Epilogue
Jack Larsen settles onto the white suede couch in Dr. Sheila’s office. He’s just come from work, and still wears the finely tailored three piece suit that befits his position as CEO of Larsen International. His face is closely shaven, and his neat hair has gone back to its natural, jet black color. This is the first time he’s seen Dr. Sheila since he broke into her apartment, and forced her to put him under hypnosis. He’s been meaning to schedule a session with her, but with transitioning Larsen International to his leadership, and all the legal matters that Joel now finally has a handle on, he hasn't had time for much else. It’s been four months since Henry was arrested, and things have finally started to settle down. He can finally breathe.
Dr. Sheila sits in a chair across from him. Her posture is as usual, legs crossed, back straight, her notebook in her lap, but there’s something different in her eyes. She’s not angry with him, it’s not that. She’s lost some of her cold professionalism, and regards Jack warmly.
“I’m so pleased to see you’re doing well, Jack. I’ve never seen a patient come so far.”
“Thanks in no small part to you. Have I apologized yet for threatening you with a knife in your own apartment?”
“Yes, you have, many times. And I appreciate all the flowers and chocolates you sent,” Dr. Sheila says with a chuckle. Her eyes brighten with something like admiration. “While I don’t condone that behavior, I understand why you did it. You were desperate for answers, and with so much mounting against you, you didn’t think you had a choice.” She clears her throat, her expression going sharp and professional. “I want to talk about Henry.”
“I don’t.”
Dr. Sheila purses her lips, doubling down. “Which is precisely why I want to talk about him.” Jack shifts uncomfortably on the couch while she continues. “He was a big part of your life, a trusted ally, and he betrayed you. Are you having any intense feelings of resentment or anger?”
Jack wipes his palms down the front side of his trousers. “No. It’s more complicated than that. I’m not angry.” He shakes his head, searching for the word he can’t quite put his finger on. “I think I miss him, as strange as that is. Look, I only had two friends to begin with, Joel and Henry, so I’ve lost half of my friends. It’s pretty noticeable.”
Dr. Sheila nods. “That’s completely understandable. And in my opinion, it shows tremendous emotional growth. Can you imagine what the old Jack would have done?”
Jack shivers at the thought. “I would’ve blindly followed my anger. I would’ve tried to inflict as much pain on someone else as I was feeling inside.”
“That’s very good, Jack.” She leans forward, taking off her glasses. “Why do you think you don’t have to do that anymore?”
Jack rakes his fingers through his thick, black hair. Since taking over Larsen International, and moving back into his penthouse with Amber, he’s felt a gradual change inside of him, an alteration of his very composition. He’s kept himself busy with mountains of paperwork, and Amber’s soft curves, to keep from having to put it into words. Maybe that’s why he needed this session so badly, to do just that.
“It’s like the emptiness inside of me, that huge, empty, gnawing hole, the one that made me feel unworthy, damaged, the one I tried to fill with drugs and sex, it’s gone, filled in. I feel whole. For the first time in my life, I feel… right.”
“I think I can guess as to why,” Dr. Sheila says, coyly. “The transformative power of love. It’s stronger and more effective than anything I could prescribe.”
“Amber,” Jack says, mostly to himself. With a surge of clarity, Jack remembers the promise he’d made to Amber, and the bread tie he’d wrapped around her finger. Now, it’s time to make good on that. He checks his watch, and stands up abruptly. “I should be going.”
“Back to the office?”
“No, home.”
“At only seven in the evening?” Dr. Sheila says, sarcastically. “You’re different than most of my clients.”
Jack pauses in the doorway, flashing her a brilliant smile. “That’s the point.”
*
The penthouse is quiet when Jack returns. He calls for Amber, but he doesn’t get an answer. He knows where she is though. She’s probably in her office, slaving over her manuscript. Once Amber started pitching her book idea to publishers, it wasn’t long before she started getting offers. Editors were chomping at the bit for a true crime story where the author was a first hand witness to the events that transpired. There was even a bidding war between two prominent publishing houses, which helped raise the advance she received.
