Chapter 2 #2
Then she came back out, grabbed her bag, and brushed past me without a word.
I chuckled and continued setting the alarm, then locked the door behind us.
If she weren’t easily the best administrative assistant that I had over the last couple of years, I would have fired her a long time ago.
She was thorough, always on time, always organized, and the patients loved her.
Over the last year or so, since she started, she has made my workday flow much more smoothly.
But she always kept it short with me. My son’s mother, Shareese, was a five-foot-five menace in a pair of stilettos.
Shareese and I met in college and dated for a year before she became pregnant with our son, Tre.
She wanted the family, marriage, and white picket fence, and so did I, but our relationship was toxic as hell.
Still to this day, Shareese was the prettiest woman I knew.
But she had the temper of a mass shooter.
I’m a 6’7” grown ass man, and if she got mad, I’d consider sitting down somewhere and shutting the fuck up.
One day, we were still in college, and I was in my female friend’s room.
Shareese thought I was cheating and popped up to her dorm and beat her ass and mine.
When I walked to the parking lot to leave, I found out that she had parked a random kid’s scooter inside my car while the doors were locked and closed.
After all that, when I tried to explain why I was there, she maced me.
I had to convince four people not to press charges on her, pay for the girl’s chipped tooth, buy a nigga a new scooter, and fix my car.
She had me working like a dog all damn summer long.
Our breakup was mutual. She was convinced I cheated, and I just knew that we weren’t going to work.
Now the beef? That was one-sided. But she hasn’t fucked with me since that day.
We haven’t had the best coparenting relationship; in fact, we barely have one at all.
She wants nothing to do with me. But I could never call her bitter.
She always let me have a relationship with my son, never denied me visits, came up with a schedule for us to have equal time, and was cool with the only other woman I introduced to Tre years ago.
Despite her attitude toward me and her short fuse, she is the complete opposite with Tre.
She’s a good ass mother. The way she goes over and beyond for our son is enough for me to take a thousand cans of mace with no milk for her if it ever came down to it.
After her job lost its contract last year, my son said she was out of work.
I had just let go of the last admin, so I went to her house and asked her if she wanted to work at the office.
That was one of the few times I had seen her mean ass shed a tear; she surprised me by hugging me and saying, “Thank you.”
Then once she composed herself, she stepped out of my embrace, slapped my chest, and told me don’t ever touch her again.
Once she agreed, I doubled the salary, and she has been in the office since.
At the end of the day, whether she wanted to admit it or not, we were family, and I would always treat her like it.
Though there’s no negotiating with a terrorist, and I can’t fix my own issues no matter how much I’ve tried, ironically, now I spend my days helping people navigate through this same type of dynamic. I’ve helped thousands of families and saved just as many marriages.
Thinking about families made my mind drift back to Breeze.
I started thinking about the exercises I wanted them to do over the next week.
When I walked into her office and saw her standing there, I wanted to ask her for her phone number.
But I didn’t think it was the right time to approach her at work, so I didn’t.
Just told myself that the next time I saw her, I would.
It was just my luck that she’s someone’s wife.
Breeze was sexy as fuck, but I didn’t have any attachment to her otherwise.
So, I was going to do my job without bias, the same way I would for any other client with this same type of issue.
I pulled into my garage and stepped out of my truck.
The sound of the engine faded as I turned and pressed the button so the door could close, and then I went inside my townhouse and into the office.
I had so many notes to read and document, so I wasted no time starting.
It took me hours, but I finally got into the notes I had written for Breeze and her husband and read them over.
Taking out another sheet of paper, I jotted down some exercises I thought would be beneficial for them for each of the things they mentioned. Then I narrowed it down to the top five before putting them in an email.
Mr. and Mrs. Thompson, thank you for choosing me as your marriage therapist. After reviewing the notes, I have some exercises that I think would be beneficial for you over the next seven days until we meet again.
Friday: Affirmations-Write a love letter to your partner, explaining to them all the ways they fulfill you, and then read them aloud to each other.
Saturday: Red Light/Green Light- Write down a list of fantasies you have in order of importance, from “curious” to “must try.” Discuss them with each other.
Sunday: Boundaries- Write down lists of things that you can think of that are strictly off limits when it comes to your spouse exploring outside of you. Discuss them and add or subtract them from that list as you need to.
Monday: Test- Write down what your perfect night with someone else would look like and read that to your spouse out loud. Discuss any uneasiness that might arise.
Tuesday: Reconnection- Decompressing and after-care planning. Create a plan for reconnecting after solo encounters. (example: a vacation, a walk, etc.)
Wednesday and Thursday: Revisit any topics and questions from the previous exercises.
This is a couple’s exercise; for the most part, these are discussions you will have amongst yourselves. Take notes on things you would like to discuss further in your next session, but ultimately, this is a bonding moment for the two of you.
Best Wishes.
Dr. Q. Long, LMFT
After hitting “send” on the message, I turned off the computer and went to take a shower, ready to do all of this over again in the morning. This was my life as a single man. My day was strictly office and home, and I wasn’t really in a rush to change it.
The steam from the shower quickly filled the bathroom as I undressed and put my clothing into the hamper in the nearby closet.
I stepped inside the shower and let the water run over my head and down my back.
Tomorrow was Friday, and it was the last day of a long ass week, and I could feel the tension in my body as I stood underneath the showerhead.
With my eyes closed, I began to relax as the hot water beads rained on me, slowly making me feel at ease.
Breeze crept back into my mind before I shook it off.
I had thought about her a couple of times since I last saw her.
I wasn’t on no creep shit, I never wanted to go back to her job and wait for her in the parking lot or nothing, but she was hard to miss.
Now that I knew she was another man’s wife, I would respect that.
I stood from the bench and grabbed my soap from the rack inside. I lathered the rag and began scrubbing my body, as if Breeze were a stain on me that I could cleanse. I would have to.
When my shower was over, I threw the towel around my waist and walked back into my room. Just as I did, I could see the screen of my business phone light up. I went over to the nightstand and picked up the phone to see that it was an email from Breeze.
Dr. Long,
Wow, these sound perfect. Thank you.
I clicked out of the email and set the phone back on the nightstand before flopping across the bed on my back. Suddenly, it looks like my Thursdays just got more interesting.