy. Not that I would really now,” She admitted with a half laugh, “I’m bad at the romantic love, but the familial? I’m down with that.”

Andre pressed his hands together and gave a light bow of his head when Sofia promised to pass no judgment. She was sweet and he was more and more convinced of that fact every minute he spent chatting with her. “Love is definitely important.” He easily agreed, in whatever form, as long as it was healthy. His lips bore a soft smile when Sofia admitted to having issues in the romance department. Who didn’t? “Yeah, that struggle is real,” he joked, not having a current romantic relationship to show for himself. He grinned and raised his glass to Sofia, honestly being able to relate to having big love for his family. “To familial love then.”

                “The biggest fan,” Sofia said firmly, zero traces of doubt in the lilt of her voice. She’d never been one of those girls who didn’t eat— she liked food, loved to eat, and she would gladly indulge on the Italian kind whenever an opportunity came about. “Oh yeah, they take good care of you here, don’t even worry about it. I promise you’ll be satisfied and full when you leave here.”

Chuckling, she nodded and said, “Yeah, a pillow throne does sound more comfortable, you’re right. Or just like… a king sized bed or something, floating through life on it.” Effervescent laughter rose and billowed, her eyes shining with mirth. 

The waitress greeted them and quickly took their orders, writing away on her little pad at lightning speed— clearly not a newbie. Sofia thanked her and turned back to Andre again, facing his question, which was undoubtedly a good one and far from the expected one when it came to first encounters. She liked that.

“What makes me happy? My family, especially my little brother and sister, and my friends too of course, and literally any fluffy animal out there? Even some of the non fluffy ones too, I guess. And… helping people. What about you though? What makes you happy?”

“Oh, I believe it.” Andre nodded. Sofia certainly didn’t come across to Andre as anything but genuine. So her enthusiasm about the restaurant and the entrees they would soon be enjoying was contagious. “Maybe I’ll be so moved as to write a shining Yelp review.”

Andre knew that his question was unorthodox for a conversation with someone he’d just met, but that’s why he liked it. People spent so much time with surface level questions that didn’t really reveal anything about the other person. Life was precious, especially for someone like Andre who suffered from a chronic illness; therefore time wasn’t something he believed should be wasted. He nodded along with Sofia’s responses, grinning as she named a few things he could relate to.   

“My faith; I pray every day. Being able to help people who’re struggling, especially kids. Family, definitely. And don’t make fun of me when I say this because I’m 100% serious--love. I love falling in love, being in love. It feeds my soul to share myself with someone else, you know?”

                               Sofia had never really been serious about her love life, at least not to the point of fretting about it. Her parents had found each other at a young age and gotten married barely before they were in their twenties, and while they marriage did last for almost a decade and a half, they eventually found other people. 

Maybe that was why Sofia didn’t worry. She wanted her education first, everything else next— if she happened to meet someone nice in the middle, that was great, and if not, that was okay too. For now she was content with just meeting people, like Andre, who was kind and easy to talk to.

“Oh, that sounds good too though. I had that a couple of visits back and it’s always amazing,” Sofia said enthusiastically, laughter stitching through their shared space at Andre’s pasta comment. “Believe me, I know what you mean. But what a sweet life, right? Eating pasta all the time and just having people roll you around in a wheelbarrow. I don’t think I’d mind it,” She jested.

“Oh, so you must be a big fan of this place if you keep coming back. This gives me a good feeling about the food.” Andre certainly didn’t return to dining establishments that he didn’t enjoy, so it seemed like a reasonable presumption to make of Sofia’s decision to dine here again tonight. He grinned about the idea of being wheeled around and spoon-fed delicious spaghetti on a whim. 

“Well, maybe something a little more comfortable than a wheelbarrow in that case. A pillow throne perhaps.” He lifted a glass of water to his lips and took a sip. “Definitely a pillow throne,” he chuckled, looking up as the waitress approached their table to collect their orders. He gestured for Sofia to give hers first, then he requested his eggplant parmigiana as planned. When the waitress when on her way to the kitchen, Andre returned his attention to Sofia. “So when you’re not indulging in amazing Italian cuisine, what makes you happy?”

“You would be surprised.” Alexis said with a sigh, glaring at the two women. “You just get used to it after a while.” She shrugged. “Besides the more you react, the more they speak. You just can’t win with these people.” Sure she might have sounded like she was the victim, but honestly after what she has done to her own sister, people shouldn’t have been surprised that whole town hated her.  “Right? That’s what I don’t get. If I cared about their judgments, I would ask their opinion. Since I didn’t, they need to zip it.”

