Disclaimer: As much as I wish I did, I do not own Travis.
Wes Mitchell went to settle into his usual chair in the therapy circle but stopped short when he noticed that the whole formation was off. He noted two extra chairs had been added to the circle. He dreaded the idea of a new couple in therapy. Yet another woman to be attracted to Travis. Another husband to think Travis was cool. He sighed aloud.
"Would you like to discuss your feelings before the rest of the group arrives Wes?" He turned around to see Dr. Ryan strutting calmly into the room wearing her usual tight dress and stylish heels. She marched past him toward her chair. After sitting down she laid her latte and folder on the floor next to her fold-out chair.
"No."
"You know it won't kill you to willingly share."
"You don't know that. You have no idea what it may do to my mental and emotional state. It could make my mind implode. It could remind me of how much I hate Travis and I may finally get around to killing him."
"I see." She saw the majority of the group enter the doors behind him and prepared to start. "Good morning all. Please have a seat so we can get started. I'd love to hear how your homework went." After everyone had settled in, three seats still remained open. "Are we expanding again?" Mr. Dumont asked.
"Yes we are. We'll discuss that when they arrive but for now I'd like to hear about Peter and Dakota's date night."
"Where's Travis?" Mrs. Dumont questioned.
"Wes?"
"Home, sick." Dakota rolled her eyes at Wes's use of the finger quotes to emphasize the believed lie.
Clyde was in the middle of gloating about beating his wife in bowling when the doors burst open to a shout of "We're here!" A small curly-haired exotic beauty waltzed in followed by a handsome blonde man of 6'1. They were both beautiful and seemed happy. The group members wondered why the hell they were there. "Everyone I would like you to meet Maliha and Landon our new members."
"Hi everyone."
"Hey."
"Howdy." Mr. Dumont nodded at the newbies with a small grin.
Dr. Ryan filled them in quickly. "We were just in the middle of discussing the date nights everyone had last week. However, if it's okay with you all I think we should interrupt for introductions. Let's start from my left."
When they reached Travis's empty chair Wes scoffed. "If my partner was not an imbecile he would be here to say" He shifted his posture to mimic Travis's usual pose and deepened his voice. "Hey guys my name's Travis and I'm a kid four-year old."
"Wes…"Dr. Ryan gave him a reprimanding look.
Dakota spoke up. "I thought you said he was sick."
"That is what he told me but do really expect Travis to tell the truth?"
"Well yeah." Peter nodded along with his wife.
"Have some faith in the young man, son."
"Listen, you people don't know him like I do. Deception is one of his best skills, right behind being destructive monster and luring innocent people into his bed."
The new couple was stunned. They didn't expect for there to be a gay couple in their group. They didn't mind. They were large gay rights supporters and their teenager was even gay. They were more surprised by the spite being openly expressed by the lithe man in a suit. If Wes hated Travis so much why were they even bothering with therapy?
"It's best we just move right along. Let's go back to date night. Wes would you like to share what you and Travis did?"
"I would like to make it very clear. It was a platonic outing. It was not date night." He looked around the circle as if challenging anyone to say otherwise. "If anyone has ever suffered like I did on a date night I feel sorry for them." He uncrossed his legs and leaned forward until his forearms rested on his knees. "We were supposed to go to my favorite restaurant but we couldn't because he was being stubborn as usual. He refused to just abide by the dress code so I had to drive around hour while we argued about where to go. We picked a restaurant we both liked near his apartment but of course it was closed for an engagement party." He huffed.
"So in the end we went to his apartment and ordered Chinese. He forgot to order my Chicken Lo Mein and my ginger ale. I had to wait an extra 30 minutes for my food and when we tried to watch a movie he picked Oceans 11. I hate that movie. He knows I hate it but it's his and Alex's favorite. You said that we had to spend a minimum of 3 hours with our partners for date night so I followed the rules until that simpleton had the audacity to spend the whole 48 minutes I was still required to be there talking on the phone with my mother who loves him but of course hates me…"
"Okay Wes I suppose it's fair to say that you two did not have the best night." He stretched in his chair. His tale had got him worked up again. "It must be noted however that you were both responsible for the failure of that evening. There were quite a few places for compromise that you two neglected which led to an unsuccessful night. Your assignment this week is to have another date night and I want you two to try harder this time."
