Filed to story: A Second Chance with My Billionaire Love
Halston was about to burst out in laughter, but seeing how Remee was going to attack him, he explained in a serious tone, “You’ve misunderstood me, I wasn’t going to…”
“So what were you going to do then?”
“I heard from your best friend that you’ve been in a bad mood lately, and you’d likely need someone to listen to you vent your emotions. I’m actually a professional at this,” Halston said in a soothing voice, tricking her even further.
This made Flossie quite intrigued, so much so that she fully ignored the intimacy of their current position. “Stop beating around the bush. If you weren’t talking about that, what else could you be a professional at?”
Halston seemed serious. “On the surface, I’m just an escort, but I’m actually a therapist too. I can provide professional therapy, and I am skilled in hypnosis as well. Your best friend mentioned that you have a lot of unhappiness suppressed, so I hope you can open up to me. If you trust me, I can help you come out of that darkness.”
“A professional therapist?” Flossie was quite surprised. She really thought the man’s bread and butter was his looks.
“What’s with that look?” Halston smiled lightly, brushing her hair to the back with his long fingers. “Do you not believe me? Or do you feel disappointed… Well, I can still actually pay special attention to your body too, if you want me to.”
“No thanks!” Flossie’s face turned red, and she pushed the man away forcefully as she sat up straight. Her tone was frosty as she said, “Of course I don’t believe you! You’ve been flirting with me the whole night! How could you be a professional therapist?!”
Not only did professional therapists need to possess a lot of knowledge, they’d need to have a strong, natural sense of empathy as well. Hence, she just refused to believe that a pretty escort like him could ever be in the field.
“If you don’t believe me, we could always try a little experiment.”
“What experiment?”
“Have you ever heard of the HTP test?”
“Kind of… It’s basically just drawing a house, a tree, and a person on a blank piece of paper, right?”
“Correct.” Halston nodded. “After you’re done, I’ll analyze it for you. If my analysis is correct, you’ll believe me then, right?”
This piqued Flossie’s interest, and she agreed right away. “Fine then. We’ll see if you’re a fraud or not once this is over!”
Halston then found a paper and a box of color pencils, handing it to Flossie with a glint of excitement in his eyes. “You may start now.”
Flossie took the materials and sat down in front of the coffee table, drawing with an intensely focused expression. She might be a prodigy in almost every field, but drawing was the only thing she could never master for some reason.
“First a house, then a tree… I’m going to add some fruit onto the tree, and now the people…”
Halston was sitting next to her at the time, and watching her draw like a child made him want to laugh. He was just so used to her spiteful attitude, which contradicted her current sweetness. It completely melted his heart.
He couldn’t even resist the sudden wave of affection that bloomed in his chest, and he reached out to pat her head gently.
“What are you doing?!” Flossie was immediately alarmed, glaring at him with a frown.
Halston retrieved his arm calmly. “Nothing. There was just a mosquito on your head.”
“What? Why would a mosquito bite my scalp? You’re being so suspicious!”
Although Flossie didn’t trust him, she didn’t question any further either.
Instead she pointed to her drawing and said, “I’m done, so go ahead. Let’s see what you’ve got.”
The man picked up the piece of paper and scanned it thoroughly. His lips were pursed, and a solemn expression appeared underneath his masquerade mask
Flossie huffed and smiled, thinking to herself, ‘He sure knows how to put up an act. I really wonder what you’re going to come up with!’
“Looks like what your best friend said was true, you’ve repressed a lot of emotions in your heart. You’ll be past your limit soon… If you keep this up, you’d be at risk for depression…”
“Don’t make me laugh, I’m enjoying life to the fullest, and I’m in great shape! What would I even be depressed about?”
“You can lie to me, but your drawings can’t…” Halston furrowed his brows. ’ People would normally draw a house with a chimney. Even if they didn’t, they’d have a door, or maybe windows… All of these symbolize an exit for their emotions.”
“But your house has no chimney, no doors, and no windows… it’s a completely closed-off space. This indicates that you have purposefully isolated yourself, and are unwilling to show anyone your true emotions…”
Flossie was speechless, clenching her fists as she was unable to come up with a reply. Sure enough, this proved the man did have some skills in psychology.
