~Los Angeles,

•07/05 {Saturday, 7:37 A.M}

~*~ Docia ~*~

"You must be kidding me ! C'mon move ! Stupid ass ! " I groaned as I continued to curse the driver in front of me getting more upset as the minutes were passing by. This morning, I unlucky woke up late and of course there must be traffic as soon as I got on the road. It'd been thirty minutes that I was stuck at the same place and I knew it was surely going to turn into hours. I had my first patient of the day at eight and I was like forty minutes away from my work. I wanted to call my assistant to tell her, but of course my phone was dead and of course I had to forget my charger back at home. Though I was sure it was plugged all night, but I guess I was wrong. I hadn't my laptop with me to send her an e-mail and my iPad was in my office, so already at work, contrary to me.

Usually, I wouldn't allow myself to work on a Saturday, but I felt like switching my schedule and so to give myself a day off on Monday instead. By the way, it wasn't the first time I was doing that, so it was nothing new really. I called the patients that I was normally taking on Monday and asked them if it was a problem to see each other today and nobody had a big issue with that.

Since nothing was moving, I decided to relax instead of wasting energy by getting pissed off; so I closed my eyes and took a deep breath trying to calm my nerves. I inhaled and exhaled a couple of times before to re-opened my eyes and to turn the radio on. Music was my best friend at all times but mainly when I was stressed, felt depressed or was too pissed off for my well-being or was feeling other fucked up emotions. Yeah, music was the best therapy when I wasn't in the mood to deal with people and life in general.

And right now was exactly one of those moments.

* ''I'm sure that ya heard the rumors about me

Word on the street is I'm happy

But ya didn't care nothing 'bout that

Said I was the one you had to have

Knowing that I wasn't into to no games

Wasn't tryna take nobody's last name

But you changed my mind

Took me off the grind

Now I'm yours for life.'' *

KeKe Wyatt was one of my favorite artists. I knew all her songs by heart like I had written the lyrics myself and I had bought all of her CD's. I went to three of her concerts and I met her once; by the way I felt so blessed this day. I loved her voice. With her music, I felt joyful and I didn't care about nothing and nobody's else, but me and my happy time. Her voice was always helping me in my bad moments and I felt free after every session of her music.

* ''What if I never met you ?

What would it take to get you ?

This thing that you do, that can't nobody else do

What if you was still on the block ?

Will this love we got make ya stop ?

I don't wanna ever think about, can't do without.'' *

I smiled widely and prepared myself to screamed the chorus, that was my favorite part of the whole song.

* '' Who knew ?

It would be you changing my plans, stealing my heart ?

Who knew ?

You were the one just like me

Snatch a sista up and wifed me

Who knew that you would be my baby daddy ?

Spending all ya hard-earned money on me

You came out the blue; boy I'm glad it's you

Tell me who knew ? '' *

By now I was dancing and surely making funny faces, until I heard someone's horn and it interrupted my very good vibe. I frowned and rolled the window down, "Fuck you all ! " I yelled and rolled it back up, then I began to drive. I sighed shaking my head, "Of course those bitches had to move when I decided to have a well-needed KeKe's session. Fuck you all ! " I ranted, clearly mad at the whole world.

Today was going to be a long day.

∫

∫

∫

"So, Mrs.Patson, what do you want to talk about today ? " I asked smiling politely at the woman that was sitting across from me. I was done with the first patient about fifteen minutes ago, who -thanks to God- arrived late this morning too.

Mrs.Patson was a housewife in her forties and she just got out of an abusive marriage that ended six months ago. Since I started the therapy sessions with her, I couldn't believe all the atrocities the man that was supposed to treat and cherish her with love got her going through. It was inhuman. And the way he brainwashed her was even more horrible. When she first came here and told me what brought her here, she was constantly saying that all that occurred in her marriage was her fault and she should have behaved better and obeyed him to prevent all of this. For three weeks, I repeated constantly that it wasn't her fault at all and I explained her why. It was hard for her to detach herself from this responsibility that wasn't her, but we were making some effort since a couple of weeks now.

Our sessions were always going the same way. She told me one of the times he abused her and we then analyzed the situation. It was always helping her to get one of her heavy weights off her shoulders.

"I want to talk about my kids." Since she wasn't stable emotionally, physically and financially, Mrs.Patson lost custody during the procedure of divorce; and since their dad had been sentenced for twenty-five years in prison, the kids had to go to live with their grandmother until Mrs.Patson will be able to take care of them by herself.

