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Moving away from her hometown also made the divorce feel even more real. The divorce had just been finalized last week after an entire year of going through the process, and now it was official, she and Rachel were over.
It’s not that she was necessarily upset about the relationship itself ending as such. Of course, it was always heartbreaking losing someone who had been such a huge part of her adult life, but it had been time. Amira and Rachel had been with one another for twenty-two years and married for sixteen. Going their own separate ways hadn’t been an easy decision by any means, but it was ultimately what was best for them both.
Their relationship hadn’t been the same for several years when they finally decided that it was time to call it quits. They’d once been wildly in love, unable to keep their hands off each other, unable to be away from one another for more than a few hours at a time without going crazy. They could sit and talk to each other for hours on end, pulling all-nighters every other night just to talk, laughing loudly at each other’s jokes and crying together as they told each other about the things that they’d had to go through in their lives. No matter how much time they had together, it never seemed to be enough. It seemed as if their conversations could never come to an end. It seemed as if they could never run out of things to say to each other.
Until they did.
As the years went by, the spark between them died out. They both got busy with work, focusing more on their careers than on each other. They both grew up significantly, completely changing from the people that they once were. But the problem was that they grew in two entirely different directions, and the new and improved versions of themselves didn’t align with one another. Their interests changed. Their thought processes changed. Their entire mindsets changed. They were no longer the perfect fit they had once been. They’d become two entirely different pieces to two entirely different puzzles.
They’d both realized it long before they’d even considered filing for a divorce.
They tried to make it work for a long time. They tried to rekindle the romance that had once been present in the relationship. They tried to realign themselves, to understand each other once more, but nothing they did had worked. Their fire had burnt out and their relationship had turned cold and stale. It was as if they were just distant friends, roommates living together just for the sake of living together. The feelings just weren’t there anymore.
The passion. The sex. The love. None of it was there anymore.
They just couldn’t keep going on like that. What was the point of being tied down to a person that you hardly even knew anymore? It was just painful having to continue to see each other every day. Every time they looked at one another, they were only reminded of what was once there but wasn’t any longer.
Amira didn’t regret the divorce. It was for the best. Being stuck in a loveless marriage for the rest of her life wasn’t something that interested her. She was 46 years old. She knew that the split was the best thing for both of them, as difficult as it might have been.
But it was scary. Having to be alone for the first time in her life was scary. Being single for the first time in over two decades was scary.
“Well…” Bethany murmured, sending a sympathetic look to Amira, who’d zoned out for a bit.
Amira cleared her throat and quickly brushed away her tears, waving her hand and chuckling as Bethany began apologizing. Bethany had always sucked at knowing what to do when someone was upset. Amira was used to her little sister freezing up and sitting in awkward silence when someone cried in front of her, but she didn’t mind it. It was nice just to have a listening ear, and if Bethany couldn’t provide anything else, she could at least provide that.
“It’s fine,” Amira told her quickly. “It’s just nice to be able to get that off my chest. I’ve been struggling with the move and it’s just starting to sink in that the divorce is really—It’s really final now. But I’m sure I’ll get out of this little slump soon enough. It takes a while to form a relationship with your coworkers, but I’m sure we’ll start to become friends soon enough. And I’m sure I’ll get used to living alone too. It’ll just take a little bit of time.”
“Yeah!” Bethany nodded quickly. “Yeah, it’s definitely gonna be a bit of a learning curve but you’ll get used to it in no time. I know it feels lonely right now, but I think you’ll start to like it, eventually! Not having to share your living space with anyone is really nice!”
“What are you trying to say?” Amira narrowed her eyes playfully and Bethany snorted.
“That it’s great not having to fold other people’s underwear when they get mixed in with your own.” She sent the older woman a look. “Anyway, you got the point, didn’t you? Living alone can be nice—and hey, this can be a learning experience for you. I mean, you like getting to experience new things, don’t you? This is something you’ve never gotten to experience before, but you finally do now. That’s great.”
“I guess you’re right,” Amira smiled. “I just need to give it a little time. I might find that I really like being by myself! You never know.”
“Right,” Bethany nodded. “So...back to your work…” She wiggled her brows.
Amira rolled her eyes a little, giggling at her sister’s excited face. Bethany had always been so intrigued with Amira’s job. She honestly couldn’t understand why the girl wouldn’t just study to become a specialist herself.
“You know I can’t tell you much about my patients,” Amira told her. “Everything you already know is about as much as I can tell you.”
“Can you at least give me a detailed description of the inside of the facility that they’re based in? I bet the kitchen is absolutely huge! And is there a pool in the backyard?! I know there is!”
“It’s a sports facility, Bethany, not a mansion out in Hollywood. But yes, there’s a nice pool- water therapy is a great treatment option for a lot of sports injuries- and a very nice dining area—”
Bethany practically screamed. Interior design was her passion, and she was very interested in architecture too. So naturally, she demanded to know everything about the facility, and Amira resigned herself to spending half the night detailing everything from the floor tiles to the color schemes inside the large building.
2
“Her name is Rina Mazeto and she’s a twenty-seven-year-old professional basketball player. She’s been playing since she was in middle school. Her family has next to no history of mental illness. She said she didn’t start having any problems until early last year when she started struggling with self-doubt, anxiety, and depression. She told me that was right around the time when she lost her grandfather so she thought it might’ve had something to do with that, but that isn’t the problem. She’s realized that she struggles most when she’s on the court, and it’s really affecting her performance...Are you listening to me, Dr. Rosen?”
Well, yes and no.
Casey was hearing the words coming out of Amira’s mouth and she was writing everything down on her clipboard, but even as she made notes, she couldn’t take her eyes off of Amira.
Her eyes constantly flicked to scanning Amira as she spoke, darting between her beautiful hazel eyes, adorable button nose, the pretty mole that was right beside her soft-looking lips, her smooth brown skin…and yeah, maybe Casey couldn’t keep herself from glancing down at her cleavage every once in a while either.
She really wasn’ttryingto be a creep, it’s just that she couldn’t help herself. Amira was wearing a blouse with three buttons open and if Casey looked hard enough, she could see the lace fabric of her bra.
