Jeremy Donovan is a smart man. Some would go as far as to say he's a genius. But he has an obsession, and that obsession blurs the line between right and wrong.

It first started a year ago.

"Oh God, Maddie. You are obsessed with this show!" Jeremy drops his keys on the counter and rolls his eyes at his new wife.

Madison Donovan, Maddie, is a stunning 27-year-old Jeremy met at work. That's right.  The Avalon.  Yep- Maddie was once a patient there. As a teen, she fell into the wrong crowd and her alcohol addiction followed her through college. Mom and Dad were both well-known doctors in California, plastic surgeons. Having a drunk for a daughter wasn't happening. So, a good lump sum was sent to the Avalon to "fix" Maddie.

Jeremy was never her doctor. He deals with patients suffering from mental health issues. Detox wasn't his thing. But Maddie was. Her long brown hair and green eyes caught his attention the first day she was escorted in.

During her stay at The Avalon, she befriended the doctor. He was smart, rich, and dedicated to his patients. Perfect husband material. Her parents would finally be proud.

Did Maddie love Jeremy? Not a chance. She loved Vodka. That's what she loved.  Vodka and other men. Jeremy didn't figure this one out until after the wedding. The huge hundred thousand dollar elegant wedding in Vermont. He didn't figure  this out until after he laid eyes on Julia Moretti.

"What did you do today?" Jeremy plops down in front of his wife and grabs a handful of popcorn.

"Not much." Maddie refrains from who she did today, not what. She also leaves out the details of where she met him. At the local bar.

Jeremy may be a genius, but when it comes to love, emotions trump brain function.

"I didn't see you at the AA meeting." He says as nonchalantly as possible.

"You know my show comes on at the same time, right?" Maddie says. She's dead serious, too. "Tonight is the finale."

"Oh, thank God. Then do I get my wife back?" He teases but gets popcorn thrown at him.

"You know Nate Hollan is one of the celebrity coaches, right?!" Maddie swoons when she sees him on the America's Voice stage.

"He's not even American. Isn't he from London or something?" Jeremy throws a piece of popcorn at the tv and rolls his eyes.

"Who cares! Look at him!"

Jeremy studies the multimillion-dollar singer. He may look like he has it all together, but he doesn't. Not with a little sister who shoots up heroin and is an Avalon resident. But he doesn't tell Maddie this info. It's illegal to talk about patients outside of the workplace.

Working such long hours has the doctor beginning to doze off on the couch next to his beautiful wife.

"C'mon, don't fall asleep now. You're gonna miss the best part. Someone from the audience gets picked to work with the coaches. Could you imagine?" Maddie elbows her husband, who sits up straighter to try and stay awake.

"Look at her. She looks like a deer in headlights." Maddie laughs and Jeremy looks up at the screen.

The woman who was chosen to work with Nate Hollan catches his eye.  She's beautiful. She's beautiful but broken.  Jeremy can see it right away.  He's a psychiatrist, after all. But there's something about her. Something that tugs at his heart.

"God, she's so lucky." Maddie stares at the tv in envy. "Well, that's it. Shows over till next season. I'm going to bed."

"You are? Hun, I barely get to hang out with you anymore. Really?"

"We'll hang out tomorrow night. Love you. " Maddie walks upstairs and closes the bedroom door.

Jeremy frowns. Maybe Madison wasn't who he thought she was. She barely gives him the time of day now that they're married. He's a good-looking guy. A really good-looking guy who is also a doctor and great in bed. What's not to love?

But Maddie married for the money. The stability. To make her parents proud and prove she isn't a fuck up drunk.  She hasn't been sober in years though. She's great at hiding it. Even from her husband.

Jeremy gets up and raids the fridge. Did Maddie even eat dinner??  She never cooks. She doesn't work. What the hell does she do all day?

He's too tired to fight tonight. He eats leftover Chinese food right from the container and grabs his laptop.

The woman next to Nate Hollan is stuck in his head. He looks her up online and of course all the news on her is what happened live on America's voice just minutes ago.