"Okay. What do you want to say about them ? "

She bit nervously on her bottom lip while looking at me with her blue eyes, "I talked with my oldest one the other day and she told me that...she hated me."

I felt bad for her. This was surely the worst thing a parent could hear one of his children tells them; "How old is she again ? "

"Fourteen."

"Look, she's going through a hard time right now as your whole family and each one will deal with it the best way they can. Your daughter decided to be angry and to take that harsh feeling on you and maybe she'll start again, but keep in mind that she doesn't mean any of those things. She's angry and when someone feel this way, they always think the best thing to do is to hurt other people so they won't be alone in their pain. In some way, it's like a way to find comfort in their sorrow. Knowing that they're not alone in their pain, because they hurt someone else's feelings, is comforting them and somewhat making them feel a bit better. But of course it lasts for a temporary and short moment...well, it depends for some. Not everybody acts this way, but that's what most do. And after the anger comes the sadness, that was hiding just behind the anger during all this time. Anger is a way to mask the real emotion that the person is feeling at the moment. And when the sadness comes, that's when the person needs a shoulder to cry on the most."

"So..." She began to play with her fingers, "I should wait for her to be sad before to talk with her ? "

"You can try now and if she gets mad again, then give her some time to cope on her own and when she'll need you, she'll call you. And of course in this little phase she's going through, don't forget to check her if she goes too far. It's okay to be angry, but it's not an excuse to be disrespectful."

She chuckled putting a strand of her straight blond hair behind her right ear, "Yeah...I'll make sure of it."

I smiled, "Great."

We continued to talked until the session came to an end and after that I took my last patient in, Big Joseph. He was so used of his grandchildren calling him like this, that he preferred if everybody referred to him this way too. In the first place, it was to differentiate him from his oldest son, that was his Jr.

Big Joseph was an old man with a broken heart. He had lost his wife, the love of his life two years ago and since then he felt dead inside. He was mainly having these therapy sessions to not lose his mind. Without his diamond --as he was calling her-- he couldn't see himself live more ; and every day he had those suicidal thoughts, that he couldn't ignore, that were going through his mind and haunting him. A year ago, he was staying in a mental institute on suicidal watch and when he got out of there, they made him come to therapy sessions with me. Now, he still had those thoughts, but they were less frequent and they were less convincing. He actually attempted to kill himself two times, but fortunately his family saved him right on time.

Big Joseph was mad at them for months, because he couldn't get why they didn't want to let him go since his time was coming soon anyways; but after some reflexions he understood that the suicide was a selfish act, mainly when he had so many people who loved him unconditionally and were too scared to lose him. He understood that he had to wait for the Lord to be ready to welcome him in Heaven before to go up there.

But the wait was so hard for him, because he knew that he was about to meet his diamond again. They were deeply in love and it never stopped. Death didn't put an end to their love.

It was a forever type of love.

We had our session and as usual the whole time he simply told me a story about him and Willma . Yeah, sometimes my job consisted of just being a listener. That's what some people sometimes need the most. Someone to listen to them while they talk non-stop about their perspective of life, emotions, fears, deepest thoughts; because any other day, they didn't feel like they can have that opportunity. That's just what they need, to be able to express themselves and to be heard.

Actually with Big Joseph, it felt more like I was the patient and him the therapist most of the time. He was always sharing some wisdom with me and giving advice about things in general. And it could go from the simplest little things to the deepest ones. Like the perfect way to brush your teeth or how to be passionated about life. How to have a welded family or the best way to make fried chicken. He had something to say for everything.

And I was willing to take all the information in.

~*~ Dorian ~*~

"Nervous ? " I asked Aria, who nodded her head slowly, "Why ? I bet you it's gonna be alright."

"But what if I don't wake up ? "

"Don't say things like that. You said it yourself, God got you. Right ? "

"Yeah..." She sighed and played with her teddy bear's ear.

It was eleven-twenty and I was finishing my morning with Aria's room. I couldn't wait to get to the lunch break and mostly I couldn't wait the end of this day. Today was my last day at the hospital and I successfully did my community service. After all, it wasn't that terrible. Except for the people who attempted to try me, but fortunately I didn't lose it and beat nobody' ass. I just punched Charles, but that wasn't a good ass whooping. He deserved more for having put his hands on Herica. But since it wasn't really my business, I had to let it go.

