“Retvik, I am so happy to hear your voice!”
Gath’s deep, booming voice echoed down the crackly line. He seemed slightly out of breath, as if he had rushed off to answer the call. Retvik briefly wondered why, then decided to just talk. He had a lot of things on his mind and sitting in a little hotel room on his own wasn’t going to get those things going.
“Gath, I am happy to hear from you as well.”
“You sound miserable.”
“I am having issues telling the difference between reality and my own dreams.” Retvik wanted to get to the point. “I was trapped inside a non-existent dream world. I recall conversations that did not happen yet cannot remember that I had attempted to message you the other day. And I am almost certain that you called me, asking for a divorce.”
Gath remained silent at first. “I… I had considered a divorce. Over the years, you have hardly been present and I have been… unfulfilled. But I did not want to do or say anything until… until we were face to face. These discussions are ones that should be done in person.”
Retvik took a deep breath, getting up from his seat and wandering around the room with his communicator. He felt fidgety and restless.
“Gath, dear, I wish to spill my words. I am due to see a therapist in an hour but I am… nervous.”
“Why? A therapist would be beneficial to you.”
“I do not remember making the appointment…” Retvik admitted. “I… I do not know whether the conversation we are having right now is real.”
“Of course it is real.”
“Is it though?” There was a hint of anger in Retvik’s voice, anger that was gradually rising. “I cannot tell. I went to sleep earlier and dreamed of two different conversations. You wanted a divorce and you wanted a break. Or did that happen? And you know what makes it scarier? I AGREED WITH YOU! Because I have not been fulfilling you! I have been going on my little adventures while you wanted a normal relationship with kids. I cannot give you that and I never could!”
Gath didn’t answer. He waited until Retvik’s breathing settled down before saying anything at all.
“You need to fix yourself before we can fix our problems.”
“I am not sure I can be fixed. Not for a long time. Not without leaving you unfulfilled yet again. I can heal fine from physical injuries. My broken arms is healing up quickly. But I am now tattered with psychological scars and fresh mental wounds…”
“Which you will get fixed. Retvik, my love, you are awash with issues right now but you have not given yourself any time to heal and recover. You are no longer a young adventurer with a couple of friends in one hand and a death god in the other, it will take time.”
“I do not want you to wait any more. I cannot make you wait any more. I think you are right, you should divorce me.”
Gath sighed. “Retvik, you are not in a good frame of mind. You are stressed and you are jumping to conclusions.”
“Am I?”
“Yes.”
“What should I do?”
“Go and speak to the therapist. Work on yourself. I am returning to Thre-Sypria soon so I have arranged extra time to come and see you. We will work this out in person, understood? In the mean time, I want you to put one foot in front of the other and keep on track. Fix yourself, then we fix each other. Are we clear?”
Retvik sighed. “Yes. Sorry.”
“Get some rest, I will see you soon.”
“Thank you.”
The call ended. Retvik closed his eyes, his heart pounding. When he opened his eyes again, he noticed that he couldn’t quite remember where he was. A hotel room. Above a city. All on his own.
Realising that there was still time before his meeting with the therapist, Retvik removed his communicator and decided to lie down for a bit…