Page 14 of Devious Roses
I offer sympathy in my stare, though Sasha avoids me the rest of our meeting.
In the end, we get her to agree to the reassignment. It’s with little enthusiasm for the new arrangement, but we settle on being hopeful she’ll come around in time.
“Don’t feel bad about it,” Carlos says later over afternoon coffee. He sips from his iced latte courtesy of Java King, joining me in our lunchroom. “It seems she’s already formed some kind of trauma bond with you, but she’ll get over it.”
I sit at the table and think on the situation a moment longer. “Polk mentioned she has an extensive criminal record. Look that up. We need to know what we’re dealing with.”
“Which reminds me,” Medjine says from where she’s seated, “I’ve heard from some PR circles I’m in, Bernstein is looking for new representation.”
“What for?”
She gives a shrug, her manicured fingers curled around her coffee cup. “What else? His trial officially has a date. Polk is going to eviscerate him, and the media will cover every second.”
I chew on my lip. “Then you’d think he’d want even more credible witnesses.”
“Maybe Sasha Newton isn’t credible,” Medjine says.
Our new client stays on my mind for the rest of the afternoon. At Salvatore’s behest, I’ve lightened my workload, allowing me to leave at the eight hour mark. I head from the firm to a local mental health clinic.
My therapist, Alicia Keeney, has finally succeeded in talking me into attending a group for sexual assault survivors. I agreed on the condition I’d only attend sporadically. So far, I’ve gone to one meeting and found it somewhat tolerable.
The others in attendance shared their stories. I remained more of a silent observer.
Arriving today, it’ll be the same. I enter the room with foldable chairs arranged in a circle and soothing meditative music playing in the background.
The group’s a diverse selection of people. Different races and ages. Men and women… and sadly, a girl that looks barely eighteen. Some people come dressed in their work attire, slacks and blouses and loafers. Others are more casual in hoodies and jeans.
I take my seat next to Alicia and another woman in an apple-patterned cardigan. The meeting officially begins no more than five minutes later, with Alicia welcoming everyone, and then asking for introductions.
A middle-aged man named Thurston begins to tell everyone about himself. The door to the room creaks open and a woman pokes her head inside.
I recognize her at once. My insides do a flip. My gaze swings to Alicia, checking if she sees what I’m seeing.
She does. A wide beam spreads across her face. “Sasha! I’m so glad you could join us. You had said you needed to pick up your son from daycare and there was a chance you wouldn’t make it.”
“Yes, I was able to get someone else. Am I interrupting?”
“Not at all. Have a seat. Thurston was just getting started telling us about himself.”
Sasha shuffles deeper into the room with her bucket bag purse and oversized t-shirt that falls past her slender hips.
It just so happens that the only empty chair is positioned directly across from mine. I’m forced to see Sasha should I look straight ahead. I attempt to avoid her gaze, though I can feel hers landing on me.
Her expression is an enigma. It’s far from happy, certainly not friendly, but it’s not exactly hostile either. More so some kind of…curiosity.
The rest of the group therapy carries out in that vein—the awkward awareness that Sasha's sitting across from me, and I have no interest in remaining. She hadn’t been at the last session I attended. But that was over a month ago.
Things have clearly changed.
Twice, Alicia attempts to rope me into the discussion. Both times I deny her with a shake of my head. She doesn’t push any further, skillfully redirecting to someone else. The moment the session ends, I’m up on my feet and hurrying from the room.
“Delphine!”
Padding footsteps accompany the female voice calling out to me.
Aware of who it is, I inhale a deep breath and then reluctantly turn around. “Hello, Sasha. Did you enjoy the group session?”
“I got a lot out of it. Did you?”