His seemed to say,This is fun.
“Is that true?” Dr. Franklin asked. “Do you never ask for help?”
I asked for help. When I needed it and when I felt like someone else could handle a situation better than Icould—which wasn’t as often as I would’ve liked. But she wasn’t asking about my real life. She was asking if I ever asked the stranger next to me for help. “He has a hard time listening and an even harder time reading body language.”
“I’m very good at reading body language,” he said, almost under his breath, his voice low and husky. “Very good.”
Our eyes met; his were teasing, mine were probably full of fire. I wondered if these smarmy lines usually worked for him.
“It sounds like maybe you two have different styles of communication.”
“Yes,” he said. “I use words and she uses looks.”
“He uses sarcasm and I use common sense.”
“Can you give me an example where he used sarcasm?”
Two could play at this game. “Yes, this morning when I was cleaning up an orange juice spill, instead of just helping me, like a person with observational skills would, he said, ‘Do you want some bacon with that OJ?’”
“That wasn’t sarcasm, I was actually making bacon.” His thigh was pushing against mine, and I wanted to stand up and walk out of this room. This wasn’t going to be free therapy. This was free irritation, a free raising of my blood pressure. How was this going to help me at all? It wasn’t. My thought that it might give me tools to ease some tension in my current situation was shortsighted. And this experience definitely didn’t make me more fun and spontaneous, another one of the reasons I had said yes to begin with. This was just going to be scheduled stress.
“Do you feel like that might’ve been the wrong time to ask about the bacon?” Dr. Franklin said.
“I do,” he agreed. “This is why we’re here. To work on blending our communication styles. Because we’re both very passionate people.Verypassionate, if you know what I mean.”
I nearly choked on air but managed to get away with a short cough.
“I can tell,” Dr. Franklin said.
“Can you?” Elijah asked. I could hear the smugness in his voice. He thought he was winning.
“What are some other strengths in your relationship?” Dr. Franklin asked. “Aside from passion.”
“Yes, button, what do you think our strengths are?” Elijah asked.
My strength right now was that I was resisting the urge to smack him. It was taking all of my willpower. But beyond that, my mind was blank. Had we been in a real relationship, I sensed we wouldn’t have lasted more than two dates. He thought everything was a joke. I could tell by the way he hadn’t stopped smiling since I walked in the door. But not a genuine smile. A mocking smile. A smile that said,Go ahead, speak so I can make fun of you in my head. A smile and attitude born from a life of extreme privilege. I wondered just how much was in the trust fund I was sure he had.
When I still hadn’t answered the question, he said, “I’ll start. I think we balance each other out. She helps us focus on the bigger picture with her plans and her structure, and I help us focus on the here and now.”
“Would you agree?” Dr. Franklin asked me.
“Sure,” I said, because what else was I supposed to say? Elijah had an image of me in his head, and the sad thing was, it wasn’t far from the truth.
“You don’t have to agree just because I asked,” she said.
“No, it’s a good answer.” Apparently, I was that predictable.
“Do you have anything to add? Any other strengths?”
“He’s a loyal friend,” I said, thinking about how he was doing this for his brother, even though the longer I sat here, the more I wondered why either of us was doing this. She had to know this was all a sham. She would know by the end of the session. I just had to make it to the end of the session.
I hadn’t looked at him when I said those words, but I felt him shift in the seat beside me.
“Friendship is an important part of a marriage. If you two already have that bond down, you’re on a great path.”
I almost laughed but didn’t.
“Like I said, this won’t be a typical session. I would like to do an exercise with you,” she said, then stood and walked to the corner of the room, where she retrieved a thick yoga mat. She laid it on the ground in front of the couch. “If you could sit facing each other, cross-legged on this mat, please.”
