THE THERAPIST

07

𝐂 𝐡 𝐚 𝐩 𝐭 𝐞 𝐫  𝟕

     “How’re we doing today, Mr. Bennett?”

     I stared at the middle-aged man seated across from me in my office and tried to put on the brightest smile I had ever shown to my clients. I recalled our conversation on the phone two nights ago. He was having another episode of panic attacks and was breaking down. His estranged ex-wife, Clara was back in his life after remarrying and abandoning him and their eight-year-old son, Thomas.

     “Doc, she wants to take Tom away from me,” he’d said, his manly voice filled with sorrow.

     I asked him to calm down and try the breathing exercise I taught him. I stayed on the line until he simmered down, promising him we’d go through this together, and that everything was going to be fine. Now as I looked at him, I couldn’t help but empathize with him.

     He’d been through a lot and when his narcissistic wife finally gave him the divorce, I thought everything would come back to normal. And it did until she appeared in his life again, after seven good months.

     He ran a hand through his matted hair and sighed. Leaning forward, he placed his tweed jacket on the sofa and fumbled with his fingers. “I didn’t think I’d be back here again, sitting on this same sofa.” He glanced around my office.

     He traced his eyes to the far end of my office, where a vase of golden tulips I had received from a grateful ex-client sat on a table, shimmering in the rays of the sunlight.

     He directed his eyes back to me. “Thank you for deciding to see me.”

     The smile was still on my face. “Don’t mention it. It’s nice to see you again. I just wished we’d met under a different circumstance.”

     “I’m not fine, doc,” he said and sat back. “Clara. She wants to take Tom from me.”

     “I know,” I said slowly, looking at him in the eyes. “How do you feel about that?”

     “I’m scared. Very scared. Clara—” He trailed off and stood, then walked briskly to the window. He opened the blinds and stared out.

     A silence fell. I listened to the steady ticks of the clock and watched Mr. Bennett linger by the window.

     “What are you scared of?” I asked, careful not to upset him. Mr. Bennett was still processing the horror of the news.

      He’d seen me many many months ago because of his spouse. He suspected she was cheating and every time he confronted her, she’d deny it and call him a freak. Clara verbally abused him. Made his life miserable. It took us several weeks to realize Clara was trouble and she wasn’t going to change.

     Several sessions in, and we began to see improvements. Out of nowhere, Clara confessed her infidelity and asked for a divorce. She didn’t want anything to do with Bennett or the child. She’d found herself a rich lover.

     I helped him get through the divorce and its aftermath. Then he’d left my office a new individual, free from Clara’s thrall. Until he called. Clara’s back. The three words had shaken me, and I told him we should meet.

     Mr. Bennett reclaimed his seat, his lips pressed together. “Clara’s husband is rich, and I’m just a mechanic and a nobody. I’m scared they’ll pull strings and gain custody of Thomas.”

     My heart sank from hearing him say he was just a mechanic. His confidence level had already waned. He didn’t believe he stood a chance. I have to bring him back on track.

     “When Thomas fell sick with malaria, where was Clara?” I asked.

     He glanced at me, his eyes narrowing. “I don’t understand. How’s that gonna help?”

     “Just answer the question, will you?” I said calmly.

     He murmured, “Away.”

     “Who took care of him?”

     He looked skeptically at me, then said, “I did.”

     “Good,” I said. “If you hadn’t been there, I don’t think Clara would have. She didn’t even bother to check on him when she found out later. To Thomas, you’re a hero. You were there for him when he needed you the most.”

     My mind raced back to Mathew on his sick bed, his face so pallid. The cancer had spread rapidly. There wasn’t anything the doctors could do.

     “Mommy? Where’s daddy?” he’d asked me. I lied to him. I didn’t want him to think badly of his father. I didn’t do it for Garry. I did it for him, to save him from knowing his father’s whereabouts. That would’ve broken his heart. At least, he died knowing his father loved him just as much as his mother. Which was true in words, except that actions were louder than words.

     Snapping out of it, I said, “You’re not a nobody, and you have to know that.”

     He just looked blankly at me. He didn’t believe it, but very soon he’d come to know the truth.

     I moved closer. “What do you want to do now?”

     He shrugged. “I don’t know. I don’t want Clara to gain full custody. She’s never cared about Tom, which makes me wonder why she’s suddenly back and wants him.”

     “Do you want to fight it?”

     He heaved a sigh. “I don’t even have money to pay you, much less hire a lawyer. If it goes to court, it’s goin’ to be messy. I don’t think I stand a chance.”

     “You should know you’re not my client anymore on file, and we’re not bound by any code. I volunteered to see you.”

     “What does that mean?”

     “It means that I’ll help you in any way I can. I know people too. Powerful people.”

     His eyes widened. “You’ll do that for me?”

     I stood. “You’re a good man. You deserve to be happy.”

     He sprang up. Before I was aware, he pulled me into a tight hug, suffocating me. Well, that wasn’t expected. “Thank you. You don’t know what this means to me.”

     I couldn’t even move my hands to hug him back. I stood still for a while, then said, “Don’t mention.”

     He withdrew and I was glad he did. We left my office and I escorted him to the elevator. Just as we exchanged our goodbyes, the metal door slid open. My heart skipped a beat when I saw them. Not again, I muttered.