"Cindy, don't do this to me." I groaned. My therapist of four years told me she was going to move to New York. She already told this to me two weeks ago but it just finally sunk into me when she told me today that she won't be seeing me anymore next weekend.
"I'm sorry, Drey. I have to. I can't pass up this opportunity. My boyfriend and I have been planning for a long time to move to New York. Don't worry, I found a good therapist for you." She said as she put her things in the box. Her bookshelves were now empty, her table was empty, this room was empty now. She wasn't supposed to see any patients today as she was packing her things but I was here not as a patient but a good friend. She'd been my therapist for three years and I didn't know how I'd do without her around anymore.
"But I only want you." I pouted.
"I'm sure you'll like your new therapist. He's warm, friendly, and kind of funny. I've spoken to him and liked him instantly and you know I don't like a lot of people." She let out a wide smile.
"Wait- what? HE?!" Surprised, I got up from the armchair I was sitting on. A guy therapist?
Cindy nibbled on her lower lip. "Drey, we've been going over this for years now. You need to get over your fear of men."
"I'm not scared of men. I'm just... just not comfortable around them." I said, hugging myself and rubbing my arms. "I don't think I can see a guy therapist."
"But you need to." She rested her hand on my shoulder and rubbed it, trying to give me comfort. "Think of this as one of our cognitive behavioral therapy. This might be a way for you to get over your fear or you being uncomfortable around men. You can't live like this. You're not just my patient, you're my friend. You're one of the nicest, sweetest people I've known and you didn't deserve what happened to you. I want you to take your life back."
"Thanks, Cindy." I said, getting kind of teary-eyed.
"Will you try, Drey? Please?" She gave me a soft look.
I smiled and nodded my head.
"Thank you." She said. "If things doesn't work out with you and your new therapist you could switch to a new one. But right now I want you to try.
"We said our goodbye and hugged each other and wished each other good luck. She said if I needed anything I could always call her, not as a patient though but as a friend. I helped her pack her things and carry it to her car. She told me I could visit her when I go to New York. We hugged each other again.
"I hope when we see each other again, you already have a boyfriend." She said when we pulled away.
I laughed. I'd surely miss her. Meetings with her were so easy. It wasn't a clinical patient-therapist interaction. With her, I felt like I was just talking with my girlfriend. She had been the only close friend I had since I moved to California.
"Hey, none of your business." A deep, manly voice made my head snap up. I looked at the pair of dark eyes in front of me, they were so hypnotizingly black. I was sitting in front of the bookshelves, putting the books on the bottom shelf.
"What do you want?" I averted my attention back to the books.
"I think this is yours." He handed me my can of pepper spray, the one I dropped when I thought he was following me and I tried to spray it on him.
"It's rude to sneak on people like that! Don't do that again!" My hand reached up to snatch the can from his hand but our hands touched. It was so warm and for some stupid reason, my cheeks heated up. I quickly pulled away from the hold and lowered my head, avoiding his eyes.
"I wasn't sneaking on you." Even though I wasn't looking at him, I could hear the eye rolling in his voice. "Why would I do that? Mukha ba kong stalker?
