Lash

by L. G. Castillo

  “Yep. No baggage for me.” Lash placed his hands behind his head. “You can guess what Andrew has.”

  She glanced at Andrew and saw that he was just as absorbed with his phone, staring at it glassy-eyed, as before. She nodded. She’d heard about video game addiction.

  “And Tori over there is just all kinds of messed up.”

  Tori flipped him the finger again.

  “She has borderline personality disorder,” Ellen said softly. “Do you want to know what I have?”

  Naomi sat down in the seat across from her. She thought it was strange that everyone was so open about their problems. She hoped that when she was given a diagnosis she wouldn’t have to share it with everyone else. “What is it?”

  “Dependent personality disorder and dysthymia,” she said, her eyes watering.

  Naomi felt bad and wondered why Ellen looked like she was going to cry. “I’m sorry.”

  Ellen blinked. “What are you sorry for?”

  “I’m not exactly sure. It looked like you were going to cry.”

  “She’s always crying.” Tori slammed her sketchbook shut and looked at Naomi. “She cries in every single session.”

  Ellen’s lip quivered, and Naomi felt a rush of heat. “That’s a bit rude, don’t you think? I thought this was a place to get help with problems, not get more problems.”

  Tori glared at her.

  Great. The group hadn’t officially started yet, and here she was already making enemies.

  “Don’t mind her,” Lash said. “Rude is her middle name. She’s not happy unless other people are miserable.”

  “Screw you, Lash,” Tori spat. “You don’t know anything about me. You’ve only been here for three sessions.”

  “Being here for twenty-four doesn’t make you an expert, either,” Lash snapped back.

  “Enough,” a deep voice said from behind them.

  Naomi turned in her seat. Standing in the doorway was a man, whom she assumed to be Dr. Dantan. She was taken aback at the hateful glare he directed at Lash. She blinked, and the expression on his face was now one of kindness.

  “Ah, Naomi,” he said, extending his hand out to her. “I see you found your way here. Welcome.”

  “Yes, thank you.” She swallowed as she placed her hand in his. His hand was soft, too soft for someone who looked like he kept himself in such good shape. There was something about him that she couldn’t quite put her finger on. She didn’t know what to make of him. He wore a vest over a collared striped shirt, and a suit jacket, making him look like the professional that he was, yet he matched it with a pair of jeans and tired looking loafers. His smile appeared to be sincere and lit his beautiful, angelic face, yet his eyes were hollow. Naomi shivered.

  “Dr. Dantan.” Tori stood and sauntered toward him. “You look devilishly handsome.” She traced a black-painted fingernail down and around his open shirt collar. “No tie. Nice.” Turning away, she went to sit between Andrew and Ellen.

  Naomi studied Tori with surprise. Tori’s sullen expression vanished, replaced by a sensual look. Andrew didn’t seem to be aware that Tori came to sit next to him. Ellen, however, was visibly uncomfortable.

  Dantan brushed a hand through his dark-blonde hair and cleared his throat. “Thank you, Tori. Let’s get started, shall we?” He pulled out a cell phone from inside his jacket pocket, tapped on it a few times, and laid it on the coffee table face down.

  “Since we have a new member, let me remind everyone about the limits of confidentiality within this group. Everything that is said in this room, stays in this room,” he said.

  “That means no blabbing to your twitter peeps, Ellen,” Tori said.

  Ellen’s faced turned red. “I don’t do that.” She looked at Lash as if wanting him to rescue her. “Really, I don’t.”

  “Tori, please,” Dantan reprimanded. “If I may?”

  Tori waved her hand as if giving him permission to continue.

  “There are limits to confidentiality. By law, I’m required to call the authorities if I suspect any of you of—”

  “Abusing a child, harming yourself, or harming others,” Andrew, Tori, and Ellen completed Dantan’s sentence in unison. It was obviously something they’d heard more than once.

  Lash chuckled but stopped when Dantan scowled.

  “It’s good to know some of you are paying attention.” Dantan turned to Naomi. “Do you have any questions? We want to make sure that you feel comfortable sharing in the group.”

