The Un-niversary

"What do you mean you're not coming?" said Corinne, Eren's sister on the phone.

"Well... that I'm not coming. I'm staying in Cape Haven." Eren clarified, with a sardonic sigh. Corinne could hear the shrug of his shoulders in her brother's voice. It made Natalie click her tongue in annoyance. Even for a teenager, her brother was always snarky. Not in an obvious way, he was subtler than that. But there was always more disdain in his attitude than he let on.

"But what about your tickets? I know you have return tickets!" she insisted, trying to understand what had merited the sudden exclusion of her brother from their parents' anniversary week.

"Ah. No, I..." Eren stuttered "I- I don't have any..." he insisted.

His sister drew a very stark breath. Almost a gasp. Eren recognized it. She did the same exact gasp every time her rapid-fire was about to come in.

"Are you sure? Did you check? Because I'm pretty certain that-" she started.

But before she really went off, Eren knew to interrupt. It was either that, or he'd never get a word in ever again:

"Yeah, no, I'm-" he stuttered again "I just don't have them, alright? Forget about them" Eren insisted, sounding exasperated.

"Well..." his sister relented "I guess, if you say so..." she trailed off, not really buying it but letting go. Her brother never stuttered, but if he didn't want to say anymore, she wouldn't push it.

"Yeah" he finished. Too eager.

"Alright. Fine then. So, neither you nor dad will be here? That's... it kinda sucks!" she whined, in that soft voice that broke everybody's heart. If he wasn't her brother, and practiced in dealing with her, Eren would have lost right there. Or so he thought.

"Wait... what do you mean dad isn't going to be there?" Eren answered back, almost immediately after really listening to what she had said.

"Well, that he's not coming" she shrugged. Eren could hear it over the phone. "Something about a sudden merger. He needs to be in Taiwan on Wednesday, so he seriously can't make it... but I wanted to see you, you dummy...!" she trailed off, again melting her tone into sugar and honey.

On the other side of the line, she could suddenly hear nothing but silence. And then a big sigh.

"Hello?" she said, impatient.

Yeah, her brother was definitely acting strange.

---------------------------------------------------

"Mom, did you know Eren is not coming next week either?" Corinne asked her mother, an urgent tone in her voice. She'd all but ran out of her room and screamed it down the stairs.

"Oh? Yes, of course I knew." Natalie Feinman (nee Bernthal) answered back, barely acknowledging the question as she kept dusting up the couch.

"What???" insisted Corinne, making entirely too much of a deal about it all, in the eyes of her mother.

"It's what Dr. Boudreaux recommended" her mom explained, without giving it much thought. Just carrying along, as she had been doing.

"Your therapist???" Corinne insisted, coming down the stairs in exasperation.

"She's not my therapist, she's mine and your dad's marriage counselor--and yes" her mom went on, almost absent-mindedly, but definitely trying not to give the subject so much air.

"Why??? That makes no sense!!!" she yelled back at her mom.

"The 'why' is not important, young lady. You don't need to know." She finished, not willing to go on but just focusing on her impromptu tasks-at-hand.

"But then- if not even dad will be coming-" Corinne stuttered, without really finishing any proper thought.

Corinne was frustrated. She missed her brother. And she was used to seeing him whenever she came home--always for holidays or special occasions. So not seeing him this time around was a big letdown.

"I know, honey, I know" her mom consoled her "I'm sad about your dad missing our big date, too" she said "but your brother will be fine, he's out on the beach with his friends..." she trailed off, before switching rooms with a big basket of dirty laundry on her hands and leaving Corinne with her thoughts. She didn't spare so much as a glance.

But Corinne was seething.

---------------------------------------------------

"Wait, no-" stuttered Corinne, on the phone "please, I'm just trying to understand-"

"I'm sorry Ms. Feinman" the woman on the other side of the phone repeated "I'm afraid what you're asking of me is simply not possible; and I won't be discussing it further. Goodbye."

And with that, the call ended.

Corinne clicked her tongue in frustration. She had taken a plane and three days off to come visit her family past the long weekend, and now it turned out none of them would be here? If nothing else, she at least wanted to understand why!

