Across town, Chris was getting frantic. He hadn't heard from Hannah at that point in over 7 months. She hadn't come home to change out clothing either like she used to do and when he discovered her small suitcase and purse were missing, he really didn't know what to think. Didn't help matters that the Scorpio case made the national news as did the raid on the warehouse that he remembered the DEA agent telling him she stayed in that one time he had brought her home. He was seriously contemplating going to the police and reporting her missing but feared that they wouldn't take him seriously as she was a meth addict after all and those had a habit of running away.

He was however still very much concerned with his own image and how being in the public eye would make him look; as he wasn't that great of an actor and knew his own short comings though full clarity had yet to reach him. He hadn't seen Scarlett in a couple of weeks as she had gone with her kids to Florida to be with her dying mother. Chris didn't know all of the details nor did he ask. He had his own things to think about like how had his life come to this. If someone told him when he was in college that he would have an ill wife that disappeared for months on end while he was too busy screwing his next door neighbor and lying through his teeth to his parents, he would have told them to get on some meds.

There were rumors at work that he was cheating on Hannah and his own secretary had nearly quit because she was sick of fielding calls from Scarlett. It didn't take long for the whole interior decorator façade to dissipate and people see who Scarlett really was while being fairly disgusted with Chris. No one had solid proof but it didn't take a rocket scientist either. That said, nobody knew the extent of his fall from grace or Hannah's illness and addiction. What was happening in Chris' life wasn't all that clear and had a lot of fiction to it.

Finally, after careful thought, Chris decided that he should see a therapist and found one that was male. He found a man as opposed to a woman because he figured a man would be more sympathetic to him and his situation. Women were more emotional beings and he had had enough of them for a while. After all, men were known to cheat at the drop of a hat and do what they pleased so perhaps Chris could figure out how to get Hannah back without putting too much work into himself. He was still in full denial and went to the therapist where he told the shrink everything within the first three sessions.

"So that's the whole story. I just want my wife and life back." Chris said almost expecting a pat on the back. What he got was entirely different.

"Let me get this straight. Your wife is diagnosed with a incurable illness and is bedridden. Meanwhile, you feel like a victim because she isn't having the right kind of sex with you so you turn to your next door neighbor who you know nothing about and start an affair with her. You then forget all about 'in sickness and in health' and continue this outlandish affair as your wife grows sicker and more hopeless. When the one woman she considers family gets sick and dies you don't even have the wherewithal to tell your wife about it because you're too busy getting your rocks off in the parking garage with your mistress. Then when your wife turns to drugs because the man at home isn't a man but a jerk and she needs something anything to feel alive, you lie to her when she does come home. Now she tells you about your mistress's lies and how you're health is in trouble and you still don't beg your wife to stay? Chris, all I can say is that your wife should be nominated for sainthood and even though you're paying me, I can say that if you got HIV, it would be the very least that you deserved."

Chris sat there stunned and motionless. The therapist stared at him like an eagle would at prey after professionally ripping him a new one. Then he continued:

"Your image and sex addiction is all that matters to you. The probability of your wife coming back to you is nil. I frankly don't know why you even bothered coming in here and seeing me. People come to therapy when they know they need help not reaffirmation that their narcissism is the way to go. Come back when you're really ready to become a man and not just a jerk with a need for a boner. Time's up. That'll be $200."

Chris paid the therapist and left the office in a total daze. He drove himself home and sat there in the dark thinking about everything the therapist had said to him. Was he really ready to face the harsh reality of everything he had brought upon himself? Was he ready to give up the lies and the denial and somehow fight to win Hannah back? He had noticed that the doctor had worn a wedding ring which meant that he was probably someone who never cheated on his wife. He had seen pictures of him and his family when he had first entered the office. They looked very happy.

That's what Chris wanted, ultimately. Now that he had started to strip away the lies and the bullshit he had lived in, in the last 2 years. That is what he wanted; his wife by his side and children; even if it meant adoption. He really couldn't believe that he had been such a jackass about adoption. He called the therapist's office and made another appointment for the following week. He knew he was ready to strip himself down to the bare minimum and start from scratch.

He told the therapist as much when he saw him again. The latter wondered what had changed and Chris said that after seeing his pictures in the office, it is what he wanted to do. He owed it to himself and especially to his parents and Hannah. That and the therapist's words had gotten to him. He knew he hadn't kept his part of the bargain of 'in sickness and in health'. He'd committed adultery, he was a selfish prick, and he needed to know why. With the therapist he could start from the very beginning and that is what he did as each session progressed; they started at square one.

Chris had to get his life back on track and the first thing he did after admitting to himself that he'd done everything wrong was lose the denial and start living in reality no matter how painful it was for him. He knew that no matter the pain, it was nothing compared to what Hannah was going through or what had he put her through. He wasn't the victim anymore, he never had been. Each wrong choice he had made was his decision and his alone. He was scrapping the bottom of the barrel and he knew it. The only way to go from there was up.

After he admitted it to himself, he decided to take Hannah's advice and make an appointment with Dr. Weller to get his blood drawn. He needed a full panel done on every STD in the book as well as HIV. As much as it filled him fear, he knew he couldn't postpone it any longer. If he had something wrong with him, he had to take care of it. Now he understood how heartrending it had been for Hannah to sit and wait for the test results to come back. He couldn't believe how strong she had been all those years before; he was ready to jump out of his skin.