From his line of work Andre knew the depths of viciousness that people adopting a mob mentality could sink to, so he wasn’t too surprised but he was bothered enough to continue talking to this woman. “Well, that’s unfortunate.” He nodded softly. “Look, I don’t know the context of their comments and it’s not my business, but I don’t think it’s ever appropriate for people to engage in that kind of ganging up behavior. So, from that point, I apologize for those peoples’ childishness. I’m Andre; I doubt we’ve met before today.”

                           The early bird’s five miles could either be the best thing or the worst depending on how you went into it; well-slept or dog-tired, motivated or humdrum. Adrian, however, made sure to do it no matter what; no more than five, and no less than two times a week; a pair of runners and a shoreline a poor man’s therapist. So here he was, mile four and fabric sticking to skin in virile perspire, when the runner in front slowed and turned. Merriment was the expression revealed on the other male – pearly tiers, grin infectious – and, shocked by it, Adrian slowed his own long stride to a jog, lips curling too, “Morning,” He panted heavy, legs burning, “This a glute workout I’ve never seen before?” He chuckled, breathless, making friendly conversation, “That, or the ‘Cha Cha Slide’ just came on shuffle–”

Astrid hated running as an exercise. She didn’t see a purpose to it - running just for running’s sake. Running was meant to be towards something or from something. Otherwise it was stupid. And pointless… 

So it was definitely stupid of her to sign up for a half marathon, but she was suckered into it by a cute kid in a wheelchair. Damn it, that was always how they got you… So now she had to run a fucking half marathon in a month, and she was woefully out of shape. She was huffing and puffing by the time the man next to her was greeting her cheerily. “Is it, though?” she replied tiredly, taking the opportunity to slow down.

Andre prided himself on being the perceptive type, but it didn’t take a genius to see that this young woman wasn’t enjoying her morning jog. He lowered the volume on his music in the interest of politeness, keeping the earbuds in for ease for the time being. “I suppose that is a subjective statement,” he chuckled, acknowledging the blonde’s apparent distaste for physical exertion or maybe it was the early morning hour.. or both. “Well, speaking only for myself here-- the sun’s shining and my favorite song on my workout playlist just started playing--so it’s shaping up to be good for me.” He shrugged his shoulders. “Taking a wild guess that jogging’s not your cup of tea?”

                   The smile carrying on her lips was wide and warm, genuine to the bone, and Sofia hoped Andre could tell. “Thank you— that means a lot honestly.” People were usually quick to judge, to make their own preconceived assumptions after half a glance, and it was beyond refreshing to see that there was still hope out there; that not everyone was like that.

“Me neither actually. Not yet at least… Maybe one day, if I actually do encounter a lost cause myself, then I’ll have to, but I doubt it’ll ever happen,” Sofia said, visage laced with a crooked smile. She had always been driven, not optimistically so, but she saw solutions rather than problems, and the thought of branding someone a lost cause beyond herself in a joking sense, that hardly merged with the kind of person she was. Luckily, it seemed Andre wasn’t that kind of person either.

“Yeah, right? He don’t even know what he’s missing out on here,” She agreed, a carefree laugh breathed into their small space. “I’m getting the mushroom tagliatelle. I’m a sucker for pasta honestly, and I’ve been craving it all day. What’re you getting?”

Andre honestly didn’t understand people sometimes. He was a man and even he couldn’t eplain the stupid things that other men did, like standing up women for dates. It was tactless and just plain rude to do that to someone. He’d never had the misfortune of being stood up before, but he figured that Sofia hadn’t been too invested in this guy to be too bothered by it. “Ooh, sounds good.” He nodded, glancing over the menu once more. “I believe I’ll have the.. eggplant parmigiana. If I have as much pasta as I’d want, you’d have to roll me out of here in a wheel barrow,” he joked. 

            “I do?” Sofia asked with a perky smile, clearly satisfied that the man seemed to have gotten that impression from her. So far, so good. “Well, I’m glad to hear it! I was afraid no one could tell,” She joked lightly.

He was so pleasant to be around that she was slowly starting to hope the person he was trying to avoid wouldn’t go away anytime soon. Maybe that was selfish of her, but she liked his company.

“Aww, thank you— that’s so nice of you. I’m glad I’m not a complete lost cause,” She joked in a light chime, brows quirking amusingly. 

“Well, kind of stood up? The dude canceled last minute, but it’s fine. At least I’m not all alone now, and he really wasn’t that interesting anyway— I might have just been more interested in the food honestly.”

