After I got off work it was time to meet up with Johnathan. I really did not want to meet up with him, yes he is kind, but I just have this icky feeling in my stomach about building this false hope with him. I went home and got dressed in some casual clothing and then walked to the cafe down the street. He was already sitting there, he looked anxious and upset.
"Hey is everything okay?" I asked as I sat across from him.
"Are you and Archer doing anything inappropriate?" He asked.
I can't understand how he always knew something was up. "No. Why do you ask?"
He cleared his throat, he could clearly tell I was lying. "I was just checking in, that's all. I know, I know. No work talk."
I nodded my head and smiled. "Correct. So how was everything today."
"Well. I took off work today because I had some things to do, family business. Boring stuff." He explained while ordering us some coffee.
"Ah, well I hope everything is okay."
"You're too kind."
We spent the next hour talking. I told about how I grew up. My family was poor, they could barely afford to get me through school, and I had to pay for my college. Most of the time we hopped and hopped to different houses or apartments. I almost had to drop out of college because my mother fell ill, but she made a speedy recovery. I had two siblings, a brother and a sister, they still live at home with my parents. he showed compassion for my time growing up, however, I couldn't tell him the whole truth about my family.
I did kill my family, that is true. I murdered them because my father was a pimp. He sold women and as a child, I was one of those. I never went overseas and left my house, men would just pay him to take advantage of me. My mother encouraged it, but my siblings never suffered through it. The truth was I had no idea where my siblings were when I murdered my family, they were at my grandparents and I would assume they were still there. One night I just snapped, the cops knew who my parents were and simply turned a blind eye to everything, it was just easier that way.
We finished the night off with one last coffee before he took me home. I waved him off goodbye and he left. When I walked up to my door, there was a teddy bear and a note attached to it, "Until we meet again." I was confused but I had assumed Archer must have sent someone to do this, it was sweet.
The next morning came and it was right back to work for me. I jumped in my car and headed to work. When I walked in my office Archer was standing there waiting for me at the door.
He smiled when he saw me, and the smirk was back on his face. He seemed somewhat confident as he made his entrance. But he was still trying to figure out what my game was, I was a lot more tricky than he ever imagined."Well, well. It looks like you weren't joking when you said 24 hours. Looks like someone is taking things very seriously. You look pretty in that outfit today. Did you make sure to dress nice just for me?"
"I have to dress nice for work, thank you though. However, I have a question."
He raised an eyebrow as he leaned against the wall behind him."Yeah? What's this question of yours?"
"Did you leave a present at my door?"
He chuckled as he replied."Leave a present at your door? Why the hell would I leave a present at your door?"
"I didn't know if that was part of your plan or not."
He looked confused. "Well of course it wasn't apart of my plan. Even if my goal is to break you down eventually, there's definitely no need for presents. It's just a waste of good money." He then laughed."Besides, why the hell would I leave a present on your porch like some damn kid? I'm way too mature for that."
"Well. it would've worked. Oh well. I wondered who did leave that at my door then."
He chuckled again, I had him curious now."Hm...someone left a present on your doorstep? Wonder who could've done that? Do you think someone has a crush on you?"
"Well, it couldn't have been the mystery man because we were on another date last night. So I am not sure."
He smirked and spoke in a teasing tone."So, you still haven't told me who this mystery man is. Or how your date was. Was it a good one or...are you just wasting time with him?"
"That is none of your business," I stated while smirking. I knew it was getting to him.
His smirk didn't fade as he replied."Fine, I'll let you keep that one as a secret, for now at least. But you have to admit, your little mystery man is getting annoying, you don't tell me anything about him. How could I possibly know what strategy to use to break you down if you don't tell anything about him?"
"Because secrets are fun."
He chuckled"Well, you certainly know how to be annoying. It's also a pain in the ass for me because I have no idea how to get through your defenses with all this 'secret' crap going on. I'm guessing that's why you do it because you must have some feelings for this mysterious man."
"If that's what you want to believe. Our last sessions really haven't been therapeutic like they should be, so tell me how have you been?"
He let out a small chuckle as he replied casually."Well, I've actually been fine. Nothing special. However, I'm not very happy about how this session has been so far. It's a lot harder to get through all these 'secrets' in your head to get to the core of which I can break you down. It's going to take a lot longer to get you to the point where I can actually start manipulating and controlling you the way I want to."
"Well, your week of trying to make me fall in love ends in 2 days, are you saying you are going to need more time? Or are you going to do another bold move?"
The small smirk that was present from earlier on in the session instantly faded. He was not going to admit that it might take him more time just to be able to get me to fall for him. He had to maintain his dominance."No...that's not what I'm saying at all. You see...my bold move got a different reaction out of you than what I expected...but I do have one thing up my sleeves, I just have to think of the next move that could finally allow me to start getting this relationship where I need it to be."
"And what trick do you have up your sleeve?"
He smirked as he spoke."All I'm going to say is that it's going to be another big bold move since that one didn't do what I expected it to, but it's going to be better than the first. I'm not going to let someone like you just stay stubborn with all your 'secrets' and 'mysterious man'. You'll show me where your weakness lies eventually, I just have to figure it out."
"Ah, I see." I chuckled. I was amused by his efforts.
He chuckled also."And you know what? I really want to see how far I can take this, and how badly I can make you fall for me. I love a challenge, especially when it's one that involves breaking you down mentally. However, I'm not going to just say that right up front since I wouldn't want to show my hand too much."
"I'm still waiting to see this bold move of yours." I love testing him. Can't you see?
He smirked at me"Oh, I know you're waiting. But you're going to have to wait a little longer before I finally make my move. I'm still thinking about it, and I want to make sure it's just perfect. I have a few ideas running around in my head at the moment, but I haven't decided which one I want to use yet. I don't want to make a mistake when it comes to you."
"Well, you only have two days."
"Two days? That's plenty of time. I mean, it's not like the second the clock hits midnight and it's a new week, that means I'm automatically out of the race to have you love me, right? I could literally get the ball rolling at 11:59 PM if I wanted to. So I have plenty of time to come up with the perfect bold move for you."
"You sure do have a lot of confidence for a man that has a short period of time. Well if you are not going to do anything bold, should we just end the session here?"
He chuckled and smirked, he kept up his confident demeanor even though I saw through his bluff."So now what? You want me to just sit back do nothing while you continue having dates with this mystery man of yours? Are you saying you don't even want to see me put my plan into motion?"
"To be quite frank with you, I don't think you have a plan. I think you just expected it to be as easy as snapping your fingers."
This had him amused as he laughed. He couldn't believe how far I had already gotten under his skin. It's as if all his little "mind games" weren't working as he thought it would."That's true. I did expect all this to be easier than it is. You're a lot harder to figure out than I thought. I mean, I didn't even get the reaction I was hoping for when I pretended to kiss you earlier today. Now I have to rethink my next move."
"What reaction were you expecting?"
He smirked and replied."I was expecting you to get more flustered than what you actually did. I was hoping that your cheeks would get redder than a tomato, and you'd turn away to prevent me from seeing you blush. But instead, you just kept looking right back at me. And I have to say that I was quite surprised. I expected that my charm was going to have you wrapped around my finger by now."
"Try a bolder move I supposed."
He smirked, he felt a bit insulted. He definitely didn't like the way I was speaking about him."A bolder move than trying to kiss you? I could, but is that really what you want? A more bold move than the one I just tried? Or do you now want to see how bad this can get before we even get there?"
"Let's see how bad it can get."