Sometimes, just showing up is enough

Teresa buttons up her blouse and adjusts the skirt.

'Well, what do you think?', she gives a demonstrative twirl for the woman slumped down on a chair in front of her.

'You look just like me!', her eyes are huge with wonder. 'How is this possible?'

'Magic!', Teresa's tone is light, but the word is said with a serious face.

'I don't believe in magic ... and yet, here you are ...'

'You must have done something right to get all the way to me. Now, tell me your story!'

Teresa sits down on her oversized library armchair and, with a cup of hot chocolate, gets ready to listen and assimilate the story, the gestures, the mannerisms of the woman facing her.

'This is really difficult for me to speak about, because of the uncertainty and because of what it means if it is true. I do not know if this is true you know, so I could never share it with anyone. What would I do if it is all in my head? If it turns out I am mad?'

Her hands seem close to breaking, it is that hard that she rubs them together. Teresa covers them with her right hand and the soft touch has a calming effect allowing her interlocutor to continue.

'It all started a few months back. I got this really bad tooth ache and I had to find an emergency dentist. You know how it is, when the pain is so horrendous, you would go to see anyone! You would do anything for the pain to stop! It is so difficult in Dublin to find a good dentist, honestly. With the help of my house mate, in the end, I did find one that would see me the same day. We went there, everything was fine, the dentist gave me some good pills, did an x-ray and said that he needs to see me at a later date when the swelling has gone down. He gave me antibiotics to take and so on. We went home and everything went back to normal.'