  Naomi bit her tongue, struggling to keep a straight face. Comfortable? She glanced over at Andrew staring intently at his phone. She doubted he would remember anything that was said in the group. Tori continued to glare at her, obviously jealous of Dantan’s attention to her. Ellen was busy looking at Lash with love-struck eyes. And Lash slumped back into his seat, relaxed. For some reason, it irked the hell out of her.

  Naomi plastered a fake smile on her face. “Nope. No questions.”

  The next hour and a half went by quickly. Naomi was relieved that, as the new member of the group, she wasn’t expected to share too much about herself. She explained that she had been depressed after her father’s death and her grandmother was worried about her, which was why she came for therapy. Surprisingly, everyone was polite, even Tori, who simply nodded, rubbing her own wrists as she eyed the bandages around Naomi’s.

  Naomi was surprised to find that Lash was fairly new to the group. He had walked in like he owned the place and appeared to be comfortable with the other members of the group. Unsurprisingly, Ellen leaned forward, captivated, glasses sliding down her nose, when Lash shared a story about his family. He told the others how he was kicked out of the family business for a mistake he had made and how they practically disowned him.

  “Tell me, Lash. Who do you miss the most?” Dantan asked.

  The room became quiet for a moment, and all eyes turned to Lash. His cocky attitude faded, and the energy in the room shifted.

  “Raph”—he cleared his throat—”My uncle, Ralph.” His eyes grew sad. “I guess you could say he’s like a father to me. Well, he’s really the only father-figure I ever had.”

  “Is there anyone else you miss?” Dantan’s voice was soft and melodic.

  Naomi glanced around the room, surprised how everyone was entranced by his words. It was as if his voice compelled them to listen.

  He looked at Dantan, his face seeming to show a struggle between holding back and wanting to share his innermost thoughts. “My best friend, Jeremy. He works in the family business. I don’t get to see him as much as I would like.”

  “Lash, I’m going to ask you a miracle question.” Dantan reclined back into his chair and tented his fingers under his chin.

  Lash blinked, and the smirk on his face returned. He appeared to find the statement amusing, and Naomi wondered why.

  “Let’s say you woke up tomorrow and a miracle had occurred. How would you know something was different? How would you know that your miracle happened?”

  Lash glanced at Naomi, and the dormant butterflies in her stomach came to life. She held her breath as he kept his eyes locked with hers and said. “I would be home.”

  The spell was broken when an alarm from the cell phone went off.

  “Well, my friends. That’s it for group for today.” Dantan picked up the phone and clicked the alarm off.

  The sigh of relief from everyone was audible.

  Andrew powered up his phone and stood. “Laters,” he said, walking out the door.

  “Ryan, uh, Dr. Dantan,” Tori said. “I was wondering if you had time for a private session this evening.” She eyed him expectantly.

  “Not today, Tori. Call me later this week to schedule an appointment if you need it.” He dismissed her with a wave of his hand then turned to Naomi. “Would you mind staying for a moment? I need to do a diagnostic assessment…for insurance purposes.”

  Tori glared at Naomi, grabbed her things, and stormed out of the room.

  Naomi
looked after Tori and then back at Dantan. “Uh, sure. Do you think I’ll be done before dark? I need to catch the bus home.”

  “I’ll wait for you,” Lash said. “I wouldn’t want you to walk alone in the dark.”

  “Thanks. That’s nice of you.” Naomi didn’t like the idea of coming across as a helpless female, but walking Houston’s city streets alone at night was not a good idea. Normally, she’d walk down a few blocks to Chuy’s self-defense class and hitch a ride with him, but he was between classes and his next class didn’t start until next week.

  Dantan frowned. “There’s no need for that Lash. I’ll escort her—”

  “I can give you and Naomi a ride home,” Ellen volunteered.

  Dantan’s nostrils flared. “Aren’t you expected at home, Ellen? I believe you mentioned that your mother tended to get nervous when you were out and about after dark.”

  Naomi looked at him, surprised. It was as if he wanted her to be alone with him. The eerie feeling that she’d had when she first shook his hand returned.

