Reid
“Are you going to talk to me about your relationship with Scarlet now?”
It’s a week later, and I’m back sitting in the shrink’s chair again. So much has happened since then, but also so little. The bar’s been doing great with more and more customers coming in each week, and Akilah is a fucking trooper. But, I’m still dreaming about her.
“Felicia’s been asking after you,” I mention when thinking about the bar. I see her face blanche, which makes me smile. I like making Miss Frilly squirm in her seat.
“That’s water under the bridge,” she replies, clearing her throat before grabbing a glass of water from her side table.
“Felicia sure doesn’t think so. She said you gave her the orgasm of the century.” And the orgasm of mine. I’ve watched the tape over and over again every night, and each time, I come as strong as the time before. I don’t know what it is about this woman.
Her cheeks redden even more. I know she’s itching to tell me to keep my mouth shut. “Look, in hindsight, I shouldn’t have done what I did. I went in after being told you weren’t there. I was curious, and I didn’t see any harm in it. I watched the couple struggling, and I thought I would help. I should have known you would see it sooner or later.”
I try to suppress my smirk, but it’s no use. “And boy have I seen it later. Again and again and again, and—”
She puts her hand up to stop me. “Okay, you’ve made your point.”
I let out a slight laugh and look up to her certificate on her wall. “What does the N stand for?”
Her forehead creases with bewilderment. “What do you mean?”
I jerk my head above hers. “Your diploma certificate. It says Dr N Mercy. What does the N stand for?”
“Nina,” she responds straight away.
“Nina,” I reply, nodding my head. “I like that.”
“Are you going to get back to Scarlet now?”
“What’s your middle name? I assume you have one. Everyone has a middle name.”
“Is there a reason for all these questions, Reece, or are you just deviating because you don’t want to talk about Scarlet?”
I shrug my shoulders. “Just curious, I guess.”
Through her sexy glasses, Nina fixes me with her stare. I love calling her Nina. If only she seemed willing to make this relationship more than professional. “Oswald,” she answers, making me frown.
“What?”
“My middle name is Oswald.”
I burst out laughing. “But that’s a boy’s name.”
“It’s what my parents gave me. There’s nothing wrong in calling a girl Oswald.”
“But why?” I ask.
Tapping her pen on her pad, she sighs. “He named me after a psychologist named Ian Oswald.”
“What is he famous for?”
“He conducted research on sleep medication and taught at the university of Edinburgh.”
I laugh. “Funny how you became one.”
She shrugs again. “It runs in the family.”
“Ah, so your dad’s one too?”
“Was,” she answers.
“Sorry.”
“It is what it is. He had heart complications for years. In the course of five years, he had five heart attacks—the fifth being the one that took his life. He was warned about his health, but he kept ignoring the warnings. He would say to me, ‘What is life if you can’t have a bit of fun? I would rather go out with a bang than live a long life as a doddering old fool.’”
I chuckle at that. “Your dad and I sound like we would have hit it off.”
The room goes silent for a moment, and I know it’s because she’s waiting. I can’t put it off anymore. I know she won’t let me.
“Scarlet and I met in a bar a few years back. I say met. I actually purposely made sure I was there when I met her. She was turning tricks, and I offered her a way out. I was immediately fascinated by her. We got together as business partners and although we never had sex, we certainly never lacked in giving each other what we needed.”
“So, you never had sex?”
“Once,” I respond, cringing as I think back to that night.
“Only the once?”
I sigh. “I found out that she betrayed me and ended things. Very soon after, I escaped to Spain.”
She frowns. “Then how do you know she’s dead?”
I think back to that morning a few months ago. “I read it in a newspaper article.”