the Smiths’ privacy and a black mark on the reputation of this clinic.” Dr. Weiss—the Weiss of the Weiss Clinic—spoke from behind Megan, making her jump.
“Dr. Weiss, I’m so sorry. This is just insane.”
“I agree.” Dr. Weiss looked unperturbed and calm, but Megan knew that might just be her “counselor face.” Dr. Weiss had been a therapist for more than thirty years; she wouldn’t show surprise if Megan jumped up on the table and danced a naked cha-cha. At the moment Megan sincerely wished Dr. Weiss wasn’t quite such a master of the poker face. It was simply impossible to tell how much trouble—if any—she was in at the moment. Strangling Devin was sounding better and better.
“I’m sure this will blow over soon. I’m just not that interesting, you know. And we all know how fickle people’s interest can be,” she finished with a lame attempt at humor.
“I’m glad to hear you feel that way, Megan.” Dr. Weiss’s voice was understanding and kind, but that didn’t stop the sinking feeling in Megan’s stomach. “I think you should take some time off until it does.”
The sinking feeling became a twenty-story drop. “What?”
Dr. Weiss joined them at the table and sipped her coffee. “You have plenty of vacation time, and now might be a good time for you to take it.”
“But my clients …”
“We can handle them for a couple of weeks.”
“Weeks? Dr. Weiss, I know this isn’t a great situation, but …”
“Megan, I will not have my clinic turned into a three-ring circus. And I will not have our clients embarrassed or inconvenienced.”
She felt like a chastised child—which was probably exactly what Dr. Weiss was going for—and anger at Devin boiled in her stomach. Julie and Alice were feigning attention to their lunches, but she could feel their pity and it tossed fuel on that fire. She fiddled with a pencil, focusing on it as she forced herself to remain outwardly calm.
“I understand. I’ll work with Alice to get everything rearranged after I finish with my anger-management group this afternoon….” She trailed off as Dr. Weiss shook her head.
“I’ll handle your group.”
The pencil snapped.
Dr. Weiss’s eyebrows went up. “Perhaps you might wish to join the group this afternoon.”
“No.” She forced her jaw to unclench and tried to smile. “It’s okay. I’ll start getting everything together. Alice, when you’re finished with your lunch, will you have a few minutes to look at my schedule?”
Alice nodded, and Dr. Weiss looked pleased—or maybe not. It was very hard to tell.
“This isn’t a punishment, Megan. As you say, this will die down soon, and you can work on those journal submissions while we wait for it to pass.”
“That’s a wonderful idea, Dr. Weiss.” And I’ll get right on that, right after I kill Devin Kenney.
Megan managed to walk out of the break room with some small measure of dignity, but she couldn’t get her fists to unclench. Her nails were digging painfully into her palms by the time she made it back to her office and shut the door.
Trying to focus on something other than Devin, she checked her calendar and started pulling files and making notes for Julie and Nate, the other therapist, who’d been with a client and missed the fun. But she was sure he’d be brought up to speed about thirty seconds after his client left.
I’m not fired. I’m not being punished. This will blow over.
Damn Dev. How many more times would she have to reorganize her life because of him?
This will blow over soon enough.
She kept repeating that phrase until she heard the soft knock and looked up to see Julie and Alice tiptoeing in.
“We’re so sorry,” Julie said.
“There’s nothing to be sorry about. This will pass.”
Julie sat in the chair across from her desk as Alice took the files from Megan’s hands. “We all know hate is a very negative emotion,” Julie began, “but I think we’d all agree that it’s not an inappropriate one in this situation.”
“Thanks, Jules.” She sighed. “You know, I’ve never hated anyone before in my entire life.”
“Not even Devin?”
“Oddly enough, no.” At Julie’s obvious disbelief, she tried to explain. “It wasn’t like that. I was bitter and angry and hurt, but I didn’t hate him. I was disappointed, disillusioned, heartbroken … but it never crossed over into actual hate.” She shrugged. “And then I moved on. Dev’s obviously the one with lingering issues.”
“Sounds like he could use a good therapist.” Julie smirked. “Know any?”
“Sadly, I’m off the clock for the foreseeable future.” She rested her head on her hands. “All that time patting myself on the back because I’d moved on. Now I’m angry. The man is dead meat if I ever get my hands on him. Like I could,” she scoffed. “I’m sure he’s unlisted these days, and I doubt his firm would let me in the front door.”
“You could just go to his book signing, you know,” Alice offered.
That caught her attention. “His book signing?”
Alice nodded. “There was an ad in the paper today. He’s signing books downtown today from three to five.”
“Really. Hmm.” Devin was in town—not off doing the talk-show rounds in New York or L.A. “Interesting …”
“Megan …” Julie’s voice held a warning tone. “Do not make this worse.”
Megan was already running a search on Google for the bookstore. “How could it possibly be any worse? He’s already destroying my career, my reputation, my life.”
“Nothing’s in complete ruins just yet. Let’s not build a bonfire in the rubble prematurely.”
“I’m a professional, Julie. I think I can confront my ex-husband in a positive, appropriate manner.”
Julie snorted. “You really think that?”
Megan lifted her chin. “I do.”
“You know that means you can’t kill him, right? Or even throw a punch?”
She leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes. “Unfortunately, yes. But I’ve got to put a stop to this somehow. Before it gets any more out of hand.”
“You, Devin Kenney, are a force of nature, my friend. Incredible. You need anything? Water? A soda? By the way, love the shirt. It looks great on you.”
Devin wasn’t even slightly
