Chapter 53

Angela

After leaving Darius office. I went to my mom’s house to check up on her. I wasn’t ready to go back to the apartment because of the artist workspace. That was my greatest nightmare A dream I never want to walk into.

I tried opening the door but realised it was locked. I then knocked, praying my mom was at home. The doorknob turned right when I was about to lose hope and my mom’s face greeted me.

“Hey mom,”

“Angela! I didn’t know you would be here today.

1 frowned. Do I need a timetable for when I should visit my mother?

“What do you mean? Can’t I come here anytime?” I asked.

“Of course you can, silly. My therapist is around. You should’ve told me you were coming. I would’ve told you about him,”

I nodded and hummed in understanding. She moved away from the door and I hesitated before going in. I didn’t want to interrupt her session with her ther….

My eyes landed on the therapist and I almost whistled like a caveman. He was a young, good-looking man. I had pictured her therapist like an old man but I was disappointed. He was gorgeous. His jawline made me envious. I wish mine was that sharp

“Hello, you must be Angela,” he stood up from the sofa and walked towards me with his hand stretched out in a handshake.

I took it. His hand was warm. “you must be my mom’s therapist,”

“It’s an honour. Call me Zack.”

“Dr Zack, it’s nice to meet you,”

His hand was still locked in mine. “Same here. You look so much like your mom and you’re just as beautiful as I’ve heard,”

I blushed. “Don’t flatter me. She’s prettier,” I smiled at my mom.

My mom smiled back at me, widened her eyes before fixing them at our interlocked hands before returning to stare at me. 1 got her message, loud and clear.

I quickly removed my hand from that of Mr. Gorgeous.

“I’d told your mom to invite you to one of our sessions. Bonding with family over a loss hastens the healing process.

I tucked my hair to the back of my ear. “I don’t think that ll be necessary”

“Trust me, it is. You can join us we have just five more minutes to use,” he checked his watch

1 looked to my mom for disapproval but instead she shrugged.

In her wordless language, that meant it wouldn’t hurt now, would

And I hated that

“Sure: What’s to diy un

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Chapter 53

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“Pain,” he gestured to a seat opposite him, beside my mom. I took a seat and for the first few seconds, it was as if a pin was stuck to my butt.

“How did you feel when you heard the news of your father’s demise?”

I let out a short laughter. “This is her therapy session, not mine.

I know. Your feelings connecting with hers would help her tremendously,”

I nodded, tapping at my thighs repeatedly. “I don’t want to talk about it,”

“Why?”

“Just because,” I answered, cutting my answer short.

I didn’t feel sad after I heard he died. Instead I felt numb. My brain couldn’t process the news, my heart wouldn’t accept the pain. Till now, I still don’t feel anything except from numbness.

“How was your relationship with them before the incident?”

“Horrible, I scoffed. “They hated me,”

My mother suddenly interrupted. “No, Angela. We didn’t hate you.”

“Yeah, you did. We didn’t talk for as long as a year,”

“That was because you left without telling us and for a long time, we didn’t know where you were. When we finally got a way to reach out to you, we didn’t know if you would want to reach out to us,”

I snickered at her words. It was unbelievable.

“Yeah, right?”

“You don’t believe her,” he asked rhetorically.

I waved it off and laughed as well. They didn’t reach out because I failed them. They hated me and I’m sure my mom still harbours some hatred for me.

“How about we continue this in the next session? For now, can I ask you out for lunch?”

His sudden question took me aback. He was busy packing up his stuff. Does a therapist suddenly end a session like that?

“Why?”

“It doesn’t concern anything about this therapy session or another. I want to get to know you. Would that be okay?”

I wanted to ask again, why? Why does he want to get to know me Of what benefit would that be to him?

“Do you do that with other patients’ family members as well? Especially their daughters

He smiled. “No. I just want to get to know you,”

His answer sounded sincere enough so I nodded.

There was no harm in having lunch with a doctor right?

“You would have to recommend some fine restaurants to me by the way, I don’t stay around here,”

“You’re from another town?”

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III

13:04 Tue, May 28 MM.

Chapter 53

“Another pack, we walked out of my mom’s building into his car

“Ooh! Cool. Since you’re fully aware that this is a pack, there’s no way we can have enough restaurants to pick from. So, you’re stuck with the Italian restaurant down the street,”

“I’ll take what I can get especially when it’s coming from a damsel like you,”

“You flatter me,”

“People say I do.” he winked at me and I smiled.

We got to the restaurant, ordered our lunch and we started eating.

“What do you do, Angela?”

I twirled the spaghetti around the fork. “I used to work in a restaurant,”

“Used to?”

“Since I moved back here, I haven’t find something to do,”

“How long were you gone?”

“Five years.

“That’s such a long time,”

“I know right? Which pack are you from?”

“I grew up in Eldridge Pack. Went to London for medical school and came back to my root to help wolves cope with trauma”

“That’s so passionate of you,

He leaned back into his chair.

“I lost my mother when I was ten and slowly, I watched my father become a shadow of his old self until one day, I lost hi forever. That was when I decided that I won’t let another wolf go through what my father went through,”

I’m sure your parents are proud of you,”

He shook his head.

“They’re not here to see it,” he argued.

“It doesn’t matter. I’m sure wherever they are, they’re bragging about how good their son is,”

He laughed.

“Can I call you Angela?”

I nodded “Sure”

“Let’s do this one more time or maybe ten more times,”

He asked, staring at me. “Okay”

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