Ps. Also to some comments on how Serena is reacting. It may seem unrealistic, but in the real world, some women do actually feel this way towards their man. They might feel insecure or just not brave enough to face the situation. Sooo, I'm glad you had something to say about this story, and it helps me a lot for you to point that out. I'll try to work on more of what is reality for you guys.

Thank you so much to the lovely Nadia. She must be loved.

Chapter 5

"Now what seems to be the problem Mr. Shields?" The blonde in front of him asked as she started to scribble something down onto a piece of pad paper. "Give it all to me, problems, thoughts..."

Darien was about to open his mouth and tell her the whole truth, but he shut his mouth immediately. He couldn't bring himself to tell her anything. It was as if his mouth was glued shut.

"Look Mr. Shields, I'm here to help you, and I can't do that if you won't open up to me!" Mina said urgently, noticing that the man was having a inner war with himself.

"I-I...well you see..." He started to say, but couldn't finish his sentence because the words were stuck in his throat.

"Okay...why don't I help you out? Usually when men like you...come to see me, it's always about women, am I right?" She asked expertly, clicking her pen with her right hand.

Nodding his head, Darien continued to listen to her.

"Well, with your age, I would say that you're married right? No children?"

Nodding his head again, Darien felt himself swallow more easily.

"It says here that you're currently owning your own company, so I'm guessing you're a workaholic? No need to tell me the answer, I know it already." She said before letting him talk. "Your prescription is to take some time off, go some where with your wife and make some love. Okay? Done."

Darien sat there, looking at her with his jaw wide open。

That was it? That was what he was recommended for? He already knew the problem he had with her, and the doctor in front of him right now, had only had half of the information. Maybe he should include that his wife was cheating on him to see what the blonde in front of him had to say. Doctor Mina Aino his ass.

"Mina, or what ever I should call you, we already made love. But the situation isn't changing. My wife is cheating on me." Darien said impatientlyHe was getting tired of the not secrecy and confused over the conversation they were having. He wanted to put the facts straight on the line before anything was misunderstood.

"But making love usually works...-what? Your wife is cheating on you?" Mina exclaimed, clearly surprised by the fact, but quickly reclaimed her posture. "Look here buddy, women won't cheat unless they're forced to. Are you sure you didn't do anything...that she didn't like for her to grow bored of you?"

Darien raised an eyebrow to her question. It seemed like Mina Aino was just an amateur marriage counsellor. Maybe he shouldn't have listened to so called best friend Nephrite after all. Or ex best friend once Darien was through with him.

"You know what? Maybe it was just a bad idea to come here after all...so if you'll excuse me," he said rising from his chair, only to be stopped by Mina who had leaned over the table separating them and pushing him back down onto the seat.

"Listen here, you obnoxious man who thinks I can't do anything. You paid me to do this, and I'm going to finish it. Now let me ask you again. Did you do anything that might've not pleased your wife?" She asked again, and this time, he could hear the strain in her voice, and see the death glare she was giving him.

Even if he was able to brush her off, Darien didn't think that he would make it out alive. Great, just great. My day has just started, and it's already gone down the wrong end of the lane

Grumbling to himself, he lifted one of his hands to run it through his hair, "I don't know...she seemed perfectly fine...but the year had been rough for us with stupid mistakes and mishaps. It happens all the time with other people, but it just seemed to take a more fierce hurl at us..."

"Continue..." Mina murmured as she perched her elbows on her desk and leaned forward to hear him better.

"We would get into fights and such, and lately, it seems like it's been getting worst. We're not even having any fights...we're just not talking! Plus, I think she's a little mad at me for hiring her best friend Ami Mizuno...and well, the girl needed the job, and I had a opening, so-" Darien started to babble, unable to stop himself from his talking. It seemed like once he let it all out, it couldn't stop. And that was what he wanted, to just let everything out.

