The Love Doctors

by Fontaine, Bella

  “So, you think he has a shot at winning?” she asked.

  “Yes, I think he has a damn good shot.”

  “Jada, if that happens, you need to keep in mind that the world won’t end. I know you have seriously high hopes for the show, and I can see you doing it. You’d totally be in your element, but please, don’t get bogged down with it.”

  “That’s the thing. I still have hopes to beat him. I think I have a good shot too, but the show’s not the only thing I’m worried about now.”

  She sighed. “Okay, explain.”

  “He pointed some stuff out that made me see things I didn’t like about myself. He thinks I have a deluded perspective on love. How can I help people with their relationships if I can’t get that part right? Truthfully, I should be able to separate my own personal feelings and experiences and develop a method that is objective.”

  “But that method is you. People do all these things and offer them up based on their experiences.”

  “I get that, but what if my execution is wrong? Olivia, answer me honestly; you’ve read my book. Would you take my advice word for word? I advised you with Sam.” Her answer meant a lot to me.

  “I think that I should point out that all the time you told me to Go with the Flow with Sam, you never dived into your specific methods. Except maybe to keep an open mind. But you also told me to open my heart. I feel like those are two different things. And in answer to your other question, I’m not sure I would follow that method if I were single or looking to improve my relationship.”

  It was hard for me to hear that, but this was the reason why we were friends. She would never hold back on telling me her true feelings.

  “Thank you for telling me the truth.”

  “Don’t be mad at me.”

  “I’m not.”

  “Good. I just think I’m a different person than you. Maybe you considered that too when you advised me about Sam. I think that …” She paused for a moment. “Jada, I almost think that when you wrote that book, you wanted to be radical and make a mark. But I know you, and while you are radical, I don’t really believe that you think those techniques are it. You’ve always given me the best advice, and that’s why you didn’t tell me to vet Sam like he was applying for a job. Or be the master of him, or any of that other stuff. I also don’t think in your heart of hearts that you would follow that method if it came to being with someone you truly loved.”

  I was listening. I was definitely listening and felt this was an example of the roles between us changing. I was the one with the Ph.D. in love, but here my best friend was handing my ass to me and shaking the foundation of my beliefs.

  “God, I think you’re right.” I winced. “I don’t want to treat a guy I may be into like that.” Again, I got teary eyed.

  “How about you just see what happens? Also, I’m no fool. You like this Ivan person. You don’t usually take this much interests in anyone unless they made some impression on you. It must have been some kind of kiss.” She laughed.

  “It was. I think I just… I don’t know.” I didn’t know what to say.

  “That’s as far as my advice goes, chile. You’re the one playing with some serious fire. I don’t know about mixing business with pleasure, and with a guy who wanted to bring you down. Although I have to say his cry for attention definitely worked.”

  “What cry for attention?” I chuckled.

  “Girl, he’s the bully in fifth grade who obviously likes you and can’t express himself in any other way than to taunt you. This is just different because you both want the same thing. That golden position of being The Love Doctor.”

  She laughed and sure, I agreed.

  I was just feeling a little unstable now.

  He’d be here in an hour. Every time I spent time with him, he did something to reach inside me.

  He reached that place Brian used to. That place I used to love until that day when I not only met Brian’s wife but also found out I was pregnant.

  Chapter 15

  Jada

  Eleven years ago…

  I’d barely gotten through the door to his apartment when Brian grabbed me.

  Toe-curling, orgasmic kisses, hot and wild, were placed all over my lips. I’d been away for one week of the term break just to see my family, and this was how he behaved. It had been the same when I came back from the Christmas holidays.

  The man practically devoured me when next he saw me.

  That devouring was …

  Well… it was memorable and would be forever memorable because I had some exciting news to share with him.

  We’d been together for a little over three months. Seeing each other every chance we got and doing our best not to get found out.

  I didn’t like that part because I felt like a secret, but I understood. It would be incredibly stupid of me if I didn’t understand that he could get into some serious trouble if anyone found out that we were together. And together in every sense.

  Not just merely dating.

  He cupped my face and pulled back to look down at me.

  “I want you to move in with me when the school year finishes,” he said, beaming down at me. His eyes were full of that admiration I loved.

  I sucked in a sharp breath, gasping in complete disbelief.

  “What?” I asked, not because I thought it was a bizarre thing to ask after only three months, but because I couldn’t believe it.

  I could only dream of having him ask me to move in with him, and it just happened.

  “If it’s okay with you. I mean, you can say no. I get it if you say no. I just figure it’ll be different. You won’t be a student as such anymore. I won’t be your teacher.”

  Wow, this was really happening, and it had the double effect of putting my mind at ease for what I had to share with him.

  “I’m saying yes.” I giggled and threw my arms around him.

  Three months and a few weeks. Give or take. That’s how long I’d have to wait until I could move in with him.

  After that would be graduation, and then I’d have to start thinking about what I was going to do next.

  The original plan was grad school, which was why he said I wouldn’t be a student as such. Right now, I didn’t know if I was going to make it as a student for the remaining months of the academic year.

