So here she was in a big city working her shift at Starbucks. She had two jobs one that only gave her experience and time with what she loved most in the world art. Then there was the coffee house her job the one that gave her money, she would have never thought to have to work in a coffee house. But when you’re trying to be independent you have to make sacrifices and working in this coffee house was her sacrifice. That and that now she lived on a strict budget; she had learned what needs were and what were wants. She now actually worried about every penny she made. Gilbert and she had grown apart in the past months it was like the Gilbert she knew had vanished; now this shallow and conceited one replaced him. She didn’t know what had really changed him but it was either his new career or Steve. She had learned that Steve was really not that cute, he was actually really demanding and hurtful. He treated Gilbert like a door mat and it pained her to see Gilbert not noticing it. She dreaded going home now; she knew exactly what was going to happen. Either she would be alone all night or she would get into another argument with Gilbert.
She finished cleaning the last table in the shop, she smiled at her accomplishment. It was just time to close up, “I am going to lock up,” she told her co-worker. She slowly turned off the open sign and locked the entrance. She smiled as she saw Marco and his cab waiting outside. Marco was incredible he had offered to pick her up every night from her jobs which ever she had that afternoon or night. She waved at him and gave him a sign that she would be out soon.
“So, you say he’s only your friend? Huh?” said the petite blond as she grinned at her.
“Yes, only my friend.” She rolled her eyes as she looked at her. “Tiffany, we’re just friends ok? Now lets finish so we can go home, I have to go to work early tomorrow,” she said in annoyance yet she chuckled to show her she was only playing around at the same time.
“Sure, but I know your rushing cause you want to go see mister Latin lover,” she let out a laugh as she Lisa blush. “You like him don’t you?” she asked her.
“Nooo,” she said more as a maybe than a real no. “Ok, maybe he is cute but, I’m not his type.” She finished with a sad tone.
“Please, Lizzie he totally digs you. I mean why would any man whose job is to take people to their destination not do it, to come and pick up someone he only thought as friend. Please, girl he likes you or if not he would be out there getting paid instead of waiting her for you. I think you two would make a great couple,” she finished subtly.
“You think?” was all she said as looked out to the street to watch him sit on the hood of his cab. She smiled as she saw him through out his cigarette stub as he finished his smoke. He was truly a cutie and his charisma was great. She now preferred his company more than Gilbert’s.
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“It is so nice seeing all your sorry asses,” said Nick as he took a seat in one the chairs. “I guess I am no the only one who has gained weight here,” he said as he stared at AJ.
“Hey, at least I look good with the extra weight,” said AJ in return with a grin on his face. He knew Nick was only making the ambient more sociable. “I still can get the lady’s not that I am because I have already found the one,” he said as he too took a seat.
“I like your new look J, its healthy looking,” said Brian in his southern accent. “Unlike mister chubby cheeks here,” he went for Nicks cheeks only to have Nick jump from his chair. “I’m just messing with you man,” said Brian as he embraced the taller and younger man. He did the same with the other three men, “AJe, man you’re looking good, Howie it’s so nice to see you again, and Kev it’s definitely a pleasure seeing you again. Even though I did get to see a lot of you back in Kentucky.
Everyone finally after there hellos and compliments became quite, “So, I guess we are ready for another try right?” said Kevin as he looked at his other band mates.
“Yes, definitely I need to go back out there and give it my best, “said Nick automatically with a grin on his face.
“This time I won’t mess it up either,” said AJ subtly.
“You didn’t mess it up AJ; we all had problems going on,” said Brian as he patted AJ on his shoulder. “We are all glad to have you back though and this break did exactly that. It brought our pal back,” he gave his friend a genuine smile.
“His right AJ,” said Howie with a smile on his face also.
“There was no one to blame here we all had shit to deal with and this break gave us that chance. Now lets just focus on the now, which includes another record, am I right?” said Kevin in a fatherly tone.
“RIGHT,” they all said in unison.
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She nervously looked at the business card as she sat there waiting. She had finally had enough, she enjoyed her internship at the Modern Art Gallery but, she wanted to do art herself she missed the feeling of a brush hitting a clean canvas, she missed the pastels blending at the touch of her fingers and she missed the clay being molded in her hands. Yeah she had been able to write more but, she what she really needed was to paint or something. She was tired of smelling like coffee 24/7 and most importantly it wasn’t paying enough. She knew that her friendship with Gilbert was so strained that she didn’t know how much longer she could stand it. She knew she had to move out soon, so here she was waiting on her turn to see Thomas Green.
