A New Form of Therapy

Time To Get A New Number

I wake up to my phone going off. I bolt upright when I realize it is my work phone ringing. I reach over the bedside table and look at the screen. Why is Justin calling my work phone? I ask myself as I answer the call. 

"Hello?" I say, trying not to sound groggy. 

"Hey," Justin says shortly. There is no sign of his usual tone. "You need to look online." 

I groan. I never like those words. Nothing good, ever, comes from those words. I grab my personal phone though and type in Justin's name in Google. It doesn't take but a minute to see what is going on. Pictures. Articles. Speculation. 

"Crap," I say, mostly under my breath but Justin hears it. 

"Yeah," Justin says. "I thought we were being careful. I mean, we even went out on a real date and they didn't catch that. How did they catch this? I thought your building had a no photography policy." 

"It does," I say. "That's what makes me mad. You can bet that I will find out who posted these photos and then sue them for everything they are worth." 

"Calm down," Justin says. "I know it's bad, but just take a breath." 

I continue looking through the photos. There have to be at least a dozen of them. The old ones that continue to circle the internet, like the one of Justin standing in my window, but there are new ones too. Justin riding around the neighborhood. Him getting out of the car in the parking lot next door. A couple of him from when I saw him in the Mexican restaurant after meeting him. One of the articles speculated that he was moving in to the neighborhood. Another speculated the truth, at least part of it, that he was getting therapy. Another suggested an affair of some sort. 

"How could we possibly be having an affair?" I ask aloud. "Neither of us are in another relationship." 

"I'll take care of it," Justin says. "I just wanted you to see it first. We already have everything lined up to release a statement to the press about this."

"What are you going to say?" I ask. "Justin, if the truth gets out I could lose my job. I can't lose this job." 

I've been so happy being with Justin again that it was easy for me to forget how many professional lines I've crossed with just being with him. I violated the therapist/client protocol. I've let Selena call Justin and now Justin knows about one of my other clients- confidentiality protocol. 

"Don't worry," Justin says. His voice is hushed now. "As far as anyone else knows, we are still just having regular sessions. Once or twice a week, just like we set up originally." 

"What are you going to release to the press?" I ask. 

"The truth. Sort of. That I have some work going on in the area. Then I'm going to ask for privacy. The usual statement given when something comes up." 

Just then, my phone beeped with another call. I look at the screen to see an unknown number. "Hey, I have to go real quick. Someone else is calling me. Call me back on my personal phone." 

I switch the calls over and answer politely. "This is Lindsey. How can I help you?" 

"Hello Miss Booth," the voice says. It is equally polite. Not someone I recognize. "I'm with the Star Buzz online magazine..." 

I don't let them finish another word before I hang up. If magazines are starting to call, I have about two days to switch my numbers and let all my clients know. I'm going to pause all sessions too, for a couple days at least. 

Scarlet pops into my mind. Justin hasn't called me back yet so I decide to use my work phone to call Scarlet real quick. If anything, we can talk over the phone. I don't want any of my clients under scrutiny as they walk into the building. 

"Lindsey?" Scarlet asks, answering the call on the third ring. 

"Hey, Scarlet," I say. "I wanted to call you to let you know that I won't be able to meet with you today. I had... something come up and I can't meet with you in person today. We can still talk on the phone if you want. I'm so sorry about this." 

"No, no, it's fine," she says. "We can just meet another day. I have some scenes to shoot today anyways. I got that part in the TV show I was hoping for. Not a series regular, but I have a couple episodes lined up at least."

"That's great," I say. "I'm so sorry about this. I also wanted to let you know that I'm going to be changing my numbers either today or tomorrow. Just a routine thing I usually do. I'll call you with the new number." 

"Okay," Scarlet says. I hint just a bit of something in her tone, but my phone starts beeping again with another unknown call. I'm ninety percent sure I know who it is, but I still have to answer. 

"Can you hold on for just a moment?" I ask. I switch the call over before I hear her answer. "This is Lindsey. How can I help you?"

"Miss Booth," the same voice from the magazine. "Please, just hear me out. I got your number from an anonymous source." 

That strikes my curiosity. "Who gave you my number?"

"If I could just ask you a couple of questions," the lady's voice says. 

"You aren't getting anything from me," I say sternly. "Who gave you my number? Tell me or I swear I will sue you and the magazine for everything you have. My building has a no photo policy and any pictures posted or shared online are in direct violation of that policy. So unless you want to go out of business, tell me who gave you my number." 

I closed my eyes. Only my clients and their managers have my work number. I have a total of sixteen contacts in my phone, including my lawyers. No one else has that number. It has to be one of them that leaked it to the press. I don't know what I'm going to do when I figure out who it was.  

"They didn't give a name, but I have a number," the lady says. I hear papers rustling, like she's searching for something. "Here it is." She rambles off the number and immediately I know who it is. I can't believe it. How could she do that? I hang up the phone, ending both conversations. I pick up my personal phone and dial the one number I haven't used in a while. 

"Hey Leb," Katie says as she answers. 

**Side note here: this chapter was supposed to be posted yesterday like I had promised but for some reason it didn't. I was wondering why I wasn't getting any notifications, but anyways, here it is and it did post this time! 

What do you think about that little plot twist?**