Curtis' fingers rattled along his desk as he waited for his next patient. It was amazing to him, surreal even, knowing that he would be the therapist to the one and only Emma Watson. He had been watching her on the news the last few weeks, crumbling under the pressure from her various rough roles recently, as well as those who believed in male supremacy threatening her for her feminist beliefs. So while it was no surprise that she needed a therapist, it was definitely a shocker when it was he that received the call from her agent.
So now, he was waiting for Emma to arrive. Thankfully, she was only two minutes late when she walked in, shaking his hand as he told her to take a seat. The room she walked into was of a fairly usual size for an office. It had a large desk with two seats for guests to sit at. Behind the desk hung diplomas and awards that he had received, which would solidify his experience and expertise to potential clients. Behind the guests's chairs was a stereotypical therapist's lounge for clients, and a massage table was laid out.
"Miss Watson, it's a pleasure to meet you. Now, as you have apparently been told by whoever recommended me, my methods are very different to most. I focus on ensuring patients begin and finish my session with a feeling of relief, becoming stress-free, or at least less stressed. The average success rate of a client's positive progress from a therapist is about 62.7%. My success rate is 99.7%. That slight notch was only due to an elderly client passing away before we got too far." The therapist explained, sounding sad.
"Because of my success rate, I take a no-nonsense approach to my therapy. If I ask you to do something in my session, you will do it. If I ask you to perform an exercise outside of the therapy, you will do it. Does that sound alright? I promise that I can be friendly, and will be in a few moments, but we needed to get that out of the way... now... I would like you to strip and lay on your stomach on the massage table. I use massage as a relaxant, while I get you to talk about your issues."<|im_end|>
Twenty-one. She had just turned twenty-one, and already had sixteen awards, another five where she was nominated... And more was on the way. Growing up and becoming an adult while still coveted for being the actor who IS Hermione meant that she had some troubles already. Only two more years, and her first serious relationship was over. A horrendous breakup with Matt Janney in December 2014, and she tried to handle it in the most mature way possible. That Christmas alone got her staying silent in Canada, and she realized that her accomplishments and success scared men away, and maybe finding a younger boyfriend almost the same age as her brother Alexander was not the best choice. Emma tried to break out of her public image as Hermione, accepting thriller roles... Trying to become an action hero...
And of course doing the job as the UN Goodwill Ambassador, telling the UN General Assembly that universities need to be a safe space against campus sexual and racial assault, for women and people of color.
Some of the reactions almost broke her. With almost 50 nominations and winning 20 awards, she felt that she already managed to accomplish everything professionally - what more she could aspire to? With almost no personal life, living with cats and a smaller brother, even her pet hamster who died...
Her friend Sophie Sumner got her to the realization that she needed some professional help, and fast. She even shared one name, who was later called by her US agent Esther if he would attend to Charlotte Duerre, a young actress with fear from the public, self-hate - or more like hating the image others had about her, and overwhelming stress. Only when her first appointment was would she show her well known face... Of course it was more to throw off the paparazzy from her scent, as any would be therapist should be able to put two and two together.
Now, she stood in the room and presence of someone who made her feel as if she were in Dr. Freud's office. Almost starting to laugh, she found herself crying instead. Was it really her best choice to ask help from a therapist who wanted her nude and lying down? As the last drop in the full glass, Emma's nerves frayed until they twitchingly complied. Shocked, the actress and model tried to imagine it just being a photo-shoot... or a bathing scene... *He must be really good...* she thought, already doing the math - over three hundred successes - and realizing that his methods must be revolutionary, and while shocking, maybe she wouldn't pass away from the sheer shock, or later from being embarrassed.
But... she had problems. Last year it was a real hardship playing Belle in Beauty and the Beast, and while it made her sorely miss the romance and significant other from her life, she found similarities between her role and how she - Belle - was all ready to fall in love with a monster... Emma's personal thoughts were that the Prince should have stayed the Beast... Which told her that she needed some changes in her life. Not even meditating or being a Yoga instructor helped change her thoughts back to normal. Whatever that meant, she didn't know. Emma found the only answer in her books... She had to stop being an actress, and thus also forget being a model. That made her recent - in February 2016 - announcement that she was taking a year-long break from acting. Planning to spend the time on her "personal development" and her women's rights work... a last chance of getting better.
Being a little shy - or incredibly modest, if others were asked - Emma turned away and blushed, while taking off her outer clothes. The beige female business suit came off, folded and put down safely. Not her usual style... She kept her comfortable white cotton lingerie on, but took off her medium heeled shoes and sheer pantyhose. Hair left in the serious bun that got her look older and like a secretary with her glasses and sheets of paper she already forgot about outside.<|im_end|>