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“Anything you say here I’m required to keep confidential. You may tell me anything you like.”
Cough. Pen twirl. Can I say fuck off then? Probably not.
“I was a computer analyst. A nerd with no field experience. My boss threw me into the deep end with the sharks and I wasn’t the only one who got eaten. I can’t return to my normal duties until you pass me, and we both know you won’t. To be honest, I’m not even sure why I’m here.”
It was a fuck off of sorts, but at least a polite one. How I managed it, I wasn’t sure. Normally, stuff slipped out that I couldn’t take back.
“Why do you think I won’t pass you?”
Pen twirl. Was she for real? Might as well get this over with.
“I’m damaged, deficient, a freak. There’s only one man on this Earth who can touch me without me freaking out, and he’s crazier than I am. But I’d still fuck him in a heartbeat if he wanted me to. Shall I go on, or are we done here?”
She smiled. “Now we’re getting somewhere.”
What the hell did that mean? Maybe I got a psychiatrist that was also a psycho. Wouldn’t that be something? Like a Hannibal Lecter type, who sat there and fucked with people’s heads all day.
“Do I amuse you?”
She was still smiling, and it was a little creepy.
“Sorry. I was thinking about a psychiatrist being off their rocker.”
Her face fell. Balls. I’d gone and said the wrong thing again. Why couldn’t I even fail a psych eval without upsetting people?
“Mental health is no laughing matter.” She looked down her nose at me. “Now, shall we continue?”
Was it bad if I felt like screaming fuck my life?
From outside the door, I heard raised voices before the door swung open. I sat up, because I thought when you saw a shrink that you were supposed to lie down on the couch. There stood the last person I expected to see, the skinny little receptionist lady hiding behind her.
“I’m sorry Dr. Weston. I don’t know who this person is. I told her you were with a patient and that she couldn’t come in here, but she just brushed past me.”
Stella turned her head. “You’ve done your job and recapped what everyone can plainly see. Run along now, back to your desk, and look down your nose at the next person in line.”
She was a sight for sore eyes. How I’d missed her these last few days. Stella turned back to me and nodded at the psychiatrist. Briefly, I wondered if she thought Stella was off her rocker too.
“Bitch, if you’d answered my calls, I wouldn’t have had to drive all the way to Austin to talk to you. Cherry’s been worried sick, and I hate to say it, but I sorta miss her being perky.”
Balls. I’d deleted Stella’s number from my phone, thinking she probably hated me, and hadn’t answered any of the odd numbers that had tried to call me. A day after I walked away from Hunter, my sister had shown up at my apartment, after she blew up my phone, but I’d yelled at her to leave me alone. And she had.
The only people I’d spoken to since I’d gotten home were the agency and the psychiatrist’s office. And I’d only answered the call from the psychiatrist, after multiple tries, because my new boss had given me the number and told me to expect a call.
“Sorry. I figured you’d never want to talk to me again, after, you know.”
“Oh, you mean the part where you were secretly undercover trying to save Cherry when you didn’t even need to?”
Her hand rested on the hip that was sticking out just a little, and for the first time since I left the club, I smiled. What could I say? Stella might be crass and have a bit of an attitude, but she would always be my ride or die.
“How did you even find me?”
“I went by your apartment, and when you didn’t answer I asked Cherry to track your phone.” She shrugged. “I wasn’t about to turn around and go back after I’d driven all this way to talk to you.”
The psychiatrist cleared her throat. “I’m sorry, and you are?”
“Her best friend.” Stella crossed her arms over her chest. “Who came to tell her she won’t be needing your services because she’s not crazy.”
That was entirely debatable, but I appreciated her vote of confidence, anyhow.
