In a bar where neon lights flashed, loud music could be heard from a distance.
"I don't think things with my girlfriend are working out," says a man with blonde hair but an average face.
"Henry, why the hell are you telling me? Do I look like your girlfriend or a therapist?" said the man sitting next to him.
"Sorry to bother you, Oliver. I just thought you were my best friend," said Henry with a sarcastic tone.
"But come on, you need to give me advice. How is it going with your girl? I heard you guys fight a lot."
"Yeah, that was before, till I met this man. He's even a frequent visitor of this bar."
"Seriously? So what is he, some kind of therapist?"
"Yeah, I started taking counseling from him, and for some weird reason, he always uses some strange and weird methods to fix all of our problems."
"You must be playing with me. I don't think a guy like that exists."
After Henry said this, from the corner of his vision, he saw a man making his way towards them. The place was too dark, and he was drunk, so he couldn't make out the face of the individual, only the outline.
It looked like the man had a huge body frame with broad shoulders. He was also tall with long limbs that were muscular, which showed the dedication the man put into them. But the strange thing about the man was how he was wearing a pink suit in the place. Like, who wears a suit in a bar where people got drunk?
It seemed that the strange man was walking towards their direction, and from the looks of it, it seemed that the man was going to sit with them as well.
"Get me one bottle of vodka and make it quick," said the man. His voice was surprisingly deep but alluring at the same time. It felt like a melody but strong at the same time.
The man sat down at the seat, and it looked like he was planning to stay there for a while.
"Hello, gentlemen. I couldn't help but listen to your conversation. Do you need some advice?"
Oliver, hearing the voice, immediately put up his drunken body in surprise.
"No way, Doctor Luv, is that you? Henry, this was the guy I was talking about."
So this was the strange person that his best friend had told him about. Looking at the man, he looked like a playboy and a woman magnet, not someone who would be a therapist. And his problem was with the suit. What kind of therapist would look crazy wearing a pink suit to a bar?
"Do you want my advice or not?"
"What's it to you? What if I do not need your advice?"
"I see you're too drunk to listen. Here's my card. Anytime you're up to it, just give me a call."
Then the strange man took a couple more drinks and then left.
Henry wanted to leave as well, but he was too drunk to drive himself home, and his lift had already left. His last words edged in his mind really pissed him off.
"Me and my girlfriend are on good terms, so she is going to pick me up. Maybe you should call yours to come get you. Peace," said his friend, lifting up two fingers before leaving.
"God, I can't believe I have to call her again."
Afterwards, he dialed a number that had on it 'My Worst Regrets,' and half an hour later, a woman came bursting through the door.
She had dark, long braided hair that reached her waist area and a gentle-looking face.
But all her gentleness dropped when she saw her boyfriend.
"God, I can't believe you, Henry. How the hell do you stay this late at a bar knowing fully well your tolerance is low?"
"Oh, shut up, Maggi. You know well that I'm like this because of you, and what the freak took you so long to get here?"
The couple fought and bickered for half an hour before Henry passed out.
When he opened his eyes, it was well after midnight in his apartment.
"Damn you, Maggi. You didn't even have the decency to put me in bed."
"I just wish she'd break up with me. I'd hate to be the one to break up. I don't want to be categorized as a 'playboy'," he said while emptying his pockets.
His fingers ran across a rectangular object in his pockets.
"Oh, it's Doctor Pretty Boy's card, huh? Wait."
He carried his phone and dialed his girlfriend one more time that night to tell her about couples' therapy.
The next day, the couple walked into a brightly lit room. Henry felt a strange liquid beneath his shoe. He looked down and discovered there was blood all over the room.
Instead of leaving, Henry and his girlfriend walked in deeper into the room, then saw a man in a ski mask ransacking the room.
"Oh crap, witnesses," the robber said.
"I ain't going to jail twice."
Henry then saw the therapist on the floor, bloody and unconscious with barely any signs of life.
The robber used this chance and ran towards Henry's girlfriend.
But before he came close, Henry jumped in between the two, acting as a shield to his girlfriend and delivered a jab to the robber that sent him to the floor.
The robber stood up, about to rush in again.
"That's enough, Greg," said Dr. Luv, standing up from the floor.
"Okay, Lucas, see you next week?" said the robber, taking off his mask.
"Yeah, sure, why not? Oh, and Greg," Dr. Luv said.
"Yeah?"
"Call me Dr. Luv in front of the clients next time. There won't be another warning."
He turned and looked at the two couples who were still surprised by the whole encounter.
"Oh, you're still here? Well, you passed the first counseling, so come back tomorrow, and don't worry, it's free, all right?"
"Wait one second. Isn't this meant to be counseling, not some fake low-budget movie scene?" said the girlfriend.
"Oh, you must be Miss, umm, Miss, umm, who is she again?" he said, whispering to Henry.
"She's my girlfriend," said Henry, whispering back.
"Oh, yes, Henry's girlfriend. Well, you guys are done with the first test, so like I said, come back tomorrow," he said while adjusting his pink suit.
"Umm, can I speak to you in the other room?" said Henry to Dr. Luv.
"I have no other room. I'm broke," said Luv proudly.
"Then can I speak to you outside then?"
"Fine, speak to daddy," he said, leading outside the entrance of the room.
"Look, man, I'm trying to break up with her, not fix a lost relationship."
"If you really wanted to break up with her, then why did you try to not only save and protect the woman?"
"That doesn't mean I like her. It just shows how manly I am."
"Study shows only 1 out of 20 men would risk their lives for a woman they hate or do not know, and you don't look rare to me."
"So you're saying I still love her deep down?"
"Well, not necessarily love, but there are feelings that can be nurtured."
"Well, damn. Thanks, Dr. Pretty Boy."
"It's Dr. Luv to you. Come back tomorrow if you're still interested in my services."
He walked back into his room to see his girlfriend patiently waiting for him to return.
Then he remembered how beautiful his girlfriend was again. He even complimented her braids as if they were new on their way back to his car.
"I think maybe we should come back again tomorrow, babe."
"Okay, but... I need some more money, babe. My mom's in the hospital and I—"
"Get out," he said in a blank expression.
"What?"
"Did I stutter? I said get out of my car."
"But, babe—"
"Look, I'll pick you up tomorrow by 9 in the morning for our next appointment, but for now, get out."
His girlfriend got out angrily and upset but not surprised.
"Fine, be like that."
"Even free isn't enough to spend time with her."