Unedited.
Chapter Four
Before:
Grady
"What made you seek treatment?"
Grady shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "This actually isn't my first time. I've been seeing a therapist in L.A. on and off for a few years."
Page said a consult was standard before the therapist took on new patients. It took weeks to set up this meeting, conflicting schedules, and every day since Page suggested therapy, he'd talked himself out of doing it and then back into it. He wasn't ok with this, still didn't believe this was what they needed, but he refused to back down.
When a date and time was finally set, Grady had Butler rent out a conference room for privacy. This was a conversation he didn't want to have within earshot of the band and it deserved more respect than closing off the back sitting room on the bus.
So there he sat in a choking tie with a camera trained on him so the chosen therapist could see his face.
The doc studied him for a minute, gripped the top of the notepad like it was the only way irritation could find a way out of him. "What made you come to me?"
Didn't he know? "Page Townsend suggested therapy for the both of us—together—with you."
"And did she tell you I'm a child psychologist and do not specialize in couples therapy?"
Grady frowned. "No, she did not."
Dr. Kofi nodded like he suspected she hadn't told him. "I can recommend several other—"
"She trusts you."
"I understand that, Mr. Sinclair. And I do believe the pair of you need counseling. Together and separately. However—"
"She wants us to see you."
"But do you?"
They stared at each other for a few seconds. The question was blunt. "Do I what?"
"Want therapy? I don't think you do."
How could he know that? They'd spoken for a handful of minutes. "How—?"
"You keep using "she" with no inclination of yourself. That suggests you are resistant to this idea. I am not in the business of forcing therapy when it's not wanted."
Grady pulled back, wrangled in the anger. "I am not—"
"I'll forward a list of names to you and your manager—"
"Wait!" The doc tilted his head at the outburst and sat back in his chair. "Just—wait a minute."
The doc did just that. Waited. Grady could feel it slipping, his control, the future. The need to say something in order to preserve everything made his gut clinch, his mind spin— "I want this."
"I don't believe you."
Grady banged his clenched fist on the table then withdrew, covering his mouth. "What can I do to convince you?"
"It's not me you have to convince, Mr. Sinclair. Couples therapy takes both people in order for the therapy to work. You have to participate. You have to put in the work. There is no easy fix here. It will take time and effort. The pair of you will find out the whys, hows, and whens of what happened and why it didn't work before. If you commit to this, if you go down this road with her, you'll find out things that will be hard to hear, maybe even hard to accept. Same goes for her about you."
