Chapter 35

I followed the directions Vanessa gave me to Dr. Haywood’s office. It was just Northwest of Texas Health Arlington Memorial Hospital. The office was actually a set of several offices all built together, sort of like a strip mall, only in a circle with the parking lot built around it rather than a straight line of stores with parking on one side. The overall décor was simple dull brick with white trim. I followed the signs around until I found Dr. Sophie Haywood’s office.

I parked and sat in my car for a moment. I still felt a little paranoid. If Neil’s look-alike had seen me leave, he might have followed or had someone else follow me. The last thing I needed was for someone to booby-trap my car or barge into the office to get me.

I closed my eyes and thought about the alarm spell I put on my apartment. My car already had an alarm system on it, but that could be circumvented by anyone with any auto mechanical knowledge. I knew how to bypass it for that matter. However, only another Magus could bypass a magical alarm. I didn’t want to stun anyone this time, only make the alarm go off. I imagined the spell to use the built-in alarm system even if it had been disabled should anyone with harmful intent touch my car. I shaped the spell to the outside of the car, and sent out the energy to power it.

Feeling better about that, I got out and went to the office.

The waiting area for Dr. Haywood’s office used soft colors and lighting. The furniture was made up of bare-wood arm-rests and legs with leather seats and backs. Artwork decorated the walls, and a few plants gave the place a little life.

I spotted Jana sitting in a corner by herself. Granted, other than the receptionist, she was the only person there, but I could have found her in the most crowded room. She had her hair pulled up in a tight bun, leaving her long, lean neck bare. The simple white blouse and black slacks she wore were similar to the outfit she wore the night we met. She sat with her legs crossed and her phone in her hand. She smiled briefly at something, but it was a fleeting emotion.

I opened the door and stepped inside. She looked up, saw me, and any humor or good feelings faded away. I had been told she had made good progress here. If that was the case, my presence might be a setback.

A man sat behind the receptionist desk. He looked young in the suit he wore. He too looked up as I walked in. “Can I help you?”

I walked up to him. “Yes. I was asked to sit in for a session today.”

“And your name?”

I pulled out my wallet and handed him my ID. “Seth Connors.”

He made a photo copy of my ID, handed it back along with a clipboard and a pen, and said, “Fill these out.”

I looked them over. “I’m not a patient.”

He looked up again. “If you’re not a doctor, you’re a patient.”

I nodded and took the papers over to sit next to Jana.

Jana was in a chair, which meant I couldn’t sit with her, only near her. I took the adjacent chair. She avoided looking at me. Nothing. Not even ‘hello’.

I filled out the paperwork, which included signing a non-disclosure agreement about any sessions I might sit in on that were focused on someone else other than me. When I was done, I gave the paperwork and pen back to the receptionist.

Now that I was waiting with Jana, I realized it wasn’t just very quiet in the waiting area, it was almost deathly silent. There wasn’t even any music playing. That unnerved me a bit. Shouldn’t there be calming sounds for anyone anxious about their session?

I turned to Jana. She refused to look at me. “How are you?” I asked, as quietly as I could. She didn’t say anything or respond in any way. I wanted to nudge her, to get a response, any response, but thought better of it.

A door leading further into the office area opened up. A woman came out. She was easily in her fifties, if not older. She had on a sweater and a long skirt. Her shoes had thick heels, and her hair was dark but the color didn’t look natural. She looked a little upset.

Following her was another woman. She was a little taller, with dark wavy hair to her shoulders, lightly tanned skin and a slim frame very similar to Jana’s. She wore a sleeveless blouse that had tiny black and white checker pattern and ruffles along the neckline and around the armholes. It was tight and showed off her bust line. A black leather belt cinched her waist, and a snug black skirt flowed over her hips and halfway down her thighs. Stockings encased her legs and black high heels finished the ensemble.

The younger woman had a gentle smile and walked with the older woman to the receptionist. “Please set up another meeting for Mrs. Fillmont for the same day and time next week, Andy.”

Andy nodded and typed in some notes on his computer. Then he wrote everything on the back of a business card and handed that to Mrs. Fillmont.

Mrs. Fillmont took the card and the younger woman walked with her to the door. She said something else to Mrs. Fillmont which made the older woman smile. Then Mrs. Fillmont left the office.

The younger woman turned, spotted me and Jana, and strode our way with a sure stride. “Jana, it’s good to see you again.”

Jana and I stood up. Jana shook her offered hand, but didn’t say anything. I again had to question the validity of my presence. I didn’t see how it could possibly help.

