Kazimir turned to him. “How did you know that?”
“Easy.” He shrugged. “There’s only one thing you suck at, Kaz.”
“What’s that?”
“Caring about people,” Berga filled in. When that earned him a bitter look, he tried soothing the sting by adding, “Don’t worry. I don’t comprehend it either.”
“Oh great,” Kaz did nothing to mask his sarcasm, “I feel so much better.”
Berga nodded like that made all the sense in the world and he’d just done a good job.
Kazimir had half a mind to bargain for the rare instrument Baikal wanted from Pious and use it to beat the ever-loving daylight out of everyone in this room.
Chapter 8:
Nate tapped his foot nervously as the therapist went over the questionnaire he’d just filled out. Part of him still believed this was an epic waste of time, but the other hadn’t been able to escape the urge to call and book the appointment.
At least he’d be able to tell Silver he’d tried, even if nothing came of being here. And so long as he did that, this secret would be kept between them, right?
“Have you always been a people pleaser, Nate?” the therapist, a woman in her mid-fifties with curly red hair and a kind smile asked from her seat across the long desk.
He was in a leatherback chair in front of her, the clock hanging on the wall to his right slowly ticking down the time. Their first session was an extensive one meant to last for two whole hours, and he was hating every single minute of it.
“I wouldn’t say I am one,” he replied.
She hummed and set the tablet down on her desk before meeting his gaze. “No? Then how would you explain your reaction to your boss in the story you told me earlier?”
He’d opened up about Sier screaming at him the other day. It’d gone on for a while and had been loud enough that the rest of the shop had overheard most of it. When Nate had finally been permitted to leave the office, they’d all averted their gazes.
“You mean how I was quiet?” He shrugged. “How else was I meant to react? She’s my boss.”
“Yes, but you told me you hadn’t done anything wrong. If you weren’t deserving of being yelled at like that, why did you allow it to happen?”
“Because she’s my boss,” he reiterated. “I need my job.”
“Do you?”
“Yes.” What kind of question was that?
She nodded. “And what about this? When asked if you would talk back to a stranger who bumped into you on the street, you said no. Why not?”
“I don’t know them,” he said. “Maybe they’re going through something.”
“So you wouldn’t want to risk upsetting them.”
“Yeah.” He realized where she was going with this and adjusted himself in the seat. “Hold on. Isn’t that just common decency? How does that mean I’m a people pleasure?”
“On its own,” she told him, “it doesn’t. When considered with all of the other signs, however…”
“I know how to stand up for myself when the situation calls for it.” His mind wandered to Kaz, the problem that had set Sier off in the first place. He’d managed to stand his ground against him, hadn’t he?
“Yes,” she scanned the tablet screen, “once you’ve already decided someone isn’t worth the effort of pleasing.”
Nate sat back. “That’s sort of a messed-up way of putting things, don’t you think?”
“Do you?”
“Yeah.”
