“Hi, we’re ready for you now,” smiled Dr. Alif.

Lorena put her phone in her pocket and stood up, Roddy following her. They went into the office, and it took her a moment to process how different it looked. The couch, coffee table, and desk were all pushed into the sides of the room. The generic still life art was off the walls, and in their places, unframed posters with bold, unfamiliar symbols. The other therapists rose out of the chairs that remained in the center of the room.

“You— redecorated?,” asked Lorena.

“Not quite,” responded Dr. Alif. “We just have a different setup for today. Anyway, Lorena, you know Dr. Samm, of course, and Roddy, you know Dr. Mearns.”

There was an awkward shaking of many hands. Roddy’s shrink was more or less like Lorena predicted- a petite blonde woman who probably spent a lot of time at the gym. Roddy would never open up to a big guy like Dr. Samm, and Lorena found herself weirdly attentive to watching the two men meet.

Dr. Alif, of course, was mutual familiar territory after months of couple’s therapy, and Lorena was relieved to defer to them.

“Please, humor us and stand in the center. I appreciate that this may be awkward, but I promise that we have a plan here.” The doctor smiled warmly and Lorena and Roddy complied. It as a bit awkward deciding where to look, and the couple shifted, a bit nervously.

“Now, I’ve been working with you both awhile, but not quite so long as Dr. Samm or Dr. Mearns. You’ve both been making a lot of progress with me, but I think we’re ready to level up! I thought this ‘meeting of the minds’ could really help us frame our goals going forward. So all I need you to do right now, is hold hands and look at each other.”

Roddy reached out to Lorena, who grabbed his hands, and tried to smile at him reassuringly. They had talked about how their shrink-a-thon didn’t mean they were in crisis anymore. Things had been getting better, after all. She had stopped cheating before they even started couple’s counseling, and he had admitted the last time he had done the same, only a few weeks into seeing Dr. Mearns. And Lorena believed him. He smiled back at her.

“Right, great, continued Dr. Alif. “Now, I want to talk to you both about trust. Your trust for one another, and your trust for the professionals in this room who want to see you both happy. I know it’s very vulnerable, but I want you to really try to open yourselves up, hook into the feeling that you know you are cared for and safe here. Just try breathing quietly and think about that, and I’ll let you know when you need to do something else.”

The couple nodded, and continued staring at each other, trying not to feel too silly. In her periphery, Lorena noticed the therapists joining hands as well. OK, that was weird, and crunchier than she expected from Dr. Samm, at least.

Dr. Alif spoke again, but Lorena couldn’t understand the words.

“Sorry, what was that?”

“Please, Lorena. I just ask you to not interrupt for say, five minutes? Trust us, remember? As I said, you really need to focus on being open and willing to do the work. This may seem a little unorthodox, but you’re doing everything you need to do right now."

Blushing from embarrassment, Lorena tried to do as her doctor asked, and looked at Roddy. She thought of all the ways that he made her happy, how he waited to watch finales of TV shows, and let her blast tacky pop music while she was working. She tried to think of deeper stuff, like how he was there when she broke her leg and when her aunt died.

Dr. Alif was definitely speaking, quietly, and still impossible to make out. It sounded like… Latin? And now the other therapists were joining in unison, an undertone close to a whisper.

The A/C must have kicked in, because a breeze suddenly flowed through the room and picked up Lorena’s hair. It was humming, too. Lorena tried to not let herself get distracted and squeezed Roddy’s hand a bit tighter. He looked confused, as well. Maybe this hadn’t been a good idea, if they had known it would be some weird New Age ceremony.

Suddenly, the wind picked up, and the symbols on the wall began to glow. Something was wrong.

The speech was a chant now, loud, and mostly unintelligible, except for names. Lorena and Roddy’s, but also the three doctors. Lorena saw the concern on her husband’s face, and opened her mouth to protest. Her voice was carried away on the wind.

Lorena felt Roddy tug at her, trying to pull her —out the circle, maybe— but her feet wouldn’t budge, and his didn’t move either. What was happening to them?

“OK, you two, keep it going.” Dr. Alif had switched back to English and addressed the other doctors, chanting still, despite looking a bit exhausted. “They’re not going anywhere, and we can take our time.”

Dr. Samm glared at this, taking a performative deep breath in a momentary pause.

“No, I know we don’t have all day, and I appreciate your work on this, Andy. Just keep at it with the base of the spell and I won’t waste any time.”

They turned their attention to the couple.

“There’s no reason to fight. We said we’re here to help. You both just need to keep trusting us. Why would we hurt you?”

Lorena spasmed, not realizing that she could still move at all. Why would anyone hurt her? Why did Roddy hurt her by being the first one to screw around? How did she know what was going on here wasn’t somehow his fault?

But when she looked up at her husband, she saw nothing but concern— not fear for himself, but for her. Despite the terror of the moment, she found herself tearing up with love for him.

“Fantastic!” Shouted Dr. Alif, their eyes suddenly glowing like the images on the wall. “You trust us. We know more about you than anyone else. We know how you tick. We know how your minds work. You. Trust. Us!”

The room was practically a tornado, and even the coffee table started to scrape against the floor, then tipped over.

A tear was sliding down Roddy’s cheek, but his eyes had gone dark. Then, they started to glow, too. It was too late. Lorena tried to hold him tighter, even just to say goodbye, when she felt in her mind what could only be described as a blunt force, and then a sudden snap. Then, quiet.

Lorena felt a hand under her chin, shaking her head gently. She slowly opened her eyes, and found herself staring at Dr. Alif, eyes back to an ordinary brown. The wind had died down, and she and Roddy were still standing between the three others.

“Lorena, sweetie? How do you feel?”

Lorena considered the question, and looked at Roddy. He looked positively dopey, with a half smile on his face beaming up at the doctors. Yeah, kind of like that.

“Good,” she said softly, looking doe-eyed at Dr. Alif. “You’re nice.”

“Oh, very good girl,” smiled the doctor, shaking their head a little more forcefully. “Roddy, wouldn’t you say your wife is a very good girl?”

“Yeah,” said Roddy simply, bouncing on his heels.

“Oh my God, it worked,” breathed Dr. Mearns.

“It sure did!,” beamed Dr. Alif. “All that time and effort paid off. I was just telling Andy that it was worth the wait, that you really needed to have a connection with your subjects before you attempted a spell like this.”

“OK, OK, you were right,” smiled Dr. Samm, no longer looking so grumpy. “And worth the sharing— equally, remember.”

“Yes, we’ll draft up a schedule or something. Can we just enjoy the moment? After all, we have two very pretty, very docile pets now, don’t we?”

Lorena perked up with recognition. Right. That’s why she felt so good and safe. These were her owners. Hers and Roddy’s. She gave a little animalistic mewl, then a little bit louder when Dr. Mearns reached over and started stroking Roddy’s chest.

“That’s OK, sweetie,” purred the blonde. “I’m going to give you both so much attention. You don’t need to be jealous of each other anymore.”

Jealous? Lorena cocked her head, then mewled again. She felt a hand grip her hair, and instinctually leaned into it.

“I’ve been waiting for this a long time,” said Dr. Samm heavily.

“Please, Andy. Let’s let them play together first. After all, we promised them a happy marriage.”

As if on queue, Lorena and Roddy sank to the floor, rolling and touching one another anywhere they could reach. Lorena looked up and saw her owners beaming, vaguely recognized their arousal. In a moment of brilliance, pulled off Roddy’s shirt. Dr. Alif nodded their approval, and Dr. Samm unzipped his pants. Dr. Mearns took out her phone and began recording.

“Yeah, they’re going to be much happier this way. I think we all are.”