“Nate, I’ve been thinking about our sessions together, and I think it would be best if I refer you to a colleague of mine.”
“What…Why?” He sounds genuinely confused, which only adds to the niggle in my brain that something is off.
“I believe this particular therapist will suit you better.”
“Is this because I asked about Mia? I’ll stop asking about her.”
“No, this has nothing to do with Mia. This is to do with me. I want to make sure you get the most out of these sessions, and I believe an alternative therapist would do that for you.” I decided against mentioning the notes, and the fact that I saw him waiting for Mia outside the café. Confronting him at this point would be counter-productive. It’s better if his new therapist takes the lead on this. I’ve already made him aware of the situation and he’s agreed to incorporate it into his plan for Nate.
He huffs harshly, his nostrils flaring as his knee bounces relentlessly. “You know I think you’re jealous,” he says.
“What do you mean by that?”
“You’re worried that Mia likes me, and if you help me too much, then she’ll want to be with me and not you.”
“Nate, I can assure you that is not the case.” Not a chance in hell is that happening. Even if she hadn’t been staying at my house every night since last week, there’s no way Mia ends up with Nate, or any other patient for that matter.
“Do you know what? Fuck you. You’re a fucking shitty therapist and a worse fucking boyfriend, I bet. I bet you fuck her missionary every fucking time.” He spits the words out, his mouth curling in disgust.
Attacking my sexual prowess. How original.
“Dr. Abraham will be in touch to arrange your next session. It’s time for you to leave now.”
I won’t tolerate verbal abuse in my practice, regardless of the circumstances. I’ll need to mention this reaction to Dr. Abraham. Making a mental note to contact him tonight.
I get to my feet, opening my office door, and Nate storms past me, jutting his finger into my chest. “Fuck you. I’m going to the judge about this. You can’t just dump me with someone else to protect your girlfriend. I did nothing wrong.”
He sweeps through the waiting room, cursing loudly. He rips open the door, slamming it shut so the blinds jump back against the window.
Once he’s left, a stillness descends on the office, and I jump as I hear a small cough.
“Bad session, Doc?”
“Sean.” I look at my watch. “You’re early.”
“Yeah, the door was open, so I just sat in here to wait rather than my car. Too cold to sit outside.”
“Sure, did you want to get started now?”
“Do you need a minute?” he asks, his lips turning up into a small smirk. This guy gives me the creeps.
“Thank you, but I’m okay.” I check my watch, noting he was forty minutes earlier than his scheduled appointment. “Let’s get started.”
Fuck, I hated patients catching me on the back foot. Especially when he would have overheard parts of the conversation. I make a mental note to check the security door as well. He shouldn’t have been able to get in, but perhaps it was left on the latch as Nate came in. He certainly walked in a lot calmer than he left.
Sean is still failing to hide the smirk playing on his lips. Like he knows something I don’t. It feels almost predatory. I don’t like it, but we’re here now. I can’t reassign two patients in one day, so I need to push through, regardless of whether our sessions are making a difference to his recovery.
???
The notes stop after Nate is reassigned, thank goodness. Mia returned to the office the day after Nate left, but for the last few weeks, she’s been busier than ever. She’s been going over her questions between patients, at lunch, after work. She knows every data point, every reference, all her findings, inside and out. And she can do it all whilst ice skating. I have no doubt she’s going to smash through her defense. And I’d even organized a small get-together with everyone from the Dinner Club to celebrate. It was a surprise, so we could easily cancel in case the impossible happened.
I slip my arms around her waist as she stirs the noodles. Despite Nate moving to another practice three weeks ago, Mia has stayed here every night since. Our routine of taking turns to cook, combined with games, Netflix on the sofa, inevitably led to us falling into bed. She had started coming to the rink with me twice a week as well, and could now skate without the grip of the mountain climber tackling El Capitan. I’d been surprised she hadn’t bruised me when we first started. But now, she was crossing her feet and was eager to try skating backward too.
I’d sent a video to Teddy, and all he’d replied wasDon’t fuck it up.
I pepper kisses down her neck as she adds a little salt to the water.
“You’re distracting me, Dr. Adams.”
