Page 78 of Waiting for a Prince
“How did this morning’s session go?”
Sam sighed. “Good. He thinks he’s almost ready to sign me off.” He hadn’t been thrilled by the idea of therapy at first—for either of them—but Mark had set him straight.
‘Babe, think about it. You tortured yourself because a woman beat you up, and my mum destroyed my dad in front of me. You couldn’t find two more likely candidates for therapy.’
When he put it like that…
He kissed Mark’s temple. “How about you?”
Mark shrugged. “We’re getting there. We’re not at the point where I want to have her over for dinner, however.”
Sam gave him another kiss. “No one’s saying you have to. But at least get to the point where thinking about her doesn’t hurt so much.”
Mark gestured to the couch, and they sat, Sam’s arm around his shoulder. “I’ve got another mum, remember?”
Sam smiled. “She loves you to bits.” The first time he’d introduced Mark to his mum, the click had been almost audible. “And she loved what you did with her hair.”
“So did Sonia. She put pictures on the website.” He let out a contented sigh. “It feels so good to go to work and not dread walking through the door.”
“She did a fantastic job with the new place.” Sonia had chosen the colour scheme, the furnishings, everything. Her salon came with a list of readymade clients. When Sonia announced she was leaving and gave Marie four weeks’ notice, she’d done it with a lot of trepidation. Going it alone was scary stuff, and Mark was so proud of her.
The fear didn’t last long. When Sonia left, all her regular clients had followed, and it wasn’t long before new clients arrived.
Mark had followed too, at Sonia’s invitation. Sam knew it was working out just by looking at Mark’s expression every night. He saw that same expression whenever he looked in a mirror.
Both of us with a job that makes us happy.
Mark sniffed. “That smells good.” He grinned. “You made her favourite dish, didn’t you?”
He chuckled. “She’s my mum. Of course I did.”
At least he had one parent who loved him.
Dad’s the one who’s missing out.That was something Dave reminded him of during every session.
His phone buzzed, and he grabbed it from the coffee table. “It’s Ron.” He clicked on Answer. “Hey. Did you get my email?”
“Yeah. Look, I know you’ve got your mum this weekend, so how about we do a Zoom meeting on Monday? We can discuss the project then.”
“That works. What time?”
“Let me look at the schedule first, and then I’ll talk to Donal. Are you and Mark still coming over next month?”
Sam glanced at the fridge. “You’re on the calendar.”
“Great. We’ll get in some of that beer Mark told us about. And Donal’s finished building the barbecue. There’s even a fire pit.”
Sam beamed. “More nights sitting out in the garden, watching the night sky. Sounds wonderful.” He and Mark had already stayed a few times at the home of Ron and Donal Yates, Sam’s bosses. They lived on the mainland, about an hour’s drive from Southampton.
The doorbell rang.
“I have to go. Mum’s here.”
“No problem. I’ll send you a reminder of the Zoom meeting. Have fun.” Ron ended the call.
Mark was already off the couch and heading for the door.
Sam glanced at the lube and dildo, still sitting on the coffee table, and stuffed them behind a cushion.
