Chapter Two
"Good morning, everyone! My name is Dr. Bennett. Good to see that everyone has arrived at Sunlit Isle safe and sound. Now, before we get started, I would like to say that I understand that you might be somewhat nervous about therapy with other people around. The reason why I always start the program with the entire group is because I want you all to see that marriage crisis is definitely not uncommon. So many of us hit that rough patch, get stuck in a rut or desire for something that has momentarily left us. What makes a difference is how you respond to that rough patch. Give yourself some credit for reaching out, and for being willing to do whatever it takes to get your marriage back on track."
Maddie tried to listen, but the truth was, she hadn't slept a wink. For starters, David had been somewhat of a snorer. She remembered that he did that in certain positions, but with the limited space of the couch, he couldn't really sleep the way he wanted to. He always liked to sleep on his stomach, and the couch pretty much ruled that out. He never snored when he slept like that. She had tossed and turned all night, trying to get used to that sound. Another issue was her, feeling guilty over his cramped space on that couch. At one point during the night, his neck had been in an odd angle and he was obviously still feeling that this morning. She watched him as he rubbed the strained muscles of his shoulders and neck, looking a bit haggard. She had been thinking about just letting him sleep in the bed already, and had been contemplating it early in the morning, when a move he made definitely had her reconsider her proposition. She had just gotten out of bed to tap him on the shoulder when his leg fell to the side, causing his blanket to slide off. He hadn't slept naked, but she could clearly see his morning erection straining his boxers. It had instantly made her turn around and run back to bed.
"David and Maddie Addison?"
Huh? Oh, Dr. Bennett was addressing them.
"That would be us," David said, raising his hand.
"Nice to meet you. I hope everything will be to your liking during your two week stay. Have you filled out the questionnaire yet? It would be great if you could deliver them to my office later today."
Right, the questionnaire with the sex questions…
"Sure thing," David answered for them, continuing to rub his neck.
"Are you okay, Mr. Addison? You look quite uncomfortable. I have a physician on site if you're experiencing any problems?" Dr. Bennett asked worriedly.
"It's all right. It's just that sleeping on the couch isn't everything it's cracked up to be."
"You slept on the couch?"
The tone in Dr. Bennett's voice was one of surprise and Maddie began to blush furiously. God, she wanted to hide somewhere right now. This was so embarrassing!
"I see. You've come to my retreat at the right time, then. I look forward to helping you find your way back to each other. No more sleeping on the couch, though. That certainly isn't a step in the right direction."
"Yes, sir," David jovially answered, eyeing Maddie with a smirk covering his entire face.
Her elbow shot out and hit him in the ribs, making him yelp a bit.
"Why did you have to tell him that?!" she hissed.
"What? It'll fit in perfectly with the rest of our story."
Maddie grumbled, but chose to remain silent in her anger. The introductions continued until finally, Dr. Bennett began to explain about the sit-in session and the first exercise.
"A sit-in session involves that the two of you sit opposite from each other, yet you hold hands and look into each other's eyes. It's an intense exercise that allows you to delve deep into what you're feeling and particularly, what you feel for the other person. Eyes can't lie. They are quite literally the windows to the other's soul."
A hand went up in the air.
"I have a question. Are we supposed to address those feelings out loud?"
The man having asked the question obviously would feel embarrassed to do so.
"You can if you'd like. If it makes you feel uncomfortable, you can also write them down when the exercise is over. I'll deliver some notepads to you all. Now, if you would all get into position, so we can start?"
"This will be fun," David groaned, while rolling his eyes.
Maddie agreed with his sarcasm and reluctantly sat herself in the right position, facing him.
"Good, now everybody hold hands. While looking at each other, I want you to concentrate on the emotions that course through you."
She had stared into those green eyes a thousand times before. Sometimes, they had been bloodshot, other times, they had been twinkling with mischief. Right now, Maddie found herself hesitant to look at him directly. Whether it had to do with the intense circumstances of holding hands and basically, being forced to look deep, she didn't know. All she knew was that she suddenly became very aware of the warm skin she felt underneath her fingertips.
