How Does It Make You Feel to Double Back

Chapter 5 - Working

After weeks of searching and separate consultations, Simone and I finally found ourselves in our first session. She was an older black woman maybe in her mid forties. Ms. Tia was her name. She wore a crisp button up white shirt, coral colored long pants and black loafers, her hair in a short pixie cut. She sat across from us giving us the cliff notes of her credentials, and why she decided to work with LGBTQ teens and young adults.

"So what makes you two ladies want to get into couples therapy?" She asked over glasses. Her legs were crossed at the knee and hands rested on top.

"Well-" Simone and I both began.
"Sorry babe. You go first." She gave me the opportunity.

"Well we thought it would be a good idea to get into therapy now before anything has the chance to get too crazy between us so that way we'd have the tools needed to deal with any issues that may come up." I told Ms. Tia.

"And how about you Simone?"

"Well I wanted to get us into therapy because I wanted to start out with a strong foundation for us. Neither one of us is from LA and getting into the entertainment industry I know can be sketchy sometimes so I want to make sure we can both have a level head going into this and we're also engaged." She said proudly.

"Married so young? How long have you been together?" She wrote down in her notebook.

"Umm almost a year" Simone chimed in.

"Ok that's good. And you know for sure that's what you both want?" She looked back and forth between us.

"Yes we're  sure. We've been through some pretty heavy things together already. We were in a car accident a few months ago and Simone broke her ankle. It was pretty bad, but we made it through." I grabbed Simone's hand lacing our fingers together.

"How did you both deal with that?"

"It was hard for sure." Simone started.

"I was angry that my LA plans had to be postponed and I kinda took that out on Monét for a moment. We were still kinda fresh out of the accident and our emotions were still very heightened but I said some things that really hurt her. I just didn't want her give up her dreams to stay behind for me. I was afraid that I would lose her and almost did, but I gave her space and we eventually made up." Simone shared, her eyes closed over at the memory.

"And you Monét?

"Well I of course was worried about Simone and wanted to make sure she recovered well. But like she said she didn't want me giving up this once in a lifetime opportunity, she was pretty adamant about it." I chuckled lightly because looking back now that whole situation was stupid and unnecessary.

"But she was so stern about it I was starting to feel like I didn't have a say in the matter and so I kinda shut down a bit. I was also still in shock since it wasn't even a full twenty four hours since the accident so adrenaline was still rushing, we hadn't been sleeping or eating properly so tempers were bound to flare."

She nodded as I spoke.

"Have tempers ever flared between you before?"

What the hell was this lady digging for? She was asking a lot of questions like she wanted to discredit our relationship or something. My body got tense and I clenched my jaw. Simone put her hand on my thigh to calm me like she often does.

"If you're asking if we've ever gotten into any arguments we have a few times. None of them were ever over serious matters and we never yelled at or put hands on each other." She pursed her lips together looking back and forth between us.

"Well I'm glad you ladies are seeking guidance this early in your relationship. How did you two meet again?" She sat back in her chair.

This honestly is one question I am tired of answering because it just feels so cumbersome to explain to people and by the time I get to the end of the answer I feel like people think I'm in love with my sister or something and it weirds me out.