The Love Doctors

by Fontaine, Bella

  “My thanks again. I guess a better answer to that question, however, is that I hope I enlighten people so they can value themselves. You’d be surprised how key that is to having a successful relationship. Love yourself or fall in love with yourself again before trying to love someone else. Value of the self translates in a big way. I’m not talking about being selfish here, or conceited. I mean loving who you are as a person and the limits of what you can do and bring to the table.”

  “Jesus, woman, you are perfect. Everything you say is like hard truths we should know but aren’t doing.” Again, he gave me that look of admiration.

  “You’re right, it’s truth, but often people lose their way.” It was actually more often than not.

  “Agreed. Okay, over to the public for two questions.” He signaled the engineer behind the glass screen. “We’ve got Dora Montrose from New York calling in. Dora, good morning from L.A. What’s your question, sweetheart?”

  I mentally sighed with relief. The show would be over in ten minutes.

  I was anxious to get back to my work later. I had a meeting with Porsha and Adrian, one of my long-standing clients who’d fallen off the path again. They’d been on my mind since last week when they booked their appointment to see me.

  “Hello, Mikey,” Dora chimed in. “Hello, Dr. Dane. I just wanted to let you know how much I adore you.”

  It was always great to hear that. “Thank you so much, Dora,” I answered. “I adore you for saying that, gurl.”

  “Thank you. My question today has to do with a potential guy I’m into. He’s great in the looks department, but he did something I’m not comfortable with.”

  “What did he do?”

  “He took me to Miami last weekend for an all-inclusive getaway, then I found out he paid for the trip with all my savings.”

  “Say what?” I gasped. My mouth dropped, and Mikey was shaking his head.

  “Yes. He told me he paid with his first paycheck. But then I also found out he got fired on his first day at work for turning up drunk.”

  This was the kind of woman who needed my help. Oh my gosh.

  “Hell no, Dora. Hell to the no.” I grimaced. Some men were just… I didn’t even know what to say. I didn’t know what made them think it was okay to behave the way they did. Like animals. “I don’t think you need my advice for this. There are plenty of good-looking men in this world. You can’t look that good for your partner to put up with all of that. So, please, say no to the scrub. I think you know too that you can do better than him.”

  “Oh my gosh, okay. I will. Thank you so much,” Dora gushed. “I appreciate the advice.”

  “No problem.”

  “Thanks, Dora,” Mikey came back in.

  “Bye Bye.”

  “The next caller is Mr. Ivan St. James, calling in from L.A. Nice name, sir.” Mikey chuckled.

  “Thank you, Mikey,” Ivan replied.

  He had a nice voice too.

  “It sounds very knightly, Sir Ivan. What can The Love Doctor help you with today?”

  I geared up to hear his question. There hadn’t been any male callers today. I didn’t expect to have any. Most times, I’d get the occasional guy who’d take me on for being a feminist, or some man-hating woman who wanted all men to burn in hell.

  This could be one of them.

  “Good morning,” Ivan began. “And a massive hello to the beautiful Dr. Dane.”

  “Hello, there,” I replied.

  “I’ve just finished reading your book again for the second time.”

  “Wow, that’s impressive. Thanks for reading it.” I got that a lot too.

  “Oh, don’t thank me just yet,” he responded in an off-handish manner, throwing me off a little. I glanced at Mikey, who bit the inside of his lip. “On my first reading I think I was completely stunned and shocked as many are by your recommendations. The second time I read the book was just to be sure I was reading what I read. My question is, do people really believe in all this fucking bullshit?”

  Jesus Lord, the man said ‘fucking bullshit’ so fast the sound engineer couldn’t blur it out quickly enough. This Ivan person was clearly of the variety who thought I hated men.

  “Cut the call,” Mikey said, signaling to the engineer.

  “No.” I held my hand up, stopping him. Mikey looked shocked.

  I’d shocked myself too, but this was me. Like all challenges, I would face this and not run away and cower in the corner.

