Fuck, Matt thought looking at his wife's face.
Your expression went from confused, to horrified, to side and it repeated again. Your fists were clenched and Matt wanted to cave in and take your hands in his.
But, he didn't. He kept his hands to himself and looked back at the therapist, who kept her eyes on you.
"No" you finally said, shaking your head. "That's not going to happen. This is.." you let out a sarcastic laugh. "I mean..are you kidding? We're not..."
"It's to take some space" The therapist reasoned.
"We don't need space" you growled. "We can't run away from this problem"
"Nobody is running away from the problem. We can start slow. It's just for thirty days" She tried again, looking at Matt for a response.
"Just thirty days?" You repeated. "No. No way" you sat back and crossed your arms. "Tell her it's not happening, Matt. Tell her"
Matt was stuck. Thirty days sounds good to him. It was plenty time for him to have some space and a break.
He understands why it would freak you out. Anything involving a separation made his chest tighten, he couldn't even look at the word. It wasn't even an option to think of how you felt about it. You were on two different pages.
The therapist looked back at you. You looked at Matt, picking on your cuticles.
"Tell her" You stated. "Tell her it's a bad idea"
The therapist sat back on the couch. Fuck, he thought again.
"I don't think it's a bad idea" he said quietly. "I think it's a good idea to take a break for a while"
You froze. "A break? A whole month, Matt. This isn't going to fix anything"
"We've been fighting for so long. I want to try this"
"No"
Matt sighed and grabbed your hand. "It's a good idea. Remember when your friends tried-"
"For two weeks, Matt!"
"It helped them, didn't it?"
"Two weeks is nowhere near a month"
Your eyes flare and fill up with tears. Matt watches and realised you hadn't cried for three weeks. He wanted to pick up your hand and hold it, but there was nothing he could do except hold eye contact and tell you this was a good idea.
"Could we just try it out?" Matt asked again. "I think it'll help us"
"It'll help you see that you're better without some things in your life"
Matt opened his mouth to respond to the accusation, with pain in his eyes.
"You wouldn't be leaving each other lives" the therapist interjects. "You don't see anyone else. You don't move out of your house, not a thing moves. You just act as if you're not involved"
"We ignore each other for a month?"
Matt squeezed your hand. "That isn't the worst idea. Everything is overwhelming, don't you think?" You looked terrified, so he continued. "We should try"
"What if it took a week for us to notice something's wrong?" Your voice was full of emotion. "What do we do then?"
"Then we'll stop and talk about it. If you choose to continue, we'll discuss how everyone's feeling at the end of each week. A journal will help document how you're feeling. About what you appreciate about each other"
