Near the end of the Nichols session with her counselor, Dr. Crane entered the building and walked past the appointment counter. Ignoring the attractive secretary who tried to gather his attention to herself for both business reasons and her own personal attraction.
The week before he had called to ask the time of Ms. Nichol's appointment the next week with young Dr. Han, claiming her as one of his patients. And arrived the following week, Tuesday, 50 minutes after her appointment was to begin at 3:00, and ten until it was to end. It was now 3:54, as he followed the glass stairs up to the floor of the location of Dr. Han's room.
Entering the modern hallway lined with walls and doors on one side, and floor to ceiling windows on the other. He presently moved to the side of the door, and pulled out a file of a patient as he leaned back against the wall on one foot, waiting for Nichols to exit the room as he overlooked the file. She remained in the room until 4:06, and Crane instantly lifted his eyes from the file as soon as the door knob began to turn from room 206.
Presently she began to step out of the room continuing a discussion with Dr. Han; she was dressed very simply in a green long sleeve polo and brown flare skirt, once more bra-less and without makeup. At this moment Crane began to walk forward, feeling for her actions rather than watching her. And after ending her conversation she fell into place ten feet behind him as he passed her and the office, he noted she was walking in long strides. He turned at the elevator and yet though he could well see her, he pressed the down button without turning to acknowledge her. However, he smiled inwardly to notice that she had him.
Corrine Nichols had spent the last hour explaining her social anxieties to a psychiatrist to strangely would not look at her. However, she dismissed the matter rather than dwell upon it, for its meaning was something she had experienced so very often.
She had recently started to overcome the eating disorder that she had also come to the counselor for, and now weighed 108 pounds at 5.3 ft and 23 yrs, having been able to control her eating, and lose weight that had continually built up despite the very low amounts of food she had been eating at meals, despite her binging for the past year. And as the hour began to end she started to allow Dr. Han to do most of the talking, when he would only looked at her when mandatory, and in short stolen glances.
However, when the hour had ended and as she was standing in the doorway to exit, he rapidly tried to continue his report of her actions, much of which he had already previously discussed. An act of which she had grown far too bored of.
Once she had finally been allowed to leave, she fell in line behind another man walking down the hallway. A man she at first had no interest in and gave no acknowledgement to. However, the way in which he walked, and the subtleness of his unseen gaze as he looked out the windows slowly grew upon her until she was watching him as he was feeling for her. Not in attraction, but rather in intrigue. But as he paused to turn towards the elevator at the end of the hall, she saw his face, young and appealing. He wore designer glasses, and a simple but expensive suit. Donning a sweater under his jacket to hide his raw slenderness.
When he turned to look at her after pressing the button, she smiled softly. Not intraced as others would have been should he have looked at them with such an open and welcoming expression. But offhandedly, curious, but also momentarily calm and at ease, which would not have been different whether she was or wasn't in his presence. Something not many others truly were, should they think about it. However, he did purpose a very different aura in her company.
The elevator door slid open and he did not move to enter, waiting for her to do so first, not taking his cool gaze from her until she had stepped into the compartment, and he followed, walking forward to stand at her side.
At this point, she noted that he was not very tall, something she would not have expected considering the air she had breathed from him. But she felt comfortable next to him, and rather liked the smell of him. He did not wear cologne and this she favored as few men did not.
Then the doors slid shut and he turned his gaze to her, a calm smile playing on his lips. She returned his gaze but without the smile. "I presume that you are one of Dr. Han's patients?" his voice was cool, but had an attractive quality. She smiled now in response, and spoke herself, "Yes, you know him?". Crane turned his gaze away to the door but nodded, not breaking his smile, "I have had the pleasure, I needed information on one of his other patients who will evetually be transferred into my care." He paused, and looked back at her, and gave her a smiling nod. "Jonathan Crane."
Corrine continued to study his steady face, which had not changed at all. "I have heard of you. It's an honor to meet such an accomplished psychologist who is at such a young age." She turned away, having found herself in a position where she did not know what to say.
She had heard of him, and had as been before told, not expected to ever learn the full name which he had just given her. And she was not sure she wanted to continue this conversation, because what she had heard of this man in cool rumor, was not something she found appealing.
However, he spoke once more and disrupted her in confidence and a short silence that had been beginning to fall. "Yet, you still have not told me your name, though you know who I am, and my nature of my career." His voice was amused, inviting, it was not something she wanted to ignore, yet she would feel much more comfortable if it was not there at all.She breathed in and turned to look at him, to find he was watching her, quietly and softly waiting for what he desired. A face that she found an attraction to. "Corrine Nichols." She turned away immediately after saying this and looked at the level 1 button which was glowing softly, they were just descending from level 4.
His voice was expected, and unwanted but hoped for at the same time. She wanted silence, which was who this man was, but not presently portraying, and to get home, but she also found something very interesting in him. "Ah, I believe that Good Dr. Han has mentioned you, a psychology student specializing in dreams." The elevator landed and the doors opened.
She looked at him one last time, and he opened his arm for her to exit. "It was a pleasure to meet you." She did not move immediately, but watched him unsure of if she wanted him to see her smile. And in the end decided against it but rather nodded and walked forward out of the elevator towards the exit, Pulling her hair out of the bond that held it at the base of her neck as she did so. An action Crane watched with a certain amount of controlled emotion.
Crane has no intentions of what is known as "stalking" the woman Corrine, nor in inducing any of his sadism upon her in actions or words. He is enchanted by her. By her quietness, her shyness. She was beautiful, in many ways, and he felt an emotion for her he had for no other. His actions this day were but that of curiosity. And he would not make a same movement of finding her, and unknowingly of her, forcing her into a conversation. But he would meet her again.
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