Freeing Her (26 page)

Kolson pulled a chair out for her and she
sat while he set the bag and drinks down. Then he shocked her when
he brought his head down to her chest. His fingers unbuttoned her
blouse and he reached into her bra and released one of her breasts.
Bending his head, he inhaled and then gently sucked on her still
sensitive nipple. She hissed as he said, “I’m glad you followed my
directions, Gabriella. You still smell and taste of me.”

She tried to swallow around the cotton that
had been crammed down her throat, but it was futile. The man turned
her body into a sex-craved demon.

Replacing her bra and buttoning her blouse,
he took a seat across from her. “You must be famished. You didn’t
eat breakfast this morning. Did you?”

“
N-no.”

“
Didn’t think so. Well, I
hope you like Thai. I know a great place and I took the liberty of
ordering a bit of an array for us.” He pulled out the little white
square boxes while he spoke and then grabbed another plastic
container. Handing her chopsticks and a spoon, he said, “Dig in.
Oh, I hope you don’t mind. We’ll have to share this. I ordered a
large Tom Kha Gai for the two of us.”

Gabby’s eyes bulged as she looked at all the
food. He must’ve thought another four people were joining them.

He was chewing a potsticker when he asked,
“Aren’t you going to eat?”

“
Yes. And thank you.” She
took a bite of a spring roll and sighed. She couldn’t remember the
last time she ate Thai food. And this was divine. But the quantity.
My God!

“
Were you expecting
someone else to join us?” she asked.

“
No, why?”

“
Do you always eat this
much?”

“
I was hungry and couldn’t
decide what to get. The choices were endless.” He flashed her a
boyish grin.

He watched her as he ate, and she couldn’t
tell if he was hungry for food or for her. He looked like he was
going to devour her, right along with his potstickers.

“
Tell me about your
practice. So this is your first year?”

“
Yeah. I’m just finishing
it. July will mark my first anniversary.”

“
How do you like
it?”

She beamed. “Other than my financial
struggles, I love it. I love helping others. There are so many
people out there who don’t know which way to turn and I enjoy
helping them find their way. You know?”

“
Gabriella, are you a
fixer?”

“
Of course I am. That’s
what my profession does.” She chuckled.

“
But do you look for
people who need fixing?”

“
I’m not following
you.”

“
Your friends for
instance. Sky and Cara.”

“
What about
them?”

Kolson stopped eating for a second and said,
“You know I have everyone investigated. It’s something my legal
team recommends. And since they’re associated with you, they came
up as red flags. I trust you; therefore I’m not worried about them.
I know what they do for a living so that’s why I asked you that
question. It seems all your friends have issues which begged that
question to be asked.”

Gabby was surprised at first but then when
she gave it some thought, she truly wasn’t. “I should be angry with
you, but I’m not. I met Ryder through Case. He was going to NA.
Ryder started seeing Sky who had issues with her mom, who was an
addict. Her mom has since passed. And of course Cara and Sky work
together. I have to be honest here. There’s a huge part of me that
wants them to quit the life of prostitution. I think Sky will and
soon. Cara, I’m not so sure about and that saddens me. I don’t
think I want to fix them per se. I do want them to be safe. Neither
of them uses drugs. They rarely drink unless we go out for a girl’s
night out, which is once every three or four months. I think I
bonded with Sky because she was raped into prostitution and I could
relate to the rape part. We both had shitty family lives. I guess
that was a terribly long answer to your question. And I spoke out
of turn. Broke confidences. I trust you to keep that to
yourself.”

He smiled. ‘You haven’t shared anything with
me about them I didn’t already know. I’m more interested in your
connection to them. Curious, is the more appropriate term, I
suppose. It isn’t often that a medical professional is a friend of
a prostitute’s. That’s why I guessed you were a fixer. But, kea,
you know there are those who need to be fixed, but don’t want to
be.”

