Chapter 7: Preparing Jenny to Uncover Her Past

Saturday morning Danny let himself into Johns as usual. When he went through to the kitchen, John was already sitting at the kitchen table, coffees made ready. Danny went round to him as he stood up. They hugged each other tightly, then kissed as they enjoyed being close.

Sitting down, Danny asked how his trip out last weekend had gone. ‘I really enjoyed it,’ John told him, ‘The male voice choir were wonderful, especially as most of the songs they sang were ones we knew, even if some were sung in Welsh.’

‘We had a nice day out in Llangollen the following day. Our Sunday lunch we had at the Chain Bridge Hotel where we had stayed overnight. The restaurant had a lovely view overlooking the River Dee. We got home about nine o’clock.’

‘I’m glad you enjoyed it,’ Danny told him, ‘It’s good to see you getting out and about. ‘

‘When we went for our Sunday lunch,’ John told him, ‘There was a young couple at the next table who lived near my friends. After checking with me, they invited them to join us for lunch, so we had a table of five. Jenny and Ian are about twenty-five. Apparently, they only got married a few months ago.’

‘During the meal, conversation came round to life being full of problems and a discussion followed about the sort of problems people had to deal with today. During the discussion, I mentioned that I had a friend who was an expert at sorting out other people’s problems.’ He grinned at Danny as he spoke. ‘I said he’s still very young, but he has an old head on his shoulders. To my knowledge I added, there are at least two dozen happy people about who owe their peace of mind to him.’

‘I wouldn’t be drawn on any more details about you,’ he said, ‘I presume you guessed I meant you,’ he said with a grin. ‘The young couple asked what sort of problems my friend had dealt with.’ ‘How did you answer that?’ Danny asked with interest.

‘I told them I didn’t know all of them, but those I knew a little about involved victims dealing with rape, marital difficulties, even an ex-convict who was having trouble readjusting to society.’ ‘It’s all very well advising people,’ Ian said ‘But do you know if it did them any good?’

‘Well, I can’t answer for them all,’ I said, ‘But quite a few of the people came to him through me. I know from them and their families that all of them are still singing his praises.’

‘Is he expensive?’ Jenny asked. ‘He doesn’t charge a penny,’ I told them. ‘He discovered he had a gift for it and just does it voluntarily from recommendation. He’s a really nice person and likes helping people, although,’ I added, ‘Some happy customers have been so pleased they insisted on giving him something.’

‘Then the conversation moved on. But later when we were saying goodbye to Jenny and Ian, Ian took me aside and asked for your phone number. It doesn’t work like that I told him. I’ll see him next Saturday, so I’ll ask him if he’s willing to help and let you know.’ ‘Here’s my phone number,’ he said giving me his card. ‘We’re desperate and the doctor has been no help.’

‘Without too many details,’ I said, ‘Can you give me any idea of in what area the problem is in?’ He looked around to make sure no one could hear then he whispered, ‘We’ve been married two months and we’re still virgins.’ ‘What did you say to that?’ Danny asked.

‘I agreed with him it was a desperate situation and said I was sure you would be able to help if you were prepared to take it on. I promised to ring him once I had spoken to you. I hope you don’t mind.’

‘Not at all,’ Danny said, ‘Sounds interesting. Did you tell them how old I was?’ ‘No, I thought that if they wanted to go ahead it would probably be best for them to meet you first.’

Danny nodded. ‘Ok.’ he said, ‘I’ll meet them and let them decide.’ ‘I’ll give him a ring,’ John said. ‘What shall I say if they want to come round right away, he did sound desperate.’ ‘I’m fine with them coming today for a preliminary chat,’ Danny said, ‘But if they accept me, I’d want to interview them separately first, then jointly so it could mean three sessions plus the initial one.’

‘We’ll play that by ear,’ John said, ‘But I’m sure we can work around it.’ ‘Ok,’ Danny said, ‘Give them a ring but if they do want to come today, impress on them it’s only for a preliminary meeting.’

