Joanna huffed and smiled, thinking to herself, 'He sure knows how to put up an act. I really wonder what you're going to come up with!'
"Looks like what your best friend said was true, you've repressed a lot of emotions in your heart. You'll be past your limit soon… If you keep this up, you'd be at risk for depression…"
"Don't make me laugh, I'm enjoying life to the fullest, and I'm in great shape! What would I even be depressed about?"
"You can lie to me, but your drawings can't…" Ace furrowed his brows. ' People would normally draw a house with a chimney. Even if they didn't, they'd have a door, or maybe windows… All of these symbolize an exit for their emotions."
"But your house has no chimney, no doors, and no windows… it's a completely closed-off space. This indicates that you have purposefully isolated yourself, and are unwilling to show anyone your true emotions…"
Joanna was speechless, clenching her fists as she was unable to come up with a reply. Sure enough, this proved the man did have some skills in psychology.
Although she had been acting tough, showing everyone that she was fine and dandy, the woman was indeed hiding her negative emotions deep within her heart, unwilling to tell anyone about them.
"The tree next to the house stands tall, and it has very deep roots. This shows that you have a very loving family, and you love them very much. You intend to repay them in some way for raising you, right?"
"And the tree bearing fruits means that you focus on the outcome on most things. It could be that you have certain things that you wish to obtain results from, which became an obsession."
Joanna remained silent as she wondered, 'This escort isn't just skilled, he's a master at this! How is his analysis so accurate?!'
Ace continued, "You also drew a man, a woman and a child in front of the house. So it seems that you have a soft heart, despite your tough exterior. You would much rather prefer a complete and happy family, rather than possessing power and status, right? But you are ashamed of your own ideals, which is why you drew these people small, as if you're intentionally trying to hide what your heart desires most."
Joanna let out a long sigh, bowing to the man. "I'm impressed, you got everything right. I believe you now."
She had a lot of secrets within her heart, and she was unwilling to face any of them, even going as far as to allow them to rot with time. She was carrying the Pierce family's will, and she was determined to seek revenge for her parents. Thus, she decided that men, and her dream for an ideal family, would only be an obstacle to her current goals.
"Problems will arise when you close yourself off for too long. Mental health is just as important as physical health, after all. If you trust me, you can come and vent to me. I wasn't joking when I said I wanted to stay by your side, you know?" Ace said genuinely as he stared at her. In actuality, he really wasn't lying when he said he was a professional therapist, he had indeed taken the tests to receive a license years ago.
He did this in order to find a way to heal from his own issues. His brother's death was just too much for him at the time, and if his survival instinct wasn't strong enough, he likely would've taken it to an extreme.
Before seeing Joanna's drawing, he thought the woman was just temporarily depressed over some matters, yet… she was suppressing herself so much that her negative emotions became even stronger than what he felt back then.
If this had gone on any longer, she would've met with a terrible fate.
Heartbroken, Ace really wished to be the light in her heart, so that he could bring her out of that abyss of despair…
"I know you need me, so let me save you…" Ace said softly as he held onto her hand.
Warmth radiated from his large, strong palms, which oddly gave Joanna a sense of security. She then let her guard down and took a deep breath." Okay."
Ace changed the lighting to a warm orange tint, lit up a few aromatic candles to help her relax, and played a soothing melody on the record player. He pointed towards a soft armchair and guided Joanna towards it. "Alright, tell me all your secrets.
However, the woman still chose to reject his offer. "Maybe some other day.
I'm getting tired, so I'll go get some rest."
Despite believing the man's occupation, she still chose to lock these secrets away. There were just some things she'd rather hide than face…
Ace didn't push her any further, but was still quite devastated. He wasn't sure if Joanna was depressed over his 'death', but he knew for a fact that she wasn't as happy as she seemed on the outside.
It was as if she was an onion, wrapping herself in layers upon layers to turn herself into someone everyone would like.
"The past few years weren't kind to you, were they?" Ace asked in a deep and solemn voice.
Joanna smiled bitterly, being completely honest with him. "Yeah."
The only people in the room were herself, and this escort, who was merely an acquaintance. Without her loved ones and rivals around, she didn't want to play pretend any longer. Pretending to be depressed might be easy, but trying to fake happiness was just… too difficult and taxing.
Ace fought his urge to hug her, and said in a soft voice, "It's alright. Have a good rest, tomorrow will be a better day."
Apart from being a therapist, he was also quite an excellent hypnotist. With the fragrant aroma and his gentle words surrounding her, Joanna was able to fall into deep sleep on the soft lounge chair…
The next day, as birds chirped and sunlight shone through the windows, the woman woke up from her slumber. She stretched with a satisfied smile on her face, noticing how this was the first time she felt so relaxed in years.
According to research, one session of hypnosis could help improve sleep quality, so much so that it would feel as if one had slept for ten whole days. She had always thought of that as some kind of nonsense, but it seemed that it were true after all. Hence, she was naturally pleased with the escort's services.
On the coffee table next to her was, once again, a bouquet of sunflowers and a note attached to it.
[Good morning, my muse. Any low points you experience now will soon become the past, so I hope you can rise to the top once again, and face the bright sun as if you were a beautiful sunflower. – Your Support]
Joanna's lips slowly curved up into a lovely grin, her heart filled with warmth. This time, she chose to take the bouquet home.
When she opened the door to her apartment, she found Clara standing at the doorway with her arms crossed. It seemed that she had been waiting for her, and that she had a lot of questions to ask.
"Joan, I told you to save your knight in distress, but did it really have to take a whole night? Was it really that bad?"
"Umm…" Joanna felt quite awkward, not knowing what to say.
She even wondered. 'Why does it feel like I've been caught having an affair or something?'
Clara was instantly intrigued, and wanted to gossip. She held Joanna by her shoulders and urged, "Hey, be honest with me… Did you ask your little escort to repay you with his body, hmm?"
"Tsk tsk, the little escort certainly knows you, huh? He even got you your favorite flowers. And look at your smile – you must've had a good night's sleep!"
Joanna nodded. "Mhm, I did."
Clara nearly choked on her saliva, then let out a loud screech. "Ah! Oh my god, you did sleep with him! You finally let go! I'm so happy I'm going to