I felt the cold strong air nip at my skin as I tried not to shiver, trying to remain unfazed. I was already starting to regret my decision but I couldn't let my two very naked friends next to me know. My hands covered my breasts and vagina as we stood watching the night's passionate waves, the ocean seemed to be going through a lot of emotions, I'm sure we were all regretting our swift decision.

For a minute I felt lost and I took in a deep breath through my now cold nose looking at the dark blue waves clashing together the white beautifully contrasting against the dark blue. I questioned myself if this was really worth it, I could just run off and go back home but then where is the honour and loyalty in that.

The weather was unforgiving and we have been standing like this for more than five minutes. Before I could say anything Hope screamed waving her hands around in the air like a mad woman running in the darkness of the sea with London right on her tail. My fate was sealed I took one last breath, before screaming after them behind their tracks.

The moment my body connected with the ice cold waters regret washed over me at our ridiculously stupid, rash decision. My lungs burned, my temperature dropping. Our teeth chattered, goosebumps covering us as we waited to get used to the temperature of the water, misery on our faces, after a brief moment all of the misery seemed to fade at the sight of each other, laughter broke out joining the sounds of the waves clashing against each other. It wasn't long before we decided to ditch the initial plan, which was to stay in the water for at least five minutes.

Of course we would decide to go skinny dipping in the middle of the night in the fucking sea.

Despite the trauma I had just put my body through I couldn't help but laugh as we ran out of the freezing water immediately turning to our towels. The atmosphere inside the car consisted of teeth clashing against each other even with the heater turned on. I already had a runny nose but I would do it again to see the look that had been on their faces when we entered the water.

As we drove home I couldn't help the smile on my face as I listened to them complain about our current decisions, my body heat seemed to be higher than usual but I took that as the consequences of my previous actions.

A few minutes later.

"If anyone gets close to me I will fucking use this pan." I shouted feeling dizzy for a second as I quickly blinked away the dark spots threatening to take over my vision. Turns out the abnormal high body heat was a warning to something ...mortifying. I was in my long baggy pyjamas, I felt hot and cold at the same time, I sneezed blocking my mouth with my forearm before getting back to my fighting stance.

I kept my eyes on the both of them as they looked at me trying to get me to come down. This always happened, I hated taking pills, matter of fact it was the scariest thing I have ever had to go through. My mother had beat me until she realised I would never be able to take pills as a young teenage girl, she threw in the towel seeing as she would make me take them and they would come back a few seconds later. My friends tend to hold me down after turning the pills into powder, it makes things easier but once I saw the powder, it made no difference to me, my fear prevailed.

"We fucking crushed them, get down Lerato!" London said holding the juice in her hand. I could see the frustration dancing in their eyes.

"I swear to- I will come there and hold you down. You know how you get when you are sick. You cannot get sick!" She exclaimed getting closer. I moved back swinging my pan, not taking any chances.

"If you get any closer I will throw this pan and run out that door." I was not making any empty threats I was being serious and they both knew this.

"I told you, you should have took the syrup because she is a fucking baby." Hope said looking at London, not moving, I could see the hint of defeat dance in their eyes.

"I will not be shamed for my dislike and terror of pills!" I screamed feeling my head throb, I really needed to lie down otherwise I would pass out. I felt like my lungs would give out on me at any second but I had to fight.

"It's a fucking medical condition respect my fears!" They rolled their eyes disregarding my words.

"This is madness!" Hope finally screamed,  looking between the both of us, she always seemed to cave first. London was as stubborn as a mule.

"Okay-okay listen. We are sorry okay. Hope, put down the cup." London said her voice soft never taking her eyes of me. I wouldn't be falling for that ever again. I could tell that she had something else up her sleeve.

"Pour.It.Down.The.Sink." The tension could be cut with a knife as everyone minded their movements. As much as I was afraid of pills I understood that they just wanted me to be healthy. Deep down, I knew I was coming down with a cold, but I refused to admit it. Falling ill meant relying heavily on others, especially my mom, who always took care of me. I have a tendency to become extremely needy and emotional during such times, despising my inability to handle things on my own.