  Last week, as I tried to eat the glorious feast my mom prepared, I found myself in the bathroom unable to keep anything down. Not even water.

  I thought I had one of those awful stomach bugs. The problem continued for my whole stay and right up until last night. Not wanting to get here today sick or call him to reschedule, I went to the doctor early this morning. I simply asked for a prescription for something to settle my stomach. It was then the question came up.

  Are you pregnant?

  Of course, I answered with a firm no, and within ten minutes of me saying that, a urine test revealed I was.

  I was four weeks pregnant, and my stomach bug was no stomach bug. It was good old morning sickness.

  Since my periods were always irregular, I never took note that I’d missed one. I just thought I was late.

  I had an implant, so I never particularly worried about sleeping with Brian without a condom. What I failed to do was check the date that the damn implant ran out.

  While my stomach was still queasy, I was more shaken by the news.

  Me, pregnant. Back in high school, I had a pregnancy scare. I was seventeen, and I thought I was pregnant. Back then, I worried that I wouldn’t be able to go to college, and I knew I was destined to be a single parent because I’d broken up with my then-boyfriend a few weeks before.

  Seventeen and pregnant was a lot different to being twenty-two and pregnant.

  The most significant thing about this morning was I didn’t worry about how having a child was going to change my life. I didn’t worry about Brian not loving me.

  Sure, I’d freaked about how he’d react when I told him, but I didn’t think he was the type of ma
n to want to stop seeing me.

  I kept remembering the first time he told me he loved me. It was just before Christmas. We’d been together for six weeks. It was just after we’d made love, and he confirmed it with his words.

  Just now confirmed his love for me again. Him asking me to move in, inviting me to take such a big step. A big life step. It brought tears to my eyes.

  I tightened my grip on him, and he held me closer.

  “Thank you, Jada. Hearing that you want to be with me is the best news ever,” he whispered into my ear.

  “Thank you for asking me. I’m so excited right now,” I answered.

  When I pulled back and he saw the tears streaming down my cheeks, he wiped them away.

  “Baby, I’m sorry to make you cry.” He chuckled.

  “I’m just so excited and touched.”

  “You going away made me realize I truly missed you, and I thought there’s only one way to fix that. You know you can stay over anytime. I like you staying over.” He ran his finger across my stomach.

  “I like staying over too.”

  “Good, I just figured you’d like living here more. Then we can make us official. I don’t like this secrecy, and I know you don’t either. You deserve to be with a man who doesn’t have to hide you away from the world. You’re beautiful, and I want to show you off.”

  “You are the best thing that’s ever happened to me.” I truly meant that.

  “I think it’s more the case of me saying that about you. Come on, I wanted to show you the stuff I got for dinner. I thought we could have something Bangkok style tonight. Street food like calamari dipped in spices, and we can skewer the vegetables.”

  We’d gotten into the habit of cooking different world foods together.

  He took my hand and ushered me into the kitchen. On the counter was a host of vegetables laid out, ready to be put together to make a fine meal.

  “I love it.”

  Brian was an excellent cook, and I was glad to be in the presence of a master chef.

  “Good. I just have to run to the drycleaners, and then we can get started.”

  “What? Brian, can’t they wait until Monday?” I chuckled. He was so particular about his clothes.

  He always looked fine, so I couldn’t complain. But… on this occasion, I had to say something.

  “Baby, please, Monday is crazy. I have all the course work coming in from last semester, and tomorrow the dry cleaners are closed. Ten minutes max, that’s how long it’ll take me to zoom down there and pick up my stuff.” He gave me a wolfish grin. “I know you like me looking crisp and sharp. Gotta keep my girl happy.”

  Just hearing him call me his girl warmed my heart.

  “Okay. Dry cleaning it is, and I guess I’ll get started on the vegetables.” I smiled.

  “Just chop them.” He backed away, but I caught his hand.

  I wanted to at least prep him for the good news before he left. I’d been a bag of nerves since I found out I was pregnant and worse because I knew it was going to be the moment of reckoning somehow, someway.

  “What?” He cupped my face again and lowered his mouth to plant a kiss on my forehead. “You have a something’s wrong face.”

  “No, it’s not that. Nothing’s wrong.” I shook my head. “Actually, for the first time in my life, everything feels right. I used to think that I’d have everything with my career. I knew that was wrong. It’s you. You complete me in every way, and I love you.”

  He bent down and pressed his forehead to mine. “I love you too, and I can’t believe I have this with you.”

  He moved back and smiled.

  “Me too. I have something to tell you when you get back.” I widened my smile.

  “Baby, you know I don’t like surprises.” He grinned.

  “You will love this one.”

  “Tell me now.”

  “Uh uh. You go get your clothes from the cleaners, and then we’ll talk.”

  “Okay, Jada. You love to keep me in suspense, don’t you? At least tell me you brought the lingerie.”

  I laughed. “Yes, I’m wearing it.” It was a yellow lace set. Of course, from Victoria’s Secret because I always made a statement and to me, pregnant or not, I had to look good for my man.

