2.0 The Chronicles of Us - Shame & Blame

Chapter twenty-six

•★ Tex ★•

When I'm close to Los Angeles, I decide to make a detour. I'm feeling over the goddamn moon and that scares me a little. I need a reality check. I need to know if my current state of mind is a good one. I park my bike in front of the rehab center and march inside. I've been here more times than I'd like to admit. Ever since I started talking about my shit, I haven't been able to shut the fuck up.

Fucking therapy.

The girl behind the lobby jumps up from her chair when I walk past her. "Mr. Chase, Dr. Martinez is unavailable at the moment. She's with a ... client."

I wave her words away. "I don't care, this is too important."

She urges, "I really think you should wait in the—"

I ignore her and swing the door open. Big mistake. Big fucking mistake. That was definitely a dick. Roy's dick.

"Jesus Christ!" I cover my eyes with both hands while Roy buckles his pants. "What the fuck are you doing here?"

When I feel it's safe to look at them again, I peek between my fingers to double check. Roy is flushed from neck to face. He stammers for words and then realizes that I'm the one who showed up unannounced. "I am visiting my girlfriend," he begins, closing the top button of his shirt. "The better question is, what are you doing here?"

Slightly dramatic, I throw myself on the velvet chaise lounge. "I am here to see my shrink."

Roy rolls his eyes and leans against the desk. "Ever considered a career on Broadway? Your theatrics are quite a sight."

I cross my arms and scowl at him. "Fuck off. You know I hate show tunes."

He taps his finger on his chin. "Really? I swear, I heard you sing something from West Side Story a while back."

Before I can lie, Dr. Martinez says, "Even though this little conversation is amusing, I doubt Tex came here without reason."

I lace my fingers behind my head. "You're right. I have major stuff to discuss."

She opens her mouth but Roy speaks first. "Has this something to do with the reason you stayed another day in San Francisco?"

"Yeah, it does."

He's getting impatient, so I stay quiet. "Well, speak up."

"Fine." I pretend to create a dramatic pause, but I'm suddenly afraid to speak. I mean, I don't wanna jinx it. "I found Ellie."

"You did?" Roy's eyebrows almost fly off his forehead. "Did you track her down or something?"

How weird does he think I am?

"No, of course not. I was minding my own damn business like a normal person. She just happened to be in the lunchroom that I entered."

He prods further. "Then what?"

Okay, this is going to sound weird.

"I kinda ran away from, her but she came after me and then I yelled at her to get the fuck away." Doc opens her mouth to say something, so I quickly add, "But I realized that I wasn't behaving right and that I needed closure, so I followed her."

They both look at me with pity in their eyes. "So you talked to her and got the closure you needed?" Doc asks.

The biggest grin spreads across my face. "Closure? Fuck closure. I got something better. I got my girl back."

"Jesus, Tex," Roy complains, "you could've started with that."

"I know." I shrug casually while smirking. "But you know me. I'm all about the theatrics."