Page 9 of I Don't Want You Back

Landon watched her like a hawk until she was out of sight, before he went to the room that she had pointed out. There was no one else inside, so he grabbed a bottle of water from the cooler and sat down in one of the plush chairs. He grabbed a book that talked about different behaviors that problem children exhibited and the main causes. Landon felt bad when he read a section that spoke on the lack of parental involvement being the number one cause of most of the issues. He knew that Malia leaving affected his sons in a negative way and he tried to do everything that he could to make them feel better. He had one son who’d started acting out and another who just wanted her to embrace him. Lennox was crazy about his mother and he looked forward to her coming to get him. Lance, on the other hand, didn’t want anything to do with her. Landon’s mind was all over the place as he sat there for over an hour and read up on different things.

“Hey dad, I’m done,” Lance ran into the room and said to his father. He had a huge smile covering his face and Landon hadn’t see that in a while.

“How did you do?” Landon asked as he stood to his feet.

“He did great,” Faryn said with a smile as she walked into the room.

“Ms. Clark wants to talk to you,” Lance said while looking up at his father.

“Yeah, I just wanted to go over a few things with you and I’ll set up his next appointment,” Faryn interjected.

“Okay, sit down until I come back,” Landon instructed his son as he followed Faryn back to her office.

The entire room was decorated in pink, black, and white and smelled like tropical fruit. Faryn had her degree on the wall, along with a picture of her graduating college right next to it. Landon looked for pictures of kids or a man, but he was pleased to see that there was none.

“I just want to start by saying that Lance is a sweetheart. I can tell that he comes from a good home and he’s being taught well,” Faryn said as soon as they took a seat in her office.

“Thanks, I appreciate that.” Landon smiled.

“I was happy that he opened up to me on the first day. That doesn’t usually happen too often. He told me about the fights that he’s been getting into at school and we discussed his home life and things like that,” Faryn spoke up.

“How did that go? I’ve been trying to get him to talk to me, but I guess he doesn’t feel comfortable enough yet,” Landon replied.

“Yeah, we talked about that too. He told me about his mom leaving and stuff and that seems to be what bothers him the most,” Faryn noted.

“I figured as much,” Landon replied.

“That’s why he started acting up in school. He was trying to get his mother’s attention. He thought that she would come back if she saw what he was doing. After a while, he started acting out because she didn’t,” Faryn said.

“I wish he would have just said something, but he won’t open up to me,” Landon confessed.

“Yeah and he told me why. He feels like you’re making him have a relationship with his mother and he doesn’t want one. He said you make him talk to her when she calls and you make him go with her when she comes to pick them up,” Faryn said, making Landon feel even worse.

He really thought he was doing the right thing when he encouraged his boys to spend time with their mother. Malia didn’t come around very often and that was his reasoning behind it. He thought that making Lance spend time with his mother would help, but it appeared to have made things worse. Malia called a lot, but Lance hated when he had to talk to her.

“Damn man,” Landon said as he ran his hand over his face.

“Don’t feel bad Mr. Reynolds. You’re doing everything right and Lance seems to think so. He speaks very highly of you and your sister. I just don’t want him to think that his mother leaving has anything to do with him. I told him that it’s not his fault and I need you to remind him of that when y’all are at home. Overall, I think we made a lot of progress for our first session. He has a card with my number if he ever needs to talk,” Faryn replied.

“Are you allowed to give him your personal number?” Landon asked skeptically.

“It’s not my personal number. The agency gave us a phone for the children to have twenty-four-hour access to the counselors,” Faryn answered.

“When does he come back to see you?” Landon inquired.

“In two weeks. I’m here every other Saturday,” Faryn replied.

“Okay, cool,” Landon said as he stood up and prepared to leave.

“Have a good day Mr. Reynolds!” Faryn called out to him.

“Landon.” He smiled and winked, right before he walked out and closed the door behind him.

“Jesus,” Faryn murmured as she took a folder from her desk and fanned her face.

She hadn’t had sex in over a year, but Landon had her kitty jumping. Faryn had never had a real boyfriend in her adult life and getting intimate with one of her patient’s parents was against company rules. A one-night stand wouldn’t hurt anybody, but Faryn knew that it was wishful thinking. She was sure that Landon had gotten a girlfriend since his divorce, but she would never approach him if he didn’t. Lance had told her a little about his father and she had to admit that she was impressed. His appearance screamed dope boy but, when he opened his mouth, another side of him was revealed. Landon spoke with intelligence and his son confirmed that when he told Faryn where he worked. She didn’t know who his ex-wife was, but she had to be a damn fool to leave a man who apparently had it all.

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