The Therapist

by B.A. Paris

“Do you know what Henry David Thoreau believed? ‘Happiness is like a butterfly; the more you chase it, the more it will elude you. But if you turn your attention to other things, it will come and sit softly on your shoulder.’”

It’s only when I’m making up the sofa bed that I realize I didn’t ask him why he wanted the house so much.

Something isn’t adding up. Leo seems paranoid about my fictitious reporter. And his behavior yesterday when I first confronted him had been over the top. He’d looked as if he’d been about to pass out. But his reason for not telling me—that he wanted this house because it provided him with security—doesn’t stand up.

Had Lorna really whispered Don’t trust anyone when she’d leaned into me, or had I imagined it?

“Do you know what Henry David Thoreau believed? ‘Happiness is like a butterfly; the more you chase it, the more it will elude you. But if you turn your attention to other things, it will come and sit softly on your shoulder.’”

Use this when I counsel

“It’s hard to realize that the man you married never really existed at all.”