Alma straightened up his tie, then he carefully made sure all of the papers on his desk were in order. It wasn't everyday an elsen was given his own cubicle to do business in. Recently Alma had set up a therapy program for other elsen with anxiety problems or other fears they needed help getting through. The elsen would come into his cubicle and talk to him for a set amount of time. If Alma thought they needed to come in for more sessions, he would set them up with more. Free of charge of course.
Alma did this for the greater good, for the future. How could the new future be built if the workers couldn't work efficiently? Besides Alma really felt for his fellow elsens. Alma was different, he saw things from an outsider view. In fact he didn't really consider himself to be like them at all. Of course Alma would never say these things out loud.
After fidgeting with the knickknacks on his desk for the umpteenth time there was a loud knock on the cubicle door. It could only be the patient Alma had been waiting on. "Please come in! You must be Will-" When Alma opened the door, it wasn't an elsen standing there. Who was this person? They were some kind of short, fat steam man, wearing a conductor's hat. Alma found this odd but he wasn't going to turn away a patient. "Please..uh come in...but take off your hat." Â
"No! I ...don't want to take it off." Willie let out a huff then crossed his arms. "..Are you the doctor? You don't look like a doctor!" He narrowed his eyes. When he had signed up for this he was expecting...someone different. In fact he was regretting this entire thing and he wanted to turn around and leave. Â
"I am indeed the person you signed up to see today." Alma replied.
Alma blinked. "Alright, you don't have to take off your hat. I meant no harm by it." He made a motion with his hand. "Please come in and sit down." Â Willie hesitantly made his way into the cubicle and sat down in the small chair. He still had his arms crossed, ready to leave at a moments notice.
"So, Willie. What would you like to talk about?" Alma leaned forward, putting his hands on his desk, staring at Willie. Willie shifted uncomfortably in his seat.
"....I...I don't know!! Aren't you the doctor!? You are suppose to know!!"
Alma stayed quiet for a moment. "...Usually the elsen that come to me, have worries or problems they want to talk about. Do you have any problems you want to talk about?"
Willie shook his head. "No!"
"Hmm really? You signed up for this session for a reason. The description clearly says what this entails.." Alma replied.
Willie was at a lost there. Why did he sign up for this again? To talk about his feelings? "...Well...I just...feel like...I am...I don't know!!" He kept raising his voice to rather high volumes but Alma didn't mention it.
"That is okay. You seem angry. Is that what you mean to say?"
"...Y-yeah!" Willie huffed and chuffed again. "I am very angry...I feel...so..angry!!"
"Why are you angry?" Alma asked, then pulled out a note pad and pen.
"... I don't know.." Â Willie did know why, at least he think he did. Though sometimes he really became more angry than certain situations called for. However he didn't want to divulge all of that information to a complete stranger, even if it was a elsen doctor.
Alma let out "Hmm" jotting down notes. Willie noticed all of this scribbling and he leaned forward. "What are you writing down?? Don't...don't write things...about me!!" He pointed with a gloved hand, tempted to grab the paper and tear it to shreds.
"I am writing down notes about what you are saying, you can read them if you'd like." Alma replied then Willie snatched the notebook out of his hand. The hand writing wasn't very legible actually, Willie could only make out a few words. He squinted then chucked the note pad back at Alma. "I can't even read that...!!"
Willie seemed to keep getting more and more frustrated. Alma would have to pull out his secret weapon. He took out a squeezable cow toy and handed it to Willie. "This is for you, hold it and squeeze it when you feel stressed." Â
"..Hmm hm hmm??" Willie grabbed the toy and squeezed it. The cow's eyes popped out of it's head as it was squeezed. Willie wasn't sure if it made him feel any better but he kept on holding it.
"Now you don't have to talk to me if you don't want too, but it seems like you have a lot of things to get out in the open. Everything you tell me will stay here, I am not allowed to tell anyone else."
Willie shook his head, squeezing the toy rapidly. "No...no! I just...the toy is fine...yes.." He seemed to calm down a bit.
"Do you want to leave?" Alma asked.
Willie nodded his head then stood up, putting the cow toy back on the desk.
"Oh, no that toy is for you to keep." Alma stood up and handed Willie the toy back.
"..." He would keep it and squeeze it. Before leaving the tiny cubicle he glanced back at Alma and mumbled. "Thank you."
Alma usually would schedule another appointment but Willie left so fast. However Alma knew if Willie wanted to return he would, appointment or not.