His Therapist

Chapter 3

She held up her left hand, showing off the fat sparkly diamond on her ring finger.

Thea blinked. Once. Twice.

That wasn't real... was it? The diamond reflected the light, appearing so lustrous and shiny, she could only stare in shock. She almost missed the broad platinum band that held the expensive shiny rock together. The fact that anyone could afford a diamond so large was beyond her comprehension.

She opened her mouth but it was dry, unable to form words. She could feel Elio's eyes burning holes into her skull as she stared at the woman, dumbfounded.

"You guys are... married?" She asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Yes, we are." The woman replied, a warm expression on her face. Her "husband" didn't even bother to look up, even when the dark-haired beauty reached over the table to squeeze his hand.

Well, shit, Thea thought to herself. Not only did he cheat on his wife, but he also cheated on his wife the day before their 5th anniversary. That was a type of cruelty she never wanted to experience.

Remembering that he didn't have a ring when she had checked last night, she glanced over to his left hand which, unfortunately, happened to be under the table. He didn't even have the balls to look up at any of them and instead, he only stared out the window off to the side.

Thea swallowed the nervous lump in her throat. She had willingly slept with a married man without even knowing, going against all her morals, (which were never anything too extreme in the first place).

She saw two options before her. Do the morally right thing by telling his wife that she had slept with her husband and ruin their relationship on their fifth anniversary or...

Lie and pretend that nothing happened.

"Is there something wrong?" His wife asked, raising a concerned brow. Even though Thea knew how iniquitous it was, she still went with the latter.

"Congratulations!" She finally managed to say, offering her a warm smile. She wanted to tell the woman everything that had happened last night but she couldn't bring herself to. She seemed so happy and Thea had no intentions of standing in the way of happiness.

"Is there anything else you would like or do you just want the cake?"

"Just the c-" She began to say before Elio quickly cut in.

"Can I get a caramel milkshake with cheeseburger and fries?"

Slowly turning her focus to him, Thea nodded and smiled, using every bit of her willpower not to reveal the anger inside her eyes. She began to write his order on the notepad she had in hand before looking up again to meet his gaze.

"Of course, I'll be back with your food in a few moments."

And with that, she turned a heel and walked away, trying to keep herself together as long as possible.

...

"Hello." An all too familiar voice said from behind her. She froze, immediately recognizing who it was. She slowly turned around to see the tall brooding man hovering over her.

"You're not allowed to be back here," Thea noted, although that was the last thing on her mind. Her eyes glanced over at the booth he had been sitting at with his so-called "wife" to find no one there. And while Elio was right in front of her; his wife was nowhere to be found.

"I'm sure you can make an exception." He said, almost cockily. "We need to talk."

For a second, she had lost the ability to think correctly once she had caught a whiff of the familiar light scent of cologne coming off of him. The one she remembered all too well from last night.