Twisted Souls || Michael Langdon

Chapter Four: Edward Cullen, Who?

"I don't know why you even hired him, Lillian. He's irritating." I rolled my eyes as she and I chatted in the cafe near our clinic. A BLT sandwich sat on a ceramic plate in front of me alongside a bag of crunchy potato chips. "Out of all the people in the world, you just had to choose David."

"I only chose him, because his track record is impeccable and I thought hiring him would bring in more clients. Which it did." She defended herself as she took a bite out of her cheese panini. A devilish grin bloomed on her lips as she winked at me. "Besides, he's not that bad to look at."

I paused at her words, my straw inches from my mouth as I gaped at Lillian. "You can't be serious. Please Lillian! Don't tell me he's got you under his spell too."

"Estella, he is a whole ass meal! Have you seen his eyes?!" Lillian fanned herself vigorously as she spoke. "Don't even get me started on how good he smells."

My nose scrunched up in disdain and I scoffed haughtily.

"David smells like he took all the brands of cologne teenage boys wear and sprayed it on himself." Lillian threw a piece of bread at me, her lips pressing firmly together to hide her giggles. "It's true! My lungs feel like they're suffocating whenever I'm near him."

"Stop being so harsh! That's why you're still single." An incredulous look was thrown at Lillian's direction as I threw a chip into my mouth. "Estella, you live in a nice studio apartment, have a successful job, and have a killer sense of style. The only reason you're not with anyone is because you're too judgmental. "

"Excuse me, you're single too."

"Yeah, but I sleep around. You, as far as I know, don't." Lillian sipped at her iced tea. "Someday, a guy is going to sweep you off your feet and you won't have any idea what hit you."

"Well until that day comes, I'm going to demolish this entire lunch and probably order a brownie just for fun." I waved at our waiter, trying to get his attention, but to no avail. "Or not...."

"Maybe I should take you clubbing." Lillian said thoughtfully as she stared off into space. "You can find a nice guy there, get laid, and maybe then you won't trash talk every guy that smiles at you."

"Now you're just exaggerating." The last piece of my sandwich was swept off my plate as I brought it to my mouth. "I'm capable of having a relationship, thank you very much. I just don't want one right now."

"Someone's in denial." She sang playfully. "Sounds like you're the one that needs to set up an appointment with one of our psychologists. Speaking of appointments, I saw Michael walk into your office yesterday? How did that go?"

Flashes of Michael showing me his memories and pleading for my help shot through my mind.

"Oh! Yeah, he just wanted to apologize for missing his sessions." I replied, not wanting to talk about him. I was still confused on what to do and didn't know what to think about Michael. My eyes glanced over at the silver watch strapped to my wrist. "Come on. Our break is almost over. We need to get going soon."

After Lillian and I had finished our lunch, I drove us back to our clinic. Lillian and I had just gotten out of the car when I noticed a familiar figure waving at me.

"Do you know her?" Lillian asked, squinting at the woman.

"Yeah, she's the mother of one of my patients. I'll see you inside." Throwing a quick smile at Lillian, I jogged over to Ms. Mead who stood next to her shiny Prius. "Hi, Ms. Mead! Can I help you with anything? Is Michael okay?"

"He's fine. Actually, Michael doesn't even know I'm here and I'd like to keep it that way." She replied and leaned against her car. "When he came home yesterday, he told me about what happened in your office."