She arranged her desk well and adjusted her glasses, awaiting Carol's presence. The door opened a few minutes later and the blond-haired, blue-eyed beauty stepped in with a huge smile on her face. Carol was a woman of average height with a rather curvaceous body. She had a graceful yet casual vibe around her.

"Emerald, hey. Great to see you again," she greeted, her smile going even wider as she pulled Emerald in for a hug.

"Hi Carol. It's nice to see you too," she awkwardly patted her back and pulled away. She still wasn't quite used to the lack of formality between them. Mrs Levine was her patient but she had insisted on Emerald calling her by her first name, Carol. It was a bit awkward for Emerald but she was adjusting.

"What's wrong? Did something happen?" Emerald immediately asked, searching Carol's eyes as soon as their butts touched the seats.

Carol responded with an even wider grin and there was a happy glint in her eyes as she looked at Emerald.

"Everything's perfect, Eme. I haven't felt better in years. Everything's going so well, it feels surreal. Leonardo and I are finally getting on so well and he would randomly take me on dates, help in making the meals, even to the point where we would have sex," she mumbled the last part as her cheeks turned pink.

She suddenly grabbed hold of Emerald's hands which laid on the desk as her eyes shimmered with unshed happy tears.

"He treats me like an angel, Eme. He cares for me and handles me as though I were fragile and I could break at any time. It gets so freaking frustrating sometimes but I'm not complaining at all. Hell! It's the cutest thing I've ever seen and this is all thanks to you, Eme. I would be completely broken if it weren't for you," she rushed out as the tears flowed down her cheeks.

"Thank you very much, Emerald," she whispered, tightening her hold on her hands. "Thank you so much."

"Hey. There's really no need to thank me. I'm just doing my job, besides, if you hadn't made it much more easier by being cooperative, we probably wouldn't have gotten anywhere. Therefore, I should thank you instead, Carol. Thank you," she whispered as a grin of her own spread across her face. She was indeed happy for her. Carol had gone through a lot for her age and she had managed to hold onto her sanity.

They remained like that for a while until Emerald withdrew and passed a tissue over to her.
"Here."

"Thank you," she sniffled before wiping her tears.

"Oh and I brought someone with me. I was able to convince him to at least meet you this once and hopefully, he would see a tangible reason to keep attending. God knows he needs this more than I did," She explained as she drew out her phone before she swiftly scrolled through and then tapped on something.

"J, you can come on in now. . . Oh but you already promised. . . No way! I'm not taking no for an answer. Get up here this instant!" She shouted and hung up, passing Emerald an apologetic smile.

Opening the second drawer, Emerald drew out an empty folder, her notepad and her black pen, preparing herself for the therapy session with her new patient. She hadn't heard someone come in until Carol spoke.

"Oh good, you're here."

She lifted her gaze and they collided with stormy chocolate brown eyes. They were cold and emotionless yet so deep and mesmerizing. Unconsciously, she let her eyes wander around his face, soaking in his facial appearance before falling down his body and up again.

Thick raven black hair that begged for feminine hands to be run through them and deep chocolatey brown eyes that seemed like a brewing storm, framed by thick and long eyelashes. Perfectly curved eyebrows, which made her jealous that he could have such perfect eyebrows without even trying whereas she had to pluck and shape hers.

A well structured nose and then going lower, she took in his deliciously plump lips that looked so damn pink as though he had applied a thin layer of pink lipgloss. A well chiseled jaw with a neck holding a sexy looking Adam apple that seemed to bob slightly as he swallowed. Broad shoulders, a firm looking chest that seemed to scream 'run your tongue all over me!' and bulging arm muscles.

She boldly let her eyes skim lower and she took in his thick and muscled looking thigh and legs that were tucked in black socks and a shiny black pair of shoes.

Overall, he looked ridiculously hot in his black Armani suit with a white shirt peeking from beneath his loose tie. The buttons on his white shirt were all done excluding the top one, which showed the spot between his clavicles. He looked quite good.

Someone suddenly cleared their throat, making her jerk her eyes back to his, which were staring intensely at her. She dragged her eyes away from his mesmerizing ones as she looked over at Carol who had a knowing smile on her face, which she ignored, giving her her own questioning gaze.

"Oh I'm sorry. Emerald, here's my brother Jordan Kale. Jordan, my therapist and friend, Emerald Pearce," She introduced with a smile.

"Nice to meet you," She looked back at Jordan with a small smile but he didn't respond, only continued to stare at her intensely, making the air thicken with awkward silence.

Emerald raised an eyebrow at Carol who shrugged in reply before nudging her brother who cleared his throat before replying huskily. "Same."

"Well, I'll leave you guys to get to know each other better and maybe decide on a schedule for your sessions?" She looked at Emerald, earning a nod from her but from the corner of her eye, she saw Jordan's face harden and he suddenly became tense.

She passed her a smile before turning to leave but not before whispering something into her brother's ear. After the door closed, he continued to stand and she could feel his heated gaze boring into her head so she raised her face and looked into his eyes, gesturing towards the seat before her.

"You can have your seat," He complied and made himself comfortable.

He watched her as she opened her black notepad, placed her pen right in the middle before clasping her hands together and leaning slightly forward on the desk.

"So where shall we begin?"