The woman turned to me. “And you must be Seth Connors.”

I nodded and shook her hand too.

“I’m Dr. Sophie Haywood,” she said. “Please, call me Sophie.”

“Call me Seth,” I said and we both turned to Jana.

“Okay, Seth. Jana, we’re all ready to start,” Sophie said and went back to the same door she exited a moment before.

I waited for Jana to follow. She did, but only after throwing me a vicious glare.

I knew Jana had anger issues, especially with men. It was the reason she was seeing a psychologist, but what was with the new level of hostility?

The inner office was only slightly bigger than the waiting room, however, it made up for that with more comfortable seating and warmer lighting. The wall to the left was lined with books and various decorations such as vases and a few pictures. The wall to the right had her diplomas and degrees in frames, along with a few Rorschach inkblots in frames. The wall across from the door we came in had a large mural of an open field and mountain ranges off in the distance. There was a desk to the right with a large leather chair, but it was in the corner, like an afterthought to the room. A long couch and matching chair dominated the center of the room, with a small coffee table between them and a large area rug giving everything a sense of connectivity.

Sophie waved at the couch. “Please, have a seat.”

Jana went and sat on the couch. I followed her and sat next to her, but without touching. Sophie took the chair.

“I don’t know if you’ve ever had therapy, Seth, but I normally don’t allow anyone to sit in on my sessions with my patients. I believe it is a distraction or disruption to any progress we might make.”

I blinked at her. “Then why ask me here? I don’t want to be a problem.”

“A mutual friend and colleague, Dr. Isabella, suggested I talk to you together to get a feel for the dynamics of your relationship,” Sophie said.

I nodded and relaxed, but didn’t say anything.

She studied me and Jana for a minute. “You two don’t show much affection toward one another. Is that normal?”

I arched an eyebrow and looked at Jana. She refused to look at me and didn’t say anything. I looked at Sophie. “I’m going to guess that she talks a lot more than this during your other sessions, which means her silence is because of my presence.”

Sophie’s curious expression mixed with something else, something I didn’t think I would like. “Do you normally not let her talk?”

I shook my head. “Nothing of the sort. I let her do pretty much anything she wants with a few exceptions.”

“What kinds of exceptions?”

“She’s not allowed to use a whip or crop on me,” I said. “We haven’t done anything beyond that, but she hasn’t tried to either.”

“She hasn’t?” Sophie glanced at Jana. “Does she normally initiate sex?”

“You misunderstand. When we get together, it’s already understood by both of us that sex is going to happen. She chooses when it starts.”

“Are you saying your entire relationship is based on sex?”

“Unfortunately,” I said with a nod. “But there’s room for more when she wants it.”

Sophie studied Jana. She leaned over to make better eye contact with my Fonte. “Talk to me, Jana. We’re both here to help. Is Seth right?”

Jana crossed her arms over her stomach. “I come to talk to you, Sophie. I don’t need him here for that.”

I wanted to get up and leave. If my presence was making things worse, then they didn’t need me here.

“You never told me about your relationship with Seth before,” Sophie said. “Only that you were seeing him.” She nodded at me and said, “I’ve learned more about your relationship with him in the last minute than in the weeks we’ve talked.”

Jana gritted her teeth and refused to speak.

I stood up. “I think you’re right, Doc. It would be better if I weren’t here. You’ll make better progress.”

Sophie reached out to stop me. “Wait, please.”

Jana shook her head, rolled her eyes, and looked away.

Sophie looked up at me again. “Let me ask just a few questions, okay?”

I glanced at Jana again. “If it helps, okay.” I sat down.

“Okay, so how did you two meet?”

“A mutual friend introduced us,” I said.

“Did this friend intend for the two of you to become a couple?”

“No,” Jana said abruptly. “He was her date that night.” Her tone was harsh, chiding.

“Oh. I see,” Sophie said. “So, then, when did you two start seeing each other?”

Jana harrumphed. “That very night.”

Sophie frowned and studied both of us. She looked at me. “What about your date?”

Jana looked at me with a huge ghastly smile. “That’s the kicker. I joined the two of them, and another friend, a third woman. The four of us spent the entire weekend together in that hotel suite.”

Sophie looked increasingly flummoxed. “What?”

Jana sat back. “That’s the thing about him: all three of us are still seeing him. To top that, there are a bunch more he’s seeing besides us.”

She made me sound like some kind of con man or chauvinist pig. Maybe I was. All I could do was sit there and fight to keep my face from burning with anger and embarrassment.