I watched her pour it down slowly, keeping my eyes on London and her at the same time. I felt relief flood over me as the contents of the cup all went down the sink. "Will you now get down from the isle already before you hurt yourself." She huffed.

"Chummy Oath- you will not force me to take any pills." I would never trust them when it came to this, they put my well being before my emotions and they made it very clear that they always would.

"What the fuck Isla, really- an unbreakable oath." I nodded my head, ready to stay up here the whole night if I had to, I knew better than to trust them.

"Fine, die then!" Hope exclaimed, her hands frantically moving around. After making their promises I slowly got down already feeling light headed. London made sure to let me know how annoying I was and how much she wanted to put me in hospital herself.

"I will get the cough syrup tomorrow." I said bargaining with them, at least I was willing to bargain.

"You will be worse by tomorrow." It was true but I didn't care I would rather be worse than swallow pills. 

"No I won't."

"Do you know how crazy you get when you are sick!" She exclaimed. I stood by my decision. They initially insisted I sleep alone due to my sickness, but eventually relented. I silently hoped I hadn't passed on my cold to them, fearing their reaction if I did. Despite their irritation with my behavior, they didn't push the issue of taking pills. I remained firm in my refusal. Eventually, they dropped the subject, realizing it was futile to argue with me. After a few minutes, we moved on to other topics as we prepared for bed.

"I read a lot of male on female on male books I could give you pointers." Hope suddenly spoke, completely catching us off guard. We were lying on my bed, gazing up at the ceiling with the dimmed lights. They were staying over tonight, just like many other nights we spent together. Sometimes we all slept on my bed during sleepovers, while other times they used the guest room. London was able to stay a little longer this time, and Hope managed to make time to join us. Nothing made me happier than being with them.

"How did you go from clothes to men, Hope?" I asked, observing her as London giggled, the topic enticing. The red wine not far from us with cracker, a weird but accustom-able taste. 

"I thought we agreed that we will not be entertaining the Greek Gods." I stated eyeing them as I thought about the twins. Ever since I met them I failed to get them out of my mind, I have never seen or felt anything like them, their presence spoke volumes before they even spoke a word. I've never encountered men who embodied the definition of masculinity in every aspect like they do. They're an enigma unlike any other thing I've come across. Typically, I keep my professional and personal lives separate, but they've disrupted that norm. I couldn't stop thinking about them.

I believed in true love, but they didn't seem like the type to lock eyes with me while helping me pick up my books, or the type to accidentally bump into me and then share a moment of intense soul bounding eye contact, unlike the norm I liked clichés, I found solace in knowing it would be a happy ending . But for the first time in my life, I didn't care. The simple act of looking into their eyes felt like magic to me, and true love was supposed to be magical- right? I knew I was being delusional, but strangely, I was okay with that. The delusions tamed me.

I no longer entertained thoughts of them. Even speaking about them made me feel dirty because the last time I touched myself, they somehow slipped into my mind, and I had never experienced such an intense climax, their surname at the tip of my tongue. Note to self, I also seem to have a weird fetish for their surname, maybe it was because that's how everyone referred to them as. My legs trembled even after the climax subsided. I felt like a prude, and since then, I haven't touched myself ever again. I was afraid of thinking of them once more, which felt wrong. The shame of it all consumed me every time the thought crossed my mind.

At least I could control my thoughts for some time, but then came the wet dreams. Waking up wet, with sweat running down my face, only added to the embarrassment. The realization that I thought of both of them and saw both of them in my wet dreams made me question just how messed up I was. And to make matters worse, ever since I confided in my friends, they wouldn't stop instigating it.

"I encourage it, maybe you just need to fuck them out of your mind. " London chimed in agreeing with Hope.

"I expected better from you London. You know that business and pleasure isn't to be mixed, especially in my line of work."

"I understand that believe me I do but you have never so much as spoke about a man for more than a week, no man has ever made you weak in the knees and here is God sending you two and you have the audacity to say no?! Shame on you!" My friends were being ridiculous. They were just happy I was finally interested in something that wasn't in a movie.

