Underneath My Skin

Ch. 8

"Briella, Dr. Styles will see you now." Jennifer, the receptionist says.

I smile and stand from my chair. I walk down the hallway and lightly knock on Harry's door. He says come in and I do.

"Briella, have a seat."

I sit in the chair directly in front of his desk and stair down at my lap.

"What's the matter?" He asks.

I look up at him and sigh. "Every thing."

I lace my fingers down in my lap and his eyes look down at my hands. I gulp. He looks back up at me with wide eyes.

"Your hand is purplish-blue. What happened? How'd you get a bruise like that?" His voice is laced with concern.

He is my psychologist so I can tell him.

"This man he-"

"A man did this to you?!" He rises from his seat. "Who?"

"I don't know his name."

He sits back down. "What happened?"

"My boss. Well, my stripper boss has got these body guards following me. One of them did this to me. I'm alright though, I don't think its broken."

He scoffs. "Of course your not alright. You must be terrified. "

I shrug and he sighs.

"So tell me." He says.

"Tell you what?"

"Everything about this week."

I sigh. " I met a guy."

He furrows a brow. "Oh?"

"Yes. I met him at my new job and he is wonderful. But I.."

"But you what?" He questions.

"I don't think I'm ready." I shake my head.

"Whens the last time you were intimate with someone Briella?"

I gasp. "Wh-"

"You heard me."

Why the hell is he asking me this? Its none of his business. But, I really need someone to talk to.

"Almost a year."

"Could you maybe see yourself being intimate with this new man?"

I sigh. "Honestly. Yes he's just so sex-"

"Spare me the details." He cuts me off.

"No, i'm suppose to let things out."

He sighs. "Continue then."

"He's sexy, sweet, and I can sort of tell that he cares about me. I'm just scared."

"Scared of what? That he'll have a disease?"

I laugh. "No, I'm scared to let him in. I'm scared I'll end up loosing him."

His eyes soften and I can almost feel his heart breaking for me. He really is a compassionate person. Its a good thing this is his job. But I do feel bad for leaving out that this man is in fact Zayn. One of his best friends.

"Okay, so your first assignment is trying to build relationships. Set aside your doubts, your fears, everything and just focus on building relationships. They don't have to be intimate just yet, because I know you were in love with your best friend and its hard to find that love again after his death."

I want to scream. Jackson is still alive inside of me. He still talks to me everyday all the time.

"My stripper boss is forcing me to basically be a prostitute." I blurt, needing to get that off my chest.