Chapter 6: Good Counsel

The flight to Atlanta was smooth and Tuesday's meeting was very productive. Dr. Bryant and I spent a lot of time just talking to each other while the lawyers haggled over the wording in the contracts. That night we all went out to dinner together and had an enjoyable evening.

Wednesday was almost a repeat of Tuesday. We actually ended earlier than we expected so I tried to get on a flight home Wednesday evening but was unable to find an open seat on any flights. I had just hung up the phone after trying to get a flight when Dr. Bryant approached me.

"Are you staying in Atlanta tonight?" He asked.

"Yea, damn it. I couldn't get a flight out tonight," I said.

"That's a shame," he said, "but since you have to stay in town tonight why don't you have dinner with me? My wife is visiting her mother this week so I am on my own."

I said, "I would enjoy the company."

Dr. Bryant drove us to what he said was his favorite restaurant. We had to sit at the bar for nearly an hour waiting for a table so we ordered drinks and just started chatting.

"Dr. Bryant..."

"Please call me Jim," he said.

"Okay, Jim... What kind of doctor are you?"

"I am a Doctor of Psychology," he responded.

I said, "What exactly does your company do? I have been so busy putting the financial package for this merger together I never thought to ask what you do."

Jim said, "We provide employee assistance for companies who want to provide those services to their employees. We do drug and alcohol abuse counseling, marriage counseling and other family services. That's why we wanted to merge with a health care provider. That gives us more to offer and should bring in more business for us."

"So, do you do any counseling yourself?" I said.

"I still do on occasion but I haven't had much time for that lately," he said. "Now let me ask you a question. I notice that you were a bit upset earlier when you couldn't get a flight out tonight but on the way over her in the car you told me that you had planned on flying home tomorrow anyway. So why did it upset you so much when you couldn't get out of here tonight?"

I said, "I just wanted to get home tonight if I could."

"I sense a little tension in your words," Jim said.

"Is that a psychological observation?" I asked.

"No. It's the observation of a friend who just happens to be a psychologist," he said. "Can I ask you, as a friend, why are so tense? It might help to talk about it."

"I am a little nervous about leaving my wife home alone," I said.

"Why? Is she ill?" He asked.

I said, "No, she's not ill. It's just that we have been having some problems lately."

"Why don't you tell me about it?"

Subconsciously I must have really wanted to talk to somebody about Sonya, because once I started talking I went on not stop right through dinner. Jim didn't stop me except to occasionally ask a clarifying question or to have me repeat something I had said. He was good at this. Whenever I stopped talking he would sit quietly until I started again and when I had finally told him the whole story in detail he knew it was the end without me telling him.

"That is a difficult problem. What are you going to do about it?" Jim asked.

I said, "I wish I knew. Sonya offered to quit her job and said we could move away."

"What do you think of that idea?" He asked.

I said, "When I had time to think it over I decided against it. Sonya has worked at SA for nine years. All of her friends... Our friends work at SA. I know she loves her job. To take her away from that might make her resent me and it doesn't settle the main problem. This attraction she has for Kaplan. That would not go away just because we left town and what if he followed her. I decided it was not a good idea."

"I would agree with you on that decision," Jim said. "What other options do you see?"

"I don't see any options. I just keep going day to day hoping that things will get better without my having to do anything. I afraid that won't happen but I am at a loss as to what to do."

The waiter had just brought the check and Dr. Bryant insisted on paying it.

"Why don't we go get a table in the bar and have a drink and see if I can help bring things into focus for you," Jim suggested.

"I'd appreciate that," I said.

We found a table in a quiet corner of the bar and order a couple of scotches.

Jim said, "First let me say that this is not my area of expertise. I have mostly been involved in drug abuse counseling so what I say here is personal opinion based on some experience with similar problems. Keep in mind that these opinions are based completely on what you have told me so they can only be as valid as the input you gave me."

"I understand," I said.

"First of all, as a professional, let me say that I would suggest that you and you wife get into couples counseling but as we are talking as friends I will tell you what I think," Jim said.

"Let me start with Mr. Kaplan. My impression is that to him this is nothing more than a sexual conquest. What happened thirteen years ago was a boy trying to seduce a girl and he would have succeeded if her mother hadn't interrupted them. The letters he sent to Sonya that summer were designed to keep her interested because he planned to see her again but something must have happened to change his plans. Most likely he found a girlfriend closer to home and that's why he stopped writing to Sonya."

"That makes sense," I said.

Jim said, "Mr. Kaplan most likely forgot all about Sonya until he ended up in Raleigh working for the same company. When he invited her to have lunch with him he probably was thinking of trying to seduce her but the idea of how to approach her, at least from what your wife told you, didn't come to him until the ride back to the office. That is when he brought up the subject of that afternoon in Sonya's bedroom when, but for the interruption by her mother, they most certainly would have had intercourse. Your wife's reaction to this subject must have encouraged him and he saw that he had a chance to get her into bed.