“Saphora! Please open the door, Saphora,” Fran begged from outside Saphora’s bedroom. Her balled fist constantly coming into contact with the wooden door. Saphora stayed still on her bed, looking up at the ceiling. Fran’s persistent nagging had kept her up since six in the morning, and she had just gotten home at two. It was now almost 8:30AM. The conversation with Maverick ended up lasting until about 1:30 in the morning. It was interesting, to say the least. But Saphora couldn’t recap on that right now. All she could think about was Fran banging on her door.
And what would follow if she let her in.
“Saphora. I will get the keys to open this door,” she threatened. She was waiting for that threat – buying time. Standing up, she slowly made her way to the door, and opened it to face Fran. The moment the door opened, Fran’s hand stopped, and awkwardly lowered to her side. Her chest heaved as she looked across at the stoned-faced Saphora. Before Fran could say anything else, Saphora cut in.
“I don’t want to talk about what you want to talk about.”
Saphora had done a lot of thinking during her talk with Maverick. The fact that she felt bad about taking him away from work registered with her. She no longer blamed Fran for being at work. It was a responsibility she had, after all. And she had already given the previous days to be with her during her recovery from … Jones. So why be angry with her for working? Especially when that work provides so much.
“I don’t blame you for being at work anymore. So please. Can we not do this?”
Fran’s expression changed from that of pleading to mild shock.
“… Really?”
“Yes. So please-“
“So then where were you?”
“What?”
“Last night. Why didn’t you come home?”
Saphora hesitated, not having made the connection. Fran had thought that her reason for staying away from home all night was her anger towards her. But now that that had been cleared, she was curious as to where she was and why.
“What were you doing?” Fran continued, with a little more worry in her voice.
“Nothing,” Saphora answered a bit too quickly. Fran’s shoulders slumped.
“Saphora.”
“Nothing. I was just walking around town to clear my head and think about things.”
“Oh … Well you could have answered my calls at least. I was worried sick.”
“Sorry.”
Fran let out a grumbling sigh as she crossed her arms.
“Well I took off work today. So that I could be with you when you show the police the area where the tree fell.”
Saphora’s head raised, as did her eyebrows.
“What?”
“You told the police that you’d show them where-“
“No, I know. But … you’re going to go? You don’t have to go.”
“I know that now, but I felt so bad that you were upset about me missing the interrogation to go to work. I didn’t want that happening again.”
“But you really don’t have to-“
“I’m going. Now the police will be here in an hour so hurry up and get ready,” Fran ordered, about to turn around and walk away. But Saphora stopped her.
“Who else is going?” she asked. Fran turned around, questioning her with her eyes. “Is Dr. Lupin going?” There was a pause.
“You know he has to.”
“Is he going to show them my files?” Fran was silent. “Is he?”
“I don’t know, honey.”
“But he can’t do that!”
“Honey, if the police have plausible reason to gain access to your files then I don’t know what Dr. Lupin will do. You can speak to them about it when they get here. Right now you need to get ready,” Fran said, not really wanting to get into an argument right after avoiding a previous one.
This time Saphora let her walk away. She knew that Fran wouldn’t have any idea about what the police were planning to do. But the possibility that they could get their hands on information about her before she could irked her. Not because they might find something that would help proving that she had murdered Jones. But because she, in her several years of attending therapy, and watching those files grow each year, she had never been able to look at them. She thought that if anyone should have access to them, it should be her.
But she tried to stay calm, and remember what Maverick had been telling her. Having a constant buildup of anger and anxiety was not healthy. And remembering the slip up that had happened in the car with Officer Roland, she couldn’t afford to let her emotions get the best of her. Maverick had told her that she should try and do some exercises to help get them under control. But Saphora had something else in mind. Instead of trying to control her emotions, she figured she would be better off trying to control her new found power.