Conflicts of Interest (M,H)

An hour earlier than Richard and Felicia’s early morning surprise, Maeve’s own circadian rhythm compelled her to wake. It was something she was used to, part of a groove she’d worn into her life to help build stability. Each evening she’d go to bed by ten, and wake at five the next morning. She’d take a shower, then spend some time meditating and practicing her breath control before making herself breakfast. If it was a weekday, then she’d review her patients and what they might need. After she met Hazel she’d added Richard as a client she met on Sundays; the extra income that Helena had offered in exchange for her extensive demands had allowed her to hire a private secretary. If it was Saturday she’d instead spend the morning at one of a few museums or the local zoo, then after lunch spend the afternoon at the retirement home her parents lived in. It’d been a comfortable pattern for her.

She’d done her best to maintain her routine after Genet brought her here. She still meditated before breakfast. She still reviewed her patients before going to breakfast, the list that had started with just Richard and Genet slowly growing as more people asked for her help. She wasn’t sure what day of the week it was, if she tried to count like she would at home then this would be Wednesday. But that would’ve put the two Saturdays that passed on random days of people’s dates. She’d prefer that they wouldn’t have blended in to the rest of the week and she had no reason to think that the days truly mattered, so she chose to believe given the other chronological idiosyncrasies of Genet’s island to believe that the day of the week had never truly changed.

But it was another day. If everything went how she expected it to, it was going to be her first true rest day since she’d arrived here. It was also supposed to be her first date in almost twenty years, assuming one didn’t count the discussion she’d had with Richard after Aubrey left as a date. And she preferred not to.

So Maeve stepped out of bed.

“We need to talk.” A voice came from the dark.

Maeve turned around. “Hazel? How long have you been up?”

“I never went to bed. You should sit down.”

Maeve stayed standing.

Hazel continued, ignoring that her command was being ignored. “Thank you for meeting with Ms.Turner like I asked.”

The therapist tried to smile. “Of course. Honestly, aside from the reveal of my file, it was a good first session. I’m hoping she’ll be willing to continue in the future.”

“You think it went well?” There was a hint of edge to the other woman’s voice.

“I do.”

“Then why was she crying afterwards?” The tone went cutting.

“I’m sorry, that’s not unheard of,” Dr.Petrov tried to explain. “Decompression of difficult topics for the first time can often lead to emotional drops after you’ve stepped away from the situation.”

“Is that all that happened?” Hazel stood up out of the chair, the light bleeding in from the hall to finally reveal her. More and more, the therapist felt like this was becoming an interrogation.

“Is there something you’re leading us towards?”

“Ms.Turner tried to leave, didn’t she?”

“Yes, she did.”

“And you held her back, took advantage of her transformation around her hair. Didn’t you?”

“I tried to slow her down and make her think. I don’t fully understand what you mean.” Maeve partially lied. I value honesty, but she’s not being rational right now. I don’t want to confess to something I don’t comprehend.

Hazel looked at her, trying to decide if she was being honest.

Maeve tried to push. “I think your job might be coloring the situation. Could we try to step away from our professional roles for a moment?”

“You want me to speak personally?”

“I think it could make things easier for both of us.”

“If you insist. I’m frustrated about a lot of things. I feel like Ms.Turner- Helena is getting the short straw every time and no one notices or cares. Aubrey had reason to believe that you’d be managing her this round, and whether or not her reasoning had any logic to it Ms.Turner needed to step in when you wouldn’t explain to her what happened. She had the worst TF out of any of us last round. She told me she appreciated her session with you, but I doubt you groped anyone else to stop them from leaving.”

Maeve blanched. “I’m sorry? I didn’t grope anyone.”

“She told me that you used her hair transformation. Is that not true?”

I can’t bridge the gap without admitting what happened. “My own transformation wanted me to touch that part of her. Could you explain to me fully why that matters?”

The bodyguard furrowed her brow, looking like she was caught between two drives, until one direction won and she reluctantly explained. “One of her paths is themed around dogs. This round’s transformation gave erotic effects to both her scalp and any praise that she received.”

Maeve’s face went white. A small part of her had suspected it, but she’d tried to tell herself she’d been imagining it.

Seeing the silver haired woman’s face, she continued. “Now you understand why I had an issue with that? I still don’t understand why you felt bringing up Maria like that was a good idea.”

“I’m sorry, I know the two of you are close but I still can’t discuss-”

“You asked her if she ever felt frustrated or resentful for what she’s had to do. Most things you tell one of us will end up with the other.” Hazel decided to interrupt uncharacteristically.