Lucky lady get to work with America's Heartthrob Nate Hollan.

40 year old Julia Moretti from Boston, Massachusetts.

Ok, she does NOT look 40, first of all, Jeremy thinks to himself. Not even close. Maybe 30 but not 40.

There really isn't much on her online. She's not showing up on Facebook and her Instagram is private.

"Why am I even looking this up?" He mutters to himself with an eyeroll before closing his laptop and watching TV until he falls asleep on the couch. Fully clothed. Even though he should be naked with his newlywed wife in their new home.

*****
As the weeks go by Jeremy and Maddie drift apart. Their marriage wasn't what he thought it'd be. He knows now his wife is back to drinking and suspects cheating on him as well.

Most nights, he sleeps at the Avalon now, claiming overnight shifts for an excuse.

And when he's not working, Jeremy is following along the winning contestants of America's voice, with the rest of the world. Mainly one. Julia. He doesn't know why he's drawn to her but he is.

To the point he has eaten his fast-food dinner while sitting in his black SUV with tinted windows near Modern Music Studio. The studio Julia meets Nate Hollan for her guitar lessons.

Yep, that's right. If anyone read The Winner, they'd know what black SUV we are talking about.

Jeremy learned Julia's schedule fast. She had guitar lessons a few times a week and then lived at the Marriott Hotel not far from the studio.

Her room was on the 4th floor.

Julia was a mess, though. Jeremy could tell that right from the start.  Interviews made her nervous, and she had a past.  A dark one that reporters liked to dig up.  She has a son though and something is going on with that. She's married but wears no ring.

And she kisses Nate Hollan. That much Jeremy saw right from the studio window. She's in deep.

By why Nate Hollan? Jeremy could take better care of Julia. He knows something is up with her. She needs stability. Nate Hollan can't provide that. Not with his celebrity lifestyle.  Besides, Jeremy suspects he has his own issues. He spends a lot of time at the well-known celebrity pub, Sullivan's Tap.

Jeremy goes to Sullivan's every once in a while, mainly to check on his alcoholic cousin Dave. Dave Brennan is a mess, but Jeremy thinks he can fix his cousin. Every time he finds him at the bar he talks him off the ledge but it gets harder and harder these days.  Dave is awful when he's drunk. Yet his ex-girlfriend, Trisha Banks is like Jeremy. A fixer. Always taking Dave back to try and fix him.

She should focus more of her time on her boss, Nate Hollan, so Nate will leave Julia alone.

****

Once Jeremy caught his wife in the act with another man, the wedding ring got flushed down the toilet. He was heartbroken but he had Julia to look after, so he spent his extra time making sure she was safe. Julia didn't even know he existed.

A few times he'd try to muster to the courage to introduce himself but just couldn't do it.  Julia was in deep with Nate.

One night, out of frustration after seeing Nate and Julia getting hot and heavy at the studio, Jeremy broke into her hotel room.

He trashed her room in a fit of rage. His outburst was a combination of Julia and Maddie both with the wrong men. Jeremy also thought if Julia thought the break in was media attention related, she'd be smart and break it off with Nate. Jeremy went so far as to slash Julia's rental car tires.

But she was in love with Nate. Nate and some guy who works at the Marriott.

But the obsession ran strong for Jeremy. He studied Julia. The way she talked, her emotions, her sensitivity. She was/ is struggling with many mental health issues.

Jeremy knew he could help her, she just needed to let him.

And that's how it all began...

*****

The day Julia walked into the Avalon Jeremy knew he could be the one to help her. She hadn't met him yet, but he knew all about her. Julia's life was all over the news and then once Susan Hardy announced Julia was admitted to The Avalon, the media attention doubled.

Jeremy observed Julia on her first day at The Avalon, but she didn't officially meet him until the second day- The day Jeremy got an emergency page for a new patient in the middle of a group session.

"Someone call Dr. Donovan." Nurse Sherry looked down at Julia's notebook.

