Socio

Hands shaking, Shannon unlocked the door that evening, hoping the doctor wouldn't be home but knowing she probably would be. And she was. She must have been a horrible actress because no matter how hard she tried to appear calm and like everything was fine, the doctor could see the distress in her eyes right away and the trembling of her hands. "You okay?" she asked with concern, walking towards her. "What happened?" Realizing there was no sense in trying to deny anything, Shannon stumbled over to the doctor and collapsed in her arms. She cried and shook heavily as the doctor patted her back and then guided her to the couch. Once seated, the doctor asked, "Did someone hurt you? Do we need to call the police?" Shannon shook her head. "No, but it sure was close." "What happened?" the doctor asked with both concern and impatience. "I got into a stupid argument with the woman I went to see about some dumb shit I don't even remember. She refused to drive me back at that point and I stormed out of her place not wanting to be in her presence a moment longer anyway," Shannon explained, hoping that the doctor wouldn't ask for the address of the apartment that was, of course, Doug's. "I caught a cab and the cabby tried to rape me." "Oh, Dios!" Dr. Warren exclaimed. "Why didn't you report him?" "We can call the cops but all I wanted to do was get out of his cab and get home. I don't remember the number of the cab, though, and the guy never told me his name. I can only say he was some sort of Indian guy that was about forty based on how he looked and sounded." "Tell me what happened." "I gave him this address and he could sense I was upset about something. Initially, he wanted me to sit in front next to him but I told him I would prefer the back, as is customary. Then he said something about having fun to make up for the bad day I was having. I was able to run for it when the bastard stopped the cab." "What did you do next?" "I hailed another cab and hoped the driver would be a lot more professional, and he was." "Did you tell him what happened?" Shannon nodded. "I did but the guy didn't seem to know who I was talking about. Maybe my would-be rapist was driving a car he bought and painted to look like a cab but that wasn't actually affiliated with the cab company in any way. Some drivers work independently and that would be a great way to lure people into your car. Kind of surprised he didn't have the doors rigged so they couldn't be opened from inside." "Well, thank God he didn't. I still think we should call the police, Shannon, but I know this has to be up to you." Shannon agreed to call the police and tell them what happened. When she hung up, Dr. Warren looked at her expectantly, having only heard her side of the conversation. "What did they say?" "That they would be on the lookout. Meanwhile, they suggested I go to the station and make a formal complaint. That way, they can go to the cab company with my information and see if anyone questionable might be working with them." Shannon agreed to go to the station only because she would feel horrible if she didn't and then some woman actually got raped or even killed. When she and the doctor returned from the station, Shannon realized just how tired she was and that they had lost most of the night together. She was beginning to wonder if something up there was trying to keep them apart as much as possible. But that was about to change. At least to a degree. The doctor may not have much control over her work schedule, but Shannon had control over her faithfulness. As she would come to learn the following day, however, Doug Maxwell wasn't going to let her go so easily. "I'm sorry I didn't drive you back home," he said as she made her way into the fitness room. "Me too," she said. "I was nearly raped by a cabby." Doug's eyes bulged. "Oh, my God, Shan. I'm so sorry." Shannon quickly came to regret mentioning this because it seemed to make him all the more determined to win her back. "Look, Doug," she said sternly. "I like you. I really do. As I told you in your apartment, this isn't about you. It's all on me. Last night's close call has me shaken to the core and I really do want to be more honest and faithful to my new husband. She may not look as good as you do and she may not even perform as well as you, much less be around very much. But she's done so much for me and I can't just throw that away." "No one's asking you to throw anything away." "I know. I know. But even with her not knowing that I've cheated on her, I know I have and that alone is enough to make me feel guilty as hell. I don't have a problem with us being friendly when we run into each other, but that's as far as it can go from now on." "Yeah," Doug muttered, "we'll see about that." Shannon was becoming angry. "There's nothing to see, Doug." "Oh, there's a lot to see. You just don't know it yet." "Are you threatening me?" "No, I'm telling you. There's something to see that you don't know about." "Unless you're going to tell me what the hell you're talking about, I'd like to get on with my workout now." "What if your rich little doctor found out about us?" Shannon stepped right up to Doug and hissed. "If she does, I'll have you out of this job so fucking fast you won't know what hit you." Doug's eyes went from blazing with anger to twinkling with amusement. "Gee, I'm scared." "You should be if you're considering anything that stupid." With a smirk, the dark and handsome security guard said something about her being a stupid bitch, turned and walked off. Shannon then tried to lose herself in the music streaming from her earbuds and the hum of the treadmill belt moving beneath her feet, but she couldn't. She had a bad feeling she couldn’t shake.