While waiting on the results, he had scheduled the appointments with his therapist once a week and it was within those first few weeks that Scarlett had returned after her mother's funeral and wanted Chris to comfort her. She expected him as well as everything else to be exactly as it was. She had no idea how much had changed in the two weeks she had been gone. Chris was nowhere to be found; she tried the house, called his phone both cell and at work, and came to his office but he was never around or available. Finally, she showed up at his office one day and waited for the main secretary to look up at her; when she did, Scarlett smiled.

"I'm here to see Mr. Peters. I'm Scarlett Johnson, his interior designer."

"I'm sorry Ms. Johnson but Mr. Peters is unavailable at the moment." The secretary said without blinking.

"Well can you tell me when he'll be available? It's important that I speak with him right away."

"He's in meetings all day and has requested not to be disturbed." Scarlett got a little huffy at that point.

"You haven't even looked. Perhaps he can spare a few moments of his precious time for me."

"I assure you, Ms. Johnson; he cannot." The secretary knew exactly who Scarlett was. The gossip wasn't always gossip and she wasn't born yesterday. Even in office attire, Scarlett looked like a harlot.

"Can you please just call him and ask? I will wait as long as he needs me to. Thank you." The secretary sighed and picked up the phone as Scarlett thought she had won the battle. But she ultimately lost the war when after speaking briefly to Chris the secretary turned to Scarlett with a satisfied look on her face.

"Mr. Peters said he's extremely busy and will not be taking a break for you or anyone else unless it's his wife. Do have a pleasant day." Scarlett looked like she had been kicked in the stomach.

"Unless it's his wife? Is she back or something?" The secretary looked at Scarlett surprised.

"I'm sorry? Did Mrs. Peters' go somewhere?"

"Not to hell, sadly." Scarlett muttered as the secretary frowned and pointed to the elevator doors.

"I suggest you leave now, Ms. Johnson. Mr. Peters will call you at his convenience."

"I just want a few minutes of his time! Is that so hard?" Scarlett said her voice starting to rise.

"Ms. Johnson if you don't leave at once, I will have no choice but to call security." The secretary already had her phone in her hand ready to hit the button.

"You people have no idea who I am, do you?" Scarlett said with venom then as the secretary punched the number and called for security.

Seconds later, two security guards came around the corner and headed straight for Scarlett who was yelling at this point. They took her by the arms and dragged her to the elevator as people stopped and stared at her like she had two heads.

"He owes me! He owes me! Let go of me! Let go of me!" She yelled as the security guards dragged her into the elevator as she struggled against them.

They took her outside and let her go. They stood long enough until she left with a huff after straightening out her clothing. Chris had heard the commotion and after his actual conference call, he learned what had transpired and made sure to let his superiors know that she was to be banned from the building altogether. They told him it would be taken care of but his boss did say that he didn't want Chris bringing his personal drama to work. The latter nodded and left his boss's office, shaking from head to foot. Scarlett could have cost him his job with her antics.

A few days later, she finally cornered him in his driveway and tried every trick in the book to get him to come to her but the spell was broken. He was done and she wasn't welcome in his house, in his life, at his job, and definitely not in his bed. With the help of his therapist, he knew what the truth was now and he was slowly living it. She had been and was the lie.

"Men don't leave me, Christopher Peters! I leave them!" She screamed at him as he was walking away from her. He turned around and said quietly:

"Then leave. What are you waiting for? I'm not holding you back. Leave Scarlett and never return." She didn't appear to hear him as she tried another tactic while following him to his front door.

"I'm better than Hannah ever was and you know that!" She said scornfully only to hear Chris retort:

"Depends what kind of blinders you're wearing over your eyes." He wasn't going to let her goad him into an argument which is exactly what she had wanted.

He then walked into his house and without another word or look, shut the door right in her face. She stood there stunned; no one had ever done that to her before. She had never needed a man in her life before but she found that she needed Chris very much. Over the next few weeks, she had tried everything she could think of to get him back. She was shocked to find out she actually missed him even thinking back to when he used to follow her when she was ignoring him. She knew that she had never been ignored before especially by someone she wanted and it made her feel weird inside.

Scarlett Julia Johnson had truly fallen in love with a man for the first time in her life and she was feeling needy and vulnerable; not at all what she was used to feeling. That was the way Chris found her on his doorstep, after he had gotten back from getting the blood test results and discussing them with his therapist. He had a lot on his mind and seeing Scarlett was nowhere near where his thought process was at currently.

"Please Chris, just hear me out. I miss you. I know I can be a bitch sometimes. I know that. But I-I love you. I do. I never loved anyone before other than my kids." Scarlett whined pitifully, giving him her best puppy dog eyes.

"Really. I don't think you know what love is, Scarlett. And you're a bitch all the time not just sometimes. You wouldn't know what love was if it came and kicked you in the ass." Chris said sighing; he was ready for her to leave but she was looking at him with desperation as she latched onto his arm.

"I know, I know, I really do. Please just give me another chance, us another chance. I will do better I promise. I love you, Chris." He looked at her, shrugging her loose, and said a line that was very fitting to her first name.

"Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn. And if you don't leave me alone, I will get a restraining order against you! Now get the hell off of my property!" He added for good measure.

It was dark by the time he entered the house, slamming the door, and locking it behind him. He listened as she got up sobbing hysterically and ran back to her own house where he hoped she stayed for good. He was done with the theatrics, the bullshit, all of it. It was like Christopher Peters finally grew up. He had a lot on his mind and Scarlett had lost the war. He was ready to figure out what to do next. He sat in the darkness of his house all alone.....wondering how it had come to this.