Page 29 of Margot
“Do we have to do this today, Lennox?” I turned to him and wet my lips with my tongue. My mouth was turning to cotton.
“Yes. We do. Don’t prolong it anymore, Sutton. Let’s go talk to the lady.” He was out of the car and opening my door in a matter of seconds.
I sat not moving for a few beats in silent protest and Lennox leaned against the car waiting with the patience of a saint. When I finally caved, he held his hand out for me and I grabbed on with an attitude.
“Please be nice when we meet the doctor and remember she’s here to help.”
“I’m always nice to everyone,” I countered as we stepped inside the warm building. The floors were light gray marble and reflected the gold light fixtures hanging from the ceiling. The light they cast was warm and not too harsh. I was thankful because I could feel a headache coming on.
“Hi, may I help you?” The woman at the front desk smiled directly at Lennox. She even leaned forward on her elbows a little to get a better look at him.
“You can put your eyes back in your head,” I snapped out of nowhere. Lennox looked at me with wide eyes and his mouth agape.
I had nearly an identical expression. It was like I watched myself speak from a seat in the back of the room.
“I wasn’t trying to stare. I’m sorry if it seemed that way.” She tucked her chin in a bit and lowered her eyes to the computer monitor in front of her.
“No worries. You’re fine,” Lennox said to her while he stared at me. I shifted my eyes to the side and looked at a framed picture of a face in stark black and white while he made sure we were checked in.
“You can wait over there. Dr. Adler will be out shortly.” She gestured to the rows of plush black chairs that made up the waiting room. I hurried over and found a seat. Lennox came over and handed me a clipboard with paperwork clipped to it.
“Let’s get this filled out before we go in.”
“God, didn’t we fill out enough stuff before we came?” I groaned. “How am I supposed to write, Lennox?” Yet another thing hindered by my fingers being screwed up. My neck tightened sending pulses of dull pain down to my shoulders.
Lennox took the pen and clipboard from me and sighed softly. “I can fill it out for you.” I watched him, leaning over to make sure he wrote everything right. I was jealous of the fluid way his hand handled the ink pen.
Frustration bubbled up in my chest like acid, eating through my logic. I bounced my knee up and down furiously until Lennox finished filling out the paperwork. It was just in time for us to be called back into Dr. Adler’s office.
Dr. Adler was a woman of average height with piercing green eyes that made me feel the need to squirm. Like she could see underneath my layers. Like she could see behind the locked door inside of me that I couldn’t even see behind.
Her dark brown hair was swept up into a loose bun at the back of her head and she wore a pair of red-framed glasses. When she saw us, she smiled warmly and stood aside to let us into her office.
It was a small, cozy space with a brown suede couch, a coffee table and a plush leather armchair on the other side of the table. It was set up more like a living room than an office. I sat on the couch first then Lennox sat beside me.
“Hello, Mr. and Mrs. English. I’m Dr. Michelle Adler. It’s so nice to finally meet you. I’ve been reading over your information for days.” She shook our hands and had a seat in the armchair.
“Nice to meet you, Doctor,” Lennox smiled. His deep voice came out confident as usual. I looked over at him in awe of how together he was. My world was just blown apart and he was the picture of perfection.
He still wore his suit from being at work earlier and his hair was still a perfect crown of kinky, coily, deep brown glory. His chocolate skin glowed under the soft lights in the office and his smile radiated.
Lennox was so fine.
“Nice to meet you,” I muttered to the doctor, pulling my eyes away from Lennox. It was easy to get caught up in him but I was there to focus.
Dr. Adler’s gaze fell to my hand and she frowned. “Mrs. English, may I call you Sutton?” I gave a quick nod in response. “Sutton, what happened to your fingers?” Her question left a bitter taste in my mouth. Not because she annoyed me but because I hated replaying the incident.
“I broke my finger this morning,” I explained with a grim expression.
“Oh my. I know that must be really hard for you to cope with since you’re a musician.” Dr. Adler slid to the edge of her seat and grabbed an iPad from the coffee table. I hadn’t seen it there before but when she reached out, it seemed to materialize.
“It’s pretty tough right now.” I swallowed the tight knot forming in my throat before it took over my ability to breathe.
“I understand. Well, I’m glad you kept your appointment. I think it was the right thing to do.” She smiled from me to Lennox then started tapping away on her iPad. “Why don’t you both start off by telling me about yourselves and your relationship. Whatever you feel it’s pertinent for me to know.”
Lennox and I shared a look of uncertainty. This was the first time we’d ever opened up about our marriage to anyone let alone a stranger. It was awkward.
I hated talking about myself but I did it anyway. I sounded so robotic. When Lennox talked about himself he sounded sure and charismatic like he was just having another conversation. I wanted a pinch of his personality.