  “I-I-I’m nineteen years old. I c-c-can stay and give a ride to my friends,” Ellen stammered. She pushed her glasses up and straightened her back, standing tall. “You said I should learn to be more independent.”

  Dantan’s eyes narrowed briefly, then his face smoothed. “Yes, I did. Good for you, Ellen. Perhaps you should call her first so she won’t be worried. Naomi, please give me a moment, I need to make a phone call before we get started.”

  “What did you think of our first group session?” Lash asked as Dantan stepped into his private office.

  “It wasn’t as bad as I thought,” Naomi said as she watched Ellen go to the corner of the room with her cell phone.

  “Wait until it’s Tori’s turn. That’s when group is really exciting.” Lash wagged his eyebrows. “Now, I don’t know if it really happened or not, but she tells this story about a time when she was in a confessional and the priest…”

  Lash trailed off and furrowed his brow. He cocked his head to the side as if he were listening to something.

  Naomi strained to hear what he was listening to, but all she caught was Ellen arguing with her mother over the phone. “What’s wrong?”

  Lash flicked his eyes toward Dantan’s office. “I knew it,” he mumbled.

  “What? Knew what?”

  Lash scowled then schooled his face and turned his attention to Naomi. “Uh, Tori’s story. I remembered that I heard it somewhere else before. She made it up.”

  Naomi eyed him suspiciously. There was something he wasn’t telling her.

  When Dantan opened the door to his office and called her in, Lash took hold of her hand briefly, sending a tingling sensation up and down her arm again. He looked at her intently, sending another flurry of butterflies to her stomach. She wondered if it had anything to do with the burrito Chuy dared her to eat earlier from the new mobile food truck in the neighborhood. It was the only rational reason she could think of for feeling so strange.

  “I’ll be here for you,” he murmured quietly. Then he glowered at Dantan and spoke louder, as if he were directing his words to him instead of Naomi. “Ellen and I will be here waiting for you. We won’t go anywhere until you come out.”

  Naomi gaped at Lash and then at Dantan. They were both behaving oddly. One minute Lash was spilling his heart out to the group, and the next he was acting protectively, as if Dantan was out to hurt her. She sighed. She had no idea what to expect from Dantan, but he was a well-respected psychologist and had given her no indication during the group session that he was anything but polite and professional. She might as well get this over with. As she walked into his office, she saw Dantan glare at Lash one last time before he closed the door.

  10

  The weeks in group therapy flew by and it wasn’t as bad as Naomi thought it would be. It took a while to get comfortable talking about her father and when she did, she didn’t tell them how the Sutherland camp had framed him. Surprisingly, when she shared her story, the others were polite and supportive, even Tori managed to find a kind word to say to her.

  She anticipated that the others would take time warming up to her. Not Ellen though. Ellen spilled her entire life story during the ride home after the first session. At the following group session, Ellen had hugged Naomi tightly, as if she were her best friend. Naomi had the funny feeling that Ellen had few friends in her life.

  What Naomi hadn’t anticipated was that she would actually look forward to the sessions. She found herself taking extra care in selecting her clothes and applying her make-up. At one point, Chuy teased her about having a crush on her shrink. Naomi simply rolled her eyes and said making herself look good made her feel better, and that there was nothing wrong with that. An image of Lash crossed her mind when she said it, but she quickly dismissed it.

  Naomi had to admit that she wondered about Lash from time to time. He shared little about himself, but what little he did share was profound. He obviously cared about and missed his family deeply. At the same time, it was as if he wore a chip on his shoulder, as if he expected someone to hurt him. It was at those times, when he was most vulnerable, that Naomi felt drawn to him. He would say something that was clearly difficult for him to say and then glance at her. They would lock eyes, and she’d feel an intense connection with him that she couldn’t explain. But then, as quickly as the moment came, he’d say something humorous and break the connection.

  Ever since her first group session, Ellen had offered Lash and Naomi a ride every week. It was obvious that Ellen was infatuated with Lash. To his credit, he was the perfect gentleman to her and never teased or took advantage of her feelings. Still, Naomi worried Ellen would mistake his kindness for something else and be hurt when she discovered that Lash did not think of her in that way.

