Page 21 of Hold Me Down
“Thanks, you too.”
“I understand it’s early, but I wanted to make sure I arrived as soon as possible.”
“No, no worries. We appreciate it. John and Leanne had good things to say about you,” I admit.
“Where should I set up?” she asks and looks around. Zeke steps forward a little and sticks his hand out as well, expecting her to shake it, too. If he means it in a friendly way, he doesn’t do a very good job. He stands tense and rigid, almost like he’s trying to intimidate her.
“We have the two rooms at the end of the hallway upstairs for you. One for your quarters, and one for your sessions,” he relays.
“Ah. You must be Ezekiel.” She takes his hand just as confidently, obviously not affected by him like he had hoped. I raise an eyebrow, wondering how she knows his name.
“I go by Zeke.” He narrows his eyes in subtle agitation.
“Yes, I know,” she replies blankly and turns back to me. “I hope it’s alright that I brought a small filing cabinet for my records. John had stated earlier that I would be provided with a desk?”
I look over at him, wondering when the hell he had talked to her, but when his face doesn’t give anything away, I turn back to her.
“I’m sure we can find something.”
“Great.” She turns around and walks over to John, speaking in a quiet tone.
Alex huffs and then starts to shuffle back towards the garage.
“I was hoping someone else would get the cabinet…” he mumbles.
“Oh, don’t be a baby.” Zeke teases him and crosses his arms, clearly not willing to assist. By the time I look back over to Dr. Von and John, she’s already walking back over to me.
“From my understanding, everyone has a pretty open schedule, correct? With nine clients, it’ll be imperative that—”
I rear my head back in shock.
“Wait, I’m sorry,” I interject. “You saidnineclients?”
“Yes. I was instructed to speak with everyone currently present in the household,” she replies sternly, like there’s no room for negotiation. I go through the list of people in my head, only counting eight including John and Leanne.
“So, who’s the ninth?”
She looks over her list and only speaks once she gets to the bottom.
“I have Victoria Avery as the ninth.”
Shock and anger tingle down my spine, then flow through my veins.
“What?!”
“Ashia, I think we should talk for a moment,” John suggests as he walks in my direction, but I don’t bother acknowledging him. I narrow my eyes at the doctor and take a step towards her.
“Listen, I don’t know how you do things, but let me make one thing clear. Your priority here is Damien. No one else.Especiallynot VictoriafuckingAvery.”
Dr. Von raises her chin in a subtle show of defiance, and then an arrogant grin curls her lips.
“I can see why you’re on the list as well.”
My blood boils, but before I can say anything else, John lays a hand on my shoulder.
“Zeke, please escort Dr. Von to her rooms and allow her to set up.”
“I don’t know. I feel like Alex can do that,” my brother deters the moment Alex walks back in with the cabinet. Alex huffs back at him, clearly not in the mood for any of this, and John turns his head towards Zeke.
