Richard had spent his fair share of time trying to gaslight me during our marriage. I don’t think he was even aware of it, so I don’t think it was ever intentional. I knew when he did something intentionally.
Even when he cheated on me with an actress, he was only giving into his own urges and desire to be loved in a certain way. A way that I didn’t provide for him. Of course, he never talked about his desires with me openly, so I never had the chance to provide him with whatever he wanted.
I had run through the conversation a dozen times by the time I pulled up in front of my condo. My paranoia was high though, and I checked out the well lit parking area before I opened the garage door. I scanned the area, making sure no one crept into my garage as I parked. Remaining in my car, I pressed the garage door opener again to close it.
Only after the loud clunk of the garage door meeting concrete reached my ears, did I get out of the car. As I pushed open the garage door and turned on the interior light, something Richard had said popped into my brain.
“Remember rule number 5.”
I had discounted those words. I hated his rules. Ever since watching Gibbs in the original N.C.I.S., he had devised his own rules. I wracked my brains to remember rule number 5.
Only after checking the entire condo to make sure I was safe. After checking the alarm system to make sure it was armed and all the sensors were working. Only after getting to the safety of my bedroom did I remember what rule number 5 was.
“Never fuck with a redhead.”
Chapter24
A Big Disappointment
Dirk and Scarletsat across from me, contemplating my last question. The bubbling from the fountain was the only noise in the room. The afternoon sun bathed the room in warm light, aided by a lamp on one side of the couch that my two patients occupied. It was a Friday, and I was definitely looking forward to the weekend.
Dirk sighed but straightened up on the couch at one end. Scarlet stared at her husband from the middle of the couch, giving him the opportunity to answer first.
Dirk wore a fitted black suit, white shirt, a patterned tie with square shapes of different colors. He smelled of his usual wood and leather. He looked as handsome as ever, although he seemed haggard.
Scarlet arrived in a dark blue dress which showed off her great legs and contrasted with her red hair strikingly. When she had walked into my office, she exuded confidence, attention, and sex appeal. I caught a whiff of patchouli and vanilla. It was easy to see why Dirk was attracted to her.
It also made me wonder about his attraction to me. Was it real or was I just a new infatuation? Was I just some woman to lust after?
“Can you repeat the question?” Dirk asked.
“How have the last two weeks seeing each other every night and on the weekends been going?”
“Good. No problems,” he replied.
“Really?” Scarlet crossed her arms. With her legs already crossed, she sat closed off and unreceptive.
“Do you disagree, Scarlet?” I asked.
“Yes. I disagree. I do all these silly things with him, but he still sleeps in his own bed. He’s practicing intimacy, but he’s not being intimate.”
“Silly things?” Dirk grunted.
“Are the dyads helping?”
“Yes.” Dirk replied.
“No!” Scarlet said simultaneously, raising her voice.
They glared at each other. Dirk’s response was more positive than Scarlet’s. The question, though, was who had been the most honest.
“Scarlet. Tell me how they’re not being helpful.”
“Every time he tells me something he wants me to know, it’s about his business, or his stress levels, or this upcoming deal that has consumed him for a year. It’s never about our relationship and how to salvage it.”
“And how does that make you feel?”
“It makes me feel like I don’t matter. That this relationship doesn’t matter. I feel like now that he’s on the verge of being a billionaire that he doesn’t care about me anymore.”
