The Therapist by Dalia Fermi
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My phone rang about 10am that morning.
“Miss Dalia?”
“yes?”
“It’s Benny. I need to see you, an emergency session.”
I sighed. “I can squeeze you in at 4:45pm”
“But… but… you close at 5pm Ma’am” he spluttered.
“I fail to see the problem Benny. You seem to be under the delusion that your life and problems matter and somehow *laughs* you are more important than me. Meet me then or not at all” I hung up the phone.
4:45pm. 4:50pm 4:58pm Benny arrives drunk at my door step.
“mish Dalia, I can explain” He said, his eyes taking in my legs and curves beneath a sweater set and fitted skirt, eyes remaining lowered, stopping at my high heels.
“You’re drunk Benny” I said letting him in.
Benny flushes, “erhm yes but…”
“You have 2 minutes.” I start gathering up my paperwork and closing up my filing cabinet.
“Are you going to listen?” he whined.
“Stop being a child. I can listen and work at the same time, you pathetic excuse for a man.”
“Yes Ma’am.” he paused and continued “Well I had a dream.”
I look over at him and started shaking my head. He flushes some more.
Benny and I had worked extensively on his delusions of masculinity and attractiveness. Throughout our work he continually acted out his delusions with an unhealthy obsession with me. His dreams had been filled with visions romancing me, having sex with me and most ludicrous, he believed in these dreams that I actually returned his misplaced affections.
“No, it was different this time! I dreamt I was out on the street.”
I turned to look at him. Benny was skinny, in a awkward, geeky kind of way. His hair wiry and red. He looked at me expectantly. I gave him a slow spreading smile.
“Benny you’ve had a breakthrough!” but still I shook a single pointing finger at him “You know the drill. For anything of these breakthroughs to mean anything you have to assume a position that shows you fully understand. Inside matching outside Benny” I said in a bit of a sing-song voice.
Benny got on all fours and I smiled kindly. “Much better! Tell me about the dream”
I continued to close up my office and he crawled around, following me, as he explained, “I was lying on the street not far from here. I was drunk.” I snorted and he blushed deeply. “I had vomited all over myself and the sidewalk. For some reason, I couldn’t move.” He stopped speaking as I removed my sweater set to reveal a black satiny boned corset.
He gaped. “Mish Dalia! That’s not right!” He gulped out, turning his head away slightly but could not avert his eyes.
I sighed again and then inhaled deeply, explaining as patiently as I could,” Benny you are such a disappointment. This is simply a test. If you really had truly realized your place as WORTHLESS in this world, you would not be reacting to my lingere.” I slipped on a blazer, buttoned it up and looked for my pearls.
“if you’d only accept that you have no reason for existence, you would have eliminated all these internal conflicts and the pain upon rejection after rejection. It’s only in fighting against these truths that you have a problem Benny.”
Benny looks down and nods fully abashed. “Go on,” I prompted, grabbing my purse.
“Well that’s it” he said, as I walked to the door.
I reached out a well manicured hand to the brass door knob and paused, thinking.
“That’s it? That is the emergency?”
Benny started to sweat now. “yesh, Mish”
I opened the door. “Follow me”
“But but but” he spluttered.
“Now.”
“But they’lll know!”
“Inside and outside, Inside and outside matching Benny. How many times do I need to tell you Benny?” I said through gritted teeth.
Slowly he made his way through the door, outside to the front stoop of my decaying brownstone. I make my office here so that I am closest to my loser clients. Once an affluent area it is now filled with crackheads, whores, and their pimps.
Benny winced as his nostrils were assailed by the strong smell of urine, being closer to the ground than usual.
I lightly made my way down the steps, turning to him encouragingly. “Come along”
Benny eyed the group of men lounging in the empty lot adjacent to my building.
“Benny, nothing is going to happen that you don’t want” I smiled and he took a deep breath and crawled. We walked towards them and an older woman, aged by years on the street stepped forward.
“Good evening Miss Dalia!”
“Good evening Susan! How’s business?”
“Just great! I can’t keep up” she said rolling her eyes at the two homeless men behind her. She laughed and revealed two missing front teeth.
Benny took in the vision of her, jaw dropping.
“I think you have another admirer here Susan”
Susan came forward raising her already tiny skirt, revealing a bald, sagging vagina, glistening with cum.
Benny started retching and made good his dream by throwing up.
I reached down, turned his face toward me and slapped him.
“Manners! I think you need to make up for your rudeness to this hard working woman.”
Benny started crying. “Please Mish Dalia, no”
“Benny, what did I tell you about these reflexive responses? You know they are only weak protestations echoing the bullshit lies you tell yourself about being worth something”
And we had worked hard on it. Months of psycho drama where he learned to suck my dildo and begged to take it up the ass had lead to this day. I beckoned to the filth crowding around.
“Drop your pants Benny”
“You can’t do this to me” he whimpered.
“Benny, I am not doing a thing to you. You must be more accountable for your choices that have led you to this. Now drop your pants Benny.”
With shallow, ragged breaths he did as he was told.
“Is he a fag?” The first man asked.
I considered and shrugged, “Maybe”
As Benny’s mouth opened to scream “no” his breath was cut off with a kick to the stomach by Susan.
“Fucking’ cunt, waiting on your knees, taking my business”
The first man, excited by the violence, eagerly walked over to crouch over Benny’s ass.
“I’m not hard enough” said the second man. I slapped Benny again, as Susan unzipped the mans pant’s and guided his dirty smelling cock to Benny’s open, panting, sobbing mouth.
As the smell hit Benny, he began gagging and retching only to be frozen by the sensation of the first man’s cock up his ass.
“Smile pretty Benny” I said, snapping a picture of him with my cell. His wide eyes looked up at me and filled with tears. “This is for when you try to slip back in denial”.
I kicked his wallet free of his sagging pants and carefully picked it up. Removing all the cash from it, I turned to Susan. “He’s terribly sorry to have taken all you business”.
Susan cackled, “Heeee! For that price, I’d train him myself”
Smiling sweetly at Benny, I said “No, tonight will be enough. We have developed such a close working relationship. See you at your regular time Benny”
As I walked to the corner to catch a taxi, I could hear Susan rasping out instructions to Benny on how to be a better whore. I relaxed. He was in such good hands.