“Fine,” Maeve sighed. “It seemed like she had moral issues with what she was willing to tell me she’d done. From what she described it sounded like Maria had laid too much on her, and I was concerned about whether that was something she felt.”

“Of course Maria put too much on her. But you can’t say that. I don’t know if I could get away with saying that!”

“And how was I supposed to know that? Neither of you will tell me anything. What else could trigger that sort of reaction that I need to be aware of?”

Hazel was clearly thinking. Maeve thought she saw her face growing stony. “I don’t know what I can tell you.”

“Then we might have this conversation in the future, where you pull me aside because I unknowingly hurt her. I want to do what I can for her, but my work is incredibly personal and individualized. I can’t safely help her if I don’t understand her.”

Hazel sighed, then walked two steps to the doorway to turn the lights on. “If you need to understand her, then I’ll give you something. This story is going to be from when the two of us wrote the third chapter of her file together, which covers from her high school to shortly before my job interview with her. You’ll want to sit down.”

This time, Maeve sat down on the bed as she was told.

“She didn’t always want the sort of success that she’s had, or plan for the sort of life where she would’ve needed me. Her family was always rich, but even if you combined the fortunes from both sides of her family it wouldn’t compare to her current empire.

“She started in fashion. It was just a fun hobby for her at first, trying to make her own clothes after Maria taught her to sew. She’s embarrassed about them now, but they were passion projects for her in high school. Her father, Jean, and her grandfather, Giles, were both the type of men to believe that you should commit to what you were passionate about and so they led her to go to college for accounting and fashion management.

“Giles gave her a loan to help her get started, and so as she was finishing her degrees she plied her professors for rumors about what designers had hit rough patches or were financially struggling. She’d commission them once as a test, and if they passed she’d offer to buy them. Once they were hers she’d use her family’s connections and what she’d learned in school to find an audience for their work; they were allowed to keep working and she’d take enough to recover what she’d invested and then some. By the time she was working on her MBA, she’d developed a collection of designers and once-failing companies like how Richard and his friends collect their little Wonders cards. It’s not a dream I could’ve imagined, but that’s the kind of person she was.

“Then things changed, one spring evening. Mr.Turner had recently earned his license to drive, and so Maria and Jean decided to have him drive the family to their beach house for the weekend. They’d asked Ms.Turner to come along with them, but she had a prior engagement at a show she’d organized. She wanted to show her faith in a newly acquired fashion house she’d bought after a perfume recall had damaged their reputation. So the other Turners started their trip while she was away, and agreed to meet her there the day after.

“They never arrived. As she was leaving the event, she received a call from a hospital. Jean was gone by the time she was able to get there. Maria didn’t have much time left and Ms.Turner was terrified that Richard would be lost too, but Maria assured her that he’d live for as long as she had faith.

“I met her soon after, when a commanding officer of mine who knew that I was on my way out of the military said that they’d gotten word of a job I was well suited for. Helena hired me by the end of the interview, and told me that one of her first goals was to leverage her wealth into something that could protect her and her stepbrother. She gave up everyone she liked except Richard and I keep them safe, while weaponizing what had once been her dream.

“That’s who she was, and who she is now. She will never allow herself to be as happy as she deserves, which is why she needs me. I hope this helps if you’re trying to be in her corner. It’s the only thing I can think of that she’d allow to come out which Richard might not have told you.” The bodyguard turned to leave.

“Hazel?” Maeve tried to get her attention. “I appreciate you telling me. Do you ever feel like you wish you had more independence from the Turners? I don’t want to be rude, but I’ve never heard you talk about anything without bringing them up.”

The other woman stopped in the doorway and looked back over her shoulder. “I don’t need your help, just concentrate on the the two of them or anyone else they ask you to. I have a life I love and wouldn’t change it for the world. I’m sorry for my temper earlier, I’m glad that you hadn’t done those things intentionally.” She walked out, not leaving any more room for discussion.

Maeve sighed. I guess I spoke too soon when I told myself this was going to be just a rest day. She’d need extra time for meditation after that, and it’d take her quite a while this morning to integrate the story into both Helena’s and Richard’s cases; it certainly explained some of the elder Turner’s devotion to her stepbrother.

After that, she was tempted to start a new case on Hazel. Even if the Indian woman had said she didn’t want help, she had shown a codependence that wasn’t as obvious before she’d gone from merely an employee to a romantic partner. Their discussion could’ve been far better, but at least she'd backed down and cooperated as she felt comfortable once Maeve had won back her trust.

But she’d have time to think about that as she returned to her routine. She didn’t want to still be distracted with work when Luna came for their first date.