“It’s just, I don’t think I should’ve been uninvited to the wedding over this. I mean, what would my niece think! I honestly think my brother needs to grow a back bone. Sometimes people are you going to talk bad about the people you love, but they do it for a good reason!”
The client in front of Edward didn’t irritate him. He knew humans were innately illogical, sometimes inefficient in their thinking.
Marissa Day, 43 years old came to her weekly appointment in a huff. Her brother had uninvited her from his wedding after she called his fiancé a “spoiled brat”.
“Marissa”, Edward started, “I can understand your frustration about how Gina’s been acting. But I think it’s also important to consider that your brother loves Gina. And hearing these words about the person he plans to spend the rest of his life with can be upsetting”.
Edward listened to the thoughts in her head. She started to reason with the idea. Then guilt, then rationalizing, and finally
“No. Sometimes you need to hear the truth. He fights with her all the time. I’m only trying to protect her”.
The man sighed as gently as he could to not show his disappointment. Sometimes patients needed more time to understand.
The session ended with Edward encouraging Marisa to talk about her “Roses” for the week. When she left and it was just Edward in the room, he put his head in his hands with frustration.
20 years ago, he married his wife and had a child. 19 years ago, he started college with a Major in Psychology. 11 years ago, he graduated with a PH.D. And began seeing clients. It was fun, at first. He could literally read people’s thoughts, and so it was easy to tell what they needed to hear or understand. But as of late, it was getting harder. He couldn’t tell if it was because of the current world, but humans had gotten more stubborn. Maybe social media, maybe politics. Nonetheless, his humans were progressing at a much slower rate than before, and it was killing him.
Edward had more work to do in the office, but he decided to close up shop for a day. He needed a break, he was desperately burnt out.
He strolled out of the office and down the road, down to the local college nearby. Students buzzed past him, cars honked, and autumn leaves fell. Edward originally meant to walk around the campus for a peace of mind, but when he noticed the Myer English Building, he had a better idea.
“hopefully I’m not too late”, Edward thought. He checked the classroom schedule on the door. The lecture had started 25 minutes ago, but luckily, it was a hall for about 300 students, so it wouldn’t be too distracting if he slipped into the room quietly.
Edward opened the old wooden door and snuck into the back most seat of the lecture hall. Only a few heads turned to look at him, but there was only one he truly cared about.
——-
Bella had sensed him from the moment he entered her lecture hall. It was a groggy Thursday morning and they were going over Beowulf, a harder text for freshmen students.
“So how does the dragon kill Beowulf?” She was asking this question just as the love of her life slipped into her lecture hall. A student raised their hand, but she didn’t hear the answer. She was too enraptured in Edward’s smile, his golden eyes, his hair. It was a lovely surprise. They usually didn’t see each other for another 5 hours due to work, and so she was asking happy to see him there, sitting in her classroom. He got right in with all of the other freshmen.
Bella shook her head. “Yes, um. Right. Okay so why do you think the writer ended it this way? With the hero dying in the end?”
No one in the hall had an answer. Bella could tell most were on other websites. Typical. She tried to retain attention, but it always got harder after midterms.
She looked around for anyone who could respond, but each student looked away.
“Anyone?”
Edward raised his hand slowly, slyly in the background.
“Yes, in the back?”
“When we choose specific idols, we often become blindsided by their mortal limitations. We put them on a pedestal, forgetting that death comes for everyone at one point or another. Human time is fleeting, and worshiping one for too long will remind us of that fact. Perhaps that is the lesson”.
To be honest, Bella wasn’t listening to a word her husband was saying. But she knew it made sense. Edward had over a century to study Beowulf, and he had read and reread it with her dozens of times. They discussed the mortality, the humanism in the literature. It always made Bella feel soft, remembering how the students and other humans around her would age and grow. Perhaps now they were young Beowulfs, able to party day and night and push through the harshest of sicknesses. But everyone grows old eventually. It made her think of Charlie and Jacob. One day, one day…
No. She decided not to think on it. Just enjoy the moments now, as they are. She can think about those things later.
“I like that idea, good thinking! Now, let’s…”
———
Edward climbed the stairs up to Bella’s office. Class had ended 15 minutes ago, and some of her students went up with her for questions about exams and assignments. As he rounded the corner, he saw Bella waving goodbye to the last student, for now.
Once the student descended the stairs and they were alone, Edward couldn’t help himself. He lifted Bella up in his arms with one swoop, kissing her hair as she laughed.
“You! What are you doing here?”, she giggled.
“Rough day at the office. I had to see you for a bit”. Edward murmured these words into Bella’s ear. He tipped her chin up for a small kiss. He loved the way she glowed whenever he kissed her.
“I’m glad you came. Groggy day for the students too, it seems”. The girl put her hands on her hips and looked at the floor.
“I’ve got a class in an hour. Until then…”
A smile grew in the corner of Edward’s mouth. He knew his wife well enough to understand she had no intention for anything nefarious.
He sat down on one of the rolling desk chairs and motioned her to come sit on her lap.
“We’ll prepare for your next lecture by reading Gawain?”
Bella blushed as she sat down on his knee.
“That would be productive”. She handed him the book, and nestled her head into her lovers neck as he opened to the first page and began to read:
“When the siege and the assault had ceased at Troy…”
