Lovise woke up bright and early on the morning of her next therapy appointment. She was excited to see that stunningly attractive therapist of hers. Her mind played his image in it every night as she fell asleep, making him more and more desirable to her with every passing day. She had somewhat of a schoolgirl-ish crush on him. Just thinking of him would've made her giggle if she were the giggling type.

She got up and showered, preparing herself to look her best for Mathias. After all, she wanted to leave a good impression on him.

"Lovise, today is going to be your day," she told her reflection as she styled her hair. She hated that she had one piece of hair that always curled, no matter what. It irritated her. Why couldn't it just lie flat? Knowing she was going to lose this battle with her hair, she huffed out and just let it be. Not like she would win anyway.

She set out to therapy, inspecting the sky. It was partly cloudy, but she didn't think it would affect her mood that much. After all, it wasn't completely cloudy. She could still see the sun.

Lovise hummed to herself on the way to the office. As she hummed, she tried to think back to the last time she had hummed so happily. She couldn't remember when it was. It felt good to be so happy, though. Therapy should go wonderfully. At least she hoped it would. After all, it was therapy with a really handsome man. That was something to put anyone in a good mood.

She arrived fairly early for her appointment and sat herself in a vacant chair in the waiting room, playing games on her phone as she waited for her name to be called.

.

Mathias sat in his office, listening to his patients, yet he anticipated when Lovise would arrive. He was anxious to see her once more. It had been nearly two weeks since they had spoken in that very room. He began to fidget and get antsy as his final client before her finished speaking.

"Are you alright, Mathias?" the client asked, giving him a strange look. "You seem to be showing more signs of anxiety than I am."

"I'm just excited for my evening at home with my dog," he lied, smiling. "I got a puppy last week and can't wait to play with her when I get home." He chuckled to himself. "I sound like a kid, don't I?"

The client smiled. "We all look forward to the good things in life, and if that's your puppy for you, then go for it." She smiled widely. "I'm glad that you have things to look forward to in your life as well."

"I'm glad about that, too," Mathias said with a wide grin. "Would you like to see her?"

"Of course I would," the client said, catching Mathias's contagious grin. "I bet she's adorable!"

Mathias got out his cell phone and showed her the lock screen of it. "That's her," he said, pointing to the small, caramel-colored dog. "Her name is Astrid, and I'm just nuts about her. She's the only lady who holds my heart."

The client laughed. "Just wait until you meet yourself a good woman," she said. "I would wish you all of the happiness in the world."

"What makes you think I don't have a girlfriend?" Mathias asked, laughing.

"She'd be in the lock screen with Astrid," the client answered. She walked over to the door and opened it. "Have a good rest of your day. Give Astrid some warm cuddles for me."

Mathias laughed. "I definitely will, Anna. You have a great day!" He waved to her and turned to his computer, waiting for Pam to announce that Lovise was there. His face said it all as he looked down at his phone. He wanted Lovise to be in that picture with Astrid one day.

.

"So what would you like to talk about today, Lovise?" Mathias asked, shutting his door to his office for privacy. "Is there anything specific on your mind?"

"I want to talk about what love really is," Lovise decided. "And I would like your input as well." She looked down at her hands, which were folded in her lap. "I've always had conflicting ideas of what love is. Berwald said that he loved me, but I don't think he really did. I know there are a lot of different kinds of love, like with family, friends, and lovers, but I'm just so confused."

"I can see how you would get confused," Mathias observed. "I have never been in love with anyone before, but I know what it's like to love family and friends." He couldn't believe that he had just lied to her like that. But it wasn't like she knew him well enough to know when he was lying or not yet. True, he had never been in love in this life, but he had fallen in love with Lovise many times in history.

"Someone like you has never fallen in love?" Lovise asked, blinking in surprise. "That seems rather shocking to me."

"How is it shocking?" Mathias asked. He was amused and wanted to know her reasoning.

"Well," she began, turning a soft shade of pink. "It's just that I would expect someone like you to have a girlfriend."

"I do have one," Mathias teased, grinning. "She's such a bed hog, and she's always moving things of mine. Would you like to see her?" Before Lovise could answer, he pulled out his phone and showed her the picture of his puppy. "Meet Astrid!"

Lovise found herself laughing from relief and also because she found it hilarious that he referred to his dog as his girlfriend. "She looks like quite the catch," she said with a wink. "I bet many a woman is jealous of her."

"I can't think of any," Mathias laughed. "The girls I went to school with all thought I was a loser."

"And were you?" Lovise asked, a small smile playing on her lips.

He gestured to a picture of him and his cousin Annika from when they were in high school. His teeth were covered in braces, and his hair sat flat on his head. "Dreadful, isn't it?"

"That's you?" Lovise asked. She walked over to his desk and picked up the picture, inspecting it closer. "That's ridiculous! You don't look a thing like that anymore!" Her eyes rested on Annika. "Who is she?"

"Oh, that's my cousin Annika," Mathias answered. "She's from Finland. She was an exchange student that year. It was funny how we found out we were related. We didn't even know each other before she came to America for school. She turned out to be my science partner for a project, and my grandmother recognized her from family photos."

Lovise grinned. "That's actually pretty cool. So I take it you're of Scandinavian descent?"

"Did my last name give it away?" Mathias asked with a smirk. "My family is Danish. What is your ancestry?"