Although she had been acting tough, showing everyone that she was fine and dandy, the woman was indeed hiding her negative emotions deep within her heart, unwilling to tell anyone about them.
“The tree next to the house stands tall, and it has very deep roots. This shows that you have a very loving family, and you love them very much. You intend to repay them in some way for raising you, right?”
“And the tree bearing fruits means that you focus on the outcome on most things. It could be that you have certain things that you wish to obtain results from, which became an obsession.”
Flossie remained silent as she wondered, ‘This escort isn’t just skilled, he’s a master at this! How is his analysis so accurate?!’
Halston continued, “You also drew a man, a woman and a child in front of the house. So it seems that you have a soft heart, despite your tough exterior. You would much rather prefer a complete and happy family, rather than possessing power and status, right? But you are ashamed of your own ideals, which is why you drew these people small, as if you’re intentionally trying to hide what your heart desires most.”
Flossie let out a long sigh, bowing to the man. “I’m impressed, you got everything right. I believe you now.”
She had a lot of secrets within her heart, and she was unwilling to face any of them, even going as far as to allow them to rot with time. She was carrying the Ellsworth family’s will, and she was determined to seek revenge for her parents. Thus, she decided that men, and her dream for an ideal family, would only be an obstacle to her current goals.
“Problems will arise when you close yourself off for too long. Mental health is just as important as physical health, after all. If you trust me, you can come and vent to me. I wasn’t joking when I said I wanted to stay by your side, you know?” Halston said genuinely as he stared at her. In actuality, he really wasn’t lying when he said he was a professional therapist, he had indeed taken the tests to receive a license years ago.
He did this in order to find a way to heal from his own issues. His brother’s death was just too much for him at the time, and if his survival instinct wasn’t strong enough, he likely would’ve taken it to an extreme.
Before seeing Flossie’s drawing, he thought the woman was just temporarily depressed over some matters, yet… she was suppressing herself so much that her negative emotions became even stronger than what he felt back then.
If this had gone on any longer, she would’ve met with a terrible fate.
Heartbroken, Halston really wished to be the light in her heart, so that he could bring her out of that abyss of despair…
“I know you need me, so let me save you…” Halston said softly as he held onto her hand.
Warmth radiated from his large, strong palms, which oddly gave Flossie a sense of security. She then let her guard down and took a deep breath.” Okay.”
Halston changed the lighting to a warm orange tint, lit up a few aromatic candles to help her relax, and played a soothing melody on the record player. He pointed towards a soft armchair and guided Flossie towards it. “Alright, tell me all your secrets.
However, the woman still chose to reject his offer. “Maybe some other day.
I’m getting tired, so I’ll go get some rest.”
Despite believing the man’s occupation, she still chose to lock these secrets away. There were just some things she’d rather hide than face…
Halston didn’t push her any further, but was still quite devastated. He wasn’t sure if Flossie was depressed over his ‘death’, but he knew for a fact that she wasn’t as happy as she seemed on the outside.
It was as if she was an onion, wrapping herself in layers upon layers to turn herself into someone everyone would like.
“The past few years weren’t kind to you, were they?” Halston asked in a deep and solemn voice.
Flossie smiled bitterly, being completely honest with him. “Yeah.”
The only people in the room were herself, and this escort, who was merely an acquaintance. Without her loved ones and rivals around, she didn’t want to play pretend any longer. Pretending to be depressed might be easy, but trying to fake happiness was just… too difficult and taxing.
Halston fought his urge to hug her, and said in a soft voice, “It’s alright. Have a good rest, tomorrow will be a better day.”
Apart from being a therapist, he was also quite an excellent hypnotist. With the fragrant aroma and his gentle words surrounding her, Flossie was able to fall into deep sleep on the soft lounge chair…
The next day, as birds chirped and sunlight shone through the windows, the woman woke up from her slumber. She stretched with a satisfied smile on her face, noticing how this was the first time she felt so relaxed in years.