"A good fuck goes a long way. Separately or at the same time what ever suits you, but clearly your body is tired of the drought you put it through." The excitement in Hopes voice made me concerned as I took in her words.

"Honestly if I could I would have myself removed from their case because I feel so bad about all of this. It wasn't even my intention but I can't, I can barely look at them. This whole week has been a struggle for me knowing what I did and what happens in my dreams, they might not know but I know." They didn't speak, it was the same thing every single day. It's been a week already, the tension in the office had changed, I felt like they could read me, they could see all my secrets even the dirty ones. I had a hard time looking at them already, this made matters worse.

I have tried everything to get them out of my mind but I miserably failed. It didn't help that they looked like the maker of freaking Gods.

"I am not surprised that the first thing you want to latch onto is a psycho, I didn't expect two but hey what do I know, you are the doctor." Hope chuckled nudging me as I gasped at her audacity.

"We don't use the word 'psycho' in this house," I said, but they also repeated it at the same time, mimicking me, which made me sigh.

"Guys, I'm in real trouble here." I could possibly lose my license over this. Worry slowly clawed at me at each passing day. I knew I would never do anything about it, but it was the first time I have ever felt this way about a patient and it worried me.

"We need to plan and get out, get another man on your mind. It will help you focus on something on someone else. Your clients are never an option." London turned to me, her sudden seriousness evident in her gaze. I detected a distant look in her eyes that sparked concern within me, it didn't seem like the hatred she had for my clients alone, it was something more.

"Oh please live a little! London has her fucking Greek criminal God." London gasped squinting her eyes Hope.

"How dare you?! That is not a joke. That is a real fucking criminal Hope. We agreed to never speak of him, people don't say his name for a reason!" She said her face flushing, fear in her eyes.

"He's still looks like his Gods." Hope said not letting the serous in Londons eyes move her.

"Okay let's just not speak about men." I sighed looking at both of them.

"This does not get you off the hook Lerato." I appreciated the way my friends said my name, they pronounced every sound correctly. I felt home.

"Don't you get tired of repeating yourself every single day." I understood Hope's question, beside the fact that patience was a requirement for my jobs because of the different patients I felt with, it never felt repeated with them.

"Not really, no day is ever dull although I am very curious. They aren't normal I have never seen such void eyes, there is something awfully off with them but I really want to help. I have never admitted this out loud but it's the first I have ever been terrified of patients who have not even uttered a single word, but at the same time they excite me, they are taking me back as to why I wanted to get into this field in the first place." I confessed. I found it hard settling into therapy from psychology but they took me back.

Hope and London exchanged glances, their expressions a mix of concern and intrigue.

London spoke first, their voice soft with understanding. "It's okay to feel scared, especially when faced with something unknown and unsettling."

Hope nodded in agreement. "We're here for you, always."

"We understand partially, we can only understand so much but just be careful. - Okay?" I nodded.

"And if it gets out of hand in anyway drop them."Their reassurance brought a sense of comfort, and I managed a small smile. "Thanks, guys. I appreciate it."

As we settled into bed, the dim light casting shadows across the room, I couldn't shake the feeling of unease. Yet, beneath the fear lurked an undeniable curiosity, a determination to uncover the truth behind the enigma that was my silent patients. And with Hope and London by my side, I felt a renewed sense of resolve to confront whatever challenges lay ahead.

...

We already had a routine, I would welcome them then ask them to make themselves feel comfortable and then start with the questions and recommendations, their responses were still the same as last time- silence. I haven't heard the sound of their voices all I knew was their appearance. This week was different, just like my friends had warned - I was sick.

I was not really one to take sick days until it was really necessary, I only realised how sick I was midday, at least in the morning, I wasn't dizzy although my nose was red and my voice had already changed with coughing here and there. They didn't complain they just watched me in silence. We were able to finish our session and as usual, I was a little disappointed I genuinely was very curious and I also wanted to help them, the only way I could do that was if they would actually speak to me, a part of me that I would never entertain or acknowledge craved to hear sound of their voice.

