chapter 4 (pt. 4)

Dr. Thrace's voice interrupted Eric's train of thought. "I digress. Men have always thought they understood sex better than we did. I shouldn't be surprised, or let it bother me."

"It doesn't bother me, Doctor," Eric confided. Losing himself in the moment, he became abruptly forward, "I can appreciate a woman who knows what she wants and takes it."

Hearing this pleased Dr. Thrace. She could see her Hansel was following the bread crumbs right up to the door of her ginger bread cottage. "Ah yes, I seem to recall from your first visit that you have submissive tendencies. When women offer food, you seem conditioned to obey."

"I suppose you could say that."

"Do you suppose it was coincidental I left you doughnuts and you ate them up without thinking twice?"

"I suppose nothing. But shouldn't you be encouraging me to eat healthier as my Doctor?"

"Shouldn't you be exercising more self-control? Oh wait! I forgot. You're not doing much exercise of any kind these days, are you?" Dr. Thrace japed with a fiendish grin.

Eric was on the verge of feebly trying to convince her he had been, but was cutoff by the chimes of Dr. Thrace's cell-phone alarm.

"Oops. Sorry, Eric. That's all the time we have for today. Moving forward, it may behoove us to increase the frequency of your therapeutic sessions. We may be on the cusp of a breakthrough."

Eric was almost disappointed it was time to leave, but he took solace at the prospect of meeting Dr. Thrace more regularly. "You know best, Doc. Until next time." As Eric bid farewell, he started for the door.

"Ahem!" Dr. Thrace cleared her throat. "And where do you think you're going?"

"You said we were finished?"

"I said we were finshed with your session," Dr. Thrace corrected, gesturing down at the digital scale, which rested atop the edge of an accent rug draped across the hardwood floor. "You haven't weighed in yet, Eric."

"Oh no....I couldn't!"

"Eric, we've been over this. How am I supposed to treat you, if I can't properly diagnose you."

"It's a little late for a diagnosis; my ailment's apparent. Besides, we know full well what direction it's going, with or without an exact number."

"Bock, bock!" Dr. Thrace harassed in her best imitation of a flightless pheasant.

"Does the psychiatric board know you treat your patient's like this?" Eric asked, stalling.

Dr. Thrace had been lenient up until this point, but this was an area for which she would not budge. "Get your butt on the scale, Tubby!" Dr. Thrace commanded authoritatively.

Eric did as he was told, but kept his eyes closed, still refusing to accept how fat he had become.

"What? I thought you preferred strong women." Dr. Thrace mocked, as Eric had become suddenly silent.

"Oh shush!"

*BEEEEEPPPP* the scale pronounced, rendering its final verdict.

Eric could hear Dr. Thrace gasp. "That bad?" Eric feared. "I knew I should have laid off those..."

Eric stepped off the scale with his eyes still closed and felt himself slipping, his toe pushing the edge of the accent rug inwards. With no traction, Eric slipped and jerked his weight to the side in order to regain his balance. Instead, he fell into Dr. Thrace's steadying arms, her two hands wrapped on each side of Eric's love handles. She hesitated, knowing she should hold back, but the temptation was too great and Dr. Thrace could not help but sink her fingertips deep into Eric's doughy flesh, sending shivers of pleasure down his spine. Opening his eyes, Eric found those bewitching blue-green eyes inches from his own; Dr. Thrace's plump, full lips, so close and yet so far. It was wrong for both of them on so many levels, and yet her grasp still lingered.

Eric remained unmoving. "You provide these...comprehensive services to all of your patients, Doctor?"

Dr. Thrace's hands remained, unmoving. "What was I supposed to do, let you fall? Next time, it would have been some ambulance chaser you found on a bus stop doing the talking!"

A moment, or perhaps an eternity, came and passed.

"Dr. Thrace, I'm never going to be normal, am I?"

She moved her hands up along Eric's sides. "You don't have to be normal, Eric."

Eric wanted to say and do so many things right then, but he thought better of it. Pulling himself back from her embrace, Eric gave a curt nod and stepped out of the office door.