Vicariously Yours,

Sugary Saltish

"Isabella, you okay?"

Her eyes blinked at the light glaring right into her face. Her head lifted only a tiny bit when the throbbing pain stung her wet cold nape and she lied back down again.

Slowly, her lashes fluttered against the light and her vision, at first blurred but then disintegrated into the clear picture of Daniella leaning over her, looking perplexed and sorta amused.

"You hit your head but I think it will be okay." Daniella replaced the bag underneath her with another blue ice pack. So that's where the wetness came from. She could feel the ends of her hair sticking to her.

Rubbing her forehead, Isabella started to remember everything. Oh God, no!

The slap, that ferocious something of a kiss, the way he touched her. It was spite fire and hell all together combined. She groaned, just thinking about it.

"Don't worry. He isn't here."

That had her eyes opening. "Really?"

"Yup. After he carried you to the couch, he said something of a apology and then out of the door he went. I didn't stop him. Figured you were in no rush seeing him, looming over you like a goddamn mountain after...well, you know."

She rubbed her hands over her eyes. "Oh God..."

How could she have let this happen? She promised herself not to kiss that son of a bitch. She vowed she never be her bloody mother, kissing any Tom, Dick and Harry and hell, no fraternizing with the patients. Crossed her heart and all that shit but here she was kissing that damn man like she hadn't experienced pleasure firsthand.

But not like this.

This was different. She felt her stomach churn. She didn't like this. Not one bit.

Taking her hand off her eyes, she glared at the ceiling. Her office looked dark but the glow of the overhead light flowed across beaming the place up around her. She let out a strangled gripping moan.

"Woah, what's wrong?"

"I hate that man!" She barked.

"Well, from the looks of what I saw-"

"What You saw was a big Big mistake! A mistake that will never happen! I'm going to cancel all his appointments, not going to ever meet him! Did you know that asshole had sex with his fiancé before he had the gall to kiss me? Urgh! What was I thinking? I wished I slapped him harder."

"You are in luck." She stood by the couch.

"What do you mean?"

"Randy and I are going out which means..."

"Great. Freaking great!"

Daniella's lips tweaked. "I like this side of you, Isabella. It's nice."

"Don't get used to it." She snorted back.

"Oh I will. Now how about you tell me everything? Like everything that's been going on between you two? Randy thinks there is. So clear it out for me." Daniella crossed her arms and sat next to her, pulling Isabella's legs unto her lap.

For some reason that gesture opened up a deep clenching well inside her. She never truly had a friend by her side, to listen to her problems, to talk about just anything. It was new, weird and honestly, scary. Why did everything like this have to come across frightening to Isabella? Was it cause she knew these things don't last? Was she actually terrified of losing her new friend?

Pulling out a deep sigh, she touched gently her nape making sure if it hurt still. There was still a distant pain but it was better than before.
"I- he is my client. My patient, I mean." She glanced at Daniella, waiting for the judgmental frown to appear on her sweet visage.