  Who did this asshole think he was?

  “Mr. St. James, I’m going to have to ask you to refrain from swearing while we speak on air. This is a live show that many have tuned into. We don’t know who our listeners are.” I was a lady who could handle herself and anything thrown at her.

  “I do apologize.”

  “Accepted.” My ass. I hadn’t accepted anything. My rage was brewing with each passing second, but I calmed myself. Maybe he had some sort of compulsion or something, and it wouldn’t do anyone any good for me to fly off the handle and look foolish. “Now, please, back to your question?”

  “That was it, Dr. Dane. I can’t believe you call yourself a love doctor and that anyone could call you that. These techniques would work for dog training or something like that, not humans.”

  “What makes you say that?” I asked.

  “You wrote the book, and I suspect you know I’m right, but come on, you’ll never admit it, will you?”

  The question threw me again. This was it, the moment I feared. It happened. This oafish man had just done something to rock my foundation and shake the grounds that my success was built on.

  But still, I was enraged. How dare he. How very dare he?

  “Everyone is entitled to their opinion.”

  “Yet you call your opinions facts,” he threw back. “The world’s a bad enough place without this junk infiltrating people’s minds.”

  I couldn’t believe the audacity. “That’s highly offensive.”

  “My dear lady, I find you highly offensive. People, let me introduce you to myself. I’m Dr. Ivan St. James, relationship counsellor and your newest advice columnist at the L.A. Times. Dr. Dane as of ten minutes ago, I became your biggest competition. I really hope for the sake of humanity I win the competition to host The Love Doctor. This nation can’t have your propaganda in their heads. Bring it on.” He hung up, and it was like a stone dropped in the pit of my stomach.

  Holy fucking hell. What the hell was this?

  I’d grabbed on to the edge of the table so tight my knuckles were actually lighting up against my brown skin.

  Mikey just stared at me while I pressed my lips together and tried to keep from screaming.

  I’d never, ever had anyone talk to me like that before. No way, and no damn way was he going to get away with it either.

  I glanced back to Olivia, and she knew exactly what I was going to do.

  I suspected Mikey knew too because he didn’t stop me as I hopped off my stool, grabbed my little purse, and headed out the door.

  Olivia caught up with me outside.

  “Jada, please tell me you aren’t doing what I think you’re doing?” She fell in step with me, boots clinking in tandem with my six-inch heels against the marble floor.

  “You heard the man, Olivia. Bring it on. That’s exactly what I’m doing.”

  L.A. Times, here I come.

  Chapter 2

  Jada

  The multimillion-dollar contract that was slipping away from me dangled in front of my mind as I drove way past the speed limit. I nearly ran a red light too, in my pursuit.

  Mr. Ivan Whatever-His-Name was going to regret that little stunt of his. He absolutely fucking was. Nobody whatsoever, I didn’t care who the hell they were, spoke to me like that and got away with it.

  What was worse was, it was beyond evil.

  I thought I was bad and over-competitive, but there was being competitive and being downright mean and nasty. What he had done was the latter.

  “Jada
, please slow down. You can’t drive like a crazy person. Plus, you look like you’re about to explode into the heavens.” Olivia winced, gripping on to her seat belt as I took the corner sharp. “Please try to calm down before you get us both killed, or locked up in jail.”

  “Olivia, do I look to you like I can calm down?” I answered. My voice took on a high-pitch shrill I didn’t expect.

  She frowned and pursed her bright pink lips together.

  “Lord have mercy, Jada, please at least slow down. Speeding down Main Street won’t be a good look for either of us if we get stopped by the cops.”

  I released a ragged sigh and slowed down by ten miles per hour, making it fifty, which was still past the speed limit for this area of the city.

  I only slowed down because she was right. It wouldn’t be a good look for either of us. She was one of the top senior partners at the prestigious law firm Silvermans, and I was me. Dr. Jada Dane.