"Maddie, you're supposed to be looking at me," David chastised.
"It just feels a bit awkward."
A large shadow fell over them and Maddie looked up to see them having caught Dr. Bennett's attention.
"Is there a problem?" he wanted to know.
"I don't know. It just feels a bit uncomfortable to be staring at someone for such a length of time," Maddie explained.
"I see."
Dr. Bennett knelt down and sat next to them.
"How about we try it like this: instead of looking into each other's eyes, close them. Focus on the feel, touch and warmth of your intertwined hands. I want you to go back in time to that first moment that you knew."
"Knew what?" Maddie breathed, doing as the doctor told her. Her eyes drooped until they fell completely shut.
"That you were attracted to each other. That cliched moment when the ground shook and a shiver ran through you. That moment when the whole room fell away until there was nothing left but the two of you. Are you there now? Are you at that moment?"
Maddie's mind took her to a bar; it wasn't a crowded bar, but she supposed that was due to the time of day. The sun had still been up in the sky when she had entered it with David. She had been dead set on returning the watch from their first case ever to the police. He had balked at the thought and had pulled out all the stops to prevent her from doing so. Even taking her in his arms and engaging her in a dance in the most bizarre place, only so that he could rob her. Still, after he had dipped her and pulled her back up, something had gone through her when she had looked into his eyes. There had been something awfully sexy about that man. And yes, the room had fallen away for the slightest of moments.
"Now open your eyes and look at each other," Dr. Bennett's voice enticed them.
When Maddie's eyes landed on David's, it felt like a magnetic force zapping back and forth between them. An unwanted warmth stirred deep within her, shaking her just like it had shook her almost four years ago. Her heart clenched as she fell deep within the pools of green that were gazing at her.
"There it is," she could hear the good doctor quietly utter next to them, though his voice seemed far way. Her every sense was focused on the man sitting in front of her. "Wow, lots of energy here."
She vaguely noticed Dr. Bennett leaving them alone, but for the life of her, she could not break the spell he had woven between herself and David Addison…
Maddie felt the coolness of the water lapping at her feet, which were dangling in the pool beneath her, and sighed. This was just what she needed after that session. It had left her confused and afraid of what would come next in this program. Were all of Dr. Bennett's sessions so intense? If yes, and they would always be thrust into each other's faces like that, she needed some more armor here. Better yet, they needed to catch that man before the therapy program was done. It was exactly what she had told David as they returned to their room:
"We need to hurry things along, David."
"What's the rush? Paradise doesn't do it for you anymore?"
"There's so many innocent people around. I can't lounge around while a dangerous man pulls the blinds over everybody's eyes with his witchery sessions!"
"Witchery, huh?"
Maddie took a quick glance at him, seeing that the corners of his mouth were curled up into an amused grin. Had he felt that insane pull between them as well?
"We need to get things going. Like I said; this isn't a vacation."
"Would you relax? I've got everything set up. Tonight, we do a little Hokey Pokey with the lock on his office door and plant our listening devices. Other than that, we keep a watchful eye during and outside of the sessions. With that in mind, I'm not going to deny myself the chance to catch up on a little sun."
He had pulled his shirt over his head and had begun rummaging around in his suitcase for his swimming trunks. In the meantime, Maddie's eye had fallen onto the notepad he had brought back with him from the therapy session… the one Dr. Bennett had instructed them to write down their feelings in. They were supposed to bring it with them to the one-one-one session tomorrow. Curiosity grabbed a hold of her. This would be her one chance to get into the mind of David Addison. Unfortunately for her, he had picked up the notepad and took it with him as he went to go change into his swimming trunks. When he got back, she had no idea where he had stuffed the thing into.
"Are you coming?"
"To what?"
"The pool."
"I don't know.."
"Come on, Maddie. Leave the office for five seconds! For the love of God, you're in the Caribbean!"
