She’s clearly in need of a real man plus she's admitted to having this ‘feeling’ for me too as well as the guy in the bushes… Who's also me, so I’m kinda getting a double-whammy of thrills here and I must say… I like it. Not enough to waste any time though. I wasn't kidding when I told Becky the man watching Lori would be back in custody soon.
It won't be long at all before the doctor is discovered and my freedom gone with it. A wanted man but not in the way I know Lori wants me.
One word, a single touch… One little kiss and she’ll be putty in my hands. Just not here…
My place is the second dumbest place to go apart from staying in the real Dr. Schmidt's office. His house too. No point lifting his keys, cops will be all over him and his place as well as mine once it’s clear I’ve disappeared and taken Lori with me.
But there’s something about the idea of doing it all at her house. Like it should have ended that night, the way I wished ever since it had, and now's my chance.
Parents away… Friend visiting postponed… I’ve got at least a couple hours of her to myself, surely?
It could never be long enough, but it’ll be a start. She found me all on her own and everything so far has only pulled us closer together. That’s how I know she's the one. No matter what else happens, we will be together. And a lot longer than just for me to plant a seed. Girl like her? It's a forever deal.
And you’re gonna live in a castle in the sky, right? You mean PRISON… The only place they’re gonna haul your ass when you get caught…
The thought makes me mad but it won’t stop me. If anything, knowing the risk I'm taking, knowing the consequences? It only adds to my impossible need for her now. She feels it too. Just needs a little coaching and playing doctor-patient a little longer, then she’ll see. And as for getting ‘caught’, how can I get caught and punished for doing something I know without a doubt is the right thing?
It’s destiny. Me and Lori… Anyone who can't see that needs more than just therapy. And anyone who tries to get in my way is gonna end up like the real Dr. Schmidt. Another reason why I’m keen to get her out of his office and back to her house.
The secretary has left already, but I lock every door that has a key in the antiquated brass handles to give the impression to anyone who comes looking that the place is definitely closed for the day. My car’s a half block away and I fight my own impatience when I realize just how slow I have to move so Lori can keep up. And there’s no way I’m letting her lag behind.
Spotting my car once we’re near enough for me to unlock it with the remote, I can see her brows lift as she tells herself that her therapist does better than just okay out of his job. I have no idea what car the real Dr. Schmidt drives, but my everyday drive probably costs more than his office building.
When I’m not pretending to be a psychiatrist, luring young women back to their own homes… I make a mint from the share market, heavily funded from the sale of what people call ‘start-ups’ now. Businesses and sales channels that still tick over nicely for the new owners who paid me a ton for the convenience of something that was already making a killing.
My businesses and solid reputation I had years ago would be in tatters today if I hadn’t been smart and sold to the highest bidder. The pending court cases and press would be enough to ruin any man. But finding Lori, knowing she's the real reason for all of it, makes more sense to me now than ever.
Destiny.
And I’ve got enough for a dozen lifetimes with Lori. She’ll never want for anything. I can’t help noticing her expression shift again once I see her into the passenger seat. The kind of face people who aren't used to the finer things make, not because they don't like it. They just haven't experienced it before.
“Buckle up,” I tell her, trying to sound cheerful but my own brow is already twitching. Scanning the street.
Not for cops or the inevitable nuclear fallout all this will bring, I’m keeping my eyes peeled to make sure that no other man gets so much as a glimpse of what's soon to be all mine.
Pulling out into traffic, I make a few turns I know will get us to her place sooner. Something she pegs after we drive in a near-awkward silence. Having her on the couch is one thing, even standing right in front of her with a circus tent pole in my pants… But damn, if being this close to her in the car and not being able to touch her? It’s a new kind of slow burn and one I have to fan a little.
“So… You don't mind if we talk while I drive?” I ask, forcing a neat crimp of a smile, trying to distract myself by sounding clinical as I study the line of skin between her breasts. The air conditioning doing me a solid by making her nipples stiffen with the chill. She would catch me if she looked, but her own eyes are darting between her own lap and my still towering bulge that feels like a smoking volcano.
Lori shakes her head, twisting it so quickly as she tries to look natural by looking out the window, but her eyes are still on me. On the reflection of what we’re both thinking about.
“…No boyfriend?” I ask, double-checking but trying to sound like I'm filling in some gaps now her ‘therapy’ has taken a twist. She looks wounded and I watch her pale blue eyes shift in the reflection. Moving away from me and out to the street beyond.
“It’s just a routine question,” I assure her, “I bet you’ve been waiting for me to ask you to tell me all about your mother, like in the movies whenever they get someone on the therapist’s couch…” I observe with a strained chuckle. But clearly, I’ve upset her somehow.
“What if I do.” She finally says, sniffing as soon as she says it, telling me she’s bluffing. Although, she’s got more than a boyfriend now. If she hasn’t figured it out already. But it’ll take some time for her to adjust, I understand.
My comment does more than break the mood we shared earlier in my office- in Dr. Schmidt’s office. I wonder how long it’ll be before they find him, the smile twitching on my lips as I think of how she’ll feel once we’re in her room. Once I see and hear for myself just how Lori felt that night.
Re-living it as it should have played out before the cops came. Doing it how it should’ve been done, with me finishing what I started. But the shift in her mood concerns me. She’s a clever girl like I said. So why is she wasting time thinking about anything else? I take another turn, the street leading straight to her neighborhood that she recognizes after another long silence.
“How do you know where to go?” She asks me with a sidelong glance. Her voice straining a little once it’s clear she’s losing whatever fight she's having in her mind. Just like the other details of that night I somehow just ‘knew’, it’ll be clear to Lori soon enough who was really in her parents’ yard. Who she really fell for that night and just like me, can’t stop obsessing about it.
“Your address is in your patient file,” I inform her casually, shooting her another knowing look but really it’s the only place I’ve wanted to drive since the other night. I was planning a trip out there today after my own therapy session with Dr. Schmidt, truth be told. She nods slowly, shivering a breath in as she regains her emotions.
“You don’t think a girl like me could have a boyfriend, do you? Or is that something else that’s in myfile?” She asks haughtily. Making me click my tongue with mild annoyance. “Why don’t you tell me what you mean?” I reply. Struggling myself to sound like her therapist, answering questions with questions instead of the man who’s about to claim what’s his.
“What really made you upset when I asked if you have a boyfriend, Lori?” I ask her in a soothing tone. Feeling her relax as she sighs and sinks back into her seat, closing her eyes. I coax an answer from her with a look once she opens them again, crimping her mouth as if she's trying to stop the words from flying out.