Jack presses his hand against his breast pocket, feeling the small, square shaped box. He’d gone straight to the jeweler’s from Dr. Sheila’s office, where he’d made a hasty decision. None of the rings, no matter how glittering or elegant, seemed worthy of being worn on Amber’s hand. So he went for simplicity, just one, circular, three carat diamond on a white gold band.
In the office, Jack finds Amber facedown on the desk, papers strewn around her head. She’s sleeping. Jack bends down to read the document on her computer screen.
Chapter One: I’m not going to lie. It’s fun flirting with a killer.
Amber goes on to describe the night they met at the diner in White Oak. He’s at the part where she mistakenly says his real name when he feels Amber’s warm hand on his lower back.
“Hey, Baby,” she murmurs, picking up her head. Her dark wavy hair falls gently over her face, and her eyes are soft with sleep. Jack would like to lift her warm body into his arms and carry her to the bedroom, but the ring is burning a hole in his pocket. Amber turns her eyes to the computer, and her cheeks flush with embarrassment. “That’s just a draft. It’s not ready for you to read.”
Jack patiently grabs her wrist, and pulls her hand away from the screen. “I like your first line, but I’m not the killer.”
Amber sits up, stretching her arms up to the ceiling. “I didn’t know that then.”
Jack sits on his knees in front of her chair, wrapping his arms around her waist. Amber wriggles closer to him. The sweet scent of her hair is already making Jack hard.
“You didn’t know that, did you?” He leans his head into her torso, breathing hotly onto her collarbone. “The danger turned you on.”
“Not danger, the possibility of danger,” Amber says, arching her back. “There’s a difference.”
Jack stretches up, kissing her neck. He gathers her hair in his hand, and pulls slightly. “I see,” he says against her ear.
Amber sighs with regret. “I have to get back to work. I have a deadline coming up.”
Jack smiles against her ear. “You don’t have an ending yet.”
“Yes, I do.” Amber picks up one of the newspaper clippings that are scattered across her desk. The article features a picture of Jack, the newly crowned CEO. “Henry gets put away for life. You rise to the top of Larsen International. Case solved. The end.”
Jack shakes his head. “You’re leaving out the best part.”
Amber squints in confusion as Jack reaches into his breast pocket. All Amber sees at first is a flash of light, a tiny ball of glitter. Then it suddenly dawns on her what it is. She takes a sharp breath in, letting her eyes focus on the diamond ring.
Jack doesn’t bother to ask. He takes her hand and slips the ring onto her finger.
“I want to marry you as soon as possible,” he says, definitively. “As soon as we get a marriage license, we’ll find a judge to perform the ceremony. I don’t want to wait. I’m not going to wait. Do you understand?”
Amber studies the dazzling ring on her finger. In that instant, all girlhood fantasies about horse drawn carriages and white lace dresses on her wedding day fly out of her head. None of that matters. All she wants is Jack. She tears her eyes away from her finger, and focuses on him.
“I understand,” she says.
Jack kisses her deeply. He pulls away with a deep growl. “Now, I’m going to take you into that bedroom, lay you down, and get you pregnant.”
Amber laughs, though hot desire flushes her face. “Aren’t we getting ahead of ourselves?”
Jack grips her waist, pulling her up from the chair and into his arms. “I told you I didn’t want to wait.”
Jack throws Amber over his shoulder and carries her into the bedroom. He lays her on the bed, then aggressively pins her arms above her head. Jack hovers over her, his expression hard and intense. He fucks her with purpose, and claims her body by planting his seed.
Later that night, while Jack is naked and soundly sleeping in bed, Amber steals away to her office to write down the words ringing in her head.
Attraction is irrational. Sometimes we need to run away from it.
And sometimes, there’s no other choice but surrender.
The End
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