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The first time, Noel thought it was a trick of her eyes. Her aunt was always disheveled. That’s just how Charlotte was. Her therapist looking disheveled was a new thing, but she let it slide. Maybe she was just having a rough day.
The second time, Noel was confused. Auntie Charlotte and Uncle Sam had been arguing about paying for Noel’s therapy appointments (again) and here she was, being told that yes, they will continue to see each other to help Noel.
The third time, it hit Noel. Charlotte was fucking her therapist.
The lipstick stains along her therapist’s neck gave it away. The affair was right in front of her the entire time, and she’d only realized when Charlotte’s signature pink lipstick had stained her neck.
“You’ve got, er, lipstick.” Noel started, her fingers tangling themselves in her hair tie she used to funnel her anxiety. Her therapist blushed and turned her desktop monitor to open the camera and inspect the neck. She blushed and bit her lip.
“Oh, sorry about that, dear, I’ll be right back.” She disappeared out of the room and Noel gulped. She couldn’t believe that her aunt, shy Charlotte Pritchett, was fucking three people. The half-assed nights Sam and Charlotte had once a month were loud enough for Noel to hear. She’d walked in on Ted and Charlotte before, which had not been ideal. Now there was this. Her therapist, the woman who was supposed to be helping her unearth her entire childhood and figure out exactly where the fuck everything went wrong, was fucking her legal guardian.
Noel put her head in her hands and just slumped against the couch. She was not really up for a session with her therapist. Maybe taking a nap would help. She could just sleep through the session and call Lex to drive her home.
She shut her eyes and tried to will sleep to come. Luckily, she knocked out for the hour-long session. She groggily opened her eyes to her therapist gently tapping her arm.
“Noel, it’s time to go.” She said softly. Noel nodded and grabbed her phone, calling Lex as she walked down the hallway and out of the front doors. It was nice out and she unbuttoned her jacket a little bit.
“Hey.” Lex said into the phone, “What’s up?”
“Can you come pick me up?” Noel asked, trying to keep the pleading tone out of her voice. “I need to vent.”
“I’m on my way.”
“Is Hannah with you?” She asked quietly, letting the pleading slip out. She didn;t want to restrain her swearing and feelings with Hannah around.
“Nah, she’s with Ethan,” Lex assured her. “He took her bowling today.”
“Cool, cool, good.” She mumbled, “I’m at my therapist’s. You know where that is, right?” She looked around. “Near Pizza Pete’s.”
“I’ll be there soon, everything okay?” Lex asked and Noel could faintly hear her car starting.
“I’ll explain when you get here,” Noel said. She wasn’t sure what the fuck had just happened could be explained over the phone.
“Alright, I’ll see you when I get there, I love you.” Lex said.
“Love you too, babe.”
Lex pulled up 15 minutes later and Noel just got in her car, buckling herself before burying her head in her hands.
“What’s wrong, babe?” Lex said gently, taking one hand off the wheel to squeeze Noel’s.
“Auntie Char’s fucking my therapist.” She mumbled into her hands.
“She-she what?” Lex said, taken aback.
“She’s fucking my therapist, Lex.” Noel looked up. “My aunt’s fucking my therapist.”
“My god,” Lex said, shaking her head. “She’s supposed to fucking help you.”
“I slept for the entire session. She had Auntie Char’s lipstick down her neck.” she showed Lex where it had been. “I hate it. I drag myself there once a week so we can figure out what the fuck is wrong with me and she can’t keep her hands to herself.”
“I get why you’re angry,” Lex said gently. “She should fucking know better than to fuck your aunt. That isn’t in your best interest, at all.”
“Yeah. I’d rather not...ever think about it. I don’t even want to see her tonight. I’ll probably cry, or yell, or something…” She rubbed her eyes with the heels of her hands.
“Come back to my place,” Lex suggested. “Mom’s not home and she’s not gonna be home.”
“What if she does, though?” She looked up. “I won’t get you in trouble because I feel like shit.”
“She won’t be home,” Lex assured her. “She left town for a few days. Didn’t tell me where she was going. I didn’t ask.” Noel nodded slowly, leaning into the car door.
“Okay, okay, yeah…” She nodded, uncovering her eyes and looking over at Lex. “Sorry for throwing this all on you.”
“Hey, hey, it’s okay,” Lex said softly. “I’m always here for you, you know that.”
“Still.” Noel mumbled. “I just called you and threw all of this on you.” She fidgeted with her jacket. “Do you have, uh, food at yours?”
“Some,” Lex said with a shrug. Noel opened her mouth to say something before closing it again.
“Nevermind.” Noel shook her head, dropping her thought.
“We’ll stop somewhere and grab something to eat,” Lex said, reading her thoughts.
“Just not Beanies. I cannot stand seeing Zoey again. Please. I’d rather tell Auntie Char I found out than see Zoey.”
“Valid. We’ll go to a convenience store, 7-11 or something. I want something with a lot of carbohydrates that’s bad for me.”
“Can we grab slushies too? We’ll grab Hannah something?”
“I fully approve,” Lex said with a firm nod. “7-11 it is.”