My lips parted. “What?” I whispered.
“You’ve gotten so strong, Charleston, and I am so proud of you for that, but I think there’s one crutch you’ve been holding onto these past few months.” She sighed. “Me.”
Panic bubbled in my throat a little. “I need our sessions.” I shook my head.
Doctor Colby squeezed my hand.
“That’s the thing, Charleston.” She smiled. “I don’t think you’ve needed them for awhile now. When you come, we discuss things, but you’ve already worked them out in your head without me.”
I thought about it, and in a way, perhaps she was right. I sought validation from her now more than anything else.
“I think that maybe it’s time, if you feel comfortable, to go without our sessions for a few months and see how that feels. Would you be open to trying that?”
My response came surprisingly immediate. “Yeah.”
“I do not want you to feel as though you can’t call if you need to.” She smiled. “My door is always open.”
I squeezed her hand this time. “I know.”
The sound of our hour ending filled the room and I felt a strange sense of calm knowing it was the last time I’d hear it for a while.
I stood, as did she.
She walked me to the door and enveloped me in one of our hugs. “I’m glad you found a way to make peace, Charleston.”
“Me too,” I whispered.
We held on for another second or two before she opened the door. “I wish you all the best.”
“Same to you.”
I walked out of her office, waved goodbye to Maureen, and took the stairs, on behalf of my behind, down to the lobby.
It was late July, in fact, the last week, and a hot one at that, so I’d walked from work to my appointment. It was only a few blocks, and now I was walking to meet both Leighton and Kevin for lunch at the Cactus Club in Coal Harbour.
It was a beautiful day to sit on the patio.
The sun was shining, and the cool breeze off the water would make it bearable.
My nude wedges kept me at a brisk but manageable pace as they took on the concrete, but my pace sped up when I saw them from across the street.
They were standing outside by the Olympic torch that still remained from 2010, talking amicably about something. Though I wasn’t able to hear them, I could tell this by the way Kevin’s arms were flailing about and Leighton’s head consistently dropped backward in laugher.
My people.
They were so different.
I loved that about them.
As I approached them, I heard Kevin whine, “I’m not a full-fledged shopaholic.” He paused, considering this. “I’m more like a Diet Coke shopaholic.”
“You’re insane is what you are.” Leighton was likely rolling her eyes behind her cat eye sunglasses, but I couldn’t see for sure.
Then they saw me.
“Char, you look fab!” Leighton looked at me over her sunglasses. “Where’s that dress from?”
She pointed to the pale yellow dress I had on. It ended just above the knee and cinched at the waist in a way that enhanced my hourglass figure. The colour made my sun-kissed skin draw envy.
“Banana Republic.” I kissed her cheek.
“You got a call while you were out.” Kevin leaned in and kissed me while he spoke.
I’d seen him just a little over an hour ago at the office.
“Oh?” I asked. “Anything important?”
“It was just VanDusen with our request for early setup time for the gala,” he said as we started to walk. “I had Tom handle it.”
“Great, thanks.” I smiled, falling in stride with him.
Leighton almost had to jog to keep up as we made our way to the hostess desk.
“For three,” Leighton told the petite blond, and she nodded.
We waited as they prepared a table.
“Who are you two bringing to the gala this year?” My eyes travelled over them.
They looked at each other.
Something passed between them and they smiled.
“What?” I threw my arms in the air.
“Well, actually,” Leighton pushed her sunglasses up into her hair, “I’ve decided not to bring anyone this year.”
My mouth opened only a bit in shock. “Really?”
“I just don’t see the point in going with some guy I barely know.” She shrugged. “It’s a special day for you, and well, this year, I think I’d just rather go with you guys.”
Kevin wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “I’m going stag too.”
I was stunned.
“You never go stag.” There was disbelief in my voice.
He smiled. “We talked about it, and this year, we just want to enjoy ourselves. No dates,” he said.
“No dates,” Leighton repeated after him.
I smiled.
“Well okay then.”
We all laughed as the hostess sat us at our table.
“So which of The Charleston Three will be in attendance this year?” Kevin waggled his eyebrows from over his menu.
I laughed.
“Actually,” I sipped the glass of water on the table, “I invited them all to the gala.”
Leighton’s eyes went wide. “Oh?”
“Yeah.”
Kevin looked impatient. “Why?”
I just smiled.
Somehow, somewhere, sometime over the last year, being with these men had stopped feeling like a high and had started feeling like something that meant so much more.