"Wait...wait a second, did you say Ami Mizuno?" The blonde asked loudly as her eyes widened, and her hands seemed to be gripping themselves a bit too tightly.

Feeling a bit confused himself, Darien thought of what could have brought the blonde in front of him to change expressions so quickly at a name "Umm...yes I did, but-"

Seeing as if she was trying to strain herself down, Darien watched as she cut him off and started to talk, "Well Mr. Shields, you never got to tell me your wife's name."

He found it strange that she didn't ask him at the beginning of the session when she had all that time in her hands. Answering her, he said loudly, "Her name's Serena-"

"-Sinclaire right?" Mina said abruptly, cutting him off.

Jesus, what was with this woman? She kept cutting him off at in the middle of his sentences. It was getting utterly annoying, and he suddenly felt that he should've just left long ago. Not stay here to play with this cuckoo who thought she knew what she was doing. Trying to slowly inch his chair back without her noticing, Darien said quietly, "Why yes she is...and how do you know that Doctor Mina?"

Darien groaned as the supposing expert in front of him spaced out.

She wasn't even listening to him now!

Rising up from his seat, he made his way carefully to the door, watching Mina stare out at nothing. Noting that she wasn't even paying attention to him, he slipped out and made his way out of the clinic.

He was never going to go back there again.

Serena groaned as she found herself waking up to a bright light. Using her left hand, she covered her eyes a bit and turned in her covers. Yesterday...what was she thinking?

Smiling to herself, Serena stared across the room to the picture of her and Darien.

Sometimes, it was just better not to think and just let it go. Everything would just be better if people just forget about everything around them at one point or another...and just experience. And that was what she did; it felt utterly wonderful. She knew that the thing between them wasn't over yet, but it was a start - a start for a understanding.

Or so she hoped.

She couldn't bear it if she would ever leave him, but maybe sometimes it was the only choice they had.

Serena had read many of those distasteful romances that men would never read. Each ending with the women going back to the men after their lover had cheated, or gotten drunk…or just any other way to turn the women away. But every time, the girl would just go back to the man. Serena didn't think it was fair that the women should always be the ones to get hurt.

Why was it always them that had to take the pain?

Why was it always them...that has to be get worn out of and then thrown out?

It wasn't fair.

It just wasn't.

But if Serena were to ask herself, would she really be strong and hope to think for the best? No. She would be like all those naive girls out there...hoping that what they were seeing weren't true. That their lovers weren't really hurting them.

There was no such thing as safe love.

It's either get hurt and get loved, or lose everything.

Most people find it easy to say that women should just leave their stupid men and live their own life with another. But it wasn't easy. It was never easy until one experienced it themselves. So many think that they're so strong...but in reality, nothing is like that. It's so easy to say it...but once you want to do it...you can't.

And Serena couldn't leave Darien.

Even if she wanted too.

Even if it was the best thing to do.

She loved him too much to do that. And she knew that, whatever Darien was thinking. She couldn't just leave with out him giving her a explanation. Serena found that through her years of life, it was best to not jump to conclusions and just listen to the truth. And maybe then, there would be a path waiting for her to go on.

Many make the mistake to leave and forget. But what's the point of running away from your problems? It wasn't going to help the situation. Serena knew that it would be soon for her to have a chit chat with Darien.

Slowly sitting up from her bed, Serena made her way to crawl out of it and start to change, but was stopped by a sudden pain in her stomach. She moaned as she used both of her arms to clutch her abdomen, the sudden sharp pain unbearable for her.

Using a hand, Serena tried to grasp the phone which was near the edge of the bed, but when her fingers were a few inches away from it, suddenly her vision went blurry. Using all her strength, she tried to stay focus and get the phone...but that was a impossible task for her, because her world was slowly fading out.

Mina sat at her desk, still completely lost at thought.

Ami Mizuno?

She had been trying to forget about that girl for the past year, but that wasn't going to happen after hearing her name again. She never thought that she would ever meet paths with Ami. But here she was, thinking about the same person she had vowed to never speak of.