He had persuaded her. Now, she was thankful for the distraction of the tranquil pool area. She sat up to take her feet out of the water and went back to her sunbed, lying down to catch up on some reading. David was off somewhere, splashing around like a kid.
"Hi, I noticed you in our session with Dr. Bennett today," a woman to her right piped up as soon as Maddie tried to settle in. "Don't you think this is just a lovely setting for this sort of thing? How do you like the island?"
"It's all right."
Maddie sighed. She wasn't in the mood to talk to some chirpy stranger.
"Just all right? I'm living my dream right here!"
"Yeah well…"
"Oh, I'm sorry! Where are my manners? I'm Carol Harris."
"Maddie Addison," Maddie mumbled, still not used to using David's last name.
"Nice to meet you. My husband is right over there. His name is Ben. We've been married for ten years."
Ten years?! Maddie's eyebrows slightly raised, as the woman sitting on the sunbed next to her couldn't possibly be any older than 28.
"I got married young," Carol continued, noticing the expression on Maddie's face. "Two kids down the road and I guess we're wondering if that could be the problem; the fact that we got married as teenagers. Say, do you and your husband have any children?"
Maddie visibly winced at Carol's question, the baby boy that wasn't meant to be immediately penetrating her mind. It still felt like a shot to the heart to even let the thought of him in. Her hands began to slightly shake and she slid her large sunglasses even further up her nose, not wanting Miss-talks-a-lot over there to catch up on her emotions. It seemed to be too late, though…
"Oh gosh, I struck a nerve. I'm terribly sorry. I tend to shoot my mouth off."
There was nothing Maddie wanted to do more in that moment than to hide behind her book and pretend like Carol didn't exist. However, she figured that it couldn't hurt to talk to some of the other applicants for the marriage retreat. Perhaps they would notice some things off about the resort as well. Though, she doubted that Carol would pick up on it; she was so wrapped up in her own voice that there wasn't room for anything else!
"I hope you can accept my apologies. Anyway, what did you think of this morning's session? It felt a bit weird with the staring contest. I ended up giggling about it quite a lot. Who has time to look into their husband's eyes for minutes on end?"
Well no, not if you can't keep your mouth shut for more than a few seconds.
"It was a bit uncomfortable, yes."
"I noticed you were doing great, though! I saw Dr. Bennett helping you and your husband out. Wow, I wish my husband would look at me the way your husband looks at you. I could feel the chemistry all the way across the room!"
For some reason, Maddie could feel a blush creeping up onto her skin. Whether it was due to embarrassment or the thought of David looking at her like he used to a very long time ago, she didn't know. Carol couldn't be right about her assessment, could she? Too much had happened and David was very distant. Most of the time, she didn't know what went on inside that man's head.
"How long have you been married?" Carol asked.
Now this, Maddie could answer properly.
"About four years."
"Really? I would have guessed longer. I…."
Carol Harris actually stopped talking for once and Maddie noticed her looking down at something with a frown. Following her gaze, her heart suddenly leapt with understanding when she realized what the other woman was so confused about. Right there, on Maddie's left hand, was no wedding ring. Nothing. Not even an indentation where a ring used to be.
Well damn… with everything they had thought of to prepare for this case, they couldn't have bought a crappy ring?
"I uhm… my husband and I took our rings off quite some time ago. You could say that this is our last attempt to salvage our marriage," Maddie quickly saved face.
"That's… serious. Gosh, not even during the worst of arguments did my husband and I ever take our rings off. I hope you can work it out."
"It's why we're here."
"I guess you're right. Hey, if anyone can bring two people together, it's Dr. Bennett, right?"
"Right…. So how does he strike you? I mean, Dr. Bennett?" Maddie asked, quite innocently.
Carol shrugged, throwing her long, dirty blonde hair over her shoulder.
"He seems nice enough. I did some research on this place before we signed up. He receives a lot of positive feedback."
"I saw that as well. He must be making a lot of money off the marriage retreat concept, if he can afford to do so in this luxurious place."
