{ #4 } The Darker Side Of The Moon (MxM || 18+)

Chapter 36 - An Innocent Step Forward

The Darker Side Of The Moon
Book 4 of The Black Moon series
Chapter 36: An Innocent Step Forward

Gary's POV – Wednesday 14 October 2015

"Hello?" Aaron's sleepy voice echoes into the phone.

"Am I waking you up?" I ask, checking the clock on my laptop.

It's almost 5pm here, and therefore 11am in Chicago. I thought he would be up by now. Aaron and I speak over the phone once a week, usually at that time of day, so that I can update him on Jeremy's situation.

"Oh, hi Gary! That's okay! If it's you, I don't mind and..." he says cheerfully. "It's time to get up anyway, I have a Sub training in about an hour. How are you two doing?" he then asks eagerly.

"Quite good, to be honest," I reply a bit smugly.

Very smugly actually. I'm really happy about how things are going on here. Of course, they could be better and go faster, but I'm determined to take baby steps like both therapists advised, and it seems to work.

"Is that pride I hear in your voice? Seems like you really took the right decision then, but you'll have to tell me more than last week..."

"I'm happy with the decision I took, indeed, even if it was hard leaving everything behind in Chicago," I reply, and Aaron knows what I mean.

The day I announced him I was going to take Jeremy to live in England, it didn't sit very well with him, to say the least. Aaron has always been fond of Jeremy, he sincerely missed him during his captivity, and he was eager to see him get better, maybe help in his healing. So, learning that his protégé was about to live 4 000 miles away was sort of a disappointment and led to a bit of tension.

It didn't last, though. As soon as I explained the situation, he quickly calmed down. I told him how hard it was for me to leave it all behind, my house, my friends, the country I love, but in the end, it was all for Jeremy's sake. Aaron understood that it was only in Jeremy's interest, and that if it was the solution for him to start a new life, then nothing else mattered.

"Yeah, I know that... How are you coping?"

"On my side, that's okay. I take comfort in seeing Jer getting better. Besides, I'll be in Chicago for a couple of days next week, so I hope you'll be able to free some time so that we can have either lunch or dinner together?"

This is part of the deal I made with my father. He entirely trusts me to work seriously from a distance – I mean, I know my job, right? And I have proved my efficiency over the years – but he was really adamant on me spending a few days in Chicago once a month, so I really need to attend these business review meetings next week. I hate having to leave Jeremy here, but he won't be alone. And one good thing is that I will be able to see some of my friends there.

"You bet I will! Now tell me more! You sound quite optimistic, how is Jeremy doing?"

"There are ups and downs, as expected. But all in all, he's okay. At least he's getting better. This is slow progress, but there's some improvement and this is all that counts."

"Great! How is it going with the new therapist?"

"Really good! I'm thankful Dr. Graaf connected us with her. She's come up with a weird idea for a therapy but I think it could work," I reply, before I explain him briefly the concept of the book writing.

I know that Jeremy's sessions with Dr. Fenton have to remain confidential, like they did with Dr. Graaf, so I have never forced him to recount me what happens there. However, I'm glad he sometimes opens up a bit. I found it a bit strange when he first told me about the idea of writing a book two weeks ago, but I thought it was interesting and encouraged him to ask for more details.