“Yes, they do,” he agreed, mimicking her pose. They sat like that for several minutes before Elliott turned his head to look at her. “Would Chinese food help?”
Her eyes were closed as she asked, “Are there dumplings?”
“There are.”
“Any chance you also got some lo mein?”
“The house kind so everything’s in it.”
Smiling, she turned her head to face him. “I can’t say it will make everything all better, but it’s certainly a good place to start.”
Standing, he held out his hand to her and watched as she looked mildly horrified before standing on her own.
Okay, that was definitely weird…
Conversation was fairly basic as they sat down to eat. Elliott wanted to make sure Skye was relaxed and comfortable with him before they jumped into discussing why his life was such a mess. So they talked about how Leanna was after the bridezilla incident and some of their upcoming events and then they discussed his job and what it entailed and by the time they were done eating, it seemed like everything was okay and Skye looked and sounded much more at ease.
They worked together to clean up and Skye was telling him about a trip she took last year to the beach with a couple of her cousins. He wasn’t sure how they got on that topic, but he enjoyed listening to her talk about how she learned to surf, fish, and how much she simply enjoyed sitting on the sand and meditating in her own way.
“What does that mean–in your own way?”
She shrugged as she picked up her glass and walked toward the living room. “It’s really just me sitting peacefully and clearing my mind while taking in the sounds and scents around me. It’s so freeing and I try to replicate it at home with a sound machine, but it’s not the same. Hopefully I’ll get to go back in the fall and experience it again.”
“I hope you do too.” Elliott looked at where she was sitting on the sofa and decided to sit in the oversized matching chair opposite her. After all, if he were in a therapist’s office, they wouldn’t be sitting together, so… “So,” he began.
“So.” That apprehensive look was back on her face and that’s when he knew this wasn’t going to work.
“Okay, let’s call this a failed experiment,” he said flatly.
“Already? Why?”
“Skye, if you could see what I’m seeing, then you’d know why. You’re clearly uncomfortable with this and I’m sorry that I put you in this position. I just…” He sighed. “Talking with you really did help and I just thought that it would again. I apologize. Really. This was very selfish of me.”
And now he felt awful. Skye was a good friend and practically family and he didn’t want to do anything to jeopardize that relationship. She’d been a part of his life for so long and if she wasn’t his sister’s best friend, he probably would be looking at her differently.
And would have acted on it long ago.
But no. They’d known each other for too long for him to ruin things like this.
“For what it’s worth, I don’t think you’re being selfish, Elliott,” she said, her voice soft and sweet. “I think you’re genuinely trying to work through something difficult and no one likes to do that. It’s painful and it makes us take a hard look at ourselves and sometimes we end up not liking what we see.”
With a nod, he sat back. “So…what do you think I should do?”
She studied him for several moments. “Can I ask you something?”
“Of course.”
“How are you doing? In general.”
He shrugged. “For the most part, I’m okay. I’m working and doing all my normal stuff.”
“Have you heard from Tracy?”
Another nod. “A week after…you know…she called and came over to get her stuff. She hadn’t really moved in yet. It was just a lot of boxes we planned on dealing with after the honeymoon.”
“Did the two of you talk?”
“We did. She showed up alone and we spent an hour together before her father and brothers showed up to help move everything.” He paused. “And before you ask, Daniel wasn’t with her.”
This time Skye nodded. “Did you feel it was helpful to talk to her? Did the two of you settle things?”
“I don’t think there was really anything to settle. She apologized multiple times and the thing is, I understood. Was I disappointed in how it all went down? Yes. Was I humiliated? Definitely. But…I realized it was better for it to happen before we got married than after. That would have been a huge betrayal.”
She went silent again and seemed to consider his words. “Okay, I think that’s a very healthy way of looking at it, but…maybe you should realize that this is a blessing in disguise.”
“What do you mean?”
“Elliott, if you had truly been in love with Tracy, you wouldn’t be this chill about it. You’d be angry and hurt and brokenhearted. It seems to me you’re more upset about how everyone is looking at you than about Tracy leaving you.”
“I wouldn’t say…” But then he stopped and thought about it and…she was right. He was more upset about the way his family talked to him afterwards than he was about the relationship ending. “Oh, shit.”
And when he looked at Skye, she was nodding. “And that’s just the first step. How do you feel?”
“Honestly? Even more foolish,” he gruffly admitted. “How did everyone see it but me?”
“I don’t know, but that’s really just the tip of the iceberg. It would be doing you a great disservice for me to meet with you as a pseudo therapist. You need someone who really knows what they’re doing. Trust me.”
He wanted to be offended or at least upset, but…she was right. It didn’t matter how much he wanted to fast-track all of this and figure out what he was doing wrong, this wasn’t going to be a quick fix.
Dammit.
They sat in silence for several minutes before he spoke again. “I appreciate your honesty and your willingness to do this even though you didn’t want to.”
“We’re friends, Elliott, and I hate to see you hurting. And as your friend, it’s my place to tell you the truth about what I think you need. If this had been Josie or Leanna, I would have suggested the same thing. It’s one thing to hang out and have a bit of a bitch session over a couple of glasses of wine, maybe a little kickboxing or something to get out some aggression…but for something deeper, I would only recommend seeing a professional.”
“Wait…say that again.”
“What? How I would recommend seeing a professional?”
“No, before that. The whole getting out the aggression.”
A small smile played at her lips. “I can’t speak for everyone, but I happen to find some aggression therapy very helpful.”
Elliott stood and said, “Follow me,” before leading her down to his basement where he had a small home gym set up. He had an elliptical, some free weights, and a punching bag. “Would this work?”
Her eyes lit up. “Oh, my goodness! I wish we had a setup like this at the office for days like today! This is amazing!”