This is a pivotal moment for him. She has to keep her focus on him or she’ll lose him.
‘You’ve been together for a long time?’ asks Rose.
‘Since we were teenagers,’ Dan replies.
‘Then it does seem odd that you haven’t ever moved in with each other,’ she goes on. ‘Is there a reason for that?’
‘Her cousin, Miriam, owns a lovely house in Bath. They’re very close.’
Dan has a quick, well-rehearsed answer.
‘What about the rest of her family?’
‘They’re not close. Apart from Miriam, that is.’
OK, thinks Rose.Lack of family support for poor Julia. Another piece of the puzzle.
She tries a different tack.
‘You say that you’ve always been there for Julia, Dan. What would happen if you weren’t there? What would she do?’
‘I don’t know,’ he says, sounding confused at this change of direction.
Rose continues: ‘Julia would have to choose whether to survive or not. You say she needs you but in this scenario, you are not around. What would she do then?’
‘Like I said, I don’t know.’ Dan’s face is now puzzled.
‘Let’s imagine another scenario,’ she suggests. ‘Let’s imagine you get back together, after this break, but then Julia decides to leave you.’
Dan inhales audibly.
‘She packs her stuff and goes to another country, starts a new life, maybe even meets someone new. What would you do then?’
The questions have to be relentless.
‘Can you stop her going? What if you try to stop her going but she still leaves?’
The other five are staring at Dan, apart from Dianne, who still has the opaque look in her eyes. She’s staring off beyond the infinity pool, not seeing the blissful ocean.
‘That wouldn’t happen,’ says Dan fiercely. ‘She needs me.’
Rose cheers inwardly. Dan has reached the important point.
‘What way does she need you?’
‘Every way,’ he says, confused. ‘She calls me first thing every morning and tells me what her day’s going to be like. I sort out her bills, do her taxes. She’s funny about accountants.’ He smiles. ‘I get her car serviced, fix things around the house for her and Miriam. We have dinner once a week.’
Rose interrupts.
‘This sounds like a very one-sided relationship, one in which your needs are not being met. You’re afraid of Julia leaving you and you do everything to prevent that. Essentially, you sacrifice yourself to make sure Julia’s needs are met, don’t you think?’
He’s shaking his head.
Rose changes tack, throws in the final important point:‘I want you to think about something, Dan: we can’t control other people. Julia is an independent person; she’s not your child to be taken care of. She makes her own choices and your choices are based wholly around what she does.
‘Your fear of her leaving you is entirely rooted in how you feel about yourself. Do you feel that Julia saved you from something?’
Daniel is the second tallest boy in lower sixth in St Anselm’s. The tallest is Willem, who’s half Dutch, home of the tallest people in the world.
