The Art of Attraction

Chapter 11

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Roger cleared his throat and sipped his water before he clicked to start the video call. He felt a little nervous and shifted in his chair as the call was accepted and the face of a man about his age appeared on the screen. He was nice looking with dark hair and clean shaven. Wearing a dark green jumper.

"Greetings Roger Taylor." the man stated with a warm smile. "It's good to put a face with your name." he said as Roger smiled back.

"It is." Roger agreed. Finding the the face he was looking at seemed kind. "Can I call you Felipe?" he inquired as the man nodded.

"Please do." Felipe answered. "I hope Roger is okay..." he said as Roger nodded.

"Yes, please." Roger answered.

"How are you doing Roger?" Felipe asked. Getting right down to business.

"I'm pretty good considering everything that has happened in my life in the past few months. Well, few years actually." Roger replied.

"Tell me about the last few months." Felipe requested. Roger peered into the camera to see if the therapist had a notepad. Curious if he took notes. He then focused on his answer.

Roger proceeded to give Felipe the highlights of the demise of his marriage and telling his children and meeting and being involved with Brian. Felipe listened quietly until he finished.

"That is a lot to deal with in a very short window of time." Felipe remarked. Roger huffed out a sigh.

"It is." Roger agreed.

"Let's start with your marriage." Felipe proposed as he picked up his pen. Holding it as he gestured at Roger. "Tell me about you and Audra." he requested.

"Let's see..." Roger responded and told him how they had met in school and found themselves pregnant at a young age. How they chose to get married and did finish university and managed to make it work with a young Charlotte in tow. They had another child not long after, a boy named Miles. "I guess we just lived the life you're supposed to live when you're married and have a full time career and two children." he surmised. "We just got on with it and made the best of things." he philosophized.

"So what changed?" Felipe asked him. Roger felt he was better able to answer this question now than he was a few months ago.

"I think our kids heading off to university and our home life shifting into new territory was a big part of it." Roger told him. "Without them there to dominate a lot of our time and focus it became apparent there wasn't much left between us." he offered candidly.

"How did Covid affect your family?" Felipe then asked him. His face showing deep curiosity.

"At first I think it brought us together. You know it was something that we had to cope with as a family so we were focused on that." Roger stated. "The kids were back home and we were distracted with world events and looking after each other." he said as he recalled those times. "Of course as soon as they were able, the kids went back to their dorms and that left Audra and I alone again. Stuck in the house all the time and despite being together we really started to drift apart." he confessed.

"In what ways do you see that it happened?" Felipe inquired. Roger tapped his fingers on his desk.

"I guess we started spending more time apart. I was in my home office working during the day and Audra worked from Charlotte's room. She had set up a desk in there. We didn't always finish around the same time so we started having meals alone and I ended up watching tv in the bedroom while she watched in the lounge. We didn't want to watch the same things most of the time."