giving Crane a crooked smile.
“Wow, Doc… You waited for me,” he said, sounding relieved and awkwardly, endearingly shy.
Crane wanted to believe it wasn’t an act, that he had been wrong in assuming Max’s absence last week and his late arrival today were some kind of game. That through some miraculous journey of self-discovery, Max had transformed into the painfully earnest young man who stared up at him with his big brown eyes full of soul. Then Max’s expression went sly, and eyes narrowed, he tilted his head at Crane, shattering the illusion. “D’awww… You stayed and waited and waited for little ol’ me even though you could have left.”
Irritated at Max’s mocking tone, Crane took his seat. “You’re assuming that I don’t have another appointment this afternoon.”
“I don’t assume anything,” Max replied, his words crisp and cold. “I know you’re not seeing anyone else today.”
“And how do you know that?” Crane opened the notebook in his lap to busy himself.
“I called and asked Debra.”
“Ah.” Crane scribbled a note in the margin of the page to remind himself to have a talk with the receptionist about Max. “So… You made me wait today on purpose then? Is that what you’re saying?”
“Yes, Dr. Crane. That’s exactly what I’m saying, though you already knew that.”
“Did I?”
“You’d be fucking stupid not to. And you may be many things, but stupid is not one of them, thank God.”
“I don’t apprecia—”
“So how does that make you feel? Knowing that I let you wait on purpose?”
Crane ignored the question, his jaw set in annoyance for a moment. He let out a slow, calming breath.
“Max, what on earth is the point of making me wait?” he said in a weary, patronizing, and completely unprofessional tone… He couldn’t help it. “What were you hoping to achieve? Hm? Were you hoping to make me angr—”
“You would have waited even longer… just on the off chance that I came in. I made you wait here. You could have gone home and gotten in a little—” Max bit his bottom lip and punched his fist out a few times, punctuating the gesture with soft grunts “—with the missus. Instead, you stood here waiting for me.”
“Max, that’s… really inappropriate.” Crane barely kept the anger out of his voice.
“And do you know why you waited for me? Maybe you don’t even know the answer… Maybe you do…” Max went eerily still, staring at Crane without expression, waiting for him to answer.
Crane wanted to move past this posturing—somehow dispel the weird, breathless intensity that infused the room as Max once again took control of the session… and of him. Crane knew he had waited too long to answer when a coy grin dimpled Max’s cheek.
“It’s because you missed me,” Max said in a soft voice.
“I didn’t miss you.” Crane abruptly closed his notebook. “And I don’t appreciate you wasting my time.”
“Oh, but you did miss me. You missed me when I didn’t show up last week. You missed me when I didn’t answer your texts. You missed me when you turned on your TV and I wasn’t there with you, messaging you…”
“Max. Stop. I didn’t miss you.” But it was a lie. It was a damn lie. And Max knew it.
“I made you miss me. I wanted you to miss me. I wanted you to think about me when you woke up in the morning. I wanted you to think about me when you went to bed at night. I wanted you to think about me when you parted your wife’s creamy white thighs—”
“Okay. Session over. I would like you to leave.” Crane’s pulse crashed in his ears and he felt dizzy. He needed Max to stop talking.
“Ohh… Did I cross a line there?” asked Max, his brown eyes wide. “Is it because it’s all true?”
“Get out,” whispered Crane.
“You missed me. And I needed you to miss me, Dennis. Do you want to know why?”
“Dr. Crane,” Crane corrected him. He couldn’t believe he was letting this go on. He had to get to his feet and leave the room. Maybe have Debra call the police. Max was far shorter than him, but the young man was more muscular… And what if he had a weapon?
Crane didn’t move. Pathetic.
Max smiled at him. “If you missed me, then I knew I could trust you, Dennis.”
Fingers digging into the arms of his seat, Crane took slow, measured breaths. A breakthrough? More mind games? “It isn’t prudent to let this continue.”
Max blinked and sat up. “Prudent? Did you work