𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐌𝐞

10 | Aurora

When I said that I wished I could meet the man from last night again, this is not what I meant.

Dear Lord, remember me not being your strongest soldier?

Adrian and another man sitting on one of the sofa chairs were both staring at me. I started to look frantically at all three men in front of me with the same expression that said, 'What the hell?'

Wait. What if the man I met last night was just one of their friends? It can be a possibility. What if my patient was the other one sitting?

Though he didn't look like he needed any therapy.

"You both know each other?" said Adrian, pulling me out of my thoughts. I looked back at him and shook my head as if to say no, but before I could respond in words, that jerk spoke.

"Not much, but enough for me to tell what makes her nervous."

Did I mention that he's a complete jerk?

I glared at him, and he smirked in the same arrogant way he did last night. "I, uh, happened to walk into him last night," I said after clearing my throat.

"Last night?" The other man with sky-blue eyes asked, observing me carefully as if I had committed a crime and he was interrogating me, "What does that mean?"

"We accidentally bumped into each other." I said, maintaining my posture though my knees were giving up on me due to anxiety.

"Small world, isn't it?" That jerk spoke again, having so much amusement in his eyes. He was clearly enjoying this a lot more than he should have.

"Who is he, by the way?" I asked, hoping that this time the Lord would have mercy on me.

"I am Jade. Jade Grogan."

And just like that, all my hopes were now drowning in the sewer.

Note to self: never wish for anything again.

Wait! He is the one who slept with his therapists.

Am I officially in hell?

"Let's have a proper introduction, shall we?" Adrian cleared his throat as he and the man with blue eyes were still observing me carefully. I mean, anyone could freak out on the information that his brother and his about-to-be therapist had already met before they even introduced us.

"I am Dr. Aurora Monroe." I said, pulling my hands towards Jade, who arched his brow while he slowly licked his bottom lip. I knew what he was trying to do, but I was not going to fall for it. I just smiled sweetly at him and waited for him to shake hands with me.

"Aurora..." He said my name in a low and deep voice, pronouncing each syllable slowly from his tongue and drinking it like a fine scotch, as if he were memorizing it through his heart. He shook my hand gently, and I would be lying If I said that his touch didn't have any effect on me.

The way he said my name and the gentleness of his touch sent a lot of shivers down my spine, travelling through my body like an electric current.

I immediately pulled my hand from his grip, and the corner of his lips perked up. He definitely knew his effect on me, and I think I am in big trouble.

Pull yourself together, Aurora. He's a player. Don't give him satisfaction.

Adrian then introduced me to the man with blue eyes. He was Christian Grogan, their eldest brother.

We seated ourselves at the table, where I sat beside Christian and in front of Jade. He was wearing casual white t-shirt and black trousers. His hair was tousled, just like last night. But two things caught my attention.

One was the wrist band that he was wearing on his left wrist, the same hand where I saw those cut marks last night.

The second was the way Jade kept looking at Christian. As if he was pissed at him, not only for bringing me here but maybe for something else as well.

Both Adrian and Christian were busy telling me about everything when Jade excused himself, saying he wasn't interested in further conversation. I totally understood him. He was uncomfortable with all of the things that were directed at him as if he were a problem, rather than understanding that he just needed someone who could tell him that it was okay not to be perfect for once.

Both the brothers never disclosed the part where they could tell me what made Jade engage in such behaviors of self-harm and neglection. They told me that Jade stopped working in their business and about his habit of bringing women home for fun. But they never told me about the cause behind it.

But during our conversation and the way Jade kept giving certain looks to Christian earlier when he was sitting with us, one thing was clear to me.

Christian had a major part in Jade's story. Something that he was guilty of, he somewhere blamed himself for Jade's behaviour.

I never pushed them. Maybe it was really something bad that they believed that Jade was the only one who could ever tell that to someone if he wanted to.

Some stories of other people are never ours to tell, even if we know them. They are theirs, and it's their choice whether they want to tell or not.

I was also carrying a similar kind of past with me. But I was still not ready to open up to anyone even after everything became normal in my life, or maybe it seemed normal.

Maybe that is why I was so drawn to Jade and his life's secrets. Because somewhere, our stories or our feelings related to our past were similar.

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