Chapter 6: Another Wilberforce Victim

In the playground at lunchtime on Thursday, Ella and Lewis sat on the seat where they had first met. It was their usual place. Lewis sensed as soon as they sat down that she was troubled. He kept quiet to let her bring it up herself.

‘I spoke to one of my good friends at my old school last night,’ she told him. ‘In conversation she told me there was a rumour around the school that Mr Wilberforce had been sacked for having sex with a pupil.’

‘She then told me that a friend of hers, Iris who I knew and liked, had been very down for the past several months and it wasn’t until the rumour started that she wondered if there was any connection. Apparently, she asked her if that was so and she burst into tears, but she wouldn’t admit it.’

‘I told her to tell her that I knew someone near her age who was an expert on counselling people with problems and he did it without anyone else ever knowing. I told her to give her your phone number and to tell her to text you, suggesting a time you could ring her back and talk to her. I hope you don’t mind.’

‘Of course not,’ Lewis told her, not mentioning that he had had a text from Iris that morning asking him to ring her about four pm.

At four o’clock Lewis rang the number which was answered by a nervous sounding female voice. ‘Hi this is Iris,’ it said. ‘Hi Iris, I’m Lewis,’ he said. ‘Can I suggest that you just listen to me first, then you can ask anything you like, ok?’ ‘Ok’ came a reply after a short pause.

‘All I know about you,’ Lewis told her, ‘Is that you are around the same age as me, have a problem that is causing you a lot of upset and your friends are concerned about you. They have suggested that your problem might be connected with Mr Wilberforce, but no one actually knows. One of them knows that you have my phone number, but no one will ever know from me that you have even made contact. Nor will I tell anyone if you do come and see me.’

‘I have sorted out a lot of people’s problems. Two of the reasons I am successful is that people find me easy to talk to. Also, I never ever divulge anything they tell me, no matter what it is. If you come, I will not even ask you about what is troubling you until you are feeling completely at ease with me. If at any time you want to stop, you can get up and leave without any need to explain why. One other thing, I’m not saying Mr Wilberforce is anything to do with your problem, but as it has been mentioned, you should know that I was instrumental in him leaving.’

‘Ok, over to you, please ask anything you like.’ There was silence for a few moments then a nervous voice asked, ‘Where would I go to meet you.’ Lewis explained all about the shop and why he had the use of it. ‘I’ll text you the address after we hang up,’ he told her. ‘What would I have to do?’ Iris asked. ‘We would have a chat over a coffee,’ Lewis told her, ‘Then I’d tell you exactly how we were going to proceed. It would be up to you then whether or not to stop or not. If you continue, you will be able to stop at any moment you choose.’

‘If you arrange to come and change your mind, just text not coming, you don’t need to give a reason. If you decided to back out and hang on to your problem a bit longer, you’re welcome to contact me again another time. You have a choice of Friday or Saturday evening at five o’clock.’

‘Can I try Friday?’ Iris asked after a few moments thought. ‘Sure,’ Lewis told her, ‘I’ll look forward to meeting you.’ After hanging up he texted the address and post code. It’s a Video Hire Shop he added.

Lewis checked with Mike that tomorrow was ok, then went home.

Friday evening, he arrived at the shop at a quarter to five, gave Mike a hand serving for ten minutes, then went through into the back to put the kettle on. As he returned to the shop a girl came in looking very nervous. Lewis went over to her and asked, ‘Iris?’ as he offered her his hand. As they shook, she replied, ‘Yes,’ in a wavery voice.

‘Come on through,’ Lewis said, turning and leading the way. Telling her to sit at the table, he made them both a coffee as he said, ‘Mike will come through in a moment and say hello before he goes home, then it will be just the two of us.’

A few moments later Mike came in and said, ‘Hello Iris,’ as he picked up his coat off the hook. As he turned to leave, he smiled at her. ‘I know you have a problem otherwise you wouldn’t be here,’ he told her, ‘But I very much doubt that you will be taking it back home with you, you’re seeing an expert tonight. Good luck.’ he said.

‘I’ll just lock up behind him.’ Lewis said following him out. They had a quick hug and a kiss before Mike went out. Lewis locked the door and left his keys in the lock as usual.

Going back in, he sat back at the table. ‘The shop door is locked, and my keys are in the lock,’ he told her. ‘So, no one can come in and no one else can hear anything you tell me. If you do decide to leave, just go through, unlock the door and walk out, ok?’ ‘Ok,’ came a slightly firmer reply.

‘When we start, the first thing we are going to aim for is for me to get to know all about you, and you to feel completely at ease with me,’ he told her. ‘I’ll explain what we are doing and why as we go along. But remember, we move forward at your speed not mine so take as long as you want. If necessary, we can carry on another time.’

‘In a moment I’ll ask you to take your shoes off and lie on the settee. I will come and sit on the edge by you and explain the first stage. Because I don’t know what your problem is, I might inadvertently ask you a question that is connected with it. If I do and you don’t feel ready to answer it, just say ‘Pass’ and we’ll move on, ok?’ ‘Ok,’ came the reply, this time with a trace of a smile.

By now they had finished their drinks. ‘When you’re ready to start, go and get settled on the settee.’ Lewis said. ‘Take as long as you want, remember you set the pace.’

Lewis got up and took the cups over to the sink. He washed them and left them to dry. As he headed back to the table, Iris stood up and went over to the settee. Kicking her shoes off, she lay down with her head on the arm.

Lewis stayed away until she was settled. Then asked, ‘Are you ok if I sit by you?’ ‘Yes,’ came an immediate reply. He sat on the edge of the settee by her knees. She was wearing a T shirt and Jeans. She was slightly shorter than Lewis and extremely thin. Seeing her lying down he could tell that her breasts were very small.

He smiled at her, ‘The hardest part of any problem is to admit that you have one,’ he told her. ‘The second hardest is to start to do something about it. By coming tonight and lying there, you have done both of those. It gets easier from now on.’

‘In a moment I’ll get you to turn onto your front, then as I ask you about yourself, I will massage your back from your head to your feet and back again. That will help you relax and make it easier to answer questions. Remember how little I know about you, so try and answer each question with as much detail as you can.’

‘Everyone who comes here,’ Lewis told her, ‘Thinks their problem is the most embarrassing one ever and is unique. They also think they could never tell anyone about it. I can assure you that whatever it is, lots of people have had the same problem, I’ve probably already dealt with one the same or similar and someone else will have the same problem a few weeks down the line. Everyone who’s been here has ended up feeling able to get it off their chest and tell me all about it. So, if you want to give it a try, just turn over when you’re ready and make yourself comfortable. Nothing will happen without me telling you first and you saying it’s ok.’

Iris looked at him for a moment, gave him a brief smile and turned over. Once she was settled, Lewis said, ‘I’m going to rest my hands on the back of your head and massage it. I won’t move downwards or start asking you anything until you say ok.’