The Imperishable Flame⎪✓

❨25❩

♀︎

"Did the two of you have sex in our dorm?" Lucy asks through the phone and I roll my eyes, she has been asking this exact question for the last two days and I manage to lie every single time. It doesn't concern her and I find it annoying that she's allowed to have sex with Travis in our room and now reacts like this. 

"No, Lucy. Why do you keep asking that?" Trying to force the lie out of my lips is fucking hard, but I really don't want to discuss the fact that Elijah and I had sex again. Especially not because of us being sober this time, we wanted it, both of us. He was perfect the morning after and I find myself falling deeper. The unknown emotions are scaring me. 

I can hear the scoff through the phone, "I could smell sex on your pillows."

Looking disgusted by the thought of her smelling my bed, "You did not smell my pillows."

"I did, it isn't a crime, you know?" She says with certainty. "Unless you did have sex and I just managed to smell your juices."

Shaking my head, "I can't even begin to describe how disgusting I find that, honestly."

"So you did!"

"Will you stop?" Some part of me is annoyed by how much she has changed since meeting Travis, the two of us were such a good pair usually and now we're constantly being passive-aggressive like this. 

"No, I won't."

"Then I'm gonna go," I declare and try to unlock the door to the clinic, it isn't locked though so I hang up on Lucy without another word and step into the cold building. Mr. Franco is standing in the middle of the room with his arms crossed, his eyes spot me instantly and a shiver slithers down my spine. "Good morning, Mr. Franco."

"Is it really?" He asks rhetorically and signals for me to sit down next to him, while doing so he intertwines his hands on his lap in a very disturbing manner. This can't be good, there is something in his eyes that makes my skin crawl. "I may or may not have mentioned this, but we have cameras installed in this entire clinic."

My eyes widen by the sudden declaration, "You have never mentioned anything, no."

"Well, this is me saying it now. Unfortunately, I found some very upsetting images of a situation inside your office. It's regarding your client, Mr. Black," He lifts an eyebrow at me, his cold blue eyes slicing into mine. 

Straightening my back and facing his stare, "Do tell, Mr. Franco."

"He broke into the clinic on Sunday at 11PM and stole some very important files on his case, probably to get an advantage in getting custody of Matilda Black. We won't be cornering him today, but I need to have a word with him before the two of you start your session. Even if that means he will leave in anger and never return, that's probably for the best anyway," The coldness in his tone implies how much he dislikes Elijah, what's even worse is that I spent Sunday night with him, he was in my dorm room at that time. 

"That can't be true," I shake my head in certainty. "We were making a great deal of progress and nothing in those files would help him in any case, your reasoning makes absolutely no sense. Can I ask why you're so sure it's him?"

He laughs a full-on laugh that fills the entirety of the room, acting as if this isn't a serious matter. "He had a black hoodie on, he stole his own files, I know it's him."

"Did you see his face?"

"I didn't, but I know it's him. Have you seen him? He has tattoos, he is involved in illegal activities, he desperately wants custody of her. The motive is there, Dakota."

"That's fucking bullshit," I blurt before controlling myself, not wanting to appear shocked I stand by my words. Mr. Franco's face reddens in anger and I know he tries to keep himself under control, quite the therapist. "It wasn't him, I won't have you blame him for anything you have no proof of, he is my client and I take full responsibility of saying that he did nothing wrong. Absolutely nothing."

His stare cuts through me like a knife, but I'm not backing down on this one, "I told you not to get emotionally involved with a client."

"What are you on about? I'm protecting my client and his rights, going to therapy should be a safe space, hence why I don't want you blaming him for anything in this setting. This is his space to be open and vulnerable, you won't be the one ruining that for him."

"This is my clinic, you must be aware of that."

"And you assigned me this client, you must be aware of that."

A heavy pause follows my words, Mr. Franco looks mad and completely annoyed, but I will go down with dignity before allowing him to attack Elijah the second he steps into this building. He isn't doing that to him, it's just straight-up rude and could create a tension in a room where both Elijah and I have been building trust. 

The door suddenly opens and there he is, standing in a black pair of pants and a black hoodie he looks as handsome as ever. His confused eyes jump from me to my boss from hell. Deciding to take control of the situation before Mr. Franco decides to open his mouth, I stand up quickly and grab my jacket from the couch, "Good morning, Elijah. Our session today will take place during a walk in the nice weather, are you up for that?"

He nods at me and opens the door, gesturing for me to walk outside and as I do, he joins me with a lovely smile on his lips. "Good morning, love. Will you tell me what just happened back there?"

I don't want to trouble him with this pathetic attempt at framing Elijah, he has enough on his mind already and this really shouldn't be yet another fear of his. Shaking my head with a smile, "Mr. Franco tried to convince me of changing our plan for improvement, but I feel like we're getting somewhere. Only a slight disagreement."

"You're lying, but I will leave it be for now. We probably should do some therapy today after all," Both of us nod our heads in agreement as we enter the beautiful woods next to the clinic. The sun is high on the sky today and I'm happy that we could do this outside.