  Admittedly, I also slowed down because the thought of being stopped by the cops would delay me and waste time.

  “Did you find anything yet?” I asked her. She’d taken on the task of Googling Ivan. It was just my luck that she’d found five potential guys that could be my demon man.

  “No, I don’t know which one he is. I found some of his articles but no picture on The L.A Times website. I did a Google search for his name though and found a few potentials. There’s a seriously hot ex-football player for the Rams, a vet, a surgeon, an optician who doesn’t look all that bad, and the last one left his practice last year to work with dolphins in Sharm-El Sheik.”

  I bared my teeth, seething. “None of those sound like him.”

  Olivia shrugged and cast me a withering stare. “Jada, what does that even mean? You can’t tell what a person looks like by how they sound. Remember the time when you said your realter sounded like a sexy musician over the phone? You even bet he looked like Enrique Iglesias.” She giggled.

  Very few people could reach me when I became like this. I was usually stuck in this mode until I got the thing that was bothering me off my chest.

  Olivia, however, was one of those friends who knew what to say and do to reach that part of me that I’d suppressed in my rage. A smile tugged at the corners of my mouth as I recalled the incident she was referring to. I would have bet my last dollar that the guy was Enrique, who just happened to work at the real estate company, but damn, when I got there, the truth was revealed in all its glory.

  The man looked just a little better than Bumble Bee Man from The Simpsons. Then he wore a suit that would look more at home on Beetlejuice. Latin though he was, he was definitely not Enrique.

  I bet that was going to be the same thing that happened here. This Ivan person had to be a complete asshole in every sense, so I’d bet he looked like a damn toad with horns. One of those men who were disgusting inside and out.

  “This is absolute bullshit, Olivia.” I blinked and tried to keep myself from screaming.

  “I know.” She reached across and placed her hand on mine. “You can’t allow one guy to get to you like this though. It was nasty of him to embarrass you like that on the radio, but, Jada, you’re bigger than this. You really are.”

  “Millions of people would have tuned into the show. I can’t just let it go. It wasn’t like it was some underground station or something that didn’t get many listeners. It’s The Good Morning Show, Olivia.”

  It was The Good Morning Show that I’d only ever dreamed about since the show started ten years ago. It wasn’t Mikey Mars who was hosting it then, but when he started six years ago, the show seriously took off. I sold over a thousand copies of Go with the Flow only yesterday because people knew I was going to be on the show. I was certain I would have sold even more too, in the few hours of the morning and in the space of the time I’d been on the show. I didn’t know what that bad publicity would have done to me.

  It worked both ways, good and bad. In my experience, the worst thing about bad publicity is the instigation of doubt. Sure, it may make people more curious, but that doubt was the damaging thing.

  “I worked damn hard to get where I am today,” I said, reflecting on all I’d done. It took me years to get to this level in life where I knew exactly what I wanted to do and what I was doing. “I’ve been through too much, too.” Far too much with my past.

  “I know, and this is just an obstacle.”

  “Who is this guy, Olivia? It’s crazy. Being on The Love Doctor is like a dream. Just imagine what I’ll get out of that.”

  Olivia nodded. It was a no-brainer to anticipate that the person who was successful in getting that job would be set for life.

  It was a five-year contract that would pay just over four million by the end of that contract. That was fantastic in itself, but what would come out of that would be worth more.

  Corrine Duologue was the last hostess. In my eyes she was just a level down from Oprah. Seriously. That woman was one of these role model types who’d been such a positive symbol to everyone.

  I would be filling very big shoes if I was chosen, but I was in the lead to fill them. That by itself was an honor. It showed people liked me. I had plans to do my very own show one day and hoped I could follow The Love Doctor with that. That was exactly what Corrine was doing, and she didn’t even have a book like mine that had reached millions of people. What I had was serious potential, and I was sowing seeds of success.

  “Turn here.” Olivia pointed to the turning that I nearly missed.

