“You know, I bet this place doesn’t take my insurance.” It’s a bit fancy.
“You don’t need insurance here,” Jay informs me.
“We don’t need to worry about that, Mila. Jay and I have a sort of understanding.” I want to ask what that means, but she keeps talking.
“Why don’t you”—this time it’s the doctor who gives both Lauren and Jay a pointed look—“tell me what happened.”
“All right.” I start from the top as she puts that pressure thing on my arm. I begin to tell her what happened with Lauren filling in most of the details.
“That was what she wanted for her birthday?” Dr. Perkins asks.
“I’ve got to get her out there. Can you blame me?” Lauren quickly defends herself. “If we’re in public and a man hits on her, it goes right over her head. I had to do something more direct. Then this one ruined it.” Lauren points her thumb at Jay.
“John C. Williams has two counts of stalking and three divorces under his belt. Your pick was shit.” Both Lauren and I gape at Jay.
“How do you know that? His profile says he likes reading and spending his weekends hanging out with friends.” Lauren repeats whatever was on the man’s dating profile.
“People say a lot of things. Most of them are lies,” Jay tosses back at her.
“Are you one of them?” She folds her arms over her chest, ready to have a face-off with Jay, not caring that he’s twice her size.
“Mila, will you please continue with the events of this evening.” Dr. Perkins ignores them both, which surprisingly works. They both stop talking, their attention drawing to me to tell the rest of my story as she looks me over. “Can I ask you a bit more about your past if you don’t mind? Nothing too invasive.”
“Sure, I guess.” I’m not sure where this is going, but I answer her questions about my bouts of clumsiness and hating going out and trying to meet new people.
“I see. Lauren has helped keep you in a nice little bubble.”
“Hey!” Lauren shouts. “Wait, is that bad or good?”
“I think Mila might suffer from anxiety. One way it shows is often being clumsy. You get worked up and worry, and in the end often make whatever that worry is happen.”
“Self-fulfilling prophecies,” Lauren chimes in.
“Now that we’ve got all that figured out, can I go?”
“I can’t force you to stay, but I would like to try a light prescription that might help.”
“Like help me be less clumsy? That’s a thing?”
“I think your anxiety makes you clumsy. It wouldn’t be anything too strong and a low dose. It will help keep you more at ease.” Even as she tells me this, she’s already writing out the prescription and ripping it off the pad. “It’s up to you. It really doesn’t hurt to try.”
I think this doctor is saying I might not be cursed. Jay snags it from her fingers, looking at it. “We’ll talk more about this later,” he tells the doctor.
“Hey, wait. Like you’re going to talk to my doctor about what she’s saying to me.”
“She’s my doctor personally.”
“You go here too?” It’s a stupid question, but still it pops out of my mouth as most of them do.
“As in I pay her.”
“Let me see what it is.” Lauren tries to grab the prescription from Jay’s hand but misses by a mile.
“You’re all free to go.” Dr. Perkins opens the exam room door. As I pass by her, she slips me her card with a wink. When we get back into the SUV, I suddenly feel exhausted.
“Can you take us home? Or we could grab a cab.” Jay is already clipping a seatbelt on to me.
“I think you should come home with me so I can watch over you. So you don’t pass out again.”
“That is not happening.” Lauren answers for me. “You’re already creepy and stole the date.”
They both start a full-blown argument. It doesn’t look like either one of them is going to relent. My eyes lock with Dax’s in the mirror. Somehow, I know he’s asking me to handle this situation. Can I handle Jay? I give it my best shot, placing my hand on his arm.
“I don’t think this is good for that anxiety thing I’ve got.” I use the doctor against them both.
“My home has—”
“I think I should go back to my place, Jay. I like you. I mean, who wouldn’t?”
“Me,” Lauren chirps from the other side of me. I’m sandwiched between the two of them.
“I know I’ll be more comfortable in my bed. I have some things I have to handle tomorrow, and it’s easier. Maybe we could have another date in a few days.” Lauren and I have a big shoot for the underwear company, and she needs me there.
“A few days.” Jay repeats my words as if they don’t register. My eyes lock with Dax’s in the mirror again, and I can see he’s fighting a laugh. I’m not sure why.