Chapter 13 – Mike’s confession
Soon after John and Rosanne left the office and Mike and Rachel went back to work. Where Rachel was chitchatting all the time, Mike was quiet. Just before they were preparing to finish their day, Mike said: “Rachel, I know we ought to go to our own homes tonight, but something is bothering me. Can you come to my place tonight, because I have something to confess to you.”
Mike’s sudden remark scared Rachel and she replied: “What’th going on Mike? I know ouw welationthhip ith thtill a thtawt up, but what’th up. Awe we going too fatht? Awe you theeing thome one elthe? Awe you going to bweak up even that we awen’t in an official welationthhip yet?”
“No, no, don’t worry about my love for you or what so ever. I didn’t mean to worry you, but there is something you should know about me, something that I have to show you. And probably I should have shown you earlier.”
“Fowget about going to ouw own hometh. If it’th that impowtant that you thcawe the thhit out of me, we’we going to youw houthe wight away. At leatht you own that to me.”
Mike couldn’t deny at this point, so they quickly shut down their computers and left for home. The ride to Mike’s house was short but quiet. Mike was thinking about what he had done and how clumsy he had acted and Rachel was curious what was bothering Mike that much.
As soon as they arrived at Mike’s house, Mike told Rachel to wait in the livingroom and that he would soon join her.
Rachel heard Mike stumbling around in the bedroom and within a few minutes Mike entered the room, carrying something that Rachel couldn’t see yet.
Then they fell onto the couch.
Mike grabbed Rachel’s hands and said: “Rachel, first of all I didn’t want to scare you or upset you, but today I realized that I might have been not completely honest to you.”
Rachel said nothing, just waiting Mike to continue.
“Last weekend I dared you to wear headgear in public, what you did with pride. You told me how embarrassing it was to wear headgear and how humiliating it sometimes felt. I know that these feelings are part of your desire of wearing braces, but may be I’ve put you over some limit. When you said today you want to wear the headgear for a longer period, I thought that you might wear your headgear to please me and to deny the discomfort, embarrassment and humiliation.”
Rachel opened her mouth to say something, but Mike raised his had and said: “please let me continue first. You might wanna say that you don’t care about the embarrassment and humiliation and you probably are gonna say I don’t know what’s it about to wear headgear, but, and that’s the confession I have to make to you, I exactly know what it is about to wear headgear.”
Rachel frowned her eyebrows but kept quiet.
“We have talked about braces and I’ve told you that I have worn braces as a late teen. What I didn’t tell you that I had more than only brackets. My treatment was a long one and it didn’t start with the brackets. I had quit an overbite, so my lower jaw was too far back. As you know some braces treatments, you know that you can pull someone’s lower jaw forward via several ways, like rubber bands on your brackets, a herbst as you have, of with removable appliances like a twin block. You might know there is something that is called a Van Beek activator. Within the braces-world that one is seen as the best for treating an overbite, but also the worst appliance someone can get.”
At this moment Rachel was slightly nodding her head to confirm that she recognized what Mike just said, but she interrupted Mike: “I have heawd it ith a huge piethe of plathtic with a headgeaw attached, but I nevew theen one. Ith that cowwect?”
“Yes, you are right. My orthodontist was an old fashioned one and he didn’t care about looks, comfort and humiliation. He just did what he was supposed to do and that was push and pull jaws and teeth in the right position. Knowing this, you wouldn’t be surprised that I was fitted with a Van Beek activator and that period of my treatment was hell. Although my parents were supportive and never made me wear the Van Beek activator in public, it was tough. The period afterwards with brackets and rubber bands was a relief compared to the first year and a half."
"You also know that after an active treatment, a period of retention is needed. Next to normal retainers, my orthodontist fitted me with a new Van Beek activator to prevent a possible relapse of my jaw position.”
“Okay, tho you had to weaw thome kind of awful bwathe that you didn’t tell me about earliew… Wath that the weason to thcawe me?”
“Well, It is not that I HAD to wear a Van Beek activator, but I still HAVE to wear it regularly. Up to now I wore it when I was alone at home, because I am so ashamed of wearing it in front of some one else, including you, but it felt more and more like cheating, especially after I made you wear headgear for the whole weekend even in public.”
“Okay, to get thome thingth cleawed. You have thome kind of – what ith thuppothed to be an awful – bwathe, of which you awe afwaid to weaw in fwont of anyone including me, but you fowce me to weaw thith humiliating headgeaw in public, acting like you don’t know what it ith to weaw headgeaw, while you know exactly how humiliating it ith?”
“Now fiwtht thhow me what actually a Van Beek activatow ith, befowe I can dethide what to think of what happened and what conthequentheth thhould be pwopwiate. I bet you picked up youw bwathe when you left me hewe alone, tho thhow it.”
Slowly Mike picked up the appliance he had hidden out of Rachel’s view and as soon as Rachel saw the appliance, her eyes grew.
“I heawd it wath big, but I nevew expected thomething like thith. Look at it… It’th jutht one big chunk of plathtic!” Rachel exclaimed: “How ith that thuppothed to fit in one’th mouth? Put it in!”
“But I can’t talk with it,” Mike reacted.
“I don’t cawe, jutht put it in,” Rachel said, now more strictly: “And tho that I can thee how you put it in.”
Next Mike disconnected the headgearstraps and opened his mouth. He pushed it passed his teeth and moving his lips around to accommodate the plastic intruder. Then he took the straps and put them around and over his head and connected it to the headgear piece.”
“Wow,” Rachel said: “that lookth uncomfowtable. You even can’t clothe your lipth awound it, can you?”
Mike said nothing, just shook his head.
“Now I know why the giwl in the waiting woom looked so unhappy. I think she wowe the thame ath what you have in youw mouth now.”
Rachel then pulled Mike closer, but before their lips met, Rachel’s headgear was hitting the plastic of Mike’s activator, getting them both to laugh.
“THo, kiththing ith out of the quethtion now,” Rachel said, while Mike said nothing: “but fow me that’th no weathon why you thhouldn’t weaw it. I think you look cute weawing it. That a tough guy like you lookth tho hawmlethth, jutht becauthe of a piethe of plathtic. What doeth it feel like to have thomething that big in youw mouth?”
Mike started to unhook the headgear, so he could answer Rachel, but immediately Rachel said: “Don’t even dawe to take it out.”
“I cah tah wih ih,” Mike tried, while some tears formed in the corners of his eyes.
“Jutht twy,” Rachel said: “If you don’t twy, you nevew leawn.”
“ahcuahy thih bwah mah meh feeh vehy ihsehuhe, eveh ih fwoh oh you” Mike stammered.
“I don’t cawe if you feel inthecuwe becauthe of youw cute bwace. Fow now you awe not thuppothed to take it out until tomowwow mowning, becauthe you thaid you’ll have to weaw it wegulawly and, ath I wath with you fow the whole weekend and latht week, I bet you have to make up thome time. I will make you a dinew that you can dwink, tho eating won’t be a weathon to take off youw bwace. Fuwthewmowe I will think of pwopwiate meathuweth fow a) not being completely open and honetht to me and b) thcawing the thhit out of me thith aftewnoon.”
And with these words Rachel stood up and left for the kitchen, leaving Mike in his own misery.
