"So how can I help you guys?" Asked the doctor sitting in front of the couple.
They both looked at each other before sighing.
"Well we're obviously here for couples therapy. We need to see if our relationship is salvageable. We'd rather stay together and constantly learn how to do things than to put our daughter through the whole custody war." Said Zara. Max nodded in agreement.
"Don't just agree with her Max, tell me what you want to get out of this."
"I want to know what did I do to make her resent me so much. And I want to fix things." Max replied, leaving Zara shocked.
"For your daughter or for your own conscious?"
"For my own concious. I feel like everything has become about our daughter, when was the last time we ever did anything for us?"
As usual Max seemed to have the ability to trigger Zara with just a few words.
"Some of us don't have the time to do anything for "us" because we have to stay at home all day, every day with her. For the past few months all I've had was Emilia, your mother and sister. I see them three times as much as I see you. And even when you are home, you constantly want to be out with your friends. I even agreed to your ridiculous idea to take her with us to multiple grand prix just so we could spend time together as a family. I sacrificed so much for you and yet you turn around and throw a rumored fling in my face."
Max was experiencing a lot of mixed emotions.
"Max how does this make you feel?"
"I don't know. I'm confused as to where this all came from but then I'm also angry that she doesn't think that I haven't sacrificed anything for her."
Zara scoffed.
"What did you sacrifice Max? Mhm? A relationship with your exes? A relationship with your verbally abusive father? Or is it the parties in Ibiza, you know the glitz and glam?"
It was silent for a moment as Max looked at her in disbelief. The bitterness in her voice had confused him. Since when was she so angry and bitter.
"You know sometimes I wonder if you even want to be a dad. And on other days I wonder if maybe I'm the problem. Maybe I have given you to many chances, I have allowed you back into my life even after you hurt me. And that's why I'm doing this for Emilia. Because she's the reason why we even got back together. She deserves to have the love that you won't give me. She deserves to have two parents that love her more than they love themselves and each other. So I apologise for being so selfish and asking for more than what you can give. "
Max's heart broke with each word, especially when he heard her voice cracking with emotion. He did this. He'd given her the bare minimum and she still reserved that small bit of love for their child.
"Don't apologise. Please don't. Because that would mean that you've stopped fighting for this relationship."
"That's because I am. I have constantly fought for this relationship to stay afloat. I don't how much longer I can do that. I'm tired."
By now the couple were looking at each other with tears in their eyes.
"Ok, it's good that we're digging deep into how you guys feel about the relationship and each other. Now Zara, earlier in our individual session, you mentioned that felt like you were never enough and I see that even in this relationship it's come up quite often. Can you tell us more about that. "
The therapist had seen many couples, including some high profile ones, but never had she seen a couple so ready to end it all, or rather a woman ready to leave her partner without a fight.
"My whole life I thought that I was never enough. I wasn't enough to make my dad stay, I wasn't enough to make it on my own so I had to use my mother's name to start my career. And now I'm not enough to keep the man of my dreams. That's why I'm so tired. Because I'm finally feeling confident in myself, I'm finally enough for myself and my child. I don't want to fight to meet your constantly changing standards. "
"What do you mean by that? What standards?" Asked Max.
"Max one minute you want a girl that will be strong willed, and ready to go head to head with your dad to defend you. But the next day I need to ignore him when he says and does things to disrespect me. You said that you don't expect me to cut off my friends from Mercedes or any team for that matter, but every race I have to sit in your teams garage and face the awkwardness by myself. All for the sake of supporting you. And you always get mad or irritated when I spend too much time talking to my male friends but I need to be more understanding of your friendship with your exes."
Max was starting to realize how ignorant he'd been. He'd thought that everything in their relationship was fine. Sure they argued, usually when Max and Lewis went wheel to wheel, but he'd brushed it off as a part of a normal relationship. He'd ignored the non verbal fights. The ones where the tension in the room was so thick that it could make you physically choke. He'd forgotten about all the times he'd ignored her calls or left her on read while she was stuck at home with their child.
He'd done everything he swore that he wouldn't be. He'd become an absent father and an even worse partner. He wanted to fix this. But it was all up to her.
"Unfortunately we've run out of time but I will leave you with some homework. And I want you guys to go off and think about this on your own. I will give you journal's to write down your answers and you can share your thoughts at the next session."
Do you still love your partner? Do you still trust your partner? Do you still want to be with your partner? Why?
Zara looked down at her answers. She just hoped that this would go well, after all she would be breaking his heart.
19 𝐎𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐫 2021
𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐰𝐨𝐥𝐟𝐟 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
A/N
Did they break up? I guess we'll never know. The next and final chapter is in the works. So let's see how it pans out.