I thought maybe as time went on I would at some point get bored of the constant silence in the room aside from me filling the silence with my voice but I didn't, the more time I spent with them the more my mind ran with different scenarios and the curiosity within me burned like a wild fire consuming my entire being piece by piece.

I looked at the time as I passed clock heading back to my office. I was on my way back from my bosses office, I had went there to update him on the lack of progress with the patients. His demeanor changed noticeably at the mention of their names, offering little assistance as before. Frustrated by the unproductive conversation, I stepped out to clear my head, grabbing more tissues along the way.

The realization that I no longer maintained a strictly professional relationship with these men weighed heavily on my mind, I had tried to call my uncle but his number didn't go through neither did his wife's. Every time I thought of asking someone else to handle them I was reminded of the sorrow that had been etched onto my uncle's voice, I couldn't do it.

I sighed looking at my door, I was eager to get my purse and then leave, I opened the door freezing at the sight. Two women stood inside, and my desk was adorned with various types of medication. My eyes widened as I noticed two bouquets of flowers on my desk, what caught my attention was the rich colour of the roses, they were green, which was my favourite colour. The roses sparkled under the light, captivating my attention, and I couldn't tear my gaze away from them. I have never seen green roses but now they had quickly become my favourite thing in the world.

"May - May I help you?" I asked I wasn't surprised that there were people in my office without my knowledge seeing as the receptionist abhorred me, which still baffled me till this day but I really didn't want to have any office conflicts so I just tried to work around her plus her Dad ran the main branch of this company. She was untouchable.

"Mr. Marino sent me to do a house check-up; he told me you weren't well," one of the women explained, breaking the silence. Surprised that they could talk, I turned to the other woman, who echoed the same sentiment. My mind refused to process what was going on as I looked at the flowers both signed, get well soon, Marino. Just the surname written.

Etched on my mind from every romance I have ever seen, I took them gently in my hands before smelling, damn, I couldn't help the slight twitch of the corner of my mouth as the scent filled my nostrils. They had a citrus with a mix of floral scent to them, for as long as I have known my friends they have bashed me for my choice of favourite scent. It was addictive to me.

How did they know.

For a moment I paused looking at the flowers in my hands and the medication on my desk my mind failing to register what was going on as I tried to process everything and, the little I could grasp. I noticed that the cards were signed by them, I never knew it was possible to be obsessed with someone's writing.

When I finally regained my composure, I politely asked the doctors to leave, assuring them I was fine. However, they declined, explaining that they couldn't leave until they had completed their tasks, even if it meant I would have to endure two check-ups. What struck me as odd was that they arrived separately and had no clue about each other's presence. I didn't argue, partly because I began to doubt my own senses, wondering if I was hallucinating as I stared at the flowers.

After my check-ups, I was given medication and instructed on when and how to take it. Thankfully, it was all in the form of syrups, as I had openly expressed my fear of pills. The doctors were incredibly kind and understanding throughout the entire process. Even during the check-up, they would panic if I so much as moved, constantly asking if they had made me uncomfortable or caused me any harm. I felt like a fragile piece of expensive glass that needed to be handled with utmost care, but I reassured them that I was fine.

Feeling a mix of confusion and gratitude, I managed to thank them for their concern before they left. As the door closed behind them, I couldn't shake the feeling of unease. Why were they sending people to check on me? I had so many other questions that left me feeling bewildered and unsure of what to make of all of this.

I quickly took a picture, sending it to the group chat just to make sure my mind wasn't making things up. I was brought out of my daze by my phone buzzing. Retrieving it from my pocket, I saw an email from my boss. He was granting me sick days and basically commanding that I do not come back until I was fine, the day kept on getting more strange

What on earth was going on?

I paused, stopping myself from overthinking. It couldn't mean anything significant, aside from just a sympathetic gesture, I reasoned, trying to quell the rising tide of speculation. I was overthinking and I was already feeling light headed.

I decided fresh air would do me well as I packed the flowers, medication and everything I needed to take home, and took a cab home. After settling down at home, I couldn't get my eyes of them, I didn't know what to do, so I sat there just watching them as my phone blew up with messages.

...

Tell me what y'all think.
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