“
I don’t put myself above
being anyone’s friend. But, Kolson, everyone needs to be fixed to a
degree. No one is perfectly tuned. It’s a matter of how fucked up
we truly are. Can we function in society without doing ourselves or
anyone else any harm? And are we happy going about doing it? That’s
the question one must ask oneself.”

“
So, Dr. Martinelli,
are
you
happy?”

Gabby didn’t quite know how to answer him.
The answer to that was very complicated.

“
I believe you’ve just
given me your answer.”

“
That’s quite an
assumption. Weren’t you the one who told me not to make assumptions
about things I knew nothing about?”

“
Touché, Gabriella. Indeed
I did say that. And you were paying attention.”

She grinned as she took a taste of the soup.
“Mmm. This is excellent. And you’re terribly astute.”

He nodded. “I earn my living by being
astute. So, aside from your driving need to help people, any other
reasons for psychiatry?”

“
Yes. Psychiatrists are
the underdogs of the medical profession. People don’t look at us as
physicians. They only see us as counselors or sitting in rooms with
patients as they lay on couches and tell us their
problems.”

“
Well, isn’t that what
they do?”

“
In a manner of speaking,
but there is so much more. Psychiatry involves more than just
talking to the patient. Many conditions and diseases require
medications and monitoring, much like diabetes and other illnesses.
Were you aware that many homeless people suffer from schizoid
personality disorder and refuse treatment because they hate the
side effects of the drugs?”

“
No, I haven’t studied
schizoid personality disorder,” he said with a grin.

“
I have.”

“
Of that, I’m sure. I know
the biggest reason for you going into your field is your past. And
after seeing you in action, there is nothing else I can imagine you
doing.”

“
That’s true. Once I
started studying psychiatry, my fascination with it grew. The human
brain is amazing and the things that can go wrong are … well, you
can imagine. The possibilities are endless and if we aren’t taught
how to cope or if our neurotransmitters aren’t at the appropriate
levels, things can go haywire. Genetics and environment have so
much to do with it too. Some people are just born
lucky.”

As she spoke, Kolson’s lips formed a thin
white line.

“
My advantage with my
patients is I wasn’t born lucky, so I can relate to many of them.
And I believe it helps me connect, particularly with the abuse
victims.”

Kolson’s demeanor altered. A veil descended
over him and his tone turned severe.

“
Good for you. How about
we finish our lunch? I need to be back at the office and I thought
you had patients coming in.”

The wind left her sails and her body slumped
into her chair. She thought he’d be excited for her as she talked
about what she did, but not only was he disinterested, he was
downright short with her. The fascination he’d shown when he’d
accompanied her to the hospital and to the women’s shelter had
vanished, and it wounded Gabby. However, if she had put her
psychiatrist’s hat on, she would’ve realized her comments hit too
close to home. And if Kolson had opened his eyes, he would’ve
noticed how hurtful his words had been to her. But neither of them
did. They focused on their food, Kolson finishing his and Gabby
staring at hers.

A few minutes later, his chair scraped the
floor as he stood, and he said, “I’ll be heading out now.”

It was terribly awkward. She looked up at
him and saw a stranger before her. Gone was the warm, passionate
man from this morning and in his place was some insensitive male
she didn’t recognize.

“
Thanks for the
lunch.”

“
It was nothing,” he said
curtly. “I’ll see myself out.”

Gabby tried to analyze what had just passed
between them but was so shaken, her mind couldn’t think straight.
Her next appointment was due in a few minutes so she needed to get
her head clear.

And then, like lightning, it hit her.

Born lucky. That’s it.

She didn’t have the time to dwell on it,
because her two o’clock would arrive any second, but that had to be
why he’d changed.

Later, after her patient left, she tried to
call Kolson, but his phone went directly to voicemail. She left him
a message and text asking him to call her. By five thirty, when it
was time to leave, she still hadn’t received a response and
Ovaltine was waiting to drive her back to Kolson’s apartment.

