"Zara!" Amy's voice chirped loudly as she took the seat opposite mine at the Cafe I was waiting for her at for our lunch date.
"Amy baby." I beamed at her, "I already ordered our usual." I informed her.
"It's been a week, girl. There's so much to catch up on." She giggled and took a quick sip from her sweet milky coffee.
"Yeah, let's start with your rendezvous at the parking lot with Mike." I said in a teasing tone. Since that night at the club, Amy and I had barely had the time to chit-chat, or even meet up until today.
"Girl, it just happened. I didn't know the feeling was mutual." Amy chuckled, I could see the visible blush on her cheeks.
"He was that good?" I asked, curious for all the teas.
"He was more than good, Zara. But today's lunch date isn't about me. It's all about you, baby. Who was that Alpha male you followed that night?" She asked me, and the thoughts of Zen I've been fighting to keep at bay all week suddenly erupted in my mind, causing my face to instantly heat up.
"Oh, she's fucking blushing." Amy whisper-yelled. "Spill it. Don't reserve any detail." She said in a commanding tone that got the words to dance at the tip of my tongue so quickly, and ready to be spilled.
"Girl, he was everything. But still remains a one-night stand." I replied, trying to be vague as if there weren't more details to that.
"I didn't ask for a summary. I asked for the whole tea." Amy glared at me, causing me to laugh.
"Cory was here that night–".
"That mothefucker!" Amy hissed, cutting short my words. "How dare he breathe the same air as you? I wish I was there so I could have taught him a life-long lesson." She snarled, visibly angry.
"Hey, it's okay. My one-night stand came to the rescue. He pretended to be my boyfriend, and somehow, I found myself in his apartment." I said to her, hoping that she ignores Cory being in the talks.
"Wait, you never do that, Zara. How the heck did a stranger lure you to his home?" Amy asked, an amusing smile gracing her lips.
"His charm, Amy, if you saw him up close, you'd understand my dilemma. And to make things worse, I've been reliving that night in my dreams, every night since then." I replied, confessing my innermost sin. It's been so hard to forget Zen. It was a huge struggle leaving him that morning.
But due to my past experiences, I didn't want our encounter to be more than a one-night pleasure. I wanted him and I to remain anonymous. Only first names were shared.
"You didn't exchange contacts? Or even his last name or something. We could find him online." Amy asked.
"We kept it anonymous all through. But damn, I wouldn't mind another one night stand with him. He's worth breaking the anonymous rule for." I took a sip of my drink, knowing Amy would be screaming how much I'm whipped for this new guy.
My phone dinged on the table, I picked it up thinking it could be a notification from work. But all I saw was breaking news on a popular blog site.
"What's got you staring like that?" Amy asked me, noticing the change of my expression.
"Check your phone. You should have gotten the notification too. It's the entertainment section of your media company that just published this." I replied to her. Amy worked at a Media company. But she was more of 'behind the scenes' than 'on the scene'.
Amy did as told and the next words that came out of her mouth were, "Fuck. She's so fucked."
The headline boldly read; "Doctor Amstell's Downfall: Her Secret Lover is Her Patient."
I couldn't help but feel immense pity for her. Doctor Amstell was as renowned as me in the psychotherapy world. But it was one of the number one rules that therapists like us must never get involved with our patients personally and intimately. Even if it was my mother that needed psychotherapy, another doctor must be the one in charge.
But Doctor Amstell broke the rule. And her license is definitely going to get revoked.
"All her hard work to become the best in this field for the past twenty-five years is all of a sudden going to get washed down the drain. Damn." I commented after reading more of the news.
"She shouldn't have gotten caught." Amy said.
"She should never have gotten involved with her patient in the first place, Amy. It's against our principles." I told her.
"Yeah, I understand. But the heart can't fight what it wants." Amy said with a sympathetic expression. And I understood where she was coming from, but this is something I can't do.
I've been in this field professionally for five years now, and everyone knows I always follow the rules because I refuse to end up making all my blood, sweat and tears go to waste just because I couldn't control my heart.
"She was my role model. I feel sad for her." I said to Amy, "I hope she's surrounded by love during this hard time."
"Those paparazzi are crazy too." Amy commented. We kept on chit-chatting until lunch time was over.
"I have an appointment now, I need to hurry back to the office. Apparently, it's another billionaire." I informed Amy as we walked out of the Cafe. The Therapy Center I work for is the biggest in California, and it was just down the blocks.
"I thought money buys happiness. Rich people and their messed up mental issues." Amy chuckled.
"Money drives people crazy too." I said, causing us to laugh. We bid each other a "see you later".
And the only two things on my mind as I walked down the street, heading back to the office were; My lusty night with Zen. And who my next client would be.