Psychiatry

“I think I wanna be something like a therapist or go into psychiatry” you announced, surprising Emma who was still daydreaming away.

“Really? I would have thought you would go for something less… people-focused” she replied, trying to find a nicer way of saying you were normally quite anti-social and you couldn’t blame her when you thought back to how you had acted in the past.

“I’m not gonna say it’s for completely selfless reasons but it's one of the best ways I can think of using the KDK for some good. I can’t really use it on a really large scale when I have to personally touch the person and getting a look at what makes people tick without them even telling me anything gives me a good head start if I was to try and help them” you explained, as you thought about how everything would work.

That wasn’t to say you couldn’t have any fun with it if ever a patient caught both your and Emma’s eyes. You might even be able to get a few influential people under your wing if you played your cards right. Not that you were planning on blackmailing anyone that was a patient but if they were to refer you to their other influential friends then you would say no to an introduction.

Emma seemed to agree with you when you explained more of your thought process and the occasional grin you could see let you know she was also having less than pure thoughts about the job. If the both of you did go down the doctor/teacher routes then you’d both still be able to go to the same college for the first part of your further education before going down your more specialised paths. The problem that you were facing was something you’d have to deal with in both the short and long term.

Money.

You didn’t know the specifics of Grace and Emma’s financial situation but with Grace’s divorce and her growing business, you felt it was safe to assume Emma would be fine with whatever path she wanted to take. You on the other hand… weren’t so sure about your finances. A scholarship or a grant would be your best bet and although you could potentially get some help from the family, you really didn’t want to rely on your father for anything more now that you knew the truth.

Getting a scholarship hadn’t been something you’d considered before and while you were definitely planning on doing some research on your own, speaking to Rebecca when you got the chance to see her after class sounded like a good idea. It might get in the way of your usual plans with your teacher but it wouldn’t matter too much in the long run. Maybe even Emma would appreciate a conversation with her about her experience as a teacher.

With the long term money problems out of the way, finding a way to make money in the short term was something you still needed to solve. The funds you had left were pretty minimal and you only had as much as you did now because Mom had given you the extra before you left. Your time in the coffee shop was naturally coming to an end so you paid for both of your orders, even after Emma’s ****, and started your leisurely walk back home.

You wanted to avoid your money issues until after you had paid for everything so you felt like you were now in the clear to bring it up to Emma. You fumbled with your words as you tried to find the best way to approach the topic without sounding too pathetic.

“So it's not the romantic topic to end this date with but I’ve been thinking about getting a part-time job. I feel like looking after 6 subjects is gonna be a bit more expensive than just the one girlfriend ” you joked, trying to skirt around the issue of your immediate lack of funds

“I told you I’d be fine paying for my part!” Emma huffed, seemingly aware of the issue you were facing.

“It’s not that I’m against you chipping in for stuff like this but… I want to at least be able to treat you once in a while” you sheepishly admitted, getting a shoulder nudge from Emma who was now equally as embarrassed.

“Any places you’ve seen adverts for?” you quickly added, trying to move on as soon as you could.

“Well that's easy, just ask my Mom for a job at one of her gyms” Emma suggested, without even pausing to think.

“You really think she would be up for that?” you asked back.

“Sure, she's probably gonna ‘be up’ for more stuff once you get your hands on her but I don’t see why she wouldn’t” Emma replied with a grin.

“What would I even do? It's not like I could be an instructor or anything” you said, still not sure what you could actually provide to help out Grace.

“I’m sure she’d find some use for you and she has already hired cleaners so I don’t think you'd get stuck scrubbing toilets either” Emma responded.

You considered the option as you carried on walking down the street hand in hand with Emma. As she had said before, you weren’t exactly a ‘people person’ but you'd rather have Grace there to watch your back if anything did go wrong. You would also have to have at least some communication skills if you wanted to ever talk with your future patients and getting those skills at a women-only gym sounded like a great place to start.

The more you thought about it the more you agreed that it would be a good idea to ask. You told Emma you'd think about it and decided to mention it to Grace after your workout session tomorrow. You had tried to hide Grace’s morning message from Emma, which had referenced your morning plans but you had no idea if she had actually scrolled up far enough to read your conversation. Emma had made no hints or comments about it either so she either hadn’t seen it or was just planning or watching from the shadows, and both options didn’t change anything for you.

You hadn’t expected your date to be as productive as it had been and it felt like a weight had been lifted from your shoulders as most of your problems had been solved. The fact that it was Emma who had been the one to listen and help you through them had you smile and realise how much of an idiot you had been for not asking her out sooner.

Your pace had slowed down as you got closer to your street, the both of you wanting to delay getting home so you could enjoy the time you had left before you made it to the door. You could have always just done what you usually did and hung out in either of your rooms and although the thought did cross your mind, you wanted the cliche ending to a date where you dropped her off at the door.

That also meant that the goodbye kiss would be the last thing you would do and the nervousness returned as you started walking down your street. Emma seemed oblivious to your worries as she had a giant smile on her face whenever you took a peek at her. The slow pace you had been taking only seemed to prolong your embarrassment.

You were only a few steps to where you would usually split off from Emma if you were to just go home and the thought of doing so was slowly creeping its way into the back of your head.