When she got in the car, she asked, “Will
you be picking up Kolson?”

“
No, miss. He asked me to
let you know that he’ll be working late.”

“
Oh. Will you be taking me
to the NA meeting tonight? It’s my night to volunteer
there.”

“
No, miss. Eddie will be
driving you and bringing you home.”

“
Oh, he doesn’t have to
wait. Case can get a taxi for me.”

“
No, miss, Mr. Hart’s
instructions were for Eddie to wait for you.”

“
I see. What time did you
speak with Mr. Hart?”

“
Around four this
afternoon, miss.”

Gabby gritted her teeth. That was after
she’d left him her messages and then tried to call him again. He
was avoiding her.

“
And Dr. M.?”

“
Yes?”

“
Sam wanted me to tell you
hello.”

Gabby smiled. “Tell him hello back. By the
way, what in the world is your real name?”

Ovaltine chuckled. “It’s Leroy, miss. But I
haven’t been called that since I was a toddler. Wouldn’t drink
anything but Ovaltine. Still drink it too. My mother nicknamed me
that and it sort of stuck.”

Gabby laughed. “How about for good measure,
you drink some water every now and again?”

“
Oh, don’t worry, miss. I
drink that too. When I played football I drank my share of that and
Gatorade.”

“
Did Sam play
too?”

“
Oh, yes,
miss.”

“
I figured as much. With
his build and all.”

“
We all played. All five
brothers. None of us were good enough to go pro so that’s when we
went to work for Mr. Hart. Big Mr. Hart. Then, seven years ago when
Mr. Kolson Hart left, he offered us jobs and we went with him,
being that we knew him since he was a youngster. Funny thing, Mr.
H. never knew I went by Ovaltine ’cause big Mr. H. always used the
name Leroy.”

“
What’s he like? Big Mr.
H.?”

Ovaltine shrugged. “Okay, I guess. Sam could
tell you more about him than I can. He was the front man and
closest to him. The rest of us took orders from Sam.”

“
I know it’s not my
business, but Kolson doesn’t get along with him, does
he?”

“
Nah, but that’s not my
business, either. And I’m not supposed to gossip, miss. Sam would
have my head if he knew I’d even told you this much.”

“
Oh, I’m sorry. I promise,
I won’t whisper a word.”

“
Thank you. Sam can be
pretty scary when he gets upset. But he’s taken a liking to you. He
told me no one better hurt a hair on your head while I’m looking
out for you or he’d beat my ass good. Oh, excuse the language,
miss.”

Gabby laughed.

When Ovaltine pulled in front of Kolson’s
building, he got out and escorted Gabby inside.

“
Thank you, Ovaltine. Does
Eddie know I need him at quarter to seven?”

“
Yes, miss, he sure
does.”

“
Thanks so much. I guess
I’ll see you tomorrow.” She left him with a wave.

When she stepped off the elevator, Lydia
greeted her and introduced herself. Gabby instantly liked her. She
showed Gabby the dinner she’d prepared and then left for the
evening. Since Gabby had less than an hour before she had to leave
again, she decided to change clothes and then eat.

When she finished, she went on a bit of an
exploration of the apartment. Even though she’d spent the weekend
there, she really hadn’t checked the place out. It was quite
spacious and other than the den, the state of the art kitchen, her
plush guest room, and Kolson’s luxurious bedroom, the penthouse had
everything one could ask for. Kolson’s office was large, sleek and
ultra modern, and there was a small library that Gabby wanted to
get lost in because it was chock full of all kinds of books. The
penthouse also had another guest room much like the one she
occupied, a media room with every kind of video game imaginable, a
formal dining room, and a formal living room. Gabby’s head spun
with the size and opulence of the place. Her parents’ home in
Connecticut was quite grand, but this was in Manhattan where the
price of real estate was ungodly. She couldn’t begin to imagine
what this place cost to rent. But then she thought again. He didn’t
rent this. People like Kolson Hart didn’t rent anything.