There's always an explanation

The ticks of the clock seemed to reverberate within Isaac's head as he paced back and forth across the room. He would periodically stop to glance at the time and, upon realizing only a handful of seconds had passed, would begin to pace again. This routine was nothing new to him. Every Wednesday at 5:55 sharp, he would ring the buzzer outside the home office to be let in. His standing appointment was at 6:30, but he couldn't bear being anything but overly punctual. For him, this was just the norm; he had been this way for as long as he could remember. For the most part, those who knew him just accepted that fact, but Dr. Sai knew that there was some other reason behind it. She assured him that first session that there is always an explanation. Of course, he didn't believe her, but she asked him if he would bear with her for a bit. It took her some time, but eventually, she dug it out of Isaac. One of the last things his father had told him was, "If you're on time, you're late." the morning of the accident. Unconsciously, that little saying stuck with him and drove much of his actions. Before that session, Isaac had concluded that Dr. Sai was unable to help. In his mind, she was just another in a long line of doctors and professionals who couldn't treat him. After he had finished wiping his tears that day, however, he felt something change within him. He understood that Dr. Sai was here to help him. From then on, his pacing went from being motivated by distrust and uncertainty to motivated by impatience and jealousy. Dr. Sai was there to help him, so why did she feel the need to spend so much time with other patients?

That thought bothered him, and the fact that it was a different person behind her office door every time it opened annoyed him even more. These people couldn't be bothered to see her every week. They weren't deserving of her time and energy. Isaac paused once again to look at the clock. It read 6:28. Knowing that it was almost time brought him some comfort, and he finally moved to take a seat in a large stuffed leather chair in the corner of the room by the window. The warm evening light illuminated the dust in the air. As he sat down, the particles swirled around, seeing that caused his stomach to turn. He wouldn't describe himself as a germaphobe; he did value cleanliness, so seeing the dust and understanding what it was made of was deeply unpleasant. He glanced around the room to distract himself. A well-maintained oriental rug sat in the center of the room, framed with bookshelves and tasteful furniture. He looked toward the wall where the clock hung but instead looked at the various decorations adorning the wall. Beautiful paintings, souvenirs from around the world, and arty photographs left little bare space and told the story of a life well-lived. Isaac admired this side of Dr. Sai. She was intelligent, successful, and worldly, all things he aspired to himself. Unfortunately, his finances left much to be desired, and his anxiety made moving up at work difficult and planning a trip anywhere outside of the city impossible. He thought for a moment, then smiled to himself. His financial situation was actually much better off, thanks to the envelope currently sitting in his bag. He always believed himself to be unlucky, but now he wasn't so sure if that was true.

As he was getting dressed two days ago, he heard his mail slot slam shut. His mail is delivered in the afternoon, and he wasn't expecting any packages. He walked out of his bedroom and saw there was a manila envelope sitting on his doormat. After a beat, he picked it up and felt that it was surprisingly thick and heavy. He briefly wondered if it was a bomb, but he shook his head at the ridiculous thought. He carefully opened the envelope, and when he looked inside, he couldn't believe it. It had to be a mistake. A large wad of cash sat in his hand, with no information as to who sent it. He numbly walked back into his bedroom and sat at the foot of his bed. He carefully pulled the money out and counted it—$ 20,000 dollars. There had to be a mistake. Someone must have left this here accidentally. He grabbed a piece of paper and wrote on it as neat as he could, "If you delivered something accidentally, please leave a note with your contact information. He placed the envelope in his "safe place." and taped the note to his door as he left for work. That whole day his anxiety kept him from focusing at work. What if this has something to do with organized crime? What if he's now mixed up in something bad, and people are going to come after him? What if they find out where he works and come for him here? By the time lunch rolled around, he felt like he was going to vomit. He stood up, walked to his manager's office, and let him know he was taking a sick day. The commute back to his apartment was even worse. With each passing moment, his blood pumping through his ears roared like a lion. He barely even registered when he had reached his front door. He looked up from the doorknob and noticed the note he left that morning was gone. He glanced around to see if maybe it had fallen down, but he saw no sign of it. Strange. He unlocked the door, walked inside, and kicked a sheet of paper. He bent down to pick it up and saw it was his note. Near the bottom of it was a response, "No Mistake, No Strings Attached."

