"Your six o'clock is here." The redhead behind the desk nodded and hung up the phone. "Miss Conrad? Follow me."
Stacie stood up from the couch in the waiting area and followed her down the hall and into an office. A blonde stood up from behind the desk, her smile faltering for a second when she saw her, but recovered quickly and stepped forward, holding out her hand.
"I'm Dr Posen, nice to meet you Miss Conrad." Aubrey let go of her hand and motioned at the couch.
"Oh, please, call me Stacie." Stacie checked her out as discreetly as possible as she sat.
"Stacie." Aubrey smiled and sat across from her. "On the phone you said you've been feeling stressed, can I ask what kind of work you do?"
"I work in research and development at a pharmaceutical company," Stacie said. "It's not bad in terms of hours and benefits, I get a discount for this." She smiled at Aubrey but paused when she noticed her frown. "Umm… But new drug development is mostly trial and error and there's a lot of pressure from my superiors to get positive results."
Aubrey nodded and clasped her hands together. "Listen." Aubrey unclasped her hands and leaned forward. "I don't think I'm the right person to help you with this."
Stacie frowned. "But when we talked on the phone you said-"
"I know, and I'm sorry. I didn't-" She shook her head. "I can't help you, Stacie, but I'll be happy to give you a referral." Aubrey stood up and walked to her desk, reaching into a drawer and taking out a business card. "Just tell him I sent you."
Stacie stared confused at the card Aubrey was offering. She didn't understand what happened. She'd talked to Aubrey on the phone a few days back and everything seemed okay. Stacie had liked Aubrey, and she said she could help her. She didn't understand what had changed.
"Okay." She took the card and stood up. "Thank you?"
"I'm really sorry for wasting your time." Aubrey gave her an apologetic smile and led her to the door.
"It's okay." Stacie waved the card and walked back to the reception and waited for the redhead to hang up.
She looked up and furrowed her brow as soon as she hung up. "You're done?"
"It wasn't a good fit, apparently." Stacie smiled. "When I called the other day, you told me there was another doctor here. Dr Posen gave me a referral but my company discount only works here so…"
"Of course. I can set up your appointment with Dr Roberts right now." She smiled and typed something. "She's free next Thursday, same time?"
"That's perfect, thank you." Stacie smiled.
"See you next week."
Stacie nodded and opened her mouth, hesitating and closing it again before turning around. She stopped, turning back around and walking to the desk. "Does Dr Posen usually do this? Send people away?"
The redhead arched an eyebrow and pursed her lips. "I'm sure Dr Posen had a good reason to do what she did."
"Yeah…" Stacie looked unsure but she smiled. "I'll see you next week."
Chloe waited until the elevator doors closed behind Stacie to walk to Aubrey's office. "What the hell just happened?"
Aubrey arched an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
Chloe scoffed. "You know what I mean. You never send people away when you've already talked to them."
Aubrey shrugged and looked down. "Yeah, well, I didn't realize I couldn't help her until she was here. It happens."
Chloe narrowed her eyes at her, noticing how Aubrey was nervously playing with her hair. "Aubrey?" Aubrey looked up and Chloe could still see the faint blush on her cheeks. "Did you tell her you couldn't help her because you thought she was hot?"
"No, of course not." Chloe looked at her skeptically and Aubrey sighed. "And it wasn't just because she's hot. She's cute and gorgeous and when she smiled, I don't know, it did something to me." She shook her head to get rid of the image of Stacie's smile. "I couldn't be her therapist, it wouldn't have been right."
"Did you ask her out?"
"No! It would have been weird and I don't even know if she likes women."
Chloe growled in frustration. "But her smile did things to you!"
"It doesn't matter, Chloe. She's gone." Aubrey looked down again and tapped her fingers on her desk. "I'm not gonna see her again."
"I have her number in her file if-" Aubrey glared at her and Chloe rolled her eyes. "Fine."
Stacie leaned on the desk in front of Chloe while she waited.
"So, Stacie, are you single?"
Stacie arched an eyebrow. She'd been going there for a month now and she usually talked to Chloe before her appointment started. "Why? Are you asking me out?"
Chloe laughed. "No."
"Good, cause you're not really my type." Stacie stuck her tongue out.
"Female?"
"Married." Stacie pointed at Chloe's wedding ring. "I don't really have a problem with dating women."
"That's good to know." Chloe grinned.
She was about to say something else when Aubrey came out holding a file.
"Chloe, do you have my-" She looked up and her eyes widened when she saw Stacie leaning on the counter.
"Hi." Stacie smiled at her. She'd been hoping to run into Aubrey sooner or later, even though she wasn't exactly sure why.
"Hi." Aubrey echoed and turned around, walking back to her office.
Stacie frowned, watching Aubrey's retreating form until she was out of sight, and turned to Chloe. "That was weird, right?"
Chloe grimaced. "She's probably busy."
"Right." Stacie shook her head.
