Not What I Expected

Part 14

It was 5:00 on Tuesday a couple weeks later and Chad was tired, exhausted actually and he really didn't want to be there. He sat in the brightly painted waiting room of Dr. Mason's office and fidgeted uncomfortably in his seat. He had three days left of the Jansen trial and he literally felt like the shit had been kicked out of him. The trial had not been going the way he had wanted at all and his argument and strategy failed more with every step he took. He knew going into this that he had no chance of winning, but he never thought he would lose so badly.

He had texted Nicole first thing that morning to let her know that he would meet her at the appointment. She had responded with a "fine" and "see you at 5:00". It was the first time he had texted her in three weeks, but with each day it got a little easier to move on and not feel so horrible for what he was doing to Nicole. He still felt bad, but it wasn't as difficult.

"I'm shocked," Nicole sneered as she walked off the elevator and walked towards him, "Where the hell have you been? Fall off the face of the earth for three weeks and then you decide that you should show up for a counselling session...How's Anna?"

Chad's jaw almost unhinged as it hit the ground. How did she know about Anna, he thought to himself as he ran a nervous hand through his hair. He thought long and hard about how he was going to answer this one when she interrupted his thoughts.

"Don't worry about how I know," Nicole stated as sweetly as she could, "I have my sources...You should really be careful about where you are when you embrace someone other than your wife.

"Well if you know, then why are we here?" Chad questioned, knowing instantly that when he spoke those words, they were the wrong words.

"We should at least talk it through, don't you think?" she shot back, her eyes narrowing as she turned to look at him, "You at least owe me that much. But please, feel free...get up and walk out of here with your cowardly tail between your legs if you like...no skin off my back."

He watched as Nicole crossed her legs and her arms and sat there staring at the wall across from them. She didn't say another word to him and it was clear that she had had enough of his bull shit.

He wasn't expecting this moment to hurt him, but he was so off the mark on this one. Her indifference and her anger hurt him to the core. Chad should have thought this one through more than he had before he went back and started a relationship with Anna. He always knew it was possible that he would get found out, but he didn't think it would happen that quickly.

"Nic...I'm truly..." Chad stammered, but Nicole stared daggers into his eyes.

"Save it," she growled, "Don't you even think about apologizing to me! You had your chance weeks ago!"

"Chad and Nicole," Dr. Mason called out as she stepped out of her office, interrupting their argument, "So nice to see you both here this time. Glad you could make it Mr. Sanders."

Chad nodded his head at a smiling Dr. Mason, but he had a feeling that she was as disapproving of him as his wife was.

Chad got up and followed Nicole into Dr. Mason's office and sat down on the couch beside Nicole, but not too close. Dr. Mason closed the door, turned around and looked at them for a moment before she sat down in her chair and wrote a note in her book. They sat there in silence for a couple minutes before Dr. Mason cleared her throat.

"So, I think I'm going to let Chad start this one," Dr. Mason stated quietly, "Why has it taken you almost a month to show up to one of our sessions?"

"More like two months," Nicole mumbled, obviously taking the passive-aggressive route on this one.

"I'm a coward," Chad answered without hesitation, "I decided about six weeks ago that I still wanted to be with Anna. I have been seeing her and living with her for the last five weeks or so. I was too much of a coward to tell you, but I should have known that you would find out somehow."