Author's note: First off without even reading a word. What's going through your mind as you see the header picture? 

Roni

Halfway through the appointment Roni was finally able to relax a little. Everything seemed so routine, Roni had begun to wonder if maybe Mat really didn't remember. Except for a few times when she thought he'd held her gaze a little too long, he'd been a perfect gentleman with the quintessence of professionalism. It was such a pleasant surprise she'd actually begun to feel a little guilty. But she was glad she was able now to stop thinking about that and concentrate on what she was really there for.

After several tests were performed, a young lady in plain clothes walked in with a few wooden puzzles like the many Jack had at home. She introduced herself to Roni and Jack as just Tina, not nurse this or doctor anything. Mat had already informed Roni that some of the tests would be done by other technicians, but they wouldn't be in scrubs or medical coats. It was to give Jack the feel that he was just playing. Not at a doctor's office being tested.

"Sometimes something that simple makes a difference in kid's interactions."

Once Tina was sitting comfortably on the floor with Jack, Mat stood and motioned to Roni to follow him. "Jack, your mom and I will be right back. We just have to fill out more paperwork, okay?"

Jack barely acknowledged them as he continued with his puzzle. Roni eyed Mat questionably. As soon as they were out of the room with the door closed, Mat turned to explain. He pointed at the door right next door. "That mirror in that room is a two-way mirror. It's how I get to observe my patients without the distraction of their parents or a doctor sitting in a room. You'd be surprised how different kids' personalities can be when they're not around their parents." He turned to face her with a smile as held the door open for the dimly lit room next door. "It's why so many parents are shocked that their sweet little shy child is actually a terror or class clown in school."

Mat explained about the dim lights being needed so that even their shadows wouldn't be seen from the other room. Roni wondered if Jack would act any different. Chairs that looked more like barstools sat in front of the two-way mirror since it was a lot higher than a table. Mat motioned for her to have a seat, though he pushed his chair away and stood next to her in front of the mirror instead. They watched silently for a few minutes, though Roni wasn't sure what exactly they were looking for.

"I always did love your sweet curls."

Stunned was the only word to describe what Roni felt when she turned to look into Mat's playful eyes. She wasn't even sure why she was surprised. She should've known he couldn't have changed too much. Roni hadn't been exaggerating when she told Nellie he was an insatiable flirt.

"But the straight hair fits you well too. The curls are sweet, but this is sexy. So, both ways are perfect on you."

Swallowing hard, Roni did her best to keep her cool. "Aren't you supposed to be observing my son?"

"I'm glad you came back."

"Of course, I came back." She spoke almost through her teeth. "My son is the only reason I'm here."

"I thought I'd never see you again. Was our reunion really"—he took a step closer to her, lowering his eyes to her lips before bringing them back up to meet hers–"fortuitous, Roni?"

"Fortuitous is not the word I'd choose for the complete coincidence, but just so we're clear, I had no idea who you were until you sent that picture."

"Oh, come on, Roni. We finally have a chance to give into our mutual attraction. Finish what we were never able to. Why fight it—?"

The ruckus at the door interrupted his infuriating drivel. Before Roni could even begin to retort, the door swung open.

"... but he's in the middle of—"

"I don't care," the woman at the door snapped back at the receptionist. "Is this her?" The woman turned to Roni. "Are you Roni? You do know he's married, right? That he has four children—?"

"I told you this morning." Mat stepped in front of Roni as she got off the stool. "She's the mother of one of my patients, Linda."

"You send pictures to all your patient's mothers? Talk to them late at night when you think I'm sleeping—"

"Listen, Listen, Linda—"

"I heard you tell her last night you could hardly wait to see her today, Mat! That you'd had the time of your life this past weekend. I'm not stupid."

"I wasn't on the phone with him last night," Roni finally spoke up, making Mat move to the side of her. "And I certainly haven't spent any time with him outside his office. Only reason I'm even here is for that little boy." Roni pointed her shaky finger at the window, barely able to believe this was happening. "I'm happily married and have zero interest in your douchebag husband."

"I saw your texts," Linda got even louder as Mat stepped in front of her. "I tried to call you this morning, but he took the phone from me. Why?"

"Because I didn't want you harassing my clients," Mat barked at her.

"He initiated the texts and the calls," Roni retorted right back. "And I thought they were harmless until just before you burst in here when his ass suggested we give into what he thinks is a mutual attraction. I promise you two things though. You don't have to worry about me giving into anything with this asshole, and I'll never step foot in this place again."

She grabbed her purse from where it was hanging behind the stool, purposely pulling it a little harder than needed. It swung and hit Mat in the groin, hard enough to have him bending over.