  “I can’t wait to rip it off you.” He gave me a long sexy stare that made his brown eyes sparkle.

  “I can’t wait for you to do that too.”

  He backed away and smiled. “Dry cleaners, then I’m eating you for dessert. Dinner next.”

  “I like that.” It sounded perfect. Everything was perfect.

  He winked at me as he walked away. When I heard the door close, I released the breath I was holding.

  It worked out. God, thank you. I can’t believe it worked out.

  Brian loved me, and we were going to do this.

  I brought my hands up to my cheeks and looked around the beautiful kitchen. Other than his bedroom, this was my favorite room in the house. I loved the granite worktop and the smooth gray and beige décor. I loved that Brian was as classy as I was, and I could see us having many happy years together.

  Brian, me, and our baby.

  Baby… I couldn’t believe it. I was pregnant.

  I had to tell Olivia. Then, of course, I’d need to tell my parents. Olivia first though. It would be some good news for her because she was having some serious trouble with Coop. He was in rehab again, and understanding addictions the way I did from my studies, I didn’t think he was going to make it.

  I really didn’t. He may pull through this stint, but people with addictive behavior and needs would always either go back to the thing they were addicted to or find something else. I grew up with Coop and like everyone else wanted the best for him, but I had to be realistic. Part of that was knowing what to say to Olivia.

  News of a baby would make her happy. She’d also be truly happy that I found Brian.

  Seeing her at Christmas was hard because I’d wanted so badly to tell her what was going on with me and Brian, but I froze up.

  People knew I had a flair for the dramatic, so sleeping with my professor may not come as a surprise, although I’d never, ever done anything close.

  If I had known then what I do now, I was certain I would have made some different choices.

  Or… not.

  Brian was worth any risk.

  The doorbell rang, interrupting my thoughts.

  I smirked thinking he must have forgotten his keys again. He was famous for doing that; one time, he had to call the building custodian to let him in.

  I rushed to open the door, smiling away as I thought up some crazy thing to say to him. I was thinking of something to do with my lingerie. However, when I opened the door, my smile receded.

  It wasn’t Brian, and thank God, I had the good sense to open the door first and not say anything sexy.

  Standing before me was a woman who looked at least six months pregnant and a little boy no older than two or three clinging to her leg.

  I didn’t know his neighbors, but I assumed she must be one of them.

  “Hi.” I beamed, giving my best smile. After all, she was going to be my neighbor soon too.

  “You, you’re her. Aren’t you?” the woman asked. Her dark skin seemed to grow darker, and there was a fury in her eyes that blazed hotter the longer she looked at me.

  “Um, I’m sorry. What do you mean?” I didn’t know why she thought it was okay to look at me or address me like that.

  “You’re the woman my husband’s been sleeping with,” she snapped.

  “What!” I retorted, my jaw dropped. “I am doing no such thing. That is a pretty big thing to insinuate. Clearly, you have the wrong apartment.”

  Of course, she did. No amount of psychological studies would help me understand how some people behaved the way they did. To come to the door like that and drop such an insult was beyond me. She didn’t know me. She didn’t know who I was or anything, and that was what came out of her mouth.

  “
I don’t.” She balled her fists and gave me a long, hard stare.

  “Girl, bye. You need some lessons in checking things out first before you come for people.” How dare she?

  “No, bitch,” she threw back. “Brian Cordon is my husband.”

  A stone dropped in the pit of my stomach as she spoke those words. The stone dropped, and my heart squeezed. It squeezed so hard to the point where I was in pain. I thought I was going to have a heart attack.

  God, no. It can’t be true. It couldn’t be.

  No, Brian wasn’t married. Married with a pregnant wife and child.

  No… he just asked me to move in with him.

  “It can’t be true. The Brian I know is not married, and he would never do something like this to me.”

  “To you?” She released a crude sardonic laugh. “What about me? What about me and my child, and my unborn baby? You’ve been screwing my husband.” A tear ran down her cheek.

  I just shook my head. “It’s not true. He lives here, I’ve never seen you before.”

  “We live in San Francisco. He got this place because he works here. That was the excuse. However, I see he used this place for other things too.”

  “Things? You think I’m a thing?” I was trying very hard not to cry and to continue to hold my own even though I had no ground to cling to.

  “You are just a thing to him. A fresh piece of ass to get lost in while his pregnant wife struggles at home. When you’re with someone for as long as I’ve been with him, you know them.”

  “How long?” It was such a foolish thing to want to know. What did that information matter in the grand scheme of things?

  “Ten years.”

  Ten years. Ten years in comparison to three months was like a speck falling into the ocean.

  I really was a thing.

  “Ten years.” I said that more to myself than to her.

  “Yes. So, you need to leave my husband alone. I’ll tell him I spoke to you.”

  The boy rested his head on her leg and stared at me. He looked like Brian. He had his eyes.

  If there was any doubt in what she was saying, the proof was there in this boy’s face for me to see. I didn’t notice that before. It would never have crossed my mind.