Relax

Full disclosure, this has heavy feminization themes, with some DL stuff in the first path.

“Jesus man, that’s a lot.” Mike stared at the old metal table between you two in the middle of his backyard patio for what felt like several minutes. You couldn’t blame him for taking his time though; you two were just gonna meet up for drinks, but the had other plans, and now you feel like you need to pay your friend for being your therapist.

“I don’t know what you should do. I genuinely don’t know what to say, other than that I’m glad you told me. I know people who have gone under because they didn’t have anyone to talk to.” Mike took a solemn pause. “The only thing I can think to tell you is to take a break. I know it’s never that easy, but I don’t know what I’d do if you were consumed by all this. Please, just take a breath of fresh air. Just a week.”

You’d considered it in the back of your mind, but it barely felt like an option up until now. It still didn’t really seem like you should do it, but maybe Mike was right. Maybe some time to yourself would be worth it. He had a point about everything consuming you; you could already feeling yourself heading down that path. But what if taking that time away would just make everything worse? You sat, still thinking on it.

“Okay, I’ll do that.” You weren’t sure that you actually would do it, but you weren’t about to argue with Mike right then. “Thank you for all of this. I’m gonna head home while I can still drive,” you said, only halfway connected to reality.

You and Mike kept talking and drinking though, and you ended up walking the few blocks home eventually anyways.

THE NEXT MORNING

You remembered something you saw online a while ago that said “Drinking is like stealing happiness from the next morning” or something equally corny, but it carried at least some truth. You felt miserable.

Going through your morning routine, taking a few Advil’s along the way, you remembered your conversation from last night. You considered if it was really worth it, but you thought about going back to everything that was killing you and the dread you felt made up your mind for you. You needed to take a break.

You had an “emergency fund,” which was exactly what it sounded like; some money saved in case of an emergency. You could take some from it and travel somewhere, or maybe you could just do something more expensive but more local. And then there was the question of who to bring? Did you even want anyone with you?

Eventually you narrowed down your options to make things a little clearer. Mike was out of the picture since he was about to leave for a trip himself, but his older sister who you were almost as close with was available. A nurse you had been talking to was also able to go, which both made you worried that bringing someone you didn’t know that well would take away from your relaxation, and excited that you would get to know her better. To be honest, going alone seemed very appealing. You wouldn’t need to try to act any certain way for anyone if you didn’t bring anyone along.

You needed to make a decision soon though if you wanted to catch a flight that day.