The Therapist's healing heart

Uninvited Guest

The morning light filtered through the blinds, casting soft stripes across my office floor. I rubbed my eyes, feeling the weight of another restless night. My mind was still clouded with confusion and the lingering memory of Andre's kiss—a kiss that had sent my carefully constructed world into chaos. I had spent days trying to regain some sense of normalcy, to remind myself of the professional boundaries that defined my role as a therapist.

As I flipped the switch to turn on the lights, a figure startled me from the corner of the room. My heart raced as I turned to see Andre casually lounging in my chair, arms crossed, with a relaxed expression that seemed to betray the tension between us. His dark hair was tousled, and his brow furrowed as if he had been lost in thought.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I demanded, half-expecting this to be a cruel trick my mind was playing on me.

He straightened up, his demeanor shifting from relaxed to tense. "I wanted to talk."

"Talk? You just stroll into my office like you own the place? Do you have any idea how unprofessional that is?" I shot back, anger bubbling beneath the surface.

"Stop talking about professionalism for once, Elara," he said, his voice steady but laced with frustration. "We need to clear the air. This silence between us is killing me."

"Is that why you're here? To make me feel guilty?" I retorted, crossing my arms defensively. The last thing I wanted was to feel guilty, especially about something I had tried so hard to suppress.

"It's not about guilt!" he insisted, taking a step closer, his eyes intense. "It's about what happened between us. You can't just ignore it."

"Of course I can! I'm your therapist, Andre! That's the whole point of this—there are boundaries!" I felt the heat rise in my cheeks, the familiar anger taking hold. How dare he come into my space and challenge me like this?

He clenched his jaw, frustration evident in every line of his face. "Boundaries? Is that what you think this is? A simple boundary issue? We kissed, Elara! This isn't just about therapy anymore, and pretending it is won't make it go away!"

"Why are you making this so complicated?" I shouted, my voice echoing off the walls. "You're acting like we're in some romantic movie. We're not! I can't just throw everything I've built away because of some... moment!"

Andre's gaze hardened. "And why the hell not? Why can't you acknowledge what's right in front of you? You feel it too! You can't just shut me out because it's inconvenient for you!"

I felt my heart racing, the anger transforming into something more vulnerable. "You think I want this? You think I want to feel this way about y-"

He stepped closer, his frustration palpable."Elara, how can you be so fucking naive? Do you think all of those times when i made you open up, how i made you open up, all of those words were just self taught thoughts?"

I froze, his words crashing over me like a wave. "What...?"

"Do you really think I didn't plan for this?" he continued, his voice rising. "I'm a licensed therapist! Your friends hired me because they were worried about you! They paid me to help you break down those walls, to push you past your comfort zone. I didn't expect to fall in love with you in the process!"

The revelation hit me like a punch to the gut. My breath caught in my throat as I processed what he had just said. "You were paid to help me?" I whispered, disbelief clawing at my insides. "So everything you said was part of some... arrangement?"

"It wasn't just that!" he protested, desperation spilling from him. "I was brought in to help you, yes. But then I found you—your strength, your vulnerability—and I fell for you. This isn't just some therapy game for me!"