Twisted Fate

Chapter 3

Rhea's POV 

A few nights later, I called my friend Elena to see if she wanted to grab a bite to eat and talk. Thankfully she said yes. I really needed to get this Evangeline thing off my chest. What was I supposed to do? Should I tell Bill I couldn't see him anymore? Should I keep quiet since it was so many years ago? I didn't want to quit seeing he and Evan as clients, but I know it's selfish of me to keep this information to myself.

I knew there was a possibility of it affecting me so I couldn't properly counsel them. But what if it wouldn't have any repercussions at all. It's not like Evangeline and I had recently dated, or even still spoke. Neither of us had tried to contact one another after breaking up. To be honest, she hadn't even crossed my mind since then. My mind was spinning, I needed someone else's opinion and Elena was just the one to give it. She would be very blunt and would tell you how it is, which is exactly what I needed.

We picked a small restaurant downtown that not many people knew about. It was a hole in the wall type of place, most wouldn't even know it was open if they walked by. The food was fantastic, better than most five-star restaurants. We'd barely sat down before she started in on me. "Okay spill, you look as you're going to explode if you don't tell me whatever secret you have."

"Well...okay so you know how I dated Evangeline my first year of college?" I asked refusing to look up from the table, pretending like the placemat was the most interesting thing I'd ever seen, and at this moment it was.

"Yeah what of it? Did she try contacting you?" Elena tapped the table a few times, knowing that it would drive me crazy enough to look up from the table. She knew exactly the little things that annoyed me to no end, and she knew how to use them against me.

"No, um actually she passed away a few months ago. N' I'm counseling her widower and daughter. Is that weird?" Our drinks arrived, I downed mine within a few seconds. The waitress brought another and after downing that one, she decided it would be best to leave the bottle of vodka. I've never been a drinker, but right now I couldn't stop. Normally I hated the feeling of being out of control that came along with drinking. Even in college, when I went to the bar or parties I would only have one or two and then watch all the drunk fools. It was more entertaining to watch everyone else stumble around and make stupid decisions rather than be that way myself. The only time I'd ever really been a drinker was after the breakup with Evangeline. Ironic that she was now the reason I was drinking again.

"UMM, YEAH. Did you know that before they came in?" She raised an eyebrow, looking at me until I looked up from the table. She was never one to shy away from confrontation. She had a terrible filter, if she thought something, you would know soon thereafter. She and I had that in common, however, she was even blunter than I was. She would tell a stranger how terrible something looked on them without even batting an eye, thinking there was nothing wrong with doing it. She worked as a personal assistant which allowed her to be her normal self and not hold any of her opinions back.

"Of course not. I would never have agreed to be their therapist if I'd known." I downed another shot. This was a lot harder than I thought. It was an ethical dilemma, that I just didn't want to deal with. Bill seemed like an amazing man that only wanted the best for his daughter. It's a one in a million chance he would have married Evangeline, had a daughter, Evangeline passes away, and he picks me a therapist. If someone else has told a story similar to this, I wouldn't have believed them for a second. It would make for a perfect movie...well, of course, we'd have to fall in love for that to be true.

"Then why would you continue it now? It's no different. There's still the conflict. It doesn't go away just because you've already had a session with him. Besides you don't want to lose your license." I knew she was right, but I didn't want to accept it. I didn't want to stop counseling them. I'd only seen them once, but I was sure I could help them and Bill was, well captivating.

"But what if it wasn't a conflict. I haven't talked to her for 11 years. It's not like we still knew each other. She was a completely different person, I know I am," I spouted.

"Do you have a thing for the widower? I think you do. Rhea, you may be the psych major, but I can read you like a book." She raised a brow again. Damn, I was jealous she was able to do that without any training. It took me years to learn to be able to read people and I still have trouble with it. She always used it against me.

"Okay, yeah...kinda, but it's was more admiration than anything. It was amazing to see how devoted he was to his daughter. You don't see that a lot. It's normally the mother...."

"Rhea, listen to me. Do what you want, but you know it's not right. I know that it's hard to think rationally. If you don't want to make the decision then you need to ask him how he feels. If he feels uncomfortable, then you're gonna have to let him go." I shook my head knowing she was right. I wasn't going to make the decision, so he was going to have to do it. I tried focusing on the conversation, but my mind kept wandering to the situation at hand and how I was going to handle it. We stayed there for a little longer, leaving before either of us became too drunk to make it home without assistance.

"I may have done something I wasn't supposed to," I whispered, wiping my hands on my pants.

"What did you do?" Elena was quite, she must have known this is serious since she hardly ever whispers.

"I may...have...ummm...looked Bill up online and that's why I know all this information. He never said his wife's name and when I got home that night I couldn't stop myself from it."

"RHEA, are you fucking serious. Do you know how much trouble you can get in? For fuck's sake Rhea, what is wrong with you? You've never done anything like this before. Get your head out of your ass and stop whatever feelings you have for this man. It's unprofessional and a little creepy, how would you like it if someone had done that to you?" I didn't have anything to say, she was right. I needed a reality check, I just hoped that it didn't come to the point of me losing my license for it to finally sink in. I was a psychologist for Christ sake, I know better than anyone how to control my thoughts and actions, yet here I was ignoring everything I'd been taught.