Chapter 10 Selene #5
“Dick,” Neil growled at the other guy, venting the remains of his anger.
He straightened his leather jacket and turned to me.
My first instinct was to look down because whenever he got dictatorial like that, it always made me feel embarrassed.
When I heard the sound of his footsteps heading toward me down the hallway, I forced myself to keep silent until he was right in front of me.
He cleared his throat to get my attention, and I lifted my head to look at him.
His magnetic eyes locked on me for a moment, icy cold.
They were heavily lidded and icy cold, so I couldn’t figure out what he was trying to say to me.
All I knew was that I felt guilty about what had just happened and ridiculous for almost provoking a fight.
Who knows what would have happened if John hadn’t been there?
“Put your coat back on. This is not the place to show off how…” He leaned in close and whispered into my ear, “nice you look.”
I shivered at his hot breath passing over the curve of my neck, and the low tone of his voice turned deliberately velvety.
He stepped back and took a long look at my body, simultaneously appreciating and despising my outfit.
Still embarrassed, I did as he’d suggested—if, indeed, it could really be called a “suggestion”—and put my coat back on to avoid attracting more unwanted attention.
I was there to learn more about Neil because it finally seemed like he was willing to let me do that, not to catch anyone else’s eye.
“Come on, let’s go,” John urged us to follow him, trying to defuse the tension that had sprung up between us.
A few minutes later, we made our way to the café, which was just as elegant and sophisticated as the rest of the clinic.
The decor was classy, with vibrant colors interspersed with white and silver.
The lighting was soft, and the tables and chairs blended in perfectly with the rest of the atmosphere.
John leaned an elbow on the counter and said hello to the uniformed woman there.
She gave him a friendly smile in return.
“Hi, Dr. Keller,” she answered with a curious glance at Neil and me.
Though I was still a bit shook up from what had just happened, I did my best to look relaxed.
I examined the array of fresh-baked pastries: croissants, brioche, and muffins.
I hadn’t eaten anything for breakfast, and my stomach had growled several times in the car on the way over.
I wondered if my Disaster had noticed… I hoped not.
“Just my usual passionflower tea. What would you like?” John said.
“Coffee for me,” Neil interjected before immediately shifting his gaze back to me.
He was waiting for me to put in an order as well, but I just shook my head.
He sighed impatiently and turned back to the woman.
“And cut me a nice big slice of that cherry tart as well.” He indicated the dessert, and I gave him a sideways look.
“What are you doing?” I asked him under my breath.
“That’s your usual breakfast, right? The tart won’t be exactly like your mom’s cherry pie, but it has the flavor that you like,” he said easily, coaxing a smile from me.
“So you do listen to me?” I asked him, flattered.
“Yeah. I do it often so I’ll understand you, even if I don’t always respond,” he explained cryptically.
“Plus, you burned a lot of energy last night, Tinkerbell. You need to refill the tank,” he murmured impishly, making me blush.
I shot an embarrassed look at John, who was watching us and looking amused.
“I’m studying a lot right now, and I’ve been a bit stressed…
” I told the doctor, trying to sound remotely believable.
“…so, I need to keep up my strength for that.” I gave him a strained smile, and he looked thoughtfully at me.
I was probably making a terrible first impression.
Dr. Keller obviously wasn’t the kind of guy to be easily fooled.
“Oh, of course. I’m sure studying really wipes you out.
” He winked at me before taking a sip of the tea the woman had just brought over for him.
Then, Neil took a drink of his coffee, and I stared at the glass of orange juice accompanied by a small plate completely eclipsed by an enormous slice of tart.
Was I supposed to eat all of that myself?
Neil moved the plate until it was right under my nose and gave me a challenging look, daring me to refuse it.
So I gave a little huff, and using a napkin, picked the slice up in both hands and took my first bite.
I let out a groan as the sweetness hit my tongue.
It wasn’t as good as Grandma’s or even my mother’s cherry pie, but it was still delicious.