“I would say so, yes.” Andre smiled, content that his favorable read on Sofia was received in good spirits. He like to be honest about his impressions of people, especially if his impressions were positive. One never knew what a little compliment could do for another person. In Andre’s experience, it could make a world of a difference.     

“I don’t really believe in lost causes anyhow.” He replied matter-of-factly, catching himself before he launched into a counselor rant. When Sofia confirmed that someone had bailed on plans with her, Andre shook his head. “Well, it’s his loss and my gain. And who doesn’t love food?” He grinned a little wider. “What are you getting?”

                “Yeah, so it seems, and I guess that’s not surprising considering your profession. I’m sure ‘producing gems’ are pretty much part of the job description,” She said, knowing absolutely nothing for sure, but able to infer as much. 

When he continued and allowed himself to share his views, her smile grew, flourishing at the kind words. “In this world we need it, right? Positivity.” Sofia would quickly admit to having a bad temper, but at the end of the day, she believed herself to have a good heart and intentions the same. 

“And thank you, by the way— for getting good vibes from me. I hope I can live up to them,” She chuckled.

“Oh, it’s completely fine. If you’re on your own, you’re more than welcome to stay? I was gonna have dinner with someone, but they bailed, so it’s just me anyway.”

“Hey, I fully appreciate your confidence in me as a professional. You’ve got that unbiased thing working for you--which also happens to work for me too.” Andre grinned. The therapist nodded in agreement when Sofia stated that the world needed more positivity. “Mmhm. Definitely.” He laughed lightly, reassuring the girl. “You’re not doing a bad job of living up to them, so far.” Andre was surprised when Sofia mentioned that her dinner date had cancelled on her. “Oh. I hope you weren’t stood up--that’d just be terrible. So classless. Please tell me I don’t have to give a stern talking to to anyone.”    

“Okay, cool,” AJ breathed out, feeling the wave of anxiety pass, heat replaced with something cold and deep, leaving a sensation like he just jumped into a pool of water. He gathered the air back into his lungs and began to pull at the threads surrounding the pillow on his chest. “Alright, see, this is our problem, Doc. You ask me vague ass questions, and I’m gonna talk until I stop breathing… I mean, she’s my sister. She’s literally the most important person to me in the entire world, y’know? She’s all I’ve got. My parents aren’t really… in the picture, so, yeah. But half the time she’s half way around the world, so when she is here, I spend most of it wondering when she’s gonna leave again. Which is fucked up of me, ‘cause it’s not, like, productive or healthy at all and it just kinda makes me feel like shit most of the time.”

“No problem.” Andre replied, glad that he could reassure AJ that they were on the same page. He settled back into his chair, observing without intrusion as the younger man fidgeted with the fringe on the throw pillow. He wasn’t the only client to do that; fidgeting with the pillows seemed to have a calming effect for kids and adults alike. The psychologist nodded with a subdued smile on his lips when AJ expanded his commentary about Astrid. Sensitive was an understatement when it came to his understanding of AJ’s attachment to his sibling. “And worrying about her taking off--all that does is compromise the enjoyment of the time you have with her when she’s here,” he interjected, speaking AJ’s unspoken thought. “No wonder you’re wound up, man. All that worrying can exhaust a person.. and exhaustion is a mighty powerful trigger. The gift that keeps on giving.” Andre tapped his fingers on his knee, pausing a moment. “Have you ever voiced these concerns to your sister?”    @aj-hayes​

                “You don’t sound pretentious,” Sofia said calmly and clearly, looking up at the guy. He didn’t know her— or had only known her for about five minutes, but if he had for longer, he would also be aware that she called it as she saw it, and that she would have definitely pointed out any pretentiousness if she had felt it. 

“I like it. Aim at being a good person above everything else— an inspirational quote that doesn’t sound lame,” She said, a mild chuckle escaping curved lips upon a visage full of genuine mirth. 

She held out her hand and smiled, “Nice to meet you Andre. I’m Sofia— I too strive to be a good person above everything else, and I guess that’s one of the reasons I don’t mind you hiding at my table.”

“Good.” Andre was relieved that sharing his abbreviated personal philosophy, without prompt, didn’t come across in a negative way. Sometimes people were set in ways that converged from his and he had to do his best to be nonjudgmental, at least professionally-speaking. “I produce a gem every now and then,” he joked, not really considering himself to be all that wise just contemplative. “I feel that. I love meeting people who try to view the world through a positive lens. If you don’t mind me saying, I get ‘good vibes’ from you.” He said, gently squeezing her hand before releasing it. “I promise I’ll be out of your hair once the coast is clear.” @sofiaflxres​