Page 38 of Dying Without You

“I want to be rid of this hell.” His voice rose. “I don’t want to languish over what happened between us. How do I heal?”

“You need closure.”

“How do I get that?”

“You’ll need to face her.”

Langston rose to his feet. “Thank you for your time, counselor.” He closed the lone button on his suit jacket and turned to exit.

“Don’t run from it, Langston.”

Langston paused but didn’t look back.

“The longer you run, the longer this situation will have you locked in. The anger will brew. It doesn’t leave, even with time.”

Finally, Langston rounded on Malcolm. “How can you say that? I thought time heals all wounds?”

“Until you face the place, thing, or person who caused the wound. Then all the time that you thought you healed will come crashing back and you’ll realize the anger never subsided, but was put away until such a time as this.”

Langston locked his jaw, blinked, then sighed. “Fine.”

“Make a plan. Call her. Schedule an intermediary meeting if you need to.”

“No. It can’t happen like that. If I’m going to face her I’ll need to do it without a middle man.”

“Make sure it’s in public. Otherwise, you can be taken advantage of.”

Langston frowned. “I don’t think so.”

“Believe it or not, you can.”

Langston sucked in a breath. “I shouldn’t be involved with anyone, friend or otherwise.”

“Don’t run from your friend, either.”

“I need to.”

“You think you do because you’re feeling something more for your friend and it scares you. But you don’t need to run.”

“Yes, I do,” His voice rose again. “You don’t understand. I can’t have this happen again. I won’t. The only way to prevent that is to….”

“You pay me the big bucks to help you solve internal issues. Trust me when I say you don’t need to run from your friend.”

The men eyed each other, and Langston rubbed his bearded chin. “Thank you again for your time,” he said.

“You’re welcome.”

At the exit, Malcolm called out, “When will I see you again?”

Langston paused. “I’ll let you know.”

And with that, he left Jones Therapy Center.

Thirteen

Langston

The wrought-iron gate opened, and Langston’s JXL Noregea cruised into the driveway.