I shared my thoughts with Herica about her marriage though like Dr.Khimona advised me and she actually agreed with me. After Aria's transplant --that was scheduled on Monday finally-- and her recovery, she was going to fill for divorce. They weren't happy and it was affecting their daughter, so it was the best solution for their family. She didn't talk about it with Charles yet since he had gone M.I.A lately, but personally I think it was a great decision from her part and I was hoping that he wasn't going to create more trouble by accepting the idea of divorce too. After all, he slapped his wife in front of their daughter and this was enough to tell that the divorce was the best solution for them.

"Don't be sad, pretty little hero." I tickled her quickly.

She chuckled and playfully hit my hand, "Stop. I'm ticklish." She finished to laugh as I made my way in the bathroom. I did the ''room'' part first, so she could come back from the playroom exactly when she wanted to and lay down. She was feeling better than the beginning of the week, but she still felt weak though.

"Can I ask you something ? "

I startled and dropped the sponge that I was going to use to clean the sink on the floor, "What are you doing ? Go lay down. I told your mom I was gonna keep an eye on you. If she sees you on your feet, we're both dead."

"I know her like I made her, we have ten minutes. So ? Can I ? "

I let escape a little chortle, "Whassup ? " I leaned on the counter with my arms folded.

"Uh...Do you know where is my father at ? My mother keeps avoiding the conversation." She interrogated me and I unfortunately hadn't an answer for her. Plus, it wasn't really my place to talk about this with her, but her mother. I looked at her and sighed feeling my heart getting heavy. I hated to see her going through this. She deserved so much better.

"No, I'm sorry."

She looked down at her feet and I noticed a single tear falling on her cheek, that she wiped away almost immediately; "I hope he'll be here on Monday. I need both of them by my side. And...Can you be there too ? "

Those words did something to me. They warmed a part of my heart to be honest. I looked into her eyes and saw life and hope in them. They were speaking to me, showing me a light, but I think Aria wasn't even aware of that. I couldn't really explain this feeling any further, but it was something magic and above everything I ever knew until now. I really couldn't put my finger on it.

"Kids are God's angels." I mumbled unintentionally as Mama Peach's words traveled through my mind for a few seconds.

She frowned a bit, "What ? "

"Uh...Yeah. Of course, I'll be there."

"Thank you so much." She hugged me tightly, what caused me to have a little heart attack. She was fragile and she had to be careful at all times. Her immune system wasn't strong enough against little microbes and bacterias like any other human beings. Her leukemia prevented her immune system to work correctly and she could easily get all type of infections, if I understood well.

"Hey ! No, time to get out of here. I just sprayed some product, please go lay down in your bed." I stressed leading her out of the bathroom.

"I'm fine, don't worry. And thanks so much for being a good friend." She beamed and got in her bed.

A grin formed on the corner of my lips and I got back to my work. I wanted to finish before the lunch break, so she could chill for the rest of the day without being bothered. Plus, if I was quick, maybe I'll be able to clean another one and so I'll have less rooms to do in the afternoon.

∫

∫

∫

"Hey, Dorian ! " I turned around and saw Herica making her way towards me. It was finally my lunch break and I couldn't wait to put some food into my mouth.

"Wassup ? "

"Uh..." She chewed on her bottom lip shoving her hands in her sweatpants pockets, "Thanks. Thank you so much for everything you've done for my daughter. I would like to know if...you would go on a date with me one day. Well, it won't really be a date, more like a dinner between friends. It's to show y-"

"You don't have to do it. Really, it was a pleasure to help. Your daughter is exceptional."

"Yes, I know." She grinned with stars in her eyes, "She's the best thing that ever happened to me. I could die for her."

"Yeah, I can see the unconditional love." I chuckled slightly, "It's crazy though. I would've never guessed that the day we'll see again would be here. But...I'm glad it happened. To know that you're fine after all these years, for the most part. Did you talk to Charles ? "

"Not yet. He's not answering his phone. But he did send me a message telling me that he was okay and he needs some time for himself."

"He didn't apologize ? " She shook her head and I sighed shaking mine as well, "I can't believe this. Sorry, but your husband is a big coward. And selfish. Does he know for the transplant on Monday ? "

"Yes, but he didn't say if he's gonna be there or no."

"Really ? " I could feel anger boiling inside me. 

I hated men like him. 

Well, they were little boys more than anything else, because a real man would never do that type of shit to his own daughter. Your child's priorities should always pass before yours. But then again, it's just my opinion. On the other hand though, I could understand why he wanted to stay far from them that much. He hurt them and he was surely feeling ashamed of his behavior. Plus, to take care of a kid goodly, the parents themselves have to be stable emotionally, mentally and physically enough. If a parent is in a bad condition, he won't be able to raise his child/children the best way.