Clasping her hands tightly, Mina tried to put the pieces together.

She had been hoping to visit Serena soon, but she never seemed to get the chance. It was seeing this person this day, and seeing another next. It was like she had no time to even eat or drink. But that wasn't the point. Mina had even missed her blonde friend's wedding. Now that was a horrible thing to do.

She knew that she should've been there to support her best friend, but at that time, she had been attending the burial of her late grandmother who had passed away because of leukaemia.

Snapping out of her reverie, Mina made a move to ask Mr. Shields how Serena was doing, but found that the seat in front of her was empty.

"Dammit." Mina muttered under her breath.

She couldn't believe that she was so out of it to not notice that he had walked away from the clinic a few minutes ago. Letting her mind click away, she tried to think back of all the possibilities of why Ami was brought up again. She knew that her own past was going to surface soon...

Moving to get up from her chair, her phone suddenly rang and Mina quickly reached and put it to her ear.

"Yes?" She answered, trying to sound as normal as she could.

"-Mina...here...now-" Came a raspy reply.

"What? Who's this?" Mina asked impatiently. She hoped that this wasn't one of those prank calls. She hated them a lot, and there would be a hell to pay if it really was one.

"It's...-ei-come." The voice came again, this time louder.

"Rei?" Mina guessed, hoping to be right. She didn't want to be put up with nonsense.

"-Serena...-in...-hospital." Rei rushed out crackly before the their conversation was cut off by the dial tone.

When everything's a lie...

Darien closed his eyes briefly at a stop light.

He had been working non stop at the office ever since he had left the clinic, and it was 10:00 pm. All he wanted to do was have a quick dinner, take a warm shower and hop into bed.

But what should he eat...

Steak? No time to make.

Eggs? Won't satisfy the stomach.

Cheese cake? Maybe after the real food.

Fried Chicken from Churches Chicken? Fried chicken it is.

Taking a deep breath, Darien was suddenly on alert as a loud honk was heard from behind of him. The light had turn green and he hadn't been paying attention. Growling to himself, Darien shifted his gears and stomped on the pedal. Stupid impatient drivers.

The truck who had been behind of him had switched lanes, and started to drive steadily next to him. Darien watched as the driver fumbled around his seat for a few seconds before looking up at him. Puzzled, Darien wondered what he was doing. But he found out soon as the guy rolled down his windows and started to give him the middle finger.

What the hell?

Darien didn't do anything that upsetting, and here this guy was giving him the finger. And how old was he anyways? Did the man actually think he was still a teenager? He had dirty blonde hair and crooked teeth. The wrinkles could be easily seen on his face. He looked like he was around 40 something...and he was dressed like a high school kid.

Or he tried to look like one.

Suppressing a smirk, Darien opened his own window to look at the man.

Staring back, the man started to mutter some words at him, but Darien paid him no attention. He quickly used his left hand to keep his staring wheel steady and used his right hand to scrunch up a piece of white paper. Taking a glance at the road in front of him, and back at the man, they both stopped at another stop light.

"Learn to drive, ass hole." The guy sneered as he puckered his lips and spat onto Darien's car.

"Well maybe you should actually dress your age, or you'll lose the ladies that may have been interested in you. Oh wait...what am I saying? I don't think there would be any girls or grannies that would be in love with you." Darien shot back, using one of the lines he had heard from some girls that he had passed 2 months ago.

Having a good memory was a great benefit in life.

Picking up the piece of paper he had scrunched before, he quickly shot it at the guys face, just as the stop light turned green. Stepping on to his peddle quickly, Darien zoomed off, feeling much better then before. Having the tiff with that guy had released some stress off of him. Smiling to himself, Darien could hear a bunch of honking from behind of him.

Taking a breath of relief, he was about to turn on his radio when his cell phone rang.

Picking it up carelessly while keep his eye on the road, Darien flipped open his cell phone. "Shields here."