Chapter 10: (v.2) Just a regular day at the office. Really?

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A lot of people entered and left Iulia's office. The clock on the wall said 12:35 p.m. and the sound from the air-conditioning made a constant whistling noise while at the same time it blew cool air. Cool air, which relaxes and calms.

However, that didn’t help Christos relax, as he worked tirelessly alongside his mother's employees and his brother.

Michalis talked and appeared to have a good time with the employees of Iulia.

In contrast, Christos remained silent, doing the exact opposite. But despite his lack of words, a storm of emotions wrecked everything inside.

The division inside him still existed, and even though his free and happy side won a battle last time, winning the war didn’t seem to be an event in the near future.

His worrying turned to grief and then the grief turned to resignation, as it did for so many times in the past. That gave the victory to the submissive old self. “What is wrong with me again?” he wondered. “What the hell happened again?” He got angry after thinking this and his apathy started to shift towards rage.

A man entered the office.

He noticed the man from the upper floor where he worked and, without understanding why, felt angry with the client. He turned towards Michalis, “Michalis,” he said with barely controllable rage, “Isn’t that person over there making you angry?”

“Ehh, no,” Michalis replied.

“He is pissing me off!” continued Christos. “I want to grab him by the hair, shove his head on the toilet and flush!”

Michalis appeared troubled.

“What do you think?” asked Christos.

Raising his eyebrows in bewilderment, Michalis finally said, “I guess you are right. . .”

Christos then looked the man again and noticed that his glasses were exactly the same with his father's! Associatively, he brought to his mind the previous event with the professor.

“What am I going to do if I fail in my studies?”

Christos had chosen astrophysics and quantum theory, in order to go against his father, and of course, his father would never accept his choices. A huge conflict existed between son and father, which would violently show itself, probably in the very near future. When Petros asked Christos how much money his occupation in the academia would earn him, that conflict became more than visible.

Christos’ rage grew and he became even more aware of that gap. That was the reason he tried to communicate with his father! To bridge the gap! But unfortunate, his father belonged to the opposing army; he wouldn’t come to terms. Christos could barely hold his tears.

One of Iulia's employees noticed the pain grimaces on Christos’ face, but didn’t do anything.

Time came to leave and the employees left the workplace. Only he, Iulia and Michalis remained.

Having not released his rage, his anger levels retained the same intensity. He started to become afraid: what would happen if he unleashed his anger?

“No, I will not express my anger!” he thought and tried to hold it up inside.

It felt as if an electric current flew through his body. He felt an urge to faint, almost losing consciousness.

He remembered all those years being a captive of those people. A slave. Taking into account all those lonely nights, without joy, without emotion, he said to himself, “I am not going back!”

“You need to express your anger, for as long and when you need to!” Teacher's words sounded in his head.

“I can’t!” he said to Michalis. “I'm having another crisis!”

Michalis and Iulia became concerned.

“Should we go a ride with the car to help you calm down?” Michalis said who trying to show calm.

“Yes, I would like that!” stated Christos.

They entered the car and Christos sat to the back seat, yelling, “Hell! Hell! Hell!”

“What is wrong my child?” asked Iulia.

“My father! That cursed man!” he almost screamed.

Michalis and Iulia were very worried.

“What is going on with dad?” asked Michalis.

“He doesn’t want to talk to me! I can’t take this anymore! Shit! I can’t take this anymore! He hates me! HE HATES ME!” he shouted crying.

“But why wouldn’t he want to talk to you?” asked Michalis. “You just caught him in a bad time period! He has problems with his work you know, he doesn’t do it because he hates you!”

Christos remembered the disapproval on Petros’ face after their meeting with the professor.

“He is mocking me! I can’t take this anymore! He is mocking me!”

“My son, is it possible for a father to mock his child?” asked Iulia.

Suddenly, Christos’ anger started to subside, as he said what he wanted to say, expressing his emotions that way. Maybe not in front of his father, but he regained control and felt calmer. “I feel better now,” he finally said. “Shall we head home?”

They returned home and Christos sat at the couch to see some television, because he wanted to relax even more.

Michalis and Iulia went to the bedroom and talked with Petros. After a while, Petros appeared and had a serious expression. “You wanted to talk to me?” he asked Christos. “Do you have something to say?”

Christos didn’t expect something like this and wasn’t in the mood to talk at that moment. “No, I have not. . .” he said uncomfortably.

“As you wish,” Petros replied and went to sleep.

Even though Christos had many unanswered questions and despite wanting to call Teacher, he felt embarrassed to do so nonetheless. “I will see him tomorrow,” he decided.

The afternoon seemed uncertain, much like tomorrow.

Submitted: February 28, 2024

Literary Fiction romance therapy psychology counselling personal-development