"I hope he'll decide to support Aria."

"Well, have he ever done something that would make you question his love for Aria ? "

"No. I know he loves her more than life itself; even after what he'd done to me the other day, it doesn't make me question his love for her."

"Then, don't worry. I'm sure he's gonna show up on Monday."

"Thanks again, Dorian. You sure did mature since high school."

"Fortunately." I said making both of us share a little laugh.

"Well, I'm going back to Aria. See you later."

"See you." We smiled to each other and went our separate ways. I walked for ten minutes until I arrived to this Italian Pizza restaurant, that I grew to fall in love with during these past three weeks. Their pizzas were too good to be true, mainly the pepperoni. And they had this new chicken pizza that I loved like it was my soulmate.

I was so grateful to be able to eat real food after these seven years in prison.

I entered in as the bell rang and Nonna, the waitress and owner of the restaurant, instantly smiled widely at me, happy to see that I was back. I think that I must be one of their big customers since I was coming four times a week for my lunch. And I planned to come by even after my community service at the hospital.

"Ciao, Dorian ! Seems like you're back."

I beamed, "Of course. And don't act like you didn't know I was coming today."

"Chicken or pepperoni ? "

"Surprise me." I answered taking a seat on a stool. Of course there were tables, but since I was alone, sitting at the counter was cool with me. And actually, all the tables were taken except maybe three or four. Nonna had a lot of success in the neighborhood.

I would say that what I liked the most about her restaurant was the retro atmosphere that was reigning thanks to the déco where the color metallic grey was dominating most of the furniture ; plus her employees were really polite and smily, and more important the food was excellent.

She did a great job with it and I wished her only the best and more success for her future.

"Okay. What about a side with pepperoni and the other one with chicken ? Hm ? What are you saying about that ? "

I smiled, "I like that a lot."

"Alright. And for the drink ? Coke again ? "

I shook my head, "No...Today it's a fanta, please."

"Okay, I'm coming back with your food in a couple of minutes. But while you're waiting, why don't you eat a salad offered by the house ? "

"I don't like salad that much."

"A soup ? "

"The weather is too hot for that."

She raised her brow, "What about garlic bread ? "

"Sounds great." I responded as my stomach made a noise.

She laughed pointing to my stomach, "Sounds like he agrees. Patricia, get him some garlic breads please." The young girl nodded her head and five minutes later, I had food placed in front of me and I couldn't wait for it to get in my mouth.

"Thank you." I said and it didn't take me long before to attack the plate like I didn't feed myself for years; "Hmm, so good." I exclaimed savoring the taste. It was celebration in my mouth and stomach, my whole body was so happy right now and nobody nor nothing could kill my vibe.

"Damn, should taste like Heaven for you to be making those noises." I heard a voice behind me and I recognized it to be Dr.Khimona's. Next thing I know, she's sitting next to me; "You don't mind, right ? All the tables are taken. Must be the place to be for lunch, huh ? "

I swallowed the food that was in my mouth, "What are you doing here ? "

"I'm going to eat, I thought it was obvious. Guess I was wrong." She smartly answered and put her purse on the counter, "If I'm bothering you, just tell me and I'll leave you alone."

"No...You're not bothering me. I was just not expecting this. What made you come here ? "

She shrugged, "I wanted to try something new and I saw a prospectus, so I came."

"Well, it was a good choice because this restaurant is dope. You won't be disappointed. Here, you can start with a garlic bread."

"Oh no, it's your plate-"

"It's okay, here." I pushed the plate towards her and she hesitantly picked one, then slowly brought it to her mouth and she finally bit into it, "Hmmmm ! Oh my ! It's so good ! " She commented and bit the bread once again.

"Told you." I chuckled and stared at her. I noticed that she was always dressed so classy and I had never seen her in casual clothes. And I couldn't help, but wondering if she would look as beautiful in them as she was in her work clothes.

"Oh Jesus ! I'm eating and I didn't wash my hands first. Excuse me." She put the food in the plate and went to the restroom, I assumed.

"Now that she said that. Ew ! " I mumbled realizing I was too focused on the food to even care about that, "Uh...Excuse me ? "

"Yes ? "

"Patricia, right ? " She nodded smiling, "Can you make sure that nobody take these two seats, please. If a woman looks for me, tell her I went to the restroom real quick."

"No problem, I got you." She gave me a thumbs up as I stood up.

"Thank you."

