Torn [SHAWN MENDES]

~57~

Taryn took the stairs up to the bar to make sure everything was running smoothly before she left for the day. She had a late session with Amber that evening, since her therapist was fostering a baby and was working new hours so that she and her husband wouldn't need childcare.

"We're at seventy-five percent capacity. That's amazing," Taryn commented to one of the bartenders.

"The new happy hour promotion seems to be working," he replied.

They were currently running a half off appetizers deal as well as discounts on the Ford's brand of beer. This was Mina's idea, and so far it had been very profitable.

"Hopefully everyone will stick around for the musician we hired. He's supposed to be pretty good."

"I hear he's incredible. Are you staying to hear him?"

"No, I've got an appointment." She was a little disappointed she was missing him because he'd been touted as the new Shawn Mendes and her curiosity was piqued.

Mina joined them, smiling broadly. "Great crowd, eh?"

"Outstanding. I'm going to roll this promotion into the other locations starting in two weeks. I'd like you to lead a meeting with all the managers beforehand."

"Sounds good! I'll text you a clip of tonight's singer since you won't be here," Mina offered.

"Thanks! If he's good, try to get him booked for a few more dates."

Taryn said goodbye before getting her purse and keys. It didn't take long to get to Amber's office, where she found her therapist drinking coffee instead of tea. "How's the foster baby?" she asked after sitting on the couch.

"Sweet as can be but she's up half the night. If I seem out of it, it's the lack of sleep."

"Is your new schedule tough?"

"It's not bad. I feel worse for Jeff who is working insanely early hours so that he can be home by three. The worst part is that we only get to eat dinner together as a family on the weekends. Once Cassidy is six months old, we'll put her in daycare, if she's still with us. It's up in the air whether her mother or father even want custody."

"It's amazing that you're doing this. Cassidy is a lucky little girl!" Taryn said warmly.

"Thank you, but enough about me. How have you been since our last session?"

"I'm okay. Everything in my life is going fairly smoothly, so I can't complain too much."

Amber furrowed her brows. "That's a non-answer. You've been doing that a lot lately, which is very counterproductive."

"Aren't you tired of me whining endlessly about how miserable I am without Shawn, and how it's even worse since I had him back for a brief period in December and then lost him all over again? Or how every day I wake up, look at myself in the bathroom mirror, and despise the woman looking back at me?"

"It's my job to listen to all that. Let's start with how you despise yourself," Amber suggested.

"What's there to say? I hurt Yasmin by sleeping with her husband. It was a horrible thing to do, and it proves that I'm a bad person."

She'd been grappling with the guilt of being "the other woman" ever since Shawn told her that his wife wanted to work things out. When he'd shown up at her door saying that she left him and wanted a divorce, it seemed final. She'd been fooling herself, though. It felt that way because that was what she wanted to be true. She desperately needed to believe he was available, since that was the only way she could have him again.