"Norwegian," Lovise answered, smirking back as she sat on the couch. Oh, how Mathias internally melted at that smirk! If anyone could make him feel that way, it was Lovise, and Lovise alone. "It's not often when I find a fellow Scandinavian such as yourself."

Mathias laughed. "That's very true. It's very nice to meet someone whose family is from the same area as mine." He liked how relaxed Lovise seemed to be. Things seemed to be working in his favor.

"I know, right?" Lovise smiled easily with him. It was almost as if happiness came naturally to her whenever he was around. "Tell me, Mathias, do you make everyone smile, or is it just me?"

He found himself blushing. "I think everyone," he stammered. "But thank you for the compliment. I love making people smile. It's when they are most beautiful, you know?"

"That sounds like a good reason," Lovise said with a thoughtful nod. "People tend to be the most beautiful when they're happy. Tell me, are you happy?"

"I'd like to think that I am," Mathias answered after thinking it over for a moment. "What about you, Lovise? Would you say that you're happy?"

"Yes," Lovise answered with a nod. "I'm very happy, especially right now."

Mathias's heart skipped a beat in his chest. Was it because of him? He hoped so! "I'm glad to hear that, Lovise. What do you say we continue on with our talk of love?"

"We should," she agreed with a nod. "I want to know all of your views."

"I can't get into that," Mathias regretfully stated. "We're here to talk about you, not me."

Lovise sighed. "True. Then I'll tell you about my past relationships, and I want to know if you thought they were love."

Mathias felt his heart speed up. He didn't want to hear about her past relationships. He wanted to be her next and last relationship she would ever want. "Okay, let's hear it," he said, trying to hide his utter disappointment.

.

At the end of Lovise's appointment, she stood. "Mathias, there is something else I would like to talk to you about."

"What's that?" Mathias asked. He looked up from the appointment card he was writing out for her. His hand stopped moving as he focused all of his attention on her.

"Well, say I wasn't your patient," she softly began, cheeks turning a bright red. "If I didn't have to meet you like this, would you meet me other times?"

"Like on a date?" Mathias asked her, raising an eyebrow. He watched as Lovise turned a darker shade of red and slowly nodded. "Of course I would."

Lovise's heart skipped a beat. "You would?" she asked, eyes widening in surprise. "You really mean that?"

"Of course!" Mathias said, smiling widely. "Maybe when all of your therapy is through, I can take you out."

"I'd like that," Lovise mumbled, voice barely heard by him.

Mathias handed her the appointment card. "See you next week, Lovise."

She giggled a little to herself. "Yeah, see you next week," she softly said. Her hand went to the doorknob as she turned it. "Let's hope it's a nice day just like this one."

He nodded. "Yeah, here's hoping."

.

Mathias sat in his office late that night, knowing he would have to lock up the practice when he left, but he didn't care. He couldn't stop thinking about what he had said to Lovise. Should he have said that to her considering their professional relationship? He bit at his lip, hoping she wouldn't tell anyone. He could lose his job if anyone found out he had said that to her while she was still his client.

He almost couldn't bear it anymore, wanting her to go and see another therapist so he could see her more often than an hour every week or two. But he didn't know how to say that to her, so he just kept quiet about it. Though every time he saw her, the urge to kiss her got more and more tempting.

He clutched his head in his hands. What was wrong with him? He had to keep it together! Bad things could happen to him if he didn't! He didn't want to be out of the job, because he actually liked being a therapist. All he wanted was for Lovise to stop being his client so he could just date her already!

When she had spoken of her past relationships and sexual partners, Mathias had to remind himself not to get jealous. He had to tell himself that she didn't know about their many past lives together, or else maybe she wouldn't have spoken to him about such things. Yet since she didn't know about it, he had no right to get angry over it.

Mathias tossed a paper clip at the wall and groaned. His eyes went to his phone. He pressed the button to see the lock screen and smiled, seeing his puppy. "Guess I should get home to you, huh?" he softly said to his phone. "I'm coming, Astrid."

He picked up his jacket off the back of his chair and grabbed his phone and keys. He didn't care about leaving anything else there since he would be back the next day. What he was most concerned about was getting home to his little puppy. Astrid needed him so she wasn't all alone in his apartment.

.

Lovise hummed to herself as she ran her brush through her hair. She was so happy. Mathias's words rang over and over inside of her head. He actually wanted to go on a date with her. Just that fact alone made her squeal with joy in the comfort of her own room.

There was knock on her bedroom door. Her sister, Lara, peeked her head in. "Is something going on?" Lara asked. "You're never this girly. Did you meet someone new?" Lara walked in and sat on her older sister's bed. "I want to hear all about it."

"Okay, so you know how I'm stuck in therapy right now?" Lovise began, turning to her sister. She walked over and began running her brush through Lara's silvery hair as she spoke. "Well, my therapist is a total babe, and he said if I wasn't his client he would take me out on a date."

"Really?" Lara asked, eyes widening. "Wow. I haven't seen you this happy since you first started dating Berwald. Do you think this guy might be the one?"

"I'm hoping so," Lovise softly said. "I feel a sense of familiarity with him. It's almost as if I knew him before all of this." She sighed. "But I know that's impossible…"

"Are you sure about that?" Lara asked. "Maybe you knew each other in a past life or something."

Lovise laughed. "Don't tell me you believe things like that," she joked. "That's just absurd."

"You never know, Lo," Lara said. "It could be possible."

"Yeah, and pigs fly," Lovise laughed. "You have quite the imagination."