John got up and went to the phone in the hall. Danny heard him talking then he returned. ‘They’re overjoyed,’ he said, ‘They’re coming around in half an hour. When they come, I’ll do my usual, introduce you then disappear. I’ve got some shopping to do so you can let me know when to return.’

They decided it wasn’t worth Danny getting started in the garden, so they lingered over their coffee and chatted. Then John went and got ready for going out.

Soon there was a knock on the door. Danny heard him talking then they came through into the kitchen. John introduced them saying, ‘This is my friend Danny.’ After the introductions, Ian asked, ‘Where is your problem solver?’ ‘You have just met the best problem solver I know,’ John said with a smile.

‘Is this some sort of a joke?’ Ian asked. ‘He’s still a school kid.’ John calmed him down, ‘Just sit down and hear him out,’ he said. ‘No one’s going to make you stay. For what it’s worth I can tell you he hasn’t failed yet. He’s easy to talk to and nothing you tell him will go any further. I’m going shopping. See you later Danny.’ Turning round he left the room. The front door closed a moment later.

As Ian started to speak, Danny held his hand up. ‘Let me speak first please,’ he said. ‘You are here because you have a problem. I am here because John asked me to help you. Before we even attempt to sort out your problem, there are a few things you should understand. I am seventeen, still at school and unqualified in anything at all.’

‘It turns out that I have a natural ability to listen to and then solve, other people’s problems. But I am not asking you to let me sort out your problem. You have asked for help and John has volunteered me because he knows me. I am happy to help, but only you can decide if you want me to. You won’t offend me at all if you get up and leave.’

‘I appreciate that you may feel uncomfortable and embarrassed about discussing intimate matters with someone so young. I can tell you that in all the variety of problems I’ve dealt with so far, they all had one thing in common. The person suffering thought that their problem was the most embarrassing issue ever, something they couldn’t possible tell anyone about.’

‘And did they?’ Jenny asked. ‘Every single one,’ Lewis said with a smile. ‘I’m going to take a walk around the garden,’ he told them. ‘Talk it over and decide if you want to continue.’ ‘When you’re ready, just give me a shout out of the back door.’

‘If you decide to continue, I’ll tell you how I will proceed. Please remember that even if you continue, you are free to give up and go at any time.’

He got up and went out. ‘What do you think?’ Ian asked Jenny after he had gone. ‘I liked him,’ Jenny said, ‘I can understand people opening up to him.’ ‘He’s so young,’ Ian said, ‘he can’t have had much experience of life.’ ‘Agreed,’ Jenny replied, ‘But going by what John said, he succeeds, and we’ve had no success anywhere else. I vote we give him a try.’ ‘I’m dubious that we’ll get anywhere,’ Ian told her, ‘But I don’t see it can do any harm, Ok, let’s try.’

Jenny got up and opened the back door, she could see Danny down the garden, so she waved to him. When he came back in, they told him they would like to try. ‘I guess you decided I won’t get anywhere but it can’t do any harm to have a go,’ he said with a grin. He could tell from their embarrassed looks that he had hit the nail on the head.

‘Don’t worry,’ he said, ‘I understand perfectly, no offence taken. Now, he continued, all I know about you so far is that you are both twenty-five, have been married for two months and have not had sex yet. Why that is so doesn’t matter just yet and I don’t expect you to be able to tell me until you feel a lot more at ease with me.’

‘How it will work,’ he continued, ‘Is that I will interview you individually first, then unless something crops up so either of you needs a second session, the third interview will be a brief joint session at which point I would hope and expect to be able to tell you what your problem is and how to get rid of it, if indeed we haven’t got rid of them along the way.’

‘You may even solve the problem yourselves in the meantime,’ he told them. ‘When you start opening up to someone else about your problem, just doing that can sometimes show you a solution that you hadn’t previously thought of.’