How not to fall in love with a Jerk

Chapter 2 - The Hangover

When I woke up, my body is in pain. I couldn't remember what happened or probably I refused to think that it did happen. Because I knew that he took advantage of my drunken state and I let him take advantage of me. Way to go, Bree.

I did expect that it was our first and last meeting.

It was just like a dream and I am skeptical if it did happen or not. But I guess, it did happen, but I just wanted to forget that it did happen. 

I could still picture his piercing eyes as we drank last night.  I admit that I am physically attracted to him. Part of me thinks that he is interesting but part of me does think otherwise.  

It's like my defense mechanism. Whenever I feel like I am liking someone, I think negative things about that person, especially, if I feel that we are not getting to the next level. 

What a waste of time.

I went to my daily routine and Marco is really getting into my nerves as he keeps on bugging me every 30 minutes.  I didn't have the energy to reply to his messages and I just ignored him the whole day. When I did get to my office, I saw a boquet of flowers on my desk.  When I saw the note, I threw them in the trash bin. 

Marco, Marco, Marco... 

I am getting sick of his romantic gestures.  I could just wish that he could distance himself once in a while so there is a room for me to miss him.  But because of what he's doing right now, I am beginning to feel a little bit disinterested on him.  

I had three patients for the day. The last two patients that I had were quite challenging.  I could not see any progress of getting anything from them from our last session.  Honestly, I am getting frustrated every time I am not able to get my patient’s full trust but I also knew that it is part of my job to get to the root cause of their problem.    

I was about to leave the office when I overheard the spiel of my secretary getting pertinent information from a prospective patient or client.  I didn't go outside yet and while I was waiting for the patient to leave, I've heard a very familiar voice talking to the patient. I peeped through the ajar of the door and when I saw him, I felt my knees weaken.

I couldn't believe it.  It was that guy I was with yesterday. I decided to wait for them to leave to avoid anything to do with that guy because it seems that the prospective patient or client his with, is his girlfriend. The way his body clings to her waist and encouraging her, I knew that they are very intimate with each other.  I couldn’t believe what a jerk he is for even cheating on his girlfriend behind her back and even pushing her to have a session with a Psychotherapist.  I am really in awe on how he encourages her. If the girl only knew what his ‘boyfriend’ and I did last night, it may bring more emotion than what she is currently carrying in burden. I’m in the midst of my outburst, when my secretary opened my door and it almost hit me. I was too stunned to move and when I gazed outside the door, I saw him staring at me and was surprised.  I could saw his face turning to beet red and he immediately removed his hands on his girlfriend’s waist.

"Dr. Cortez, I’m sorry” my secretary muttered. “They are insisting that they would like to speak with you first before they can schedule a session.”

What the heck. A lucky day indeed for me.

“That’s fine, Andrea.” I composed myself and went outside to greet them.

“Hi, I’m Dr. Bree Cortez. How can I help you?” I held my hand and the girl took it and smiled. I also shook his hand and I can feel that it was cold as ice and a little bit shaky.  I couldn’t contain myself and I gave out a smirk. 

He knew.  I knew.  His girlfriend does not know anything.

Awkward.

“Hi Dr. Cortez, I am Rina Suarez and this is my boyfriend, Jon.  We’re sorry if we have disturbed you but you were referred by my good friend, Althea Suarez.”

“Yeah, Althea is my highschool friend. So how may I be of help?” I looked into her eyes and I was avoiding his stare.

“Can we discuss this inside your office?” she said feeling embarrassed in front of my secretary. My secretary who is used to this kind of situation, looked away and began typing on her computer.

“Sure.  Please come in” I smiled and I led her inside my office.  Her boyfriend went inside too and he held her hand.

“Are you sure you want to discuss this in front of your boyfriend?” I asked.

“Yes, he knows and he was the one who encouraged me to be here” she said while looking at him.

“I see” I lowered my gaze and I feel very awkward having him here in front of me with his girlfriend. “So what do you want to talk about?”

“I –“ she looked into his eyes and began to stutter. “My grandmother recently passed away and I am having trouble sleeping and concentrating.  We are very close and she is like a mother to me.  I grew up with her and I was abandoned by my mother and... my father – I do not know where he is.”

I saw her playing with her boyfriend’s finger and continued. Jon has not changed his glare on me and I felt the shiver all over my body.

“And when I sleep, I usually have nightmares and sometimes I can’t contain my scream.  There is also one instance that I didn’t notice that I took a lot of sleeping pills and I almost died.” I could now see tears falling through her eyes.  She could not speak any more and she muffled inside her boyfriend’s arms.

I was silent and began taking some notes.  As much as I wanted to be professional here, I could not think straight in front of his cheating boyfriend.  I am mad, frustrated with his boyfriend.  Thinking that her girlfriend almost took her life, he still has the guts to cheat behind her back. I feel sorry for her.

“I would like to help you Rina.  But you need to help yourself as well.  I want your full commitment in attending all the sessions that I will schedule for the whole month.  I will also need to visit you at your house to check on you once in a while.  And Jon, you will need to support her all the way.” I really can’t look him in the eye.  But I saw him nod. 

“Thanks, Dr. Cortez.  I will make sure that she attends all the session.” Jon said while holding his girlfriend’s hands.  She calmed herself and smiled at her boyfriend. 

You Jerk.  I could not help myself but I was still able to hold my poker face.

“But I would suggest that you do our sessions alone, Ms. Suarez.  So I can better assess your situation.”

“I will try.  But I feel comfortable with my boyfriend around” she stammered.

“I see.  Let’s do this one step at a time.  He can join our sessions but not all the time, until you are comfortable with me.  Will that be okay?” I asked her.

“Uh… Okay” she then again looked at her boyfriend and seeks for encouragement.  I saw him nod in agreement.

“That’s great, Rina.  Andrea can help you in filing out some forms and schedule our sessions.  She will also provide my contact details just in case that there is an emergency.  Please do not hesitate to contact me” 

“Thanks, Dr. Cortez.” She smiled.

I smiled back and they went outside and Andrea assisted them.  As soon as the door closed, I sighed a relief and stared on my notes.  I was amazed of what I have written down:  YOUR BOYFRIEND IS AN ASSHOLE.

Okay, Bree, you really need to put your act together.

I know that this will not be easy and I need to help this girl ASAP.  The quicker she recovers, the quicker I can forget him out of my system.

But why do I feel butterflies on my stomach?