Fix You

Chapter Two

His hand moves higher. I giggle. "That tickles!"

"I know it does, baby," he says. His hands are warm. Too warm. He goes higher. I get uncomfortable.

He reaches the very top of my thigh. "Mommy says no one should touch me there."

"I'm family. I can do this." He smiles at me.

"Are you sure mommy won't get mad?"

"I promise."

I nod. If he and mommy said it was okay, I should do it.

"Lift your bottom," he orders.

It's a game. I'm excited. I lift myself up. He pulls my underwear down. He pushes my nightgown up.

"It might hurt a little at first, but you have to be brave."

I smile. "I'm very brave!"

He laughs. "That's my brave baby girl."

    
I quickly typed Psychopath into Google. I read aloud the definition: "A person lacking the ability to love or establish meaningful personal relationship and experience true emotion." The definition continued, but that was the main jest of it. Well, I might need therapy myself after treating you, Mr. Hackney.

I spent around two hours collecting research and planning, and afterwards I was completely confident in the course of treatment I had selected. I smirked at my computer screen, proud of myself.

I then treated myself to some much-deserved lunch. I wasn't about to trust Morgan with my order; the last thing I needed was to be both hungry and irritated right before facing the puzzle that was Mr. Hackney. I drowned my emotions in an order of Panera Mac N' Cheese, instantly feeling better.

Back in my office sitting at my desk, three hours later on the dot, I could tell as soon as he arrived. The chatter in the lobby instantly silenced, everyone most likely intimidated by his aura of power, and I could hear heavy footsteps making their way towards my door. It opened, and sure enough, he was standing before me.

He was just as handsome and cold as he had been before, and I felt my heartrate picking up and my palms sweating in nervousness as I, too, fell victim to his intimidation. Biting on the inside of my cheek, I forced myself to take a deep breath and pull myself together; I could not allow him to pick up on my fear. As a therapist, it was imperative that I remain emotionally stable, and fear was not something I could afford in my profession.

"You have to sign in before—" Morgan shouted after him, but he ignored her and closed the door. My heart skipped a beat when he locked it.

He sat down on the couch across from me, and by that time I had completely gained my composure again. Now that I was closer to him, I did notice subtle differences from the last time I saw him. His face was still stone, but his eyes were lighter and his lips looked less like a frown, although nothing close to a smile. A hint of hope was also present in his facial expression; barely detectable, but present nonetheless.

"So, doctor, what did you find?" he inquired, ending my mental musings.

I consulted my notes briefly before explaining, "I have decided the best option for you is to go through a revised version of Schema Therapy."

"What's that?" he asked, face twisting in confusion. "I've had nearly every type of treatment imaginable, and I've never heard of that."

I smirked, proud that I'd bested him. Take that, Mr. Cocky Billionaire. "Basically, this course of therapy involves you finding a therapist who will act as a "parent figure." They will do some limited re-parenting and form an emotional connection with you by spending time with you, getting to know you, et cetera. This will start to allow you to have more access to your emotions, heighten them, and form new ones. After you trust your therapist and have bonded with them, they will then try and get you to discuss your emotions and try to heal the wounds of earlier life before helping you learn to attach yourself to others, as well. I assume you have some childhood traumas, since psychopaths are usually created by tragedies in their early life."