Page 60 of Champagne Nights

“No. We thought we’d let you do the honors.” He smiled.

“Wise decision.”

Walking back to my office, I noticed Holly still wasn’t at her desk.

“Lucy, where’s Holly this time?”

“She’s back in the bathroom.”

Turning around, I went to the women’s bathroom and opened the door.

“Holly, are you in here?” I asked.

“Yes, Mr. Klein.”

“It seems to me that you spend more time here than you do at your desk, and now I see this as a problem. You assured me that there wouldn’t be a problem.”

“I’m sorry, sir.” She emerged from the stall, wiping her mouth with a piece of toilet paper.

I stood there shaking my head and stared at the paleness of her face. “Just clean yourself up and get back to work.”

I arrived home that night at seven-thirty, poured myself a drink, and waited for Dr. Perry to arrive. I stood in front of the painting I purchased, which was still wrapped up and leaning against my wall. As I removed the brown wrapping, I stared at it as I sipped on my drink. Aubrey wasn’t the only one who lived in a world of darkness. But I was not so sure that she did. She had found things that put light in her life, regardless of whether she could see or not.

The doorbell rang, and Dr. Perry was standing there when I walked over and opened it.

“Good evening, Ethan. Are you ready for our session?”

“Hello, Dr. Perry. Yes. Please come in.”

I led her to the living room and had her take a seat in my black leather chair while I sat on the couch.

“May I get you something to drink?”

“No. I’m good. So tell me how the past couple of days have been. Did you reach out to Aubrey?”

“I actually saw her last night. I had just finished with a dinner meeting, and as I was leaving the restaurant, I saw her walking down the street.”

“And?”

“I stopped in front of her, and I apologized for the things I said that night, and I told her that I didn’t mean to hurt her.”

“How did she respond?”

“She accepted my apology and then got away from me as fast as she could. I sent her a text message and told her how beautiful she looked. She responded by telling me never to call her again and that it’s time she forgot she ever met me.”

“Do you blame her?” Dr. Perry asked.

“Not really.”

“Aubrey is now protecting herself like you’re protecting you. And you can’t blame her for that.”

“I know.”

“What happened with Sophia was long ago, and I thought you were healing from it. After our last session, you told me you accepted the fact that it wasn’t your fault, and then I never saw you again.”

“Because the nightmares stopped. After two years, they finally stopped.”

“Do you know why they stopped?” she asked.

---