Meanwhile, on what had been the other side of the line, Dr. Boudreaux let out a sad sigh. As opposed to what the tone she took would have you believe, she understood Corinne. She got why she might feel frustrated about her family's situation. It frustrated the doctor herself. And she had studied maybe thousands of cases. Tens of thousands, really, if you counted her quantitative work while working on her PhD and then post-Doc.

And yet, none of her previous work had proved as challenging as her last few years in Primrose Bay, doing run-of-the-mill clinical work. Stuff she had done a million times before!

This was supposed to be something like an early retirement! With her extensive background and--quite frankly--pretty steep rates per hour, she had figured taking care of the neuroses of the wealthy housewives and ditzy trophy wives of the rich and beautiful in a fancy beach town like Primrose Bay would be cake. A 30-hour week at most.

And yet, here she was: working overtime on yet another bored-housewife case of nothing. Except it wasn't nothing. It had never been nothing, despite what you would think and what it would seem to even the most trained eye. Why was this town so filled with these... uncanny dynamics? Could she be making too much of nothing? Could all this strangeness be in her head? Her suspicions be mistaken? Maybe the years in academia had blunted her sense for people.

No. She quickly dismissed the thought, as she had done a thousand times before.

No. There was nothing wrong with her therapist's--or her woman, rather--intuitions. Those had always been the strongest tools in her arsenal; her best, sharpest assets. There's no way they would be so off as to confuse her this much. Especially after a few years of practice, now. More than enough time to pick anything she might have lost during her academic years back up.

No.

This town was special. Unique. And it wasn't just that it was filled with beautiful--shockingly beautiful--people. Incidentally, something in itself strange, because you didn't even notice that unless you were really looking--that's how normalized it quickly became. The ratios were off. But no, it wasn't just that. There was something deeper that made it unique. She couldn't quite figure out what or why or how, yet. But it was. She had seen it. She had seen it up close.

And if her suspicions were correct about the Feinmans--and she had no reason to believe they weren't, especially after having gotten it so wrong so many times before--then all the more reason she could say nothing to the daughter. Much as it pained her. Patient confidentiality privilege was the least of it, really.

No. She had to keep her suspicions to herself, and trust her admittedly radical approach to this particular case would borne out some sort of positive result. She was running out of options, by now. She needed at least the one win. Just one.

In the chiaroscuro of her cramped home office, Dr. Boudreaux sighed another long sigh.

If Natalie Feinman wanted to salvage and rebuild her marriage, she would keep her son Eren out of the house for the one week, at least. High-school or not. Girlfriend or not.

Especially on a date such as this. Especially on a missed anniversary.

Dr. Boudreaux grabbed the bridge of her nose. She could feel a migraine coming up, and it was well-past office hours, but she still had some reading to do. Time for another brew of coffee.

---------------------------------------------------

"Ah, hey dad" Eren said, looking up from his dinner bowl of cereal as he picked up a call.

"Hey kiddo!" said Alex Feinman, his dad, in his typical cheerful tone "have you heard from your mom?"

"Um, no-" Eren answered, absent-mindedly, as he cleaned some milk that was spilling out from his mouth "No, she hasn't called" he finished.

"Right" his dad answered back, a little bit of concern in his voice "well..." he trailed off, trying to find the right words.

Eren just filled his mouth with another spoonful of fruit loops and milk.

"Do you think... um..." he meandered, again "I mean, if she does call... could you, you know, let me know if she's too upset?"

Eren struggled to talk in-between crunches of his fruit loops "sure, dad" he assured him, without giving it much thought "but, um" he crunched a few more of his cereal "it's not like we talk all that much, you know?" he added, a bit annoyed at his father expecting him to be his wingman or whatever. The way his mom had been behaving... his dad really needed to step in somehow. It was Eren and Corinne's mom, too, after all.

Eren's mouth crunched some more before swallowing.

Well, but what the hell did he know. Maybe he should throw his dad a bone.

"She probably is, though. You know how much she worries about you guys..." Eren tried reassuring his dad someway, but he didn't really know what it was he expected to hear "Did you ask Corinne?"

He had to wait a bit on the answer.

"Well, she didn't really want to talk that much. She was pretty pissed." His dad chuckled.

