She was wrong. He was supposed to have been at work until five o’clock both days. “You’re way off.”
“No, I think I’m getting somewhere … Let me ask you something else. When was the last time you cried?”
She couldn’t be serious. “I don’t cry. You have to have feelings to cry.”
“Did you cry when your mother died?”
No. “I don’t talk about my mother.”
Dr. Conway leaned back in her chair and folded her hands across her lap. “Your father noted you haven’t always been this way. Something had to have happened in your childhood that was so awful, and your brain turned off a switch to protect itself. Medicine isn’t going to help. It’s only going to prolong your ability to turn it back on.”
Silence.
“I’m going to speak with the dean and take you off your meds while you’re here, but Mia, you have to turn the switch back on. You’re the only one who has the power to do it.”
“If someone would tell me what happened to me, it could help speed up this process,” I said through a sigh.
“I wish it were that easy … but the only way for you to break through is if you remember on your own. Both go hand and hand.”
I took my attention from out the window and faced her. “Do you know what happened to me?”
Dr. Conway took a moment to answer. Her big brown eyes looked past me like I’d seen my father’s do so many times before. “From your father’s point of view … yes, but it’s never going to be enough.” She stood and walked over to the bookshelf before plucking a novel and handing it to me. “Here is your first assignment.”
“I don’t read,” I flatly said.
“From this point on, you do.” She took a seat in her chair. “I will see you Monday. You need to be prepared to tell me what you think.”
I looked down at the book titled To Kill a Mockingbird.
“That’s it? I’ve been here for all of five minutes, and you want me to leave and read a stupid book?”
“I’ll see you on Monday, Mia. Enjoy your weekend.” Dr. Conway swiveled in her chair and turned her back to me. “Oh, and leave the door open on your way out for my next appointment.”
The lady had no boundaries, unlike the other counselors I’d seen in the past.
I threw my stack of books across my desk when I reached my room and sprawled out over my bed. The clock above my door read 2:32 PM. Three hours left until dinner.
I stuffed the pillow over my face to block out the light, and not even two seconds later, there was a knock at my door. I opened it to find a man I’d never seen before with a satchel around his shoulder.
“You’ve got mail,” he said, holding up an envelope. He had to be in his thirties. The wrinkles around his eyes deepened when he smiled, and his black hair fell over his dark hazel eyes.
“Dolor has a mailman?”
He shook his head. “Security guard, still in training. I do the dirty work.”
He was cute, something I could work with. I fisted his shirt at his chest and pulled him into the room without thinking about the consequences. The mail in his hands dropped to the floor at our feet, and the door automatically closed behind us.
His eyes went wide. “I’m not allowe—”
“Oh, hush,” I ordered and pushed him over my bed. I needed this. It was at the top of “Mia’s Hierarchy of Needs,” especially after the day I’d had. He just so happened to be at the right place and time.
I stripped off my clothes in seconds, and his eyes darted back and forth from me to the door, trying to decide which head to listen to. I pulled a condom from its box, the one I’d slipped into my suitcase, knowing it would eventually come in handy. “What’s your name?”
A wicked smile grew across his face. “Oscar.”
“This is your only chance, Oscar,” I said, fanning the condom in the air as I stood naked before him. His lust-filled eyes gave up moral as he quickly undid his belt and pulled down his pants. His manhood sprung free, and I threw the condom over his stomach so he could put it on. “No talking, and don’t you dare try to kiss me.”
He nodded enthusiastically as he lay back against my bed. His abs flexed as he stroked the condom on in a matter of seconds.
I kneeled over him, straddling him as I gripped his length in one hand. He let out a moan as his eyes raked over my body. It didn’t take long before he was inside me. I closed my eyes as I rocked against him, unable to watch what I was doing to him. His hands cupped my breasts and pinched my nipples as he cursed under his breath.
And at 2:36 PM, the trainee had already reached climax.
Chapter Four
“Moments don’t go away,
they burry and become you.”
—Oliver Masters
TIME STOOD STILL at Dolor. I’d officially been here a week, and everyone walked aimlessly from one class to the next in a fog as the seconds seemed like hours, myself included. I was sure boredom would be the death of me.
The only action—and variety—I got was from Oscar, the trainee, who came by on Tuesdays and Thursdays to drop off letters and useless cash my father sent me.
The only purpose of sex with Oscar was to pass the time and allow me to take control of my mundane schedule. I’d been called many names throughout high school. Slut. Whore. Floozy. You name it—I was called it. It never bothered me in the way it killed other girls’ confidence, and it had almost destroyed Sarah’s, my only so-called acquaintance in high school.
I tried to ignore it, but the crying only got worse in the bathroom stall behind me. Rolling my eyes, I nudged the stall door with my foot to see if it was locked, and it was.
After groaning, I called out, “Please, for the love of god, stop crying.”
But she didn’t.
“Open the damn door,” I said, unsure of why I was irritated by it, only wanting it to stop.
The lock clicked, and weight carried the door open. Sitting over the toilet—pants up, thank god—was a chubby girl with blonde hair and big blue eyes. Her tear-soaked face was red. She looked silently up at me.
“What are you crying over?” I asked her.
She tried to catch a breath as her eyes and nose drained into her hands.
“I made a mistake.” Her voice was shaky and words barely audible.
I leaned against the door, unsure if I had the energy to get involved. It wasn’t sympathy I had for the girl. I honestly couldn’t give two shits as to why she was crying, but I was bored and curious. “What did you do?”