“It’s incredible,” I said thickly, through a mouthful of pie, which made both men laugh. I drained the juice in a few gulps and devoured the rest of the tart just as fast.
Neil watched me, luminous eyes filled with unusual tenderness, and smiled.
“But you weren’t hungry…were you, Babygirl?” he teased me as I cleaned off my hands.
I knew I must be completely pink, but he just brushed his thumb across my lower lip to wipe away some crumbs.
His touch was so gentle and so kind that my heart did not do one, not two, but three flips in my chest. In those incredibly rare moments, I felt like I must have mattered to him, at least a little bit.
“What school do you go to Selene?” John looked inquisitively at me, cup of tea still in his hand. Neil stood up next to me after finishing his coffee in just a few gulps.
“Wayne State in Detroit,” I answered.
“And what are you hoping to do after graduation?” he asked with more interest.
“I want to teach literature, like my mother,” I answered proudly.
Mentioning my mom made me feel like I had a knot in my throat as I thought about how I’d lied to her.
She had no clue where I really was nor who I was with, and she would have been so disappointed in me if she ever learned the truth.
But ever since I met Neil, I’d become prone to making more irrational and even insane choices.
“You’re a girl with a good head on her shoulders.
That isn’t true of everyone your age,” John noted, unaware of the fact that I did not, in fact, have a good head on my shoulders.
At least not when it came to love. I spent too much time drifting into fantasies that Neil was doing his best to thwart.
This trip to the clinic, in fact, was intended to show me what a monster he was.
Instead, I saw it as an incredibly brave act that, honestly, only made me like him more.
I couldn’t ask for a relationship, and I couldn’t tell him that I loved him, but I could continue to think he was something special.
“How long ago did Dr. Lively’s group start?” Neil cut in.
“About a half hour ago. Why?” John answered.
“Because Selene and I are also going to participate,” he answered with an unreadable smile.
Dr. Keller didn’t seem to be fully on board.
His lips flattened into a doubtful expression, but Neil pressed on.
“It’s the whole reason I brought her here,” he said.
John turned and looked at me with perhaps a bit of dismay, but he didn’t object, likely because he knew how pigheaded Neil was.
John led us down another hallway on the opposite side of the café, this one apparently leading to the music room.
I didn’t know what the group was about or why Neil suggested that I attend as well, but I was sure that this was all part of an attempt to shock me.
“Are you trying to freak me out?” I asked him pointedly as we followed John down the hall. His proud posture, cynical bearing, and omnipresent grave frown made him look like a divine creature, both beautiful and damned.
“I just want you to watch and listen,” he answered flatly, without so much as a glance in my direction.
“Like you wanted me to watch the blond in the pool house suck you off? Or like you wanted me to watch you and Jennifer on Halloween?” I pressed, feeling unnerved.
“You failed those times, and you’ll fail this time, too,” I told him clearly.
Neil did things, abnormal things, often in a cynical or ruthless attempt to make me hate him and force me out of his life.
“Don’t be a fucking brat. Now is not the time,” he scolded me, an especially irritating note of condescension in his voice. He always used that tone when he wanted to quickly put me back in my place.
“Is this war of ours ever going to end?” I asked, still trying to find common ground with him, despite the fact that John—who was only a little bit ahead of us—was surely listening in on our entire conversation.
“It’s not a war; it’s just reality,” Neil answered just as we stepped into a large room.
In the middle of the room, a group of young people were sitting, talking, and laughing with another man who, to judge by his white coat, was probably the other doctor.
He had a notepad and a pen in his hands as he moved amongst the others, looking at them one by one.
He looked just like a psychologist, studying and analyzing his patients’ every movement.
Was this the man who had been caring for Neil since he was a child?
“Let’s try to take our seats quietly so we don’t disturb Dr. Lively and the others,” John suggested under his breath. He gestured at a series of chairs next to the wall.
I sat down next to Neil and automatically put my hand on his leg. He looked calm, but he wasn’t actually comfortable. All he could do was give the appearance of being comfortable.
I had gotten a feel for his emotions, and I could sense how awfully tense he was.