Eren snickered, too. "Well, that's Corinne alright" he said. Corinne was never good with bad news.

Eren ate another spoonful of fruit loops.

"Alright, well..." started his dad again "do let me know if you hear something" he said. "I hope you're eating well!" he added, turning dad-mode once again "and not just munching cereal constantly!"

Heh, busted, thought Eren.

He laughed. His dad laughed, too.

"Yeah dad, doing fine!" he said "having fun at the Cape" he added, his voice a teenage monotone, but the friendly kind.

"Alright. Keep it up!" his dad cheered him on "I'll see you in a couple of weeks" he added "Love you!"

"Love you" Eren answered back.

"Bye!" his dad said.

"Bye!" Eren answered.

And they both hung up.

Eren sighed. He would love to go back home and see his sister, to be honest. He missed her! Corinne was so annoying, but he loved her. And ever since she left for Uni, they never saw each other.

Well, and he would also be there for his mom, obviously. If she needed something like that. But... doctor's orders! What could he do.

Not that he was very eager to be around his mom at all if she was planning on keeping acting like that all the time.

In the dusky kitchen of him and his buddies' beach cabana, he munched another mouthful of dinner cereal and got lost in his phone again.

---------------------------------------------------

Natalie Feinman woke up in the middle of the night with her mouth dry and her heart racing. She was anxious. Had been anxious, ever since she heard the bad news about her and Alex's anniversary plans.

She walked to her bathroom and grabbed a glass of water from the filter.

Even in the middle of night, she felt wide awake. She glanced at herself in the mirror.

She looked good.

Not just good, if she had to be honest. She was stunning. But that much was impolite to admit.

Why was her husband so distant, then? Why wasn't he chomping at the bit for a bite of her? She felt that way about him, so why wouldn't he reciprocate?

The Feinmans were a handsome couple. He had played softball in college, and now ran marathons as a hobby. She had the most impressive pair of natural tits in her year--no, in her generation--back in New Hampshire. They rode high and perky, even at 39. And she had kept in shape, with yoga and pilates and 5 hours a week at the gym and a strict diet. Overseen by beauty dietitians. People who worked with movie stars! Top tier professionals.

They were both hot, and in demand. So why couldn't they make themselves click anymore? Or, him. In a way she liked.

She didn't get it. It frustrated her so much. And she loved Alex so much!

Natalie looked at her ass. Amazing. Like a perfect peach. Building into her hips and thighs--a flawless line into her waist. She looked better than women half her age--girls, really. Half her age, and yet her own back was a sexier sight. Her back was so slim it couldn't help but show some of the underside of her boobs... it made her proud. How they peeked out from beneath her armpits if she was turned around.

She really had such huge tits. Alex had loved them so much over the years. Every man she had ever been with, had.

Natalie clicked her tongue in frustration. She was now riling herself up. She wouldn't be able to fall asleep at this rate. She shook her head and looked away from the mirror. Filled her glass with more water and left back into her room.

Her husband's side of the bed was still pristine, untouched. A sad simile of their marriage situation.

'Sterile' was too harsh a word for it, she thought--it's not like nothing happened, not even close, he was always making love to her--however... what was it, at this point, if not that? What was the right word?

It's not that they didn't have sex. They did, technically, have sex. But they made love. It was careful, and sweet, and beautiful. And it happened with some regularity. Not rarely, either. Just not often. But they did have loving, fulfilling sex. He knew how to push her buttons, make her orgasm, with patience and love and soft dedication.

However, when she saw herself in the mirror...

And when she thought about her husband's flat stomach, his silver fox dignity, his visible obliques even at 44 years of age...

It made her burn inside in a way that- in such a fashion that- that just making love felt a little bit...

Oh my god, she hated herself for feeling like this.

But that's why she had suggested they see a marriage counselor. Someone to help them reignite that- that thing. To make him want her in the way that she wanted him to want her. Right now.

It was selfish of her, she knew. She didn't really have a problem with her husband. Or shouldn't. She just wanted to- she was just hoping that- maybe if the therapist told him somehow-

She lacked the tact. She lacked the words to say- to say what she really thought. She didn't even know what she thought!

But, surely, the therapist wouldn't have that problem, right?

