Page 81 of Unfix Me
Derek’s lips formed a tight line. There was a bead of sweat at his hairline and I watched as it detached, sliding down his temple.
“Let’s just get to it,” I suggested. “You’re terrible at your job. I happen to know a few things about licensed mental health counselors. My mom is one, so on the way here, I called her up to verify that what I’m about to say to you is grounded in fact and law.”
While he chewed on that, I rounded the desk and studied some of the other things on the bookshelf. Nothing interesting, really. A Jesus bobblehead, which just made sense. He was still looking forward, so I swiped the ducknana and slipped it into my hoodie pocket.
“So, here’s the deal, Derek. You’re not going to see, speak to, or speak about Sen again.”
“I don’t know who that is,” he replied, looking a little smug. “I can’t speak to you about any of my clients.”
With a grin, I leaned my hands on the desk again. “It’s funny you should mention that because his father told him all about how you spilled the beans about his missed appointments and our special date that you interrupted last night. You ruined a nice moment and sent him into a panic. I’m pissed about it, Derek. And I’m angry that you broke a client’s privileges.”
“Sen was doing something reckless that he knew was wrong. He was a danger to himself.”
Brooks crossed his arms over his chest. “That’s not what that means and you know it.”
“He’s basically a lawyer,” I noted.
“Y-you… I… He signed a consent form to release information.”
“Did he? When I asked him, he said he never filled anything out. I’m willing to bet his dad did, though.”
Derek paled. “Don’t be ridiculous.”
“Ridiculous? I know how people like you operate. You think you’re protected because you’re under the umbrella of the Dumont corporation. They’re just a giant church masquerading as a business. They can’t protect you from losing your license. Neither can Mr. Taylor. Did he pay you extra? I bet it was tempting considering you’re about to lose your house and half of everything to your soon-to-be ex-wife.”
West whistled. “That’s rough, man. Maybe it’s because that conversion bullshit doesn’t work as well as you think it does.”
“I am healed,” Derek said through gritted teeth. “My life is none of your concern.”
“Sure,” I replied. “But your job is and that’s all I care about. I’m happy to put in an official complaint with the Washington State Department of Health. I’m very good at writing reports. Straight A student, in fact.”
He glared at me. I wanted to laugh at how red his face was, but I was barely keeping my own anger at bay.
I returned my hands to my pockets and took a step back.
“Now, I’m going to spend the rest of the evening with my boyfriend and love him until he shows me that smile that first made me think I was having a full-blown heart attack. And you are never going to bother him again or we will burn your world to the ground, Derek.” Turning around, I headed toward the door. With my hand on it, I looked at him over my shoulder. “Respectfully.”
West whispered something to him that made him blanch. Once we were in the hallway, all of us relaxed noticeably.
Chapter 27
Kai
Sometimes, games passed by in a blur. Other times, I reached a state of hyper focus that made me aware of every move. Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t pull myself out of the game. The stands became blurry and only the field existed.
During the game yesterday, that was how I felt. It was on someone else’s field, foreign and unfamiliar. The coach put both me and West in for a while and it was like old times, except far more serious. Winning mattered in high school. Here, it was the only thing that mattered and even though I wasn’t going to keep playing after college, I was committed to being the best that I could be while I was here.
It was also for West. We played better together, so if we were both on the field, he could more easily impress all of the important people. I hated this rivalry he’d awoken with Lincoln, but it didn’t seem to be going away, so I did what I could to help him show what he was worth.
We hadn’t won, but it’d been close. Of course, West didn’t care about anything except the loss. I saw him glance at Lincoln a few times, who didn’t even acknowledge him. If he was looking for some sort of validation from Harmon’s quarterback, he was going to keep being disappointed.
West was heavy on my mind lately. I’d been spending a lot of time with Sen, but we stuck around our friends often. Still, I worried. I knew that he thought about Willow a lot and since she made it a habit to be aloof, she didn’t give him much reassurance that she was okay back home. His dad never hurt her, but with West gone, there was just no telling what was going on.
“This kinda sucks,” Sen said around a bite of the Thanksgiving concoction the school put out.
“They’re definitely instant potatoes,” West agreed, although he’d been shoveling them like they were the best thing he’d ever tasted. I could probably replace his food with packing peanuts and he’d just keep eating them. He was like a starving bear. Or a cockroach.
“I don’t know why turkey is glorified for Thanksgiving,” Brooks noted, grimacing at a piece of meat on his fork. “It’s not even that good.”
