chapter three          A soft knock fluttered through the room. Ellie lifted her head casually off the pillow and brushed a few strands of hair out of her face. When she heard the tapping yet again, she groaned and pulled herself out of bed. She walked over to the door and opened it up.          "Good morning Sunshine," William, said with a huge smile planted across his face. Ellie was shocked to she him there; so, she just stood there for a moment or two, flabbergasted.          "Oh my, I'm so embarrassed!" she finally spit out.          "It's my fault, I should have rung up before I came up here."          "No, no, I over slept. Please, come in." He walked into the room. She glanced down and was mortified to see that she was barely covered, her practically see through tank top/sleep shirt was stretched cross her bust. "I'll be right back, make yourself comfortable." She grabbed some clothes out of the armoire, and headed into the bathroom. A couple minutes later she emerged, dressed, hair and teeth brushed, and light make-up on her face.          "You look lovely, if I may say so."          "You may, thank you."          "The family usually doesn't eat breakfast together. Um…my father's probably already in his office attending to business, and my brother is definitely still asleep, so I thought I would take you downstairs for breakfast, just so you weren't completely lost."          "That's very kind out you, I appreciate that."          "Not a problem." .:.          They left her room and went down the hall to the staircase. She followed behind him as he led her through the massive house. He would tell her little bits of history and facts about each room they passed through; she loved it.          His information was given, not to show off, but to entertain, and she appreciated it. The softness in his voice, the fact that we was genuinely interested and excited about the history of his family home said a lot about him, and Ellie paid attention to every word. As they made their way to another staircase, Ellie realized that the hardest part of her job with this family was not going to be getting Harry to open up, or understanding him; but, rather it was going to be trying to understand William. His attempts to make her comfortable were much appreciated, but it was a tale-tell sign of discomfort on his behalf. He was either put off by her, or afraid that he'd have to face his own demons…this was going to be fun she thought, as they stepped up onto the first step.          "Um…I probably should have explained this early, but, um…this heads up to my apartment, um…that's where I usually eat breakfast, I hope you don't mind."          "Not at all. I'm quite capable of taking care of myself, you pose very little threat to me." She walked ahead of him up the stairs. William watched her hips sway as she climbed the stairs for a moment. He sighed, a bit offset with the flood of thoughts in his mind. He began to climb the stairs himself, shaking his head. They entered the apartment and Ellie was startled.          It was clean! Organized, to be more specific. The living area was decorated in beige, crimson, and cornflower blue. A set of bay windows flanked a pair of French doors on one wall. A large coffee table was surrounded by an over-stuffed sofa and loveseat, and a large armchair filled out the set. The back wall was covered, floor to ceiling with built-in bookcases, filled with books and things.          He escorted her into the kitchen, which was off of a small dining alcove; decorated with a sizable buffet beneath a rich watercolor, and a handsome, deep-stained china cabinet. The kitchen was spacious and orderly. Brass fixtures and granite countertops accented mahogany colored wood.          "I'm impressed."          "By what, the place?"          "Well, yes, but I'm more impressed by your cleanliness and taste in décor," she said as she walked about the living room.          "Thank you. Can I get you something to drink?"          "Um…orange juice, if you have it."          "Two orange juices, coming right up." She strolled along, reading the spines of the books on his walls.          "You have quite a collection here."          "Thank you, but I must admit, that they're mostly school books, so I didn't have much choice in the selection." She chuckled.          "I know how that goes."          "May I ask you a question?" he said, as he came out with their orange juices.          "Certainly."          "Please don't be offended by this, but how did you become a psychiatrist at such a young age?"          "Oh, I'm not offended, it's a very valid question to ask, I'm actually surprised your father didn't ask me about it."          "Dad's mind has been on other issues lately."          "I can certainly understand that. But, back to your question, my mother home schooled me when I was younger. You see, my father was in the Navy, so we moved around a lot. My mom wanted to make sure that with all the moving, that I was not getting behind in my schoolwork. She had taught before, so, she just taught me. Anyways, when it came time for me to go to high-school - "          "High school?"          "I think it's your equivalent to college."          "Oh, I see now, sorry to interrupt."          "Not a problem. When it came time for me to apply to high schools, I was tested and the tests showed that I had completed three years of high school already. So, I went to school for my last year of high school, then headed off to college."          "Did you finish that early too?" he asked, with a playful smile.          "Actually, I did," she replied, smiling.          "When did you know that you wanted to be a psychiatrist?"          "When I was taking my last year of high school. I liked helping people, you know; helping them with their problems and such, well, in the states that usually means social work or psychiatry. I picked the more sedate of the two."          "Do you like it?"          "Very much. It's very gratifying."          "Anything you don't like about it?"          "It can be a little frustrating, at times. And, sometimes the hours can get to you."          "Well, what would you like for breakfast?"          "Whatever you're going to have is fine by me. To be really honest I don't eat breakfast on a daily basis."          "Why not?"          "Too busy, I suppose. Not sure really, just skipped it one day, and haven't changed since."          "Well then, you shall have the finest breakfast I can possibly make. Which shall consist of eggs, bacon and pancakes."          "Sounds wonderful."          "Good! Let me get started as you make yourself comfortable."          Ellie sat down on the couch and perused his magazines on the coffee table. After a few minutes, he emerged from the kitchen and asked her how she liked her eggs. Once she was through looking at his magazines, she walked over to the French doors to her left. She opened one of the doors and stepped out onto the spacious balcony. The balcony overlooked the 'backyard' and the palace gardens. She looked around, admiring the beauty of the grounds.          "Gorgeous view, 'aye?" she heard him say behind her. She turned around to face him.          Quite."          "Breakfast is ready."          "Great." They walked inside and sat down at the dining room table.          "So…you liking England so far?"          "Haven't seen much of it yet."          "We'll have to change that then," he said, looking up from his plate. "My father, my brother and I are going out to Highgrove this weekend, would you like to come?"          "I'd love to, thank you for inviting me."          "No problem." An awkward silence fell upon them; they returned to their plates and didn't speak until they were finished. As William headed into the kitchen after having cleared the table, Harry stumbled in through the front door.          He was wearing only a pair of pajama bottoms. They tied in the front, drawstring style; however it appeared that in the course of the previous evenings tossing and turning, the drawstring had come undone: the pants hung low on his hips, so low Ellie looked down at her hands, smiling and red faced, afraid she might see more of her patient than should ever be allowed.          Harry was obviously not a morning person! It almost appeared as if his eyes were not even open! Yet, he walked into the kitchen, gave a " 'Sup," to his brother and poured himself something to drink.          Apparently, William's back was to his brother, because a few seconds later Ellie heard the "Pfft!" of liquid being blown out of someone's mouth in shock, and then:          "Harry!" William, hissed, trying to sound quiet, "Fix your trousers!"          "What?" Harry mumbled, "You don't have to yell, I'm standing right next to you!"          "Then pull your trousers up! Didn't you see Ellie in the dinning room?"          "Ellie? Ellie who?"          "Ellie, ugh! Dr. Jones? You met her last night!"          "Oh! Yeah, yeah, sure, okay, I know who you're talking about now. She's here? Really? Hmm…didn't see her."          "How could you miss her?" William thought to himself. "Well, just fix your trousers." A moment later the brothers walked out of the kitchen, Harry had fixed his pants.          "Good morning, Dr. Jones," Harry said, walking over to the couch, plopping down and flipping the TV on. "Did you have a good night's sleep?"          "Yes thank you. My room is quite comfortable."          "Oh, so you didn't stay here with Will?" Harry said, dryly, his eyes never leaving the TV set. Again, liquid shot out of William's mouth in shock. Ellie was a tad taken aback, and hesitated a moment before answering.          "No, I didn't, not that it would have been any of your business had I stayed here." She looked across the table to see William, red faced and fuming. He mouthed the words, "I'm sorry". She shook her head, saying, "Don't worry about it".          "Stop talking about me," Harry said coldly from the couch.          "Gee, Harry, ever heard the phrase 'quit while you're ahead'?" Ellie asked.          "Nope," he replied turning the volume up on the TV.          "Well, I should be going anyways, I have some work to do."          "I'll walk you out," Will said, as she stood up. The two walked outside and down the stairs. "Do you know your way back? I know it can be a little confusing."          "I'll be fine, thank you though. Thank you again for breakfast, it was lovely."          "Anytime. I'm sorry for the way my brother acted, he shouldn't have said what he said."          "You don't have to apologize for him, I understand." He stood, before her, nervous-like, hands in his pockets, shuffling his feet…          "Is there something you'd like to say to me Will?" He looked up, a little shocked.          "Um…no, no…nothing, just well…no, never mind, it's nothing."          "You sure?"          "Yeah, yeah, it's nothing."          "You know, I realize that the idea of me being a psychiatrist is offsetting to you; and I'm sorry for that. But," she reached her hand out and put it on his forearm, "I'm here, for you to talk to, to vent to, it is my job to help people sort out the feelings and thoughts that they have. Don't ever feel that I would betray your trust; not only is it not my nature, but I'd loose my license if I didn't keep everything that you said to me in the utmost of confidences," she said with a smile, he smiled too, relaxing a bit, "so, you have twice the promise."          "Thank you, but I'm good, really!"          "Okay, if you say so," he chuckled.          "I do!"          "All right, see you later then."          "Bye." He turned and bounded up the stairs. She heard the door open and close, and then she heard William yelling at his brother. She smiled, rolled her eyes and walked back towards her room.          If Tuesday served no other purpose, it at least proved to her, that the real patient here was not Harry, but Will. And getting Will to open up was going to be difficult, to say the least. .:. back