Love Therapy (GxG)

18

A light knock on my office door startles me out of the papers I'm grading. Before I can utter the words 'come in' or stand from my armchair, the door opens sharply and a whirlwind of blond hair stumbles into my office.

The culprit ignores me, rounds my desk and opens the curtains behind my desk, effectively blinding me.

"James."

The man turns around, and smiles innocently, showing off his rows of straight white teeth. "Diana." He kisses my cheek from behind me. "You work too much."

I smile at his antics, "and you don't work enough. Aren't Mondays supposed to be a little busy at the garage?"

He shakes his head, and drops heavily his messenger bag, ruffling through it and handing me what seems like a sandwich wrapped in aluminium.

"Henry's at the garage at the moment, so he allowed an hour or two to come and see you. You know he likes you so much," he adds, grinning. Henry, James' older brother, had been like a brother to me too from the moment I'd met him. Whereas James is lean, and blond, Henry is muscular, very tall, and dark haired. Both men are very attractive in their own way, but Henry always has an advantage with the girls, probably because of his charm, and his height, making him look like an actor straight from the 1950s.

"You'll tell him hello from me." I push my office chair away from the desk, the wheels making me roll across the wooden floor. "So, to what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?"

James feigns a hurt face. "Why can't I see my bestfriend without any ulterior motive?"

"Because I know you. Now, spill." I glare at him, hoping to make him stop grinning like a fool, but his dimpled smile only widens with the seconds passing. I break eye contact and start stacking away the tests waiting to be graded. I have until Wednesday to grade them, and time not spent working on it is time lost.

With I huff, I turn my attention back to my friend, who is now perched on top of my white polished desk, a contrast with my shiny mahogany desk in the office where I meet my patients.

"I have a lot of work, James, and I'm waiting for a student to come see me, so I'd appreciate if you made this quick."

Despite his words of protest, I know James is here because of something in particular, and I won't be left alone before he spills the beans.

"Okay, so. Don't get mad at me. I saw Sofia Saturday while I was shopping, and as you weren't answering your phone when I asked you repeatedly to come to dinner with me and Henry, I asked her what was wrong with you."

I sigh. "You know I can not be on my phone for half a day without something being wrong."

"I know, I know," he cuts. "But I asked anyways. And she told me that you were mad for whatever reason. Mad at a patient, she said, to be precise."

I only raise one eyebrow, waiting for more.

"So what's up with that?"

What would happen if I told him everything that had happened back in my office on Saturday? The fear that had wrapped around me after being kissed by someone almost a decade my junior comes back galloping in my mind. But now, it is added to the fact that this young person is a student at the University I teach at, and even worse, my patient in therapy.

Should I have talked to her, cleared the air before making her leave like I did? Probably. Surely. I acted as unprofessionally as I could ever have. Instead of explaining myself, and giving her the opportunity to explain herself, I let her leave my office probably ashamed, feeling guilty.

My eyes meet James', and I can see the concern on his face. I decide that he won't laugh at me, nor be mad, but be brutally honest, like he always is.