"And you, Mat." She addressed him even though he was still bent half over and not looking at her. "Stay away from me. Don't call me or text me or so help me I will sue your ass for sexual harassment and malpractice. How the hell are you supposed to do your job when you're too busy trying to hit on your client's mothers?"

Feeling slightly weak, she stalked out of the room and into the room next door. Within minutes, she was back in the car with Jack. She held out until Jack passed out before falling apart. She hadn't even realized just how tense she'd gotten until she let out the tears. How in the world would she get through this conversation with Noah?

She knew she'd promised to call him right after the appointment, but there was no way. After gathering herself, she called Nellie. She wasn't even sure why she was feeling so emotional. As much as she'd been trying to convince herself Mat had changed and she'd been too quick to jump to conclusions, deep inside she knew men like him never changed. Given what his wife said about what she overheard, he'd probably been cheating on her for years. He was a scumbag.

"How'd it go?" Nellie answered cheerfully.

"We were right," Roni said, disgusted with herself for not trusting her gut. "We were all right. Noah's gonna be furious."

She started from the top, chuckling humorlessly about how she'd actually begun to feel guilty about misjudging his intentions. Then she got to the part of his comment about her curls.

"Shut up!"

"Oh, it gets worse," Roni said, glad that she was feeling better now that she was able to vent about it to Nellie.

She gave Nellie the blow by blow of how everything went down, cracking a smile when Nellie giggled about the purse to the groin part.

"So, he's just a slimeball all around," Nellie said when she was done. "I'd feel bad for his wife, but if he's always been a douche, I seriously doubt he's ever been faithful to anyone. I'm sure she's known for years and she still went and had four kids with him."

Roni half listened to Nellie. She couldn't care less about Mat and his wife now. All she could think of was how she was going to break this to Noah. Would he do something crazy? Would he be furious with her?

"Nellie, how am I supposed to tell Noah about this?"

"You're not."

"What? I can't keep something like this from him."

"No, I just mean for now. Wait 'til he gets home at least."

"He's gonna wanna know how the appointment went. What am I supposed to say?"

"Well." Nellie exhaled. "From what you told me, sounds like the appointment was otherwise going well. Everything he said sounded positive. For now, you say it went well but you'll have to wait for the final analysis or something; then Saturday when he gets home, you tell him the truth."

"Nellie, he knows me so well. He'll know something's up." Roni squeezed her eyes shut thinking about it. "Maybe not over the phone or via text, but we FaceTime in the evening. You should've seen me last night when I had to tell him about running into Mat at the gym. I was a mess and I know he noticed. He's just trying so hard to be cool about this because he feels guilty about snapping at me that first day."

"Well, then use that to your advantage if he notices anything again and don't feel guilty about it."

"I would absolutely feel guilty—"

"Think about it, Roni. If he's anything like Abel, he'll likely cut this trip short and come storming home to try and kill Mat. I just talked to Abel, and it sounds like they're really enjoying the tournament. They've been winning, and you know how competitive they are. Let him enjoy his last two days there before he has to come home to this."

Roni inhaled deeply just as her other line beeped. "Shit, that's him."

"Be cool, you got this," Nellie assured her. "And if it's easier see if you can forgo the FaceTime until he gets back. It's just two nights. I'm sure you'll think of something."

"Okay, wish me luck."

She hung up and switched over to Noah. "Hey, babe."

"Hey, how'd it go?"

"Good," she said, frowning because her pitch went up a little. "It went well."

"So, he's good?"

"I guess."

"What do you mean you guess. What'd he say?"

Roni was quiet for a moment, willing herself to be able to lie to him. "He has to put all his notes and whatnot together for the final, analysis, but he said it was just a formality and I had nothing to worry about."

"Then that's a negative on the autism, right?"

Nodding as if he could see her, she squeezed her eyes shut. "He did really well, Noah."

"Good, so we can drop this now."

"Um, huh."

It was all Roni could respond with, because she was beginning to feel emotional again. She hated lying to him. But Nellie was right. Noah would absolutely drop everything and come flying home, possibly bypass coming home first and go straight to Mat's office.

"Baby, you okay? Something you not telling me?"

"No, no." Jesus talk about a loaded question. "I guess I'm just relieved this is all over, and it doesn't help that I should be getting my period soon." At least that last part was true. "Which reminds me I need to check if they've called in my prescription because I want to make sure to get back on it when the time comes."

She managed to veer the subject onto his tournament. It took a minute, but the tone finally changed to a more chipper one as Noah filled her in on their winning streak. Despite that going better than she'd expected, after the morning she'd had, by the time she got off the phone with Noah she felt completely drained. And she had to do this again, tonight, face to face?

Roni leaned her forehead against the steering wheel and groaned.

Author's note: How well do you think that conversation with Noah is going to go?