Queens Court

Chapter 11

Anthony knocked on Gabrielle's office door and peeked into her office. "Dr. Collins, your four o'clock appointment just called. He said he's parking and will be up in a minute. Do you want me to send him right in?"

Gabrielle looked up from her Hip Hop Weekly magazine. Her feet were kicked up on her desk. "Intercom still broken, Anthony?"

"Yes, I'll call them again." Anthony had already called maintenance about the intercom earlier that morning when they'd realized the system wasn't working.

"Thank you. Send him on in when he gets up here, please," Gabrielle said as she continued to flip through the pages. A couple seconds later, realizing Anthony was still in the doorway, Gabrielle looked up. "Is there something else?"

"Oh, no, no. That's it," Anthony said. He slowly exited the office, surprised that Gabrielle hadn't tried to hit on him or said one inappropriate thing to him. He smiled, glad Keira's little talk with Gabrielle had actually worked.

Once Gabrielle's patient showed up, Anthony showed him right into her office and went back to his desk to start finishing up for the day. Keira came out to the lobby at quarter after five. Even though Anthony was off the clock at five, he was never in any rush to leave, unlike Gabrielle. She was often the last one to get there and the first to leave.

"Is Gabrielle still in her session?" Keira asked. Typically, Gabrielle would swing by Keira's office to say good-bye-at 4:59 p.m.

"Yep," Anthony said.

Keira looked over at Gabrielle's door. "Who's she in with?"

"Devale Andrews. He's a new patient. He's a young guy. This is only his second session, I believe."

A suspicious look covered Keira's face as she continued to stare at the door. She thought out loud. "I wonder if he's that good-looking college student she was telling me about." Keira surely couldn't fathom Gabrielle staying late for any other reason. She was allergic to going above and beyond.

Anthony thought for a second. "Yep, that would probably be him." He finished gathering up his things. He wasn't the least bit concerned. Hell, anything to keep Gabrielle from bothering him.

Keira made her way over to Gabrielle's door. She knocked, but there was no answer. There wasn't any talking either. She heard some rustling around. "Dr. Collins," Keira called out. Once again, she got no response, but she could clearly hear someone inside the office. She checked the doorknob, but it was locked. She knocked again, slightly harder this time. "Dr. Collins, I need to see you out here, please."

Finally, Gabrielle came out of the office, quickly closing the door behind her. She was breathing hard, sweating slightly, and she was straightening her clothes and tucking her shirt inside her pants.

Keira tried to look over Gabrielle's shoulder and into the office before the door had closed behind her, to no avail. "Is that your four o'clock appointment still in there?"

"Uh, yes, ma'am," Gabrielle said, trying to sound professional. "We were wrestling with some serious issues in there today." She cleared her throat. "But we're starting to get to the bottom of it."

"I bet you are." Keira gave Gabrielle a sermon with just a look, and Gabrielle heard every word of it. Whether it would make any difference would remain to be seen.

"Well, uh, I need to get back on top of this situation. We'll talk later." Gabrielle rushed back in her office, quickly closing the door behind her.

Keira stood there with the door closed in her face. "Some things never change." She turned to see Anthony standing there, having watched the whole scene go down. "And aren't you supposed to be gone already?"

"Waiting on my ride," Anthony said with a blushing smile.

"All right, then. Got a little glow going on."

Anthony didn't respond as he walked towards the exit, a smile still on his face.

"Well, you be safe."

"I always am." Anthony turned around and winked, then pushed the door open and left.

"Enjoy your ride," Keira said, even though Anthony was long gone and couldn't hear her. Suddenly, an emotion hit her that caught her off guard and threw her for a loop-jealousy.