Dr. Ryan turned toward the new couple. "Why don't you two just tell us about the last night you went out." The couple looked at each other dumbfounded.
"It was um….honey?"
Landon chuckled. "Babe it was what, last Tuesday?"
"No remember that was Jessica's recital."
"I suppose it's fair to say it's been awhile?"
"You see I'm a History teacher at Ulysses S. Grant High School and after school I volunteer to supervise the chess team, the Homecoming Committee, the History Club, and the Young Writers Association. After that a lot of days I do personal tutoring, volunteering at the MacArthur Orphange, and spend time at the elderly home down the street."
"That's spreading yourself a little thin."
"Yeah well I have a big heart."
"My concern is it would seem your wife isn't experiencing as much care from you as the community does."
Maliha flashed a small guilty smile raising her hand a bit in the air. "I'm just as guilty Dr. Ryan. I own my own bakery downtown and since we opened I haven't spent much time away from it." She shook her head in shame making her earrings chime.
Rozelle smiled. "You wouldn't happen to own Sweet Sins Bakery would you?"
"Guilty as charged. But anyway all my time goes into that and the kids."
Dr. Ryan nodded and made a small note before looking back up. "How many do you have?"
"Well only one is ours but we are housing my sister's 3 kids right now while she recovers from surgery."
"Would you say the kids' presence has wounded the romantic aspect of your relationship?"
Her question met uncomfortable silence. "We don't mind them being there but you know with all the kids you have to focus more on them and when we get home we're already tired."
Dr. Ryan nodded thoughtfully. She smiled at the pair. "This week I want you two to take a full afternoon off from everything and spend it together. No kids. No worries. Do whatever you like just do it together." She held up her hand to halt any potential protests. "Make time. I'm sure those who rely on you will understand."
With the conclusion of the session Maliha watched as Wes hustled out of the room and with an apologetic look to her husband, she took off after him. She had a bitch of a habit of interfering and this was one of those times she couldn't control it. From the sounds of it the man wasn't happy with this Travis guy and thought maybe she could help in a way Dr. Ryan wouldn't.
"Hey Wes!"
He looked behind him and saw the frantic woman. Normally he would have walked on but he didn't know her yet so for now she deserved common courtesy.
"Can I help you? I'm kind of in a rush."
"I'm sorry but I really feel bad for you."
"What?" He supposed he should be used to people saying that to him. Other detectives said it. Jonelle said it. Not to mention all the times he had heard it from people after the divorce. People at the firm he hadn't talked to for months and years had gone out of their way to express their sympathy. But this was a complete stranger that knew nothing of his life.
"You and Travis don't seem to work at all. He kind of sounds like a suck-ass boyfriend."
Wes was shocked until he remembered that he hadn't explained to the new couple that he and Travis weren't gay. Initially he was annoyed but then he got an idea. "Don't you know it." He put his hands on his hips and shook his head sadly.
"I was thinking that maybe I could set you guys up with different people you know? Maybe it would do you some good to see what else is out there?" She cringed. "I hope I'm not sounding too….you know."
"No." He smirked. "That is a wonderful idea." The idea of sending Travis on a date with another man was absolutely hilarious but he couldn't bear to go on one himself. "But you see…I'm not trying to date anyone at all right now."
"Oh?" She frowned. She really wanted to help him.
"Yeah it's just that I've started a self-journey that involves celibacy…"
She wrinkled her nose in confusion. "But you could go on the date and not have sex."
"Any temptation and distraction that could jeopardize my journey is not worth it. I'm sorry but please help Travis." He faked emotion. "I…love him and he deserves this chance you know?" He waved his hand as if to dry the tears before they could cascade down his beautiful face.
"No problem. Well…" She fished in her oversized red handbag for the business card. After a little sifting difficulty she finally extracted the card and presented it to him proudly. "Here, give him that but try get him intrigued in the blind date, he may be reluctant to see anyone but you." Wes stifled a laugh. "Antonio's a really good guy. I'm sure they'll hit it off great." She winced. "That is if it's meant to…I'm just going to go now." She scurried away before turning around and shouting a quick, "Bye!" over her shoulder.
Wes examined the business card happily. This was going to be awesome.