"I guess so."
Carol didn't bite, and Maddie decided to leave it alone. The tiny blonde hardly seemed like the proper person to talk to about this kind of business anyway…
Some hours later, when the resort was quiet and the moon sat high in the sky, Maddie and David had forced their way into Dr. Bennett's office. David immediately jumped behind the psychiatrist's desk to investigate, while Maddie resorted to the file cabinet.
"Some flyers of his own retreat, applicant forms… Ooh, snacks!" David exclaimed.
"Leave the man's nourishment alone, Addison."
"He'll hardly miss it, there's a whole box of delight in here. Speaking of delight, guess who owns the new calendar filled with Island babes?" David held up his find as if he had come across a Christmas present. "My kind of man."
Maddie shook her head. "Men!"
"Well, his wife's a thousand miles away. I suppose he needs to get his kicks from somewhere."
"Would you stop playing around and set up the listening device? I'll do the snooping."
"Right on."
Maddie opened drawer after drawer, soon realizing that Dr. Bennett's cabinet was filled with files that held notes about the couples from the marriage retreat itself. Some went back a couple of years. The top drawer, however, held information on those who were currently in his therapy…including her and David.
"David!" she hissed. "He already made notes about us!"
"What?"
"There's a file on us in here."
"Well, see what he says!"
Maddie grabbed hold of the file and opened it, her eyes scanning the words. David came to stand right behind her, reading along with her.
"David and Maddie Addison are quite difficult to figure out on first glance. Their questionnaire makes it out that there is a lack of passion in the bedroom, and yet, I see a tension between those two that suggests that there is still a lot of sexual attraction that needs to be resolved."
Maddie blushed when David read the words out loud.
"I told you that it was stupid to suggest that that was the reason we're here," she mumbled.
"Hey, is it my fault you gave him the impression that you still want to hit the sheets?"
"Me?! I would never!"
David shrugged and continued reading:
"I sense that they're not being truthful about some matters regarding their union. There's an awkwardness surrounding them that suggests that something painful happened…something that ripped into their trust and dependency on each other."
"Tomorrow is going to be very, very difficult," Maddie said out loud, thinking of their one-on-one appointment with the good doctor himself.
"We just have to be better actors. I'm sure you can conjure up the right look to accompany the fact that you don't want me."
Wow. Maddie turned to look at him over her shoulder, her mouth agape. Did he really just… Was it a double meaning? A shot at their relationship in real life?
He was glancing down at her, the shadows of the darkened office playing on his skin. It was hard to read his eyes, but the air suddenly felt a bit tense. She watched him swallow something, but he remained closed off. His gaze seemed to have landed on her lips for the briefest of moments, but before she could determine whether the move had actually happened, he turned back towards the desk.
"This drawer's locked. It makes you wonder what the man has to hide if he leaves confidential information about patients for anyone to read while this little tidbit is closed off," David carried on as if nothing had transpired.
"Of course, he does lock up his office, so he doesn't exactly leave things for everyone to read. Do you think the key to the drawer is in here somewhere?" Maddie asked.
"I didn't come across it. I'll just continue with the listening device. Maybe we'll stumble upon it."
Ten minutes later, everything was set up. They hadn't found any keys, so it was best that they went back to their room before anyone found them snooping around in here. During their trek back, Maddie felt a bit of apprehension about the whole thing.
"Tomorrow, we're going to be grilled by this man, you do realize that?" she said, slightly nervous.
"Don't act so jittery about it. We'll do just fine."
David fished out the key to their door and went to open it.
"There's one doctor's advice that I will take, though."
"What's that?"
He turned to smirk at his partner.
"I'm going to sleep in the bed tonight…"
Author's Note: Thank you all for the wonderful response to this story! I hope you enjoyed chapter two and that you look forward to seeing how Maddie deals with David sleeping in her bed ;) Next up is our favorite duo's therapy session with the pshychiatrist himself. Are you ready for them to be confronted with their issues and feelings for each other...?