Chapter 3

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The elevator came to a halt and the doors parted. Stepping out, Roman made his way up the long corridor. At the end of the hallway he opened a plate glass door and entered a small waiting room. His secretary, Darcy, was standing at her desk sorting through a stack of mail. She was slender and of average height with blue eyes and long blond hair she always wore in a ponytail.

"Good morning, Darcy," Roman said.

She glanced up, smiling. "Good morning, Dr. Marshall. You have a few phone messages on your desk. I'll bring your mail to you just as soon as I'm finished going through it."

"Thank you." Roman let himself into his office.

It was a large room with pale blue walls and beige carpeting. Situated between two windows was a desk. In one corner was a tall file cabinet and in another was a potted plant. Across from the desk was two armchairs, facing each other. Opposite the chairs were bookcases built into the wall. Medical books filled the shelves.

Roman placed his briefcase on his desk, picked up the piece of paper Darcy had written his phone messages on, and quickly scanned over it. Darcy came into the room with the mail in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other. She put the cup on the desk and handed Roman his mail. He thanked her.

"You're welcome," she replied. "Your first appointment is in twenty minutes. You're meeting with Jane Bradley. If you need anything else-"

"I know where to find you," Roman interrupted, smiling at her.

"I'll leave you to your mail." Darcy left the office, closing the door behind her.

Roman unbuttoned his suit coat, pulled out his chair, and sat down. He reached for the cup of coffee and took a drink. The phone rang, shattering the silence. Putting his cup down, he grabbed the receiver. "Hello."

 "Hello, Doc, it's Kayla."

 "Kayla," Roman said. "How did you get the number to my private line?"

 "I know people," she answered.

 Roman rolled his eyes. "No, really, how did you get the number?"

"Your grandfather gave it to me," Kayla explained. "Tell me something, Doc. Do you hold sessions over the phone?"

 "Under certain circumstance's yes." He started going through the mail. "Why do you ask?"

 "I might need to schedule a session with you. I find I'm having violent thoughts toward my brother. You see he's staying with me for a while and he has a bad habit of leaving the toilet seat up. I'm tired of my butt getting wet."

 Roman chuckled. "My advice to you is don't nag him. He won't listen and it will only leave you feeling frustrated. Get a brightly colored marker and write on a piece of paper, put the seat down. Tape the paper above the toilet, where he can see it. It will serve as a reminder for him."

 "I hadn't thought of that," Kayla said. "Thank you, Doc."

 "You're welcome." Roman retrieved a letter opener from the top drawer of his desk. "Anything else, Ms. Reynolds?"

 "Yes, one more thing," she said. "Your grandfather wanted me to remind you that dinner is at six o'clock sharp. He said you better not be late."

 "So that's why you called," Roman said, "to pass along a message from the old guy."

 "It's one of the reasons," Kayla told him.

 "What are the other reasons?" he asked.

 "I wanted to chat – to see how you're doing," she answered, "but I've taken up too much of your time. I'll let you go. Have a nice day, Doc, and I'll see you tonight."

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