Dr. Boudreaux had the very best credentials you could ever find in a therapist. Came with the best recommendations, from the most amazing, resourceful people she knew. And she had a price to match as well.

Surely, Dr. Boudreaux would know to tell her husband what it was that she needed--regardless of whether Natalie asked her to or not! Even if Natalie herself didn't know how to express it. She would be able to read it in her, right? And let her husband know?

She would never be so forward. Or so selfish. But that's why the therapist was there, right?

Natalie had been very clear, after all: she wanted to reignite her marriage. Reignite her sexual life. Rebuild it, from the... lovefest it had become.

Shit. She really hated that she couldn't express herself in any other way than this. She obviously didn't feel unsatisfied in her marriage simply because her husband loved her too deeply, and was too careful a lover. Of course not. Natalie wasn't that kind of woman, she told herself. She had never been such a woman. That's why she had gotten the best therapist money could buy. So that she could put her feelings in the right words. Understand them better. Instead of confusing herself like this.

They were only starting out, but Natalie had done really well so far. The doctor had told her to keep Eren away for their anniversary, so they'd done so. Natalie didn't get why, really, but Eren was fine with it. Natalie had been 'focusing too much on her family', Dr. Boudreaux had said. She needed to 'rediscover herself as a woman, alongside her husband'.

Eren understood. He was such a good kid.

She lied back down on her bed and took a moment to think about him. Her beautiful son. Her baby. She was so horny. And her husband wouldn't be here for a while, still. She sighed.

Laying down on her side, her head on her pillow, she slowly drifted back into sleep. She would dream of strange things she would never remember, after waking up. Things Dr. Boudreaux would have predicted she would. But all things Natalie would never believe about herself.

Or not yet. But her anniversary was only a few days away.

---------------------------------------------------

Saturday morning, Gabrielle Boudreaux arrived at her office. Unlike most other professionals in her line of work, she didn't share an office building or take patients in a clinic, but had her own building. A small, unassuming house at the edge of the city. Right around the corner from Rosa Amarga beach, at the very tip of the bay. It was a privileged spot, and it doubled as a kind of refuge for the noisy city life when she wasn't working. Sadly, these days, she was almost always working when she came to the office. And when she didn't, too.

This morning, however, would provide an extra little challenge.

Because, as she turned the corner from her garage, who would she find sitting on her welcoming mat but Corinne Feinman herself. Of course. Nothing could ever be easy.

"Finally!" she exclaimed, as soon as she saw her turn the corner, rolling her eyes.

"I-" the doctor could barely manage to blurt out before having the teenager all over her.

"I've been waiting all morning for you!" she said, her eyes bright with energy. This could hardly be the case, seeing as it was still barely 9:10 or so, but it figured that Corinne Feinman would be exactly this kind of girl.

Dr. Boudreaux had never met Corinne before but a single glance at her would let you know she was Natalie and Alex Feinman's oldest daughter. The resemblance was uncanny, albeit not to any specific parent. Rather, she had enough of both Alex and Natalie to look unmistakably their child. This, unlike Eren--whom the Doctor had already met, and who looked just so much like his mother.

Unlike her mother's raven black curls, Corinne's hair was the much lighter shade of brown of her father's, while also sharing his brand of softer, longer waves--rather than the full, tight curls of Natalie. All perfectly styled in a youthful, coquettish bob: ending right beneath her chin, almost covering the nape of her neck completely--but not quite. Her tips were blonde, but only just her tips, and her bangs were held in place and out of her forehead with a casual hairpin on top and to the side of her head.

Her cheekbones, on the other hand, were all Natalie. High and beautiful, they gave her a distinguished look. One which came through even with her obvious spunk and playful smile playing so hard against it. She had round, beautiful eyes--like her mother's, but softer--with green, shiny irises; another perfect mix of his parent's grey and amber colored eyes. Completing her features, she had her father's small, upturned nose, as well as the softer, rounder cheeks of a pretty girl two years younger than she was. They shaped her face beautifully--not a blemish in her perfectly tanned skin.

She was cute as a button. But twice as sexy. Because Corinne dressed more conservatively than most girls her age--again in line with her father's dignified countenance, more than her mother--but no clothes could hide what was obviously a bombshell's body.