Burning Desire [R-18]

C H A P T E R - E L E V E N

"I cannot grant your request, Mrs. Faith. Mr. Cruz made sure that his daughter will have the best therapist in this organization, and you, Mrs. Faith, alone have the longest experience among others. I know this is the only time you favor me to do, but I can't. You handle cases that are far tougher than these, and I'm really sure you will handle this with ease. Arya is stubborn, but she is a strong person," she said with a genuine smile as she patted my back.

After being declined, I told myself to keep being professional and focus on helping Arya. It was crucial not to interfere with Arya's feelings for me. I took a deep breath and prepared for my next session. My mind was still swirling with the conversation. I knew I had to push through.

I don't know what Arya gains from doing this. At some point, I can see my past self in her. The eagerness, the craving, and that unspoken thing I couldn't explain when I see her.

Just as I was about to head to my office, Susan, my colleague, approached me. She had a warm smile on her face, and it was exactly what I needed at that moment.

"Hey, Faith," Susan said. "You look like you could use a break. Want to grab some coffee and take a walk?"

I nodded, grateful for the distraction. We headed out of the building and started walking towards our favorite coffee shop, a small, cozy place just a few blocks away.

We ordered our usual coffee. Susan started chatting about her weekend plans. She and her husband were going hiking, and she was excited about it. I listened, appreciating her effort to lift my spirits.

"So, how have you been, really?" Susan asked, turning her attention back to me as we walked. "You seemed a bit off in the meeting."

I sighed. Arya has developed feelings for me. I'm her therapist, and it's bugging me. I cannot help that person if that person has feelings for me. We had a history, just no emotions attached, just a brink of a big mistake. I answered Susan, "I just had to make a request."

I couldn't tell Susan that Arya has feelings for me because it would only intrigue her and possibly complicate things in the near future if she found out about our history. It would jeopardize my profession, even though what happened between us in Boracay happened before she became my client.

"Care to share?" pangungumbinsi ni Susan sa akin pero ngumiti lang ako. "C'mon, atin atin lang naman. Di ko naman ipagkakalat, kilala mo ko, Faith," Susan insisted and crossed her fingers as a sign of a sworn promise.

I laughed. "You know that sharing context and meetings discussed only by two people in our organization is a crime right?" Susan pouted and then regained it with a big smile.

She shrugged. "Okay, okay... you win."

We finished our coffee and decided to take a longer walk back to the office. The conversation had lightened my mood.

Dumating na kami sa building at bago ako pumasok sa office ko ay nagpasalamat ako kay susan. Nag thumbs up sign lang ito sakin.

Bumungad sakin ang portfolio ni Arya, my next session will be her.

I opened the portfolio and I could see that her late therapist really did well. I was focus on her picture. She has a pretty face her eyes gaze so intensely.

I shake my head off as I remembered our last week session. I can't take my eyes of her eyes it's something that I can't looked away.
I started browsing some of the documents of Arya, marami raming trabaho to mamaya, sobrang dami ko pang babasahin na mga notebooks at base sa mga naka indicate sa kanya literal na stubborn at talagang may anger issue siya. Hindi na kataka taka dahil mukhang namana ata niya sa ama ito, good in outside but bad in inside.