"What?" Julia looked at her with confusion. Julia had a small assignment to do and instead of writing it down, she zoned out and wrote the same thing over and over in her notebook -'Why do I set myself up for disaster?'

The room fell silent, and all eyes were on Julia as the psychiatrist entered the room. A man in his mid-thirties who looks like anything BUT a psych doctor. He looks. Normal. A tall man with glasses and dark hair and eyes.

It was Julia Moretti who was the patient in need.

Jeremy's brown eyes showed compassion when he leaned over Julia's shoulder and looked to where Sherry was pointing. The repetitive sentence filled the page.

"I'm sorry." Julia said frantically. "I don't remember even writing this." She looked over her shoulder and up at the doctor who took a step back and nodded.

"Why don't we take a break from this session and talk about it." He said and Sherry stood up and nodded for Julia to do the same.  

This was Jeremy's first encounter with Julia. After months of infatuation, he finally came face to face with his obsession.

Julia followed the nurse and psychiatrist out of the room. She followed Dr. Donovan outside to the garden. Jeremy gestured for Julia to sit at one of the tables with Sherry next to her and him on the other side.

"Has this happened before?" The man ticked his shaven chin to the notebook and folded his hands together before looking at Julia. She wiped her eyes and nodded.

"It has."

"Why are you crying?" The doctor asked.

"Because I don't remember writing it. That scares the shit out of me. I scare the shit out of me!"

 The doctor nodded again and showed more compassion. "You had a Bipolar episode. It's common. Especially while detoxing from one series of medications while starting new ones." He explained and Julia burst into tears. Jeremy knows all about Bipolar. And he already knew Julia had the disorder just from studying her from afar.

"I don't want to go through this again." Julia cried. "It took a good six weeks for me to get through the last round."

"I know. I saw the note in your file. And I know the last thing you want to hear is someone tell you 'It takes time'. You have probably heard it a million times and it doesn't help if I remind you again." 

"So, what do I do?"

"You take it one day at a time. One hour at a time. Obviously, something in your brain triggered your thoughts and you wrote the same phrase over and over again in a compulsive ocd way. You don't remember what you were thinking before you phased out?"

"I was thinking about the assignment. And my best friend."

"You and her are really close, then? What do you think 'set yourself up for disaster' would pertain to? Did you have a falling out with her? Maybe an argument?"

"No. You got it all wrong." She inhaled sharply and lets it out. "God. It's so hard to explain."

"Try me."

"James. James is my best friend. We were friends before anything. Then became more. But we're back to just being friends."

"I see. So, you and James connected beyond just friends." Jeremy knew James is the Marriott worker Julia was with all the time.

"Did we ever." Julia burst out, showing another sign of Bipolar. "Sorry. I lost my filter somewhere down the line."

"You're fine. you can talk candidly with me." Jeremy smiled.

"We're trying to stay just friends. That's what's best."

"Best for who. You or James?"

"Me. All it did was hurt James. I had to make a choice. I can't fucking make choices right now. I'm in no position to hold that responsibility right now. I'm all over the place."

"Unfortunately, you may always feel like you're all over the place, Julia." He is a smart doctor. He knows this disorder isn't something that just goes away with a pill.

"Thanks for the pep talk, doctor." She said with sarcasm.

"So... you made a choice. What kind of choice?"

Julia looked down at the picnic table. "I had to make a choice between him and someone else. I was tied up with them both. I chose the other person. In return, I lost my best friend for a little while."

"For a little while? Is he back?"

"My boyfriend talked him into coming back. James thought it would be easier to remove himself all together and try to move on from me. But I fell into a depression over it. I was only getting out of bed to do the necessities to survive. Nate was the one to talk to him and remind him we were best friends before things got complicated."

"Sounds like a great boyfriend to do something like that." Jeremy swallows hard knowing all about Nate Hollan from day one.

"He is. I love him."

"And you love James."

Julia nodded and then froze. The doctor said it so quick she didn't have a chance to question herself.

"No wait..." She started but Jeremy gave her a smirk.