“Miss Vickers?” said the secretary as she looked at her in concern.
“Oh, yes I am sorry,” she blushed as she looked up at the poise young lady.
“He’s ready to see you now follow me,” she turned and started walking.
“Right,” she followed in silence as she saw the many different names displayed by each door. Finally she saw her stop and knock on the door with Thomas Green on it. She heard his voice tell her to let her in. She obediently walked in and gasped as she the enormous room. She gawked as she saw the drawing on the walls and frames with book covers.
“It’s nice to finally meet you,” he said to her as he watched her gape in admiration to his walls. “Denise, told me to keep my eyes open for you, she said you were one of a kind. She also told you probably not show up at all, but, I am glad you did. Cause if Denise says you’re good you must be.”
She turned toward the voice and was met with a tall well dressed man. He looked in his late forties and his smile looked friendly. “Denise, told you about me?” she asked as she looked at him.
“Yeah she called me a few months ago and told me about you. She really must appreciate you, because she told me you were meant to stand out. Denise is a great friend of mine and I trust her judgment. I am Thomas Green and I work for this lovely agency where we find the future authors and artists. But, my friends call me Tommy,” he stood his hand out to shake hers.
She smiled and gladly shook his hand, “Nice to meet you.” Had she done the right thing by coming here? She hoped so; apparently Denise thought she had a good chance.
“Well, let’s see your portfolio,” he said as he saw her holding it.
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“How do you feel about that?” she asked him as she caught herself checking him out. Lately she was seeing him more attractive. She was getting to the point of seeing him more than just his client and deep inside it worried her. She knew he was already confused enough. Especially today when he had finally told him about his worry toward this girl, he had not spoken of before. Yet she couldn’t stop staring at him, the way his vein popped out on his neck. His voice so sensual and his eyes it was getting hard for her to concentrate on just being his shrink.
“Hailey?” he smiled as he saw her checking him out. He had notice her, it was getting obvious that she was checking him out. He was human too and though he knew he shouldn’t think of it he did. He knew he was engaged to this wonderful woman, but seeing this gorgeous professional staring at him like she was made him wonder on what could be. How it would feel to be with a much older woman, he cleared his thoughts knowing that he shouldn’t let his mind wonder to that.
“Yes, so you have brought in to the picture this new girl. Why does she worry you?” she asked as she blushed knowing he had caught her gawking at him. She prayed inside to get through this session with out trouble. Later she would think about maybe recommending him to another shrink, because her reputation as a therapist was at stake.
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“Thanks for the movie and dinner,” she told Marco as she stood outside her door.
“Yeah, no problem I am glad you accepted my invitation.” He looked at her nervously, he had thought through this many times today. It was two months ago that he had pick this girl up and now here he was about to ask her to be his girlfriend. It was like they had so much in common, he believed in fate. So he blamed fate for there encounter to months ago, could she possibly be his soul mate?
“Yeah, it’s better than being stuck home alone,” she said nervously as she stumbled with the key in her hand. “So do you want to come in,” she asked as she finally was able to open the door. She blushed as she opened it for him to go through the door. She felt stupid struggling to open a stupid door.
He stepped in with caution as if he was entering a foreign country where he knew nothing about. “Nice place,” he managed to say as he gawked at the enormous space she called her living room.
“Thanks,” she said as she dropped her purse on the counter leading into the kitchen. She didn’t know what to do, but she managed to speak again, “well, take a seat, do you want anything to drink?” she asked nervously.
“Well, I still think we should celebrate your success! Lisa is now a new and upcoming modern art painter,” he smiled as he vowed toward her. “We should definitely celebrate don’t you think?”
“I think your right,” she said as she went into the kitchen only to appear a few minutes later with two glasses and Zinfandel bottle in hand. She started to fidget with the bottle to try and get opened. She sighed in frustration when she felt his hands on hers, she felt her heart jump. She started blushing thinking he had most likely felt her heart jump.
“Here let me try,” he said as he took the bottle from her hands. A few seconds later he was pouring it into the glasses. The peach colored liquid bubbled in the glasses as he rose his glass to the air, “to your success,” he then waited for her to rise hers.
“Ok, and to our new found friendship,” she smiled as she took a drink. She savored the taste in her mouth, how could she not be happy? She was finally going to do what she wanted.
