Page 5 of Tempted By Sin

My eyes snap up to the client across from me. Jayden is a young man in his early twenties battling depression and anxiety. He was one of my first clients after I became a registered psychologist and has been coming to see me once a week to talk through his feelings and thoughts. He has a lot on his plate with his home life, so the fact that I haven’t been listening to him, lost in my own thoughts, makes my stomach twist painfully.

I adjust my position in the chair and clear my throat. Guilt claws its way up my throat as I force a smile onto my lips. “I’m okay, yes. Apologies, Jayden. Can you please repeat yourself?”

Jayden nods and repeats his words, detailing an incident that happened with his father recently. Jayden’s father isn’t a good man, to put it simply. He’s verbally abusive and doesn’t understand his son. My job is to make sure Jayden feels heard and remind him that he’s important and his life matters. He matters.

Forget about the masked man, I tell myself.Your client needs you.

I get through the rest of the session with Jayden, putting the man in the mask at the back of my mind. Jayden is grateful for my advice as he leaves my office, which eases the guilt swirling in my stomach from the mishap earlier in the session.

With a sigh, I collect my belongings and lock my office for the night. Clarissa is sitting at the receptionist's desk typing away on her obnoxiously loud keyboard. When I step toward her, juggling my phone and car keys in my hand, her brown doe eyes lift from the computer to meet mine.

“Leaving for the night, Pae?” Her voice is soft and gentle, which matches her exterior. Clarissa is freshly nineteen, so her youthful appearance brings a certain calmness to the office. I had my doubts about her to begin with, considering her age and inexperience in the field, but she is great with the clients and is a pleasure to work with.

I stop in front of her desk, meeting her gaze. “I am. Are my clients for tomorrow still available to come in?”

“Your 10:00 A.M. session was canceled an hour ago when you went in with your last client, something about getting food poisoning last night. But the rest of your sessions are good.”

Smacking my lips together, I nod. “Thank you, Lissa. You should head home, though. It’s getting late.”

She waves me off. “I won’t be much longer, I promise. Getting ahead on the tasks for the next day is one of the ways I like to stay on top of everything. As soon as I’m done, I will have Jerry escort me out to my car. He’s waiting for me out front.”

Jerry is her new boyfriend she met a couple of months ago while at a party. They seem to be good together, so I have no doubt he’ll keep her safe. I wish I could have my fiancé walk me to my car, but he’s a busy man, so that’s out of the question.

I smile and nod. “Okay, well, be safe. I’ll see you bright and early tomorrow morning.”

“Good night, Pae.”

On my way out of the building, I spot Jerry leaning against the wall beside the front door and wave at him. He returns the gesture and goes back to playing a golf game on his phone. The sidewalks are busy with people leaving work for the night, so I join the crowd and make the trek to my car.

I’m barely a few steps down the sidewalk when I get a call from my best friend, Raya. Perfect, I have someone to talk to on the phone while I walk, saving me from calling my mother again. The last thing I want to do is bother her when she’s recovering from her latest chemo treatment.

“Hey, you,” I say into the phone, a smile tipping up the corner of my lips. “Long time, no talk.”

“Pae!” Raya calls excitedly into the phone. “How have you been? How is your mom?”

“I’m good, just busy with work as usual. And she’s good too. Her most recent round of chemo went smoothly a few days ago, and she’s responding well to the new medication she is on, so I’m hopeful she’ll be able to beat the cancer.”

“God, she’s amazing,” Raya praises, her voice filled with admiration for my mom. “And I’m glad to hear you’re both doing well. I was actually calling to suggest we go out for drinks tomorrow night if you’re free. It’s a Friday night and I could use a gossip session with my best friend whom I haven’t seen in forever.”

Raya and I have been friends since middle school. I found her eating lunch in the girls’ bathroom because she didn’t have anyone to eat with. Much to my surprise, I was also going to eat in the girls’ bathroom because my friends at the time decided to ditch me to go sit with the popular boys. So, we decided to sit in the bathroom and eat our lunch together. This turned into eating lunch together every day, sleeping at each other’s house every weekend, and getting up to a lot of mischief throughout the rest of our days in school.

Honestly, we still do get up to a lot of mischief, but it’s a lot more tamed now that we are both engaged.

“I can make Saturday night work,” I respond. “With how busy work has been lately, I could use a drink to unwind a little.”

“Now that’s what I like to hear,” Raya cheers. “No partners, okay?”

Someone bumps into my shoulder roughly, forcing a puff of air from my lips as I gather myself, standing upright. “That shouldn’t be a problem. Liam is catching up with his father to meet with some campaign sponsors and whatnot, so I’m all yours.”

“Seren is going out for drinks with his work friends, so I’m free as a bird also. He told me to tell you that the four of us need to get together soon for dinner.”

The dreaded alleyway comes into view, and my heart begins to race. I swallow hard and focus on Raya’s voice and not the blood rushing in my ears. “Yeah, that sounds good to me. Maybe we can host this time since you and Seren went out of your way to prepare such a wonderful dinner for us last time we got together.”

“Well, it was more of an engagement dinner considering you had already been engaged for a few months and had decided not to have a party since you were too consumed with planning the wedding. It was the least we could do,” she points out. “But speaking of the wedding, how is the planning going?”

I turn the corner, leaving behind the safety net of strangers to keep me company, even if they don’t know it. My heart hammers against my rib cage as I walk further into the darkness. I find it hard to focus on Raya’s words because of the sense of dread that washes over me. The moment that same shiver I have felt twice now races down my spine, I stop walking, my legs unable to carry me further.

He’s here again.

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