"I went to school for this stuff, Julia. Even finished college." Jeremy teased and Nurse Sherry laughed. "I know what I'm doing."

"Well enlighten me. Because I don't." Julia wasn't laughing. 

"You know the Human Brain can't choose who you fall in love with, right? Just like the Human Body can't choose who you are physically attracted to. It just happens. Whether you like it or not. And just like you can be physically attracted to more than one individual, you can very well fall in love with more than one person." Jeremy knows this all too well. He was already so in love with Julia and she had no idea.

"Great. That doesn't help me." Julia rolled her eyes.

****

That same day Jeremy met Nate Hollan for the very first time as well. Again, he knew everything about Nate and also formed his opinion before their first encounter. Nate wasn't a good fit for Julia. In fact, they were destructive together. Both with issues of their own as it is.

"I'm here to see Dr. Donovan? He left a message for me to come early."  Nate said to the woman at the front desk of the Avalon.

"Of course, Mr. Hollan. Right this way."

The woman knocked on the door of an office, and they waited for Jeremy.

"Mr. Hollan, thank you for coming in early. Please, take a seat." The friendly man shook Nates hand, and Nate sat in front of his desk.

"Is this about my sister or my girlfriend?" 

"Right. You have two loved ones here. I'm sorry. I should have gone into more detail but don't like to do so over the phone. My apologies. This pertains to Julia."

"Of course." 

The doctor opened a notebook on his desk and spun it around for Nate to see. In Julia's handwriting the first line said- You don't stop loving someone just cuz' it's over.

That's not the concern. The concern fell on the rest of the page filled with- Why do I set myself up for disaster?

Over and over again right to the last line. Nate slouched down in the chair and pinched the tension between his eyes.

"This has happened before..." The doctor told Nate...making it known he has already had a chat with Julia. Nate nodded and closed the notebook.

"It has. The virtual therapist had Julia keep a journal of shit that's happened to her. She sometimes zones out and has written the same thing over and over again."

"Do you have that notebook?"

"I have all five." He sighs and the doctor sat up a little straighter when he heard Julia had five journals of things that have happened to her. Five Journals. Jeremy could learn so much more about Julia, her disorders and her life with these. He could help her.

"Do you mind bringing them in tomorrow? I'd like to get a better idea of what I'm working with."

"Fair warning, doc. Some of the stuff written in there... Shit. It's gonna be hard to read. Julia had a dick of a husband." 

"She didn't mention a husband. Only James."

"James... What about James?" Nate squinted his eyes.

"I'm away of the basics, Mr. Hollan. The best friend becoming more. Having to make a choice. Julia told me this afternoon after she had her bipolar episode." He taps the notebook. "It's a lot for anyone to handle, never mind someone who is struggling emotionally. I read her Avalon Bio and know a little bit of her past. Her son. But there wasn't much mentioned about her husband."

"Her Avalon Bio? Who submits that?"

"Usually other doctors, or hospital staff if she is in their care. Which she was not too long ago."

"Yeah, man. You may want to update that file. Julia pushed out all the bad memories from her marriage. She made it so she completely forgot about it all. Until recently. Once she started going into therapy and keeping a journal, shit started coming back to her. His infidelity. The other woman. It's awful. She's still writing in journals as the memories come back. She's still trying to put the pieces together." Nate explained.

"She's been through a lot." Jeremy sighed and sat back in his chair in a more casual manner. He was starting to get the complexity of Julia.  "Well, she's in the right place. We're gonna figure it out."

"I hope so. Because you're my last resort. And I just want to see her happy... and healthy."

"I know that. I gotta hand it to you, Mr. Hollan. You're a better man than I. Julia told me how you talked James back into her life. I know you only want what's best for her. And it shows. I don't know if I could do that. Take the risk. She obviously loves you both."

"What exactly did Julia tell you?" Nate glared at the man.

"Enough. She told me enough to know you'd do anything to make sure she's happy...and healthy." He repeated Nate's words and smiled with empathy. Julia opened up very easily to Jeremy.

He knew exactly how to help her.