My Girl?

The next day she got a call from the girlfriend. She was very soft spoken and polite. A few times she had to be asked to speak up because of the low timbre of her voice.

As the conversation continued past the initial introduction and polite talk, she felt like the conversation was beginning to take a little change in direction. It was no longer about her being comfortable coming in with him for a session. She began to ask questions about the content of the meetings.

What has he said about her?

Does he talk about how he wants to spend time with her?

Does he ever mention about how they have such good sex?

She had to stop her and remind her about client confidentiality. Let her know that if he would like to tell her about the sessions, it is entirely up to him and he can tell her. But, she was not allowed to nor had the desire to share information without the consent of her client.

She then heard something she did not expect. His girlfriend, in a husky, emotion filled voice, said: You do know that he thinks you are attractive. He told me that if he did not have me he would want to ask you out to dinner. We saw you at the coffee shop and he said he wanted to go say hi to you. I told him no!

You cannot have him!

He is mine!

I will not share!

The phone went silent.

She sat at her desk, for what felt like a solid five minutes with her phone in her hand while staring at the receiver. She looked at the display on the phone and jotted the phone number down. When she finally hung up the phone, she did so with a long and exasperating sigh.

Oh boy, she thought as she leaned back in her chair.

She has had clients proclaim their undying love to her before. However, within a couple of sessions she was able to make them see that they are just in love with the idea that she is helping them. The client ends up agreeing with her and they were able to maintain the professional therapist and client relationship.

This was different. She has never had a partner of a client become aggressive towards her. It bothered her a little bit, not because she felt threatened, but because she was being accused of something of which she was completely innocent. She has no interest in her client and to trying and explain that to his girlfriend would be futile.

Hopefully, she thought, she will come with him at the next appointment and they will have the chance to talk through the phone conversation. Have her realize that his comments are not reciprocated and there is no threat to their relationship.

When he walked into her office alone on Monday, she felt a little bit of relief and a little bit of letdown. She wanted to address the phone call with both parties present but she was happy there would not be a chance of a confrontation.

After he exchanged journals and sat in the chair, she asked him how he was feeling.

He said he felt great, was enthusiastic, enjoying life and is still happy in his relationship. "I have never felt more alive!" he said as he ran his palms from his thighs to his knees.

He will do that three times. Stop. Then do it three more times. She has witnessed him doing that gesture before. After the second time he performed that movement during a session, she concluded that when he did that, he did not believe what he was saying himself. The masks they have worked so hard to take off, the walls they have been attempting to break down were still in place.

"I am surprised your girlfriend did not accompany you today." She said while trying not to appear relieved.

"Um, Yeah, she said to tell you she is sorry that she couldn't come. She also said she is sorry that she did not get a chance to call you this week like she wanted. She has been very busy and was unable to break free today."

Plant, wipe to the knees. Plant, wipe to the knees. Plant, wipe to the knees.

Pause

Plant, wipe to the knees, Plant, wipe to the knees. Plant, wipe to the knees.

He then began to line up the hem on the ends of his shorts.

His girlfriend lied to him and told him that she did not call. Was she trying to protect him? Was she controlling him and warned him that he is to keep his distance or else she would break up from him? Why would she not tell him that she called and why would she not come to the meeting if she wanted him well?

"Would you oppose if I were to call her and put her on speaker phone?" She asked as she made her way to the desk. She did not wait for his answer and began to dial the number from which the girlfriend called.

Once the last number was entered, she heard her ringtone chime. But, her phone was on the desk and it was silent. She looked up at him and realized the ringtone was coming from his left pocket.

He just looked at her as if he did not hear the phone at all.

"Your phone is ringing." She said as she held her phone to her ear.

He reached into his right hand pocket and produced his cell phone and showed her that it was not ringing at all.

"Your, left pocket?" She said with a puzzled look on her face.

He jumped slightly when he realized that the sound WAS coming from his left pocket.

"How did her phone get in my pocket?" He said aloud.

"I must have put it in there by mistake yesterday." With a little chuckle he hit the end button.

"Sorry about that. I guess she will not be able to answer your call." He said sheepishly.

She decided to wait to discuss the phone call and that she had seen him at the coffee shop until the next meeting. She wanted to think some things over and put together a game plan.

After the session, she watched him walk out in the parking lot towards his car.

An idea flashed in her mind. An idea that would explain everything but yet was so farfetched that it seemed unbelievable. If her idea were true, then situations like this only happened in movies or poorly written stories.

It would explain the bite on his lip that matched up with his teeth. The gesticulating actions at the coffee shop. The cell phones in the pockets.

As he approached his car, she dialed the girlfriends number again. She saw him stop, reach in his left hand pocket, throw up his hands, touch the screen then lift the phone to his ear.

In the next instant, she saw his lips move but heard the girlfriends voice.

"Hello?"