She smiled as she followed him over to the bar, her heels clacking almost merrily on the floor as she did. Leaning on the bar, she watched him pour his scotch, swallow it, then pour another. She suspected an excellent vintage, but she'd never enjoyed whiskey in any of its incarnations.
"Scotch isn't really my drink," she told him. "But thank you. I'm glad I could help."
Admiring the bar, she smiled slightly at his suggestion that he could call her in lieu of a therapist.
"Well, I'm not actually a mental health professional," she said with a smile. "I just have a bachelor's in psychology from UCLA and a whole lot of experience in the field." Folding her arms on the smooth, finished surface, she canted her head to one side, looking into his face. That he was in therapy wasn't exactly a surprise, if only because it was hardly an anomaly in LA or New York. Half the people she knew, at least, had been to therapy at some point in their lives, and those were just the ones who admitted it. It seemed almost like a rite of passage in certain circles, but over all, it only served to convince Lia that everyone was kind of fucked up; most people in therapy just had the self-awareness and the resources to make a go of figuring some part of it out.
"Even so, of course you're welcome to call in any time, or write. Though I am right next door, if you need," she winked.
Now why had she said that? She barely knew this man, and she was opening her door to him. It was hard enough to separate her personal life from her professional life as it was; inviting someone to cross that line at will definitely didn't seem like the wisest course of action. Even so, she didn't take it back or try to backpedal. That niggling sense of familiarity pushed at her usual boundaries.
"So if I'm allowed to be nosy, and you're going to ask my advice anyway, can I assume it's all right to ask what brings you to Pax? It's a bit of a hike to LA," she noted. And she would know -- she made the commute a few times a week herself to her own place of business. She couldn't imagine leaving, though, and she wondered if the same sense compelled him.