  Naomi wasn’t sure, but she thought that Lash might be interested in her. The thought of it sent chills of excitement through her, and she’d promptly chastised herself for being silly over a man she hardly knew. Against her better judgment, she couldn’t stop thinking about his lingering glances during their group sessions, not to mention the times she caught him looking at her reflection in the rear view mirror when Ellen drove them home.

  “Good group today, you think?”

  Lash touched Naomi’s arm, and the bottled water slipped from her hand. Why did her body have to go into stupid mode whenever he touched her?

  “Uh, yeah. It was good.” Naomi was all thumbs as she tried to pick up the bottle from the floor. Why did it keeping slipping from her hands? She felt like a moron.

  Lash chuckled, bent down, and grabbed the bottle. “Slippery little sucker. Let me wipe off the condensation for you.” He lifted his t-shirt, exposing a sliver of muscled stomach. Naomi couldn’t take her eyes off him. Her fingers itched to touch him, wondering how it would feel.

  “Here you go…Naomi?”

  Naomi blinked, and her eyes shot up to meet his. He wore an amused expression.

  Oh, God. Her face felt hot. “Sorry, I was thinking about…something.”

  Lash leaned into her suggestively and raised an eyebrow. “I would say so. Anything…interesting?”

  “Get a room,” Tori said as she passed them on the way out the door.

  Naomi was mortified. “I-I-I was thinking about calling Ellen to see if she needed anything,” she spluttered. Before the group session, Ellen had texted both her and Lash that she was at home with the flu.

  “That’s nice of you. But don’t you have to get to your self-defense class in a few minutes?”

  Naomi looked down at her watch. “Crap, I gotta go.” The community center was several blocks away. If she ran it, she might make it on time.

  “It’s getting dark. I’ll go with you.” Lash opened the door.

  “You really don’t have to.” Naomi rushed out the door, hoping he wouldn’t follow. When Ellen dropped her off, she didn’t have to worry about Chuy meeting Lash; Ellen always drove away before Naomi walked through the door. She dreaded
the thought of her nosy cousin meeting him.

  “No problem,” Lash said, chasing after her. “I could use the exercise.”

  Naomi was outside for less than five minutes, and she could feel the sweat oozing from her pores. She panted as she pushed her way through the thick humidity. Even though it was late in the evening and the sun was starting to set, the heat continued to engulf the city. Her bangs were plastered to her face, and she just knew her hair had frizzed up. It probably looked like she stuck her finger in an electric socket. Lash, on the other hand, had well-behaved hair that waved back off his face and not a spot of sweat in sight.

  Lash jogged ahead of her and ran backwards—his eyes twinkled with amusement. “Want me to carry your bag for you? You look like you could use the help.”

  Naomi scowled. Why did he have to look so perfect? “No…thank you. I…got it,” she panted.

  “Are you sure?” Lash glanced at the street sign as he continued to jog backwards. “We’ve got four more blocks to go.”

  Naomi nodded. If it wasn’t for the damn humidity and heat, she wouldn’t be so out of breath. She groaned when she thought of what Chuy was going to say when he saw her. She’d been meaning to start working out again. Yeah, right. Who was she kidding? She hated exercise.

  “Here we are.” He held the door open for her. “After you.”

  Naomi leaned against the wall and took a drink of her water. “Give me a minute.”

  She dug into her bag and pulled out a rubber band. Tossing her head down, she gathered her hair into a ponytail and twisted the band around it. She flipped her head back and immediately felt a breeze on her neck cool her off.

  “That’s better,” she said, smiling. Lash stared at her, the cocky expression on his face gone.

  “What’s wrong?” Naomi wondered if the heat had gotten to him. That would serve him right for teasing her.

  “I’m not sure. I have this funny feeling—like déjà vu.”

  Naomi gazed into his eyes, mesmerized by the soft tone of his voice. The only time he sounded like that was when he was talking about missing his Uncle Ralph. In that moment, she forgot where she was and what she was doing. An image from the deepest recesses of her mind surfaced, a river and eyes like Lash’s staring intently at her.