∫

∫

∫

"Here. Good appetite ! " Nonna said to Dr.Khimona as she placed her pizza in front of her. I was already done with one side of mine. 

"Thank you, that looks delicious."

"You're gonna like it."

"I hope. I listened to you and I wouldn't like to regret it." She said giving me a playful warning glare, with a cute little grin plastered on her face.

"You won't regret it and if you actually don't like it, I'll pay for it."

"I love chicken, so I don't think there'll be a problem. Well, let's try it." She did a little dance on her seat and smelled the pizza. "Oh ! I think I'm going to like it."

I rolled my eyes at her, "That's what I've been saying for the longest."

"Shh, I'm going to taste." She said before to grab a piece, carefully blew on it and then she ate a little. She chewed as I looked at her with an arched brow, waiting for her reaction. 

"So ? " I asked impatiently. 

"This is...scrumptious." She said after a moment of silence.

"Means delicious, right ? "

She nodded, "Yes ! Now, I'm going to ignore you while devouring this pizza. Sorry, not sorry." She laughed softly. 

I chuckled thinking she was joking, but this woman wasn't playing around when it came to food. Neither I, so for the next twenty-minutes we ate our food in silence, enjoying it to the fullest. 

It was still weird to be here with her, but I guess her company wasn't that bad after all. Plus, it changed me a little from the daily. I wasn't talking to too many people, so it was agreeable to eat with someone for once. 

"When people are this quiet, it means the food is perfect. Am I right ? " Nonna asked with her hands on her hips and glaring at us. We both looked up at her from our plates and simply smiled, causing her to laugh while shaking her head, "Call me when you're ready for the desserts. I have something special for you Dorian." She winked playfully at me before to go and attend to other customers. 

"So you like old women, huh ? "

I gave her a look, "And do you have a problem with that ? " I responded with another question as I wiped my mouth. 

"No. You're grown, do whatever you want. I was just being curious." 

"Of course, Dr.Khimona." 

She raised her hands up in surrender, "What ? It's true." She laughed a bit, "What ? You think I like you ? " She questioned with narrowed eyes. 

"You said it, not me." I shrugged nonchalantly.

"You're my patient." She stated, then grabbed her drink. 

"And ? " I challenged turning my body completely toward her. I squinted my eyes, "That won't stop me. When I want something, I always make sure to get it." I told her adding base in my voice. 

"You're really trying to seduce me ? Right now ? "

"Oh...I thought we were just having a random conversation. So now, we're seducing each other ? " I readjusted myself on my seat, placed my elbows on the counter, then picked my Fanta and drank some. After I finished to hydrate myself, I put the drink back on the counter and sent her a little side glare. 

I'm not even going to lie, Dr.Khimona was an attractive woman, plus she was smart and independent. And the little attitude she had sometimes was making her more desirable. Seriously, who wouldn't want to be with her ? She seemed to be one of those golden women, that any man would be lucky to have, but not every man would be able to treat right. She needed someone as amazing as her. She needed and deserved a King in her kingdom. 

"Do you ever stop playing these mind games ? I feel like you're always trying to confuse someone...so you can hide better behind your walls." 

I chuckled dryly, "Do you ever stop being a damn therapist ? You don't have to always try to understand and get in someone's mind. Just enjoy the moment, live. We were eating pizza and discussing and now you're doing this." 

"I wasn't trying to analyze you intentionally, but with you..." She sighed, "I can't do otherwise. You're not really opening up. I'm not sure if you're really chilling right now. You're always so on guard. Relax." 

"But I am relaxed right now."

"No, it's not true. As soon as I sat on this stool, you immediately got on guard mode."

"Well, for my defense, I do not know you like that, so of course I'm on guard. Nowadays, you can't never be too sure about people's intentions towards you. You can't never be sure if they care genuinely about you or if they're doing this to use and hurt you later. I'm just being real, no matter what you think." 

"Okay...I can understand that." She said and an awkward silence settled between us, before she cleared her throat and decided to break the ice. But actually, it only got worse...for me; "I know how it feels to be hurt by others and I don't want to be someone who causes that to another person. And I don't use people either. You can actually trust me." 

I frowned, "I have to go."

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Feel free to comment and/or to vote =) 

•A/N: Damn, Dorian 😕 ? What do you think about him and his behavior ? Do you like Docia ? Oh ! This chapter has almost 5K words !!!! Told you I was going to make effort and to give you longer chapters and I hope you enjoyed this one !  🎉

THANKS FOR READING ! 💗

CissyItsMe  💋✌🏾❤️