He winced as he heard her say the word friendship, he definitely wanted more than her friendship. Of course she had not seen him wince, she just smiled at him. “So, I think I deserve to see some of your work,” he said as he sat beside her in the couch.
“I guess you can now look at it,” she said as she placed her glass on the coffee table. “Wait here,” she told him as she disappeared into her room.
She came back with a big portfolio, “these are just some sketches, my real work is back at home,” she told him as she took a seat next to him.
He took the portfolio from her hands and opened it, “Wow, these are really good,” he said in admiration to the black and white drawings. “Can I ask you a question?” he asked as he turned to face her.
“Yeah,” she said as she secretly said no, she didn’t know if she really wanted to be asked anything.
“How can someone as talented like you, think so low about yourself? Your – incredible,” he finally said. He looked into her hazel eyes and saw the surprise yet overwhelmed look in them. He didn’t know why but he inched closer to her face, not taking his green eyes from hers. He could smell her soft cologne hit his nostrils, she was so tempting.
She was shivering she thought as she saw him lean toward her, his face only inches from hers. His green eyes telling her exactly what he was thinking about at that exact moment, yet she kept repeating the word incredible in her head. He had called her incredible, she was incredible to him. She started to close her eyes as she felt one of his hands on the side of her face and then there it was. His soft yet firm lips on hers and she let him continue. He was very different to her first real kiss with – shall she dare think of him right at this moment. She pushed every memory of that and just enjoyed this kiss, genuine and his lips felt good on hers. This was a real kiss in which both had mutual feelings.
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“What? No, I like you and I feel comfortable talking to you. You can’t just tell me you can’t see me anymore. What am I paying you too little?” he asked her as he took a stand. He sighed and looked into her eyes, pleading her to tell him why?
“Mr. McLean, I just think I am not capable of actually helping you. You need someone else,” she said as she looked away to try to avoid his stare.
“I don’t get it? I thought you said I was progressing well,” he said as he plopped back into the seat he was once sitting in. He grabbed the picture from her desk and inspected the picture of the golden retriever and little red haired girl that hugged the dog. He smiled as he saw it; the little girl looked so happy playing with her pet. He felt her pull the frame away from his grip and place it back on her desk.
“I just can’t ok? I know what I said, but your -,” she just quieted down and sat back on her chair behind her desk.
“I am what Hailey?” he asked as he arched his eyebrow at her.
“It’s Dr. Dane,” she said patiently as she ran her hand through her hair. “You’re an uncommon case I just can’t handle,” she said in annoyance as she felt his stare on her.
“I thought you said I could call you by Hailey. It was more comfortable that way and you would call me Alex,” he said in annoyance too. He knew there was more to the sudden change in her treating him. Yet he knew she was probably right, he somehow felt like he was being rejected. He didn’t want to feel like that, so instinctively he rejected her offer of finding him someone else to treat him. He didn’t like to be told no for answer but no one did right? He liked her, he did and he knew she really didn’t want to let go of him as his patient. But why was she doing it then? “Fine, but at least be honest with me and let me know the truth. Why?” he asked calmly.
She sighed heavily as she heard him demand the real reason for her change in heart. “I – I can’t treat you anymore Alex,” she said slowly as she looked up at him. A long pause went by before she continued, “because I am getting too involved with your feelings and I am starting to feel things I shouldn’t toward a patient,” she said and looked down quick.
There it was the truth and inside he felt his heart leap. He felt himself smile inwardly as he repeated her words in his head. For him, knowing this made him feel alive, he was back. The Alex he thought he had lost was back and with full force. Yet he also felt sad, he too felt what she was feeling. Because even though he loved Sarah, he felt something like what she felt for him for – he took a deep breath and spoke, “My Mona Lisa,” he had said that out loud and it was too late. Finally he had realized the truth, he got too involved in her feelings and now he knew why he felt like he needed to see her or talk to her. All those sleepless nights and daydreams had an answer.
She arched an eyebrow and looked at him in curiosity, “huh?” she managed to say.
“Well if you are still my shrink I can explain,” he said as he looked up to the confusing face that now stared at him. “Technically we are still in session,” he said as he looked at his watch. “Besides, I know you would at least like to know what that name means to me, its related to the girl I grimly spoke of last session.”
Chapter End Notes:
Ok so I posted five more chapters hopefully soon I will have all my stories back up... hope you all like.