Worst still, Sophie ate it all up. She looked at me with her mouth agape. “How many women are you dating currently?”

“Oh, there’s no dating going on,” Jana interjected. “It’s all sex. Sex from dusk till dawn. Sex until he finally passes out. And even then he might wake up in the wee hours for another round. There’ll probably even be another before he gets dressed for the day.”

During my Fonte’s berating, Sophie dragged her eyes from me to watch her.

I looked at Jana too. “I don’t talk to anyone about this. Why are you making it sound like I do?”

She met my eyes and hers burned with anger. “You’re only in it for the sex. You don’t care about the consequences or whether any of us might want a different life.”

I frowned. “I wasn’t aware anyone wanted a different life, but if that’s what you want. If you want me to let you go, I will.”

“Hang on,” Sophie said. “I thought she was the Dom in this relationship.”

We both looked at her. “It depends on what aspect of the relationship you refer to,” I said.

Jana turned to me and slugged me in the shoulder. “And that’s something else. Why don’t you take more control? Huh? Jordan told me about Emma, about what it means, whether you want to believe it or not. Why don’t you man up and take responsibility?”

I knew what she was talking about, though Sophie probably thought it was something else entirely. “This is NOT the place to discuss it.”

“Why not? She won’t tell anyone.”

“It’s not secured.”

“You could make it secured.”

I shook my head. “There’s no point. I’m not likely to be invited back after this session.”

“Oh, please. I’ve been talking to her about things that bother me, but I’ve never talked about you or why I’m with you. She wants to know why.” Jana turned to Sophie. “Wouldn’t you like to know why I’m with him, especially since my anger is with men in general? Wouldn’t you like to know what would force me to go against the one glaring trait in my personality that would normally guarantee I wouldn’t?”

Whether she knew it or not, Sophie nodded.

Jana turned to me again. “The one reason...”

“Don’t,” I said.

“The only thing that would make me be with a man...”

“Don’t say it,” I said.

“Is ... the sex.”

I threw my hands up – she gave it away. Then her words sunk in and I looked at her again.

Sophie had the same perplexed expression.

“I was drunk the night I went up to the hotel suite and joined him and his date.” She turned and looked at her therapist. “You see, I’d had a crush on her for ... well, forever. Unfortunately, she didn’t feel the same for me. Yet, I knew if I could be there for her should something happen to her marriage, then she might see me in the same light. Unfortunately, Seth was the one to save her from her abusive husband. He was the one who received her thanks. All I could do was invite myself into their bedroom.”

I reached out and placed a hand on Jana’s. She tensed at first, and then the effects of our touch filled her as it did me. Yes, lust was there, it made me want to do more than simply hold her hand. I noticed her nipples harden through her bra and blouse. Yet, just as potent as our desire to find some place to copulate, we felt a sense of euphoria that overrode my anxiety about this session.

All at once, I realized that if I hadn’t already known that I cared for Jana, that touch would have confirmed it for me.

Jana’s eyes widened just a bit and she looked at me. She was obviously expecting the absolute lust our touch previously incited and this change was either a pleasant surprise or a welcome change. Maybe both. I was surprised when she turned her hand and gripped mine too.

Sophie blinked at both of us, started to ask her question, hesitated and then asked it, “Are you saying you’ve stayed with Seth because you got to have sex with more women?” I was pretty sure she wanted to ask something else, but maybe it wasn’t important enough.

Jana shook her head. “I have sex with him. I hate admitting it, but it’s good. Really good.”

Sophie glanced at me and asked her, “You still have sex with other women too?”

Jana nodded. “But, as long as I have a choice in the matter, I won’t let him leave either.”

Sophie turned to me. “Did you know she continued having sex with other women too?”

I nodded. “Yes. Sometimes she and I will have sex with another woman together.”

Sophie blinked and looked at each of us. She focused on Jana. “You said he’s the best sex you’ve ever had. Isn’t sex with a woman different?”

Jana thought about that for a moment. “To a degree, yes.” She glanced at me and then said, “He feels better than any strap-on or toy. And his skills have improved immensely since he gets in so much practice.”

I shook my head. “You taught me most of what I know.”

Sophie frowned. “She said practice.”

I nodded. “And everyone appreciates the techniques she’s taught me.”

Sophie blinked and wiggled her hips as she thought about that for a second. Then she looked at Jana. “The one thing that bothers me about rating Seth so high is that shouldn’t there have been another man at some point?”