Curtis shakes his head. “Don’t even think about it. We’re done for the day.”
I don’t see the look he gives her, because she’s on the other side of him, his head turned in her direction. But the way her eyebrow lifts before her eyes come to me then back to him lets me know he gave her a signal indicating he wants everyone out so we can be alone.
The idea is both stimulating and worrisome.
Curtis is unlike any other man I’ve come across. He’s not intimidated by me whatsoever. Which is admittedly refreshing. I go out all the time and spend evenings talking with all sorts of men. But the second they find out I’m a psychologist, you can see a steel wall come crashing down from its hidden spot in the ceiling of their mind, immediately shutting me out. They never want me picking them apart, which I assume they think I do by having a deep and meaningful conversation with them in a dimly lit bar at my favorite two-top table in the corner.
Not only does Curtis keep himself open to me, but he also had to catch himself from revealing too much in front of the rolling camera. Not only is Curtis unintimidated by me, but he also has no qualms being all bossy and putting me in my place. I know I should take better care of myself. I just don’t have anyone around to keep me in check when I get lazy and put everyone else’s needs before mine. I can’t help it. I’m a nurturer by nature. And knowing I’ll never get to put that part of me to use for what it was made for, I direct it onto my patients and my friends. And since my only real friend ran off and got married and travels the world, I confess I get a little depressed and don’t worry too much about my own well-being—hence why I put off things like… eating until I feel like I’m going to die.
When the bustling ends, the room is deafeningly quiet as I hear the door shut behind the crew. I scrape every last grain of rice and every morsel of the beans and meat into the spoon before savoring the very last bite.
“I swear I could lick the bowl,” I say before lifting my eyes to Curtis, who has been watching me with a little smile on his face. His eyes twinkle as they catch my every movement, and I squirm on my stool. “I’d say you could take a picture to make it last longer, but you have hours of footage of me now, so what’s the point.”
“How is it that a person such as yourself, whose job it is to help people better themselves and teach them ways to take care of themselves, doesn’t apply it to their own life?” he asks. But it’s not in a scolding, accusatory way. He doesn’t give off any vibes of judgement. His tone is purely curious, as if he wants to understand me.
I place my bowl down on the counter, putting my elbow there as well to lean my temple on my fist as I think about my answer. “I guess there’s a reason someone came up with that saying ‘practice what you preach.’” I shrug. “I use up all my energy on everyone else until there’s none left over for myself. That way I can sleep at night.” I sniff out a sad little laugh. “Wow. That went dark.” I smirk.
He nods, looking down into his bowl for a silent moment before setting it on the counter next to mine and glancing at his watch. “It’s 9:28,” he murmurs to himself, pulling out his phone from his pocket. “What’s the name of the best haunted tour company you were talking about?”
I give him the name and watch him google it, pulling up the website and clicking on the Buy Tickets link.
“You don’t have patients on Saturdays, right?” he asks out of left field.
“No, I’m just always available to them by phone,” I reply, and before I can stop him, he purchases two for tonight’s tour at eleven. “Uuummm…”
“Shhh… just go with it,” he whispers, putting a finger to my lips, and my automatic reaction takes over. I bite him.
He jumps a little in surprise, pulling his hand back before his eyes go wide. And then he throws his head back, letting out a laugh that makes me smile before I’m suddenly squealing as he lifts me into the air. I feel like I’m flying he’s so tall, and my heart races until my ass meets the countertop of the island.
“Did you seriously just bite me?” he asks, and we look down at his pointer finger between us and see the little teeth marks.
Up on my counter, I’m able to be eye-to-eye with him, and I make out the mischievous twinkle there mixed with the shock.