Cry, Wolf, Cry

Ch.10 - Therapy, Session Two

The next week when Caiti walked in for group she felt more confident in her ability to get out without help because she remembered to bring her collapsible cane. When she walked to the back of The Center where the group was meeting she was surprised to see most everyone already there. Lyd smiled and bounded to Caiti. Liam looked up from his seat, an empty one between him and Lyd. "Saving me a seat, guys?" She teased.

Lyd laughed, walking back to her seat and waiting for Caiti to sit down. She put her bag on the floor by her good leg. She winced, her leg a little sore from walking. "Are you alright?" Liam asked.

She nodded to him, "Yeah, just sore muscles." She lied. She wasn't ready to share with him about her left leg not working and using a cane or crutches. He'd find out sooner or later and they had only met last week. Most guys, even as friends, ran away at the sight of her with the crutches.

When group ended for the day Lyd left right away because her brother had some things he needed to get done. Caiti said they'd talk later and she went over to the regular tables and rubbed her leg. Theodore walked into the building in his regular security uniform and looked around for Liam. Caiti felt her heart speed up as she watched him.

Theodore spotted her and walked over to where she was sitting, "Hi, I'm Theodore. I'm looking for the therapy group that meets here. Do you know where they are?"

She nodded. "I'm Caiti, one of the members of the group. Is everything alright?" she asked, wondering if she was the reason he was there. If her parents finally believed her or if her sister had snuck the call out to the police for some reason.

"Yeah everything's fine, why?"

"Because you're here? What uniform is that anyway? It's not like any police uniform I've ever seen."

"Because I'm not with the police," he laughed, "I'm just a security guard for a local company."

"Then why are you here?" She asked "I'm not trying to be rude, I'm just curious."

He smiled, "That's fine. I'm here to pick up a friend of mine. Is it alright if I sit with you while I wait for him to appear?"

She shrugged, taking a deep breath as she did so, "Sure. So long as you're up for conversation, that is." She grinned.

He nodded, "Sure. What do you want to talk about?"

She blinked, caught off guard.

"Let me guess," he grinned, "you were expecting me to not be up for conversation and to walk away or go find my friend, right? I spend all night working alone during hours that most people are asleep and I live with my friend and his fiancé who used to be my neighbor so I'm used to conversation because she and I would sit and have tea for me to unwind after work and for her to start her day. We still do that now and then but she's been busy lately with trying to make sure things are in working order and there are author visits and things that she's planning for work. So long story short I'm pretty behind on my conversation quota and I love a good conversation."

She blushed, "I'm sorry."

"That's alright, Caiti was it?"

She nodded, "Yeah. So you live with your friend and his fiancé and since I've never seen you around here before I'm going to guess you're looking for Liam. He's helping with something, but I'm not sure what right off hand. Probably talking to Leader about getting added to the group e-mail list or something. Leader can handle some of that stuff, but making sure he understands things can be a challenge since he's not the most tech savvy."

"Understandable. A lot of people still aren't," he said, sitting across from her, "so you met Liam?"

"Yeah, last week most of the group was gone so it was me, another member, and him. You said you work for a security company?"

He nodded, "I just work as security. Kind of boring because all I do is patrol the grounds at night to make sure nothing gets messed with. It wouldn't be so bad if I had someone to talk to while I did my job or even if something happened."

"Does anything ever happen?"

"Nope. Usually I walk around and stop at different locations on the grounds and usually play a game on my phone or something. Look something up, listen to a book or radio, learn a language. When everyone was snowed in and I could make it in I was able to learn a language a few years ago, but since I never put it to regular practice I forgot everything."

"That would drive me nuts. I'm lucky I get to at least research some things."

"What is it you do?"

"I used to be a stock girl for one of the stores before what happened. Now I tutor by computer so I have different hours and some get pretty odd. I've found myself awake around 4 A.M. working on lessons because I had a dream of something odd or because I realize we missed something or the student asked me something that I didn't know about so I decided that research was needed and I've gotten really into it. Some of the things you learn by teaching are interesting."

"Like what?"

"Like the fact there's a picture book based on the old myth, rumor, whatever you want to call it that President Taft got stuck in the bathtub."

"You're kidding!" He laughed.

She shook her head, laughing, "Not in the least."

"Hey Theodore. Sorry to keep you waiting," Liam said, walking up.

"No problem man. You ready to go?" When Liam nodded, Theodore said, "I'll be outside in just a minute." Liam nodded and headed outside. Theodore turned back to Caiti and rubbed the back of his neck, "I really liked talking with you."

"You're not bad yourself, even if you're out of practice." She teased.

"Would you maybe want to have a cup of tea some time or just sit and talk some more?"

She smiled and took a card out of her bag, writing something on the black back side before handing it to him, "Here, text or call me some time? My personal e-mail and phone number are on the back."

He took the card from her and nodded, taking out his wallet and putting her card inside. "Do you have a scratch piece of paper and I'll write mine for you?"

She handed him a piece of paper and a pen and watched him write out his information.

"I better get going before Liam gets anxious. Talk to you soon, Caiti."

"See you later, Theodore," she waved as he walked out of The Center. She started putting her book away and made sure the paper with his information wasn't going to get torn up or lost in her bag while she pulled out her cane and started assembling it. She left The Center and made it a block down the road before it hit her and she sent Lyd a text "I think I just agreed to a date". She looked at the message and smiled, laughing.

Lyd started texting Caiti and agreed to wait on an e-mail when Caiti had more time to explain what happened. Caiti couldn't wait to tell Lyd more about Theodore, but she was nervous about what he would think when he found out about her leg. What would he do once he knew what she'd gone through?