  Another sharp turn had her clutching her seat belt. She cut me another sharp glance that I completely ignored when I saw the L.A. Times building rise into my view.

  This was a place that had prestige of its own. They should have known better than to hire a guy who had no tact or professionalism.

  The car park was full, brimming. There were arrows pointing to the off-site car park, but I didn’t follow them. I had a better idea.

  I parked right at the front door, much to Olivia’s horror.

  “Jada, that’s an instant ticket.” She grimaced.

  “I don’t care. They can send me the bill.” I hopped out of the car, and she followed me.

  We went inside the reception only to see a line of people waiting.

  With the slowness of the receptionist I observed and the length of the line, it looked like I’d be waiting at least twenty minutes.

  Another idea popped into my mind. Most newspaper and magazine buildings were set up the same. At New Woman they arranged their staff by departments like most companies. This had to be the same, although I appreciated that L.A. Times was a bigger establishment with probably double or triple the amount of people working for them than New Woman.

  I looked at the information board above the receptionist detailing the departmental floors and saw that the lifestyle editorial suite was on the tenth floor.

  Most advice columns came under the lifestyle department. I’d follow my hunch that he’d be there.

  “Come on.” I grabbed Olivia’s arm.

  “Where are we going?” she asked, giving me a bewildered look.

  “Just follow me.” I checked security and was thankful it wasn’t one of those buildings where you needed to get through those turnstile entrances.

  I just flashed my pearly whites and bat my lashes at the gorgeous guard by the entrance, who looked like an ex-military hunk.

  He gave me the appreciative smile most men gave me and allowed Olivia and me passage just like I knew he would.

  We got to the elevator, got in, and selected the tenth floor.

  “Jada, this is kind of crazy. We don’t know where we’re going, or who we’re seeing.”

  “We have a name and a location. That’s all we need.” I would have cracked a better joke if I were in a less tense mood.

  There was nothing funny about this situation.

  We got to the tenth floor, came out of the elevator, and headed through the large doors that took us to another reception area with its own lobby.
r />   A very big area that I would have a hard time getting through to find this guy.

  Ughh. This was absolute shit.

  The damn place was huge. At least this reception area didn’t have anyone waiting at the desk.

  I went up to the receptionist, who smiled at us. She was an elderly lady with silver hair. She looked like a nicer version of my high school librarian.

  “Good morning.” I beamed, giving her a bright smile.

  “Hello, what can I do for you two lovely ladies?” she asked. At least she was a better representation of the employees who worked here.

  “I’m looking for Dr. Ivan St. James. I’m Dr. Dane. We have an appointment.” It wasn’t a lie. That man had set the date and the time with his challenge.

  “Oh, I can take you over to his office,” the lady replied.

  Someone, however, cleared their throat in an exaggerated manner behind us.

  Like a bull in a ring ready to charge, I snapped my head around to look at the direction of the sound, and my gaze landed on a tall, tall man who I would describe as of the godlike variety.

  His stylish appearance threw me off-kilter, and I was momentarily stunned to silence and dumfounded as to the reason for why I was here.

  His sun-kissed skin looked like he loved being out in the sun on the beach, and his bright blue eyes bore into me with fascination. His slick black hair was neatly styled in one of those styles the men in the city wore with the top being slightly long, like it was in that in-between stage of growing out and needed a trim, but sexy for the way it was done.

  In his white button-down shirt and slick black pants he showed off a body that was fit for the cover of Men’s Health or GQ.

  Perfect.

  Olivia broke my reverie by tugging on my arm like she used to in high school when she wanted to grab my attention.

  “It’s the hot ex-Ram’s player,” she whispered into my ear.

  “What?” I didn’t know what she was talking about. I couldn’t remember.

  “I’ll take it from here, Eta,” my handsome stranger said, holding up his hand and looking over at the receptionist. He then returned his gaze to me, and those blue eyes of his turned a darker shade, like the sky on an afternoon sunset. “Dr. Jada Dane. I do believe we have an appointment.”