Her thoughts were interrupted by Chloe's desk phone.
"Hold the door!"
Aubrey inwardly cursed when she heard Stacie's voice and reached out to press the door close button repeatedly. The doors started closing but Stacie's hand shot out, stopping them when they were still half open.
Aubrey huffed and inched back to the far corner of the elevator, trying to ignore the fluttering in her heart when Stacie smiled at her.
"Hey."
Aubrey nodded and took out her phone, opening her email app and trying her best to ignore Stacie's presence.
"I feel like I should apologize for something but I'm not sure what that something is." Stacie said after they'd gone down a few floors.
Aubrey's brow furrowed confused and she looked up at her. "Apologize to me?"
"Yes." Stacie sighed. "I saw you press the door close button." Aubrey blushed embarrassed. "And every time you see me, you walk away."
"And you want to apologize for that." Aubrey bit her lip to keep herself from smiling at how adorable Stacie was.
"I must have done something to make you act that way." Stacie shrugged helplessly. The elevator stopped on the first floor and Stacie gave Aubrey a sad smile before stepping out. "I'll see you around, Dr Posen."
Aubrey stepped forward, wanting to say something but not knowing what. The doors closed and she leaned her forehead on the cold metal. "Idiot."
Stacie tapped her fingers on Chloe's desk. "So what's the deal with Dr Posen?"
Chloe arched an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
Stacie shrugged feigning nonchalance. "Does she hate everyone or is it just me."
Chloe snorted. "She doesn't hate you." Stacie looked at her skeptically. "She really doesn't."
"Then why does she act so weird around me?" Stacie pouted.
"Does she?"
Stacie rolled her eyes. "Chloe! I've been coming here every week for the past three months. I don't really need to come every week, but I still do in case I run into her. Which makes no sense because it's happened five times, three of which she turned around and walked away, one time she just stared at the wall until I left, and the other day she tried to close the elevator doors on me."
Chloe tried not to laugh but failed, earning a glare from Stacie. "I'm sorry."
"I just don't get it." Stacie sighed. "Maybe I do need to come every week because I feel like I'm going crazy." Stacie deflated and Chloe felt bad for her.
She looked around to check there wasn't anyone within earshot. "She usually takes a coffee break at the coffee shop on the first floor around five."
"Okay…" Stacie didn't understand why Chloe was telling her that.
Chloe didn't get how someone could be so oblivious. "Maybe next week you should stop and get coffee before your appointment."
"Oh!" Stacie nodded. "Yes, I will do that."
"Good." Chloe shook her head. "And maybe try talking about your problems in therapy and not while you're waiting for it to start. I don't get paid for this."
Stacie looked at the blonde sitting at the corner of the shop. She took a deep breath before walking up to her and tapping her on the shoulder. "Hey."
"Stacie." Stacie tried not to react to the panic she saw in Aubrey's eyes. "What- what are you doing here?"
Stacie gave her a lopsided grin. "I got out of work early and I thought I'd grab some coffee before my appointment." She pointed at the chair in front of her. "May I join you?"
"Sure." Aubrey pursed her lips and closed the book she was reading. "How are things going with Dr Roberts?"
"Great, she's good." Stacie nodded.
"Good." Aubrey nodded awkwardly and looked down. "I'm sorry I couldn't be more help."
"No, it's fine. I'm glad." Aubrey looked up with a frown. "That sounded wrong. I'm sure you're a great therapist."
"Thank you." Aubrey said flatly.
Stacie shook her head and looked away. "This is really not how this was supposed to go."
Aubrey chuckled. "It's okay, Stacie. I'm glad you like Dr Roberts."
Stacie looked back at Aubrey. "Wow."
"What?" Aubrey arched an eyebrow.
"Nothing, I just hadn't seen you smile since the day we met." She looked at her for a few seconds and then cleared her throat. "How are you?"
"I'm good." Aubrey tilted her head and smiled again. "People don't usually ask me that."
"Aubrey?" Stacie hadn't called her by her name until then. "Do you want to go out sometime?"
"With you?" Stacie nodded. "On a date?"
"You're straight." Stacie's face fell.
"No, I'm not." Aubrey shook her head.
Stacie frowned and opened her mouth a few times in confusion. "You don't think I'm hot?"
Aubrey studied Stacie for a while. "Stacie, has anyone ever turned down a date with you?" Stacie shook her head and Aubrey leaned forward. "And how does that make you feel?"
"Are you seriously shrinking me right now?" Stacie scoffed and stood up. "I'm sorry I bothered you."
"Stacie." Aubrey grabbed her wrist when she walked by her. "I'm sorry, that was stupid. You just caught me off guard." Stacie kept stubbornly looking away and Aubrey slid her hand down, squeezing her fingers. "I never said I wouldn't go out with you."
Stacie looked down at her. "So you do want to go out with me?"
"Why do you think I refused to be your therapist?"