He had no idea how to respond. He quickly turned and locked the door and slid the deadbolt into place. Someone had given this to him intentionally, and that scared him. He went and took one of his anxiety pills and took a shower. After he had dried off, he laid down on his bed, hoping to collect his thoughts but instead found himself fighting to keep his eyes open, a fight he was very clearly losing. When he opened his eyes again, it was dark. He checked his phone and saw that it was 2 in the morning, and he had a message from his manager telling him that he was given the next day off as well. He didn't understand why any of this was happening, but one phrase kept coming to mind. "There is always an explanation." Dr. Sai always told him this, and he had chosen to believe it to be true.

He checked his locks once again, and when he felt confident that they were still secure, he settled back into bed.

In the morning, the first thing he did was take the envelope from his "safe place" and went to his local bank. He handed the envelope to the teller once he reached the counter and had them check them. All of the bills came back as the real deal. He collected the envelope, thanked the teller, and quickly left the bank and returned home. The whole time thinking that the other shoe was going to drop at any moment. After making sure that everything was locked, he sat at his kitchen table. So the money was real, the person who dropped it off wants him to have it, and according to them, there are no strings attached. There had to be a catch, but he couldn't think what it could be. He spent the remainder of the day searching online for similar cases. When nothing turned up, he decided that the only person he could talk to about this was Dr. Sai at his session the next day. That night, he started to get used to the idea of depositing the money in his account. After a while of tossing and turning in bed, he sat up, turned on his lamp, and pulled out his journal. The small black leather cover always felt nice on his skin. He opened the cover and used the marker to pull it open to the next blank page. He started jotting down ideas as to how he would spend the money. At first, it was safe ideas investing in real estate, or stocks and bonds, then it moved to frivolous things, a new computer, a new wardrobe, a deposit on a different apartment, etc. Finally, he wrote in big letters "Invest in me" and underlined it multiple times. He was going to use the money to follow his passion project of starting his own business.

The sound of laughter snapped him out of it. He looked towards the direction of the sound. It sounded like Dr. Sai was laughing with her patient. He looked at the clock and saw that it was now 6:37. She was late, she was late, and she was happy about it. His lips turned into a frown as he saw shadows moving in the crack of the door. He stood up and replaced the frown with a tight smile. As the door opened, the laughing continued. Dr. Sai gave the young man leaving a quick hug and waved him goodbye. Seeing this made Isaac lose any ideas of discussing the money with her. As she looked towards Isaac, a polite smile formed on her face, and she invited him in. The difference in how she looked at the other young man versus how she looked at him was like a slap in the face. He gave a curt nod and quickly walked past her into the office and sat on the well-worn yet still stylish couch. She offered him something to drink, but he politely refused. He would accept no more help from her. He never viewed her in a romantic light; instead, she was his savior. But now he knew better. She simply viewed him as someone pathetic and broken who needed to be fixed like a puzzle. Well, he would not give her the pleasure. All of her questions were met with short replies that said very little. Finally, she asked, "Is everything okay Isaac, has something changed? Do you need to tell me something? For a brief moment, the concern in her voice and face made him want to tell her about the envelope, but the sound of her laughter from before came rushing back, and he responded with a "No, Dr. Sai, everything is fine nothing's changed. She frowned and adjusted her glasses before standing up. She walked behind him, and he could sense that something was different. He went to turn around, but he felt the stab of something in his neck.

"What the hell?" He reached up and felt the syringe still lodged in his vein. His next words were lost as he lost control of his muscles. He slumped onto the floor, and the last thing he heard as his eyes fluttered was, "You disappoint me, Isaac."

He regained consciousness as he felt something hitting him. He opened his eyes, and after they adjusted, he saw the young man from before standing above him on the edge of a deep hole with a shovel in hand. He saw movement from the corner of his eye and then heard, "Oh, you're awake, good." Dr. Sai moved next to the young man. You know Isaac, I've run this test on many of my patients. Some take the money to the police, some donate it, those we leave alone. The ones that choose to keep it... well, your current predicament should be explanation enough. "Wuh?"

"Why? Well, that's simple selfish people ruin everything they touch. I hate them, so I remove them. You failed the test, Goodbye Isaac.