Diamonds in the Rough: VOL. I

four

Kianna wasted no time looking for a therapist after the conversation she had with her siblings. She wanted to be able to get back to being herself. Plus she couldn't afford to have another meltdown outside of her job. Especially not when the hotel manager had caught her at the beginning of an episode. The thought of that made her feel embarrassed.

She was extra careful over the past two weeks of work avoiding any type of contact with him. When she heard her coworkers whispering about him being around, she would lock herself into her rooms focusing on her job. It wasn't like she wasn't doing that before.

But now she was taking more time in each room. She didn't want to give him another reason to fire her. The first reason was a good one in itself. Every day for two weeks she wondered if he would come seeking her out to fire her. She had to tell her self that she was becoming too obsessed over a kiss that this man didn't even worry about.

She was beginning to ease her weariness until she seen him. Kianna was coming out of the supplies closet. She had just let her hair down ready to hit the showers so she could be on her way home. As she stepped out of the room Andre was leaning against the wall waiting.

Her heart rate picked up as she felt a lump form in her throat. "My fault I didn't meant to scare you." A smile formed on his face. "Kianna right?"

"Right." She cleared her throat. "About the other day. Well on New Year's." His eyebrow raised as he patiently waited for her to get out whatever she was tripping over. What she was tripping over. He almost looked as if he didn't know what she was talking about. That sent her tripping over her feet to get away from him.

This man didn't care nothing about her kissing him. He probably had females throwing themselves at him left and right. She had no reason to continue to worry about the kiss. So she decided it was time for her to go see a therapist. The truth of the matter was that it was a simple kiss.

It didn't do much for her. She didn't get to explore his mouth and touch him the way she wanted to. She was using the kiss as an excuse to not think about the fact that her medicine wasn't working at all. She was anxious, all over the place. Zipping through different moods within the matter of seconds.

She was triggered, and Andre, the kiss or even work had anything to do with that. Kianna looked over the red brick building in front of her and sighed. It was her, the shit she wouldn't speak on. A toll was starting to fall on her shoulders. She had to get that lifted or she would drown in her feelings of misery.

That was the last thing that she wanted so here she was. Pushing through the glass door. As soon as she was inside heat wrapped around her cold body. The winter could be hell sometimes. Snow had made its appearance of the year and it was still going. Kianna wiped her boots on the black welcome mat. The letters were colorful.

Something that reminded her of the rainbow flag on Keys bedroom wall. It wasn't big, but noticeable for Kianna. She probably needed to talk about her confussion with her brother as well. She appreciated seeing him be who he was. But she might not have agreed with his decision. Or wished she was at least there in the beginning of the process.

Kianna wasn't sure if that would have truly made a difference. She groaned realizing she was misplacing her feelings once again. She couldn't wait to get to the end of the long road she felt she was walking. Her eyes scanned over the small lobby.

There were huge snake plants in each corner. The elevator was straight ahead with four buttons above it. A bulletin board sat on the right wall full of different colored sheets of paper. The left wall was made of glass. There were different posters on it about PTSD. Kianna sighed as she moved forward.

Her skinny finger hit the up arrow button. She pushed her hands into the pockets of her coat waiting for the box to pick her up and deliver her to her destination on the third floor. As the doors opened Kianna found herself frozen into place. She knew she wasn't the only person who suffered through PTSD.