SOUL TIES (The Sánchez Brothers Series, Book 1)

CHAPTER 10 : DEBBIE

"Miss Samantha Logan, please have a seat."

I smiled warmly at the almond-eyed woman and watched distrust settle in those grey irises. Her stare was hard and if I wasn't so hardhearted myself, I'd have been shaking in my boots. She looked like she wasn't comfortable with the therapist change idea but too bad for her, Vivian was no longer working in WeCare Inc.

"Hello."

I blinked once at how deep her voice was. It wasn't supposed to be a surprise though, nothing fucked up the vocal box like drug abuse. I waited for her to get settled in the sofa before I lowered myself too.

"I know I've done it before but I think I should still introduce myself again." I crossed my legs and placed my clasped hands on my thighs. "My name is Miss Deborah Rodriguez. Most people call me Miss Rodriguez but you can call me whatever you deem fit."

"Miss Rodriguez." She gave me a slow once-over and her eyes settled on my face. "You don't look Hispanic though."

That was because I wasn't, I only married one but I didn't think Miss Samantha had any use for that information. "Yeah, I get that a lot." She nodded slowly and I cleared my throat. "Like you were informed, Mrs Vivian is no longer available and I'll take over from where she stopped. I had a look at your files so I'm aware of your progress." Her face contorted a little and I had to quickly clarify. "Don't get it twisted, I only came in contact with your file after you were transferred to me. We respect the privacy of our clients in WeCare Inc."

Her features relaxed a bit. "Alright."

"Although I'd gone through your files, I'll still have to talk to you about some things in there. I and Vivian are different people so we obviously access things differently." Her head bobbed in agreement and I continued. "So I'm going to be asking you some questions and just try to get to know you better. A few might be a little too intrusive but it's nothing you can't handle."

"Okay."

I took a deep breath. "So how do we do this? The easy way or the hard one?" I hoped she understood what I meant, it was kinda direct anyway.

She seemed to contemplate in her mind for a few seconds before coming to a decision. "Hard way, I guess."

I nodded and offered her a small smile. "I respect that." I took a quick glance at her file and redirected my attention to her face. "Your drug abuse history? Would you mind throwing more light?"

"I got out of rehab about 2 years ago."

I shook my head and she stopped after her first sentence. "I want the genesis of the whole thing. When you started, how and why. You know, stuffs like that. And please take your time, we have a long time plus I happen to be a great listener."

Miss Samantha nodded and the brunette waves on her head shook as she did that. "Uhmm, I was 13 when I first started. It was a marijuana joint and my friend gave it to me. Tiana, that was the girl's name. I think she had already started experimenting before she brought it to me. Besides, I'd seen my brother smoke before then so maybe I was little curious. I can't really remember much really, it's been a long time."

I nodded in understanding, it really had been a long time. I was 18 when I experimented with recreational drugs the first time. It was my first college party and the goal was to get wasted. Some girl approached I and Nelly with angel dust. "It's harmless fun." Those were her words before she pushed a little baggie of the white powder into Nelly's hand. Snorting it was kinda clumsy but once it started to hit, I knew I'd never try anything like it ever again. I hallucinated to the point I thought I'd already died. The experience still made me shudder whenever I remembered it.