L.O.V.E. Therapy

"This explanation hit very close home," Linda said to herself.

Veracious: is the quality of always speaking the truth and being totally authentic, straightforward, and transparent in our words and actions. It means being totally open with your partner, both for the big things and the little things.

Emotions: Emotions play a big role in every relationship. Giving and receiving emotional support benefits both your relationship and you individually. It deepens your relationship. Being in a supportive relationship brings you closer to your partner and helps you establish a deeper level of intimacy and trust.

There was a picture of the therapist, Yaron Beilinson, and a brief bio. His credentials were truly impressive for someone who looked fresh out of college. Linda thought he might be some kind of genius.

Some couples had left their comments. Linda skimmed through them.

"Our 18-year relationship had deteriorated over a long amount of time and neither of us knew how to get things back on track. Yaron helped us find better ways to communicate. Don't let the first impression fool you, he knows his stuff."

"L.O.V.E. therapy was extremely helpful to me and my husband when we were in a pretty rough spot. We both got so much from it! Look no further."

"Dr. Beilinson helped us during a difficult time in our marriage and helped us understand our relationship dynamics. I highly recommend him. He does a great job facilitating listening, trying to get understanding and repair damage, get us both on the same team. His methods might seem strange but they work."

"Very encouraging," Linda muttered to herself. Maybe couples counseling wasn't such a bad idea after all.

CHAPTER 5

Dennis opened the door and found Linda standing there.

"You came back," he said in a whisper, his eyes opened big and wide.

Linda's mouth went dry. "No, Dennis. I'm not coming back. But I thought about what you said."

His Adam's apple slid up and down. "And?"

"L.O.V.E. Therapy," she murmured before she could stop herself.

Dennis inclined his head. "Come again?"

"I want to try L.O.V.E. Therapy. It's a new and revolutionary approach for marriages that are in danger of being..."

"Don't say 'over,'" he gritted out.

She took a few seconds to breathe. "Well?"

"Therapy, Linda?"

She shook her head and turned around mumbling something like 'I knew it.'

"I've lost my wife. She's going to move on without me unless I man the fuck up and work on myself. On us."

His hand closed around her elbow and tugged her to a stop.

"Wait. Fine. I'll do it."

"Are you sure?" Linda tilted her head looking at her husband.

Dennis nodded.

Linda decided to test her husband's resolve. "Because I'm talking about touchy-feely therapy with a Guru Master," she invented. "I'm talking incense, transcendental meditation, chakras alignment, and exploring your inner child..."

The corners of Dennis's mouth turned down. "Bring it on."

"Crystal healing and..." She cut herself off. "What?"

"You heard me. Schedule a session with the damn guru therapist." He leaned down, bringing their faces an inch apart. "You really thought I wouldn't take any chance, any chance, to get you back, didn't you?"

Linda looked at him and she saw nothing but determination.

This was real. It was happening.

"He still loves me." Linda's eyes burned with tears.

Of course, this didn't change anything. She knew all their problems were still there, not resolved, perhaps not fully identified yet. But it was a beginning. A step in the right direction.

She smiled at her husband.

"I'll text you with the details."

CHAPTER 6

A wooden hand-painted plaque read, "Yaron Beilinson, Ph.D Therapist."

Linda had talked with the therapist on the phone when she had scheduled a session for them. Yaron asked her a lot of questions about the state of their relationship and the problems they were facing.

Dennis parked her truck in front of the building and came down.

"I can't believe you really came," she said, her voice full of surprise.

"Why are you so surprised? I told you I would."

Linda nodded. Dennis had never broken his word.

"Are you ready for this?"

He just shrugged. "As ready as I can be."

Linda walked into the office, leaving Dennis to follow behind her. There was no secretary in the reception area and the door to the office was open.

"Ah, Linda and Dennis Harris. I was waiting for you. Welcome," a smiling young male greeted them. He was wearing sneakers and a word T-Shirt. In big letters, it read, 'THERAPIST', and then, in smaller letters 'because badass miracle counselor isn't an official title yet.'

Dennis came to a dead stop and cursed under his breath. No. This couldn't be real. Each wall boasted a different mural, and if he wasn't mistaken, they were trying to celebrate the four elements. There were big the letters spelling the word LOVE painted in each one of them.

There was soft music playing. It was some kind of relaxing tune with nature sounds. There was a circle of pillows on one side of the room. No sign of a couch, chairs, or even a desk.

"I had no idea you hated me this much, Linda."

"The reviews online were overwhelmingly positive."

"There's a good chance his patients were high when they wrote those reviews," he muttered.

A laugh bubbled out of her. How long had it been since he'd made her laugh?

"Maybe there's a method to the madness," Linda whispered to Dennis.

He took Linda's hand and pulled her toward the exit, but she dug in her heels.

"You're free to leave," she said.

"Not without you," he gritted out. "We can find someone else."

"I like him and I like it here."

"Believe it or not, Team Harris, your reaction to my working space is not uncommon," Yaron had witnessed their exchange with a Buddha-smile on his face. "You might have a mental checklist for what you think the right therapist looks like, but allow yourself to be surprised."

"What did you call us? Team Harris?" Linda asked.

"That's correct." Yaron clasped his hands together. "During our sessions, we are all Team Harris. Linda, Dennis, and me, Yaron, your therapist are going to work together as a team. Rebuilding what is broken will be a collective effort. It will be daunting at times. But there's some good news."

"Enlighten us," Dennis said drily.

The therapist nodded. "By the end of our fourth session, we should have an idea whether this marriage is worth saving or not."

His eyes ticked back and forth between Linda and Dennis. "I can already see we have conflicting opinions on that matter."

Before Dennis could question the therapist's observation, Yaron said, "Follow me to the Circle of Healing if you would be so kind." He sat on a pillow. "That's not a joke. I really call it that."

Linda dropped into a cross-legged position on a crocheted heart pillow. She didn't have to make eye contact with Dennis to know he was the poster boy for skepticism.

Dennis looked right and left, searching for a place to sit.

"On the pillows," Yaron directed. "Why not conduct our session in comfort?"

When Dennis made no move to join her, she arched an eyebrow at him and he sighed, taking a place beside her.

"A little bit about me, before we start. As I said, I'm Yaron Beilinson. I've been counseling troubled couples for three years. Yes, I'm a real therapist with a Ph.D. Yes, I'm young. No, I'm not married."

The therapist caught the expression on Dennis's face and said, "I know this is the last place where you want to be, Dennis, but right now I'm the only thing between you and the end of your marriage. You know your wife, and you know I'm not lying. I'm really good at this and there is a chance we can save your marriage if we work together."

Dennis let out a loud grunt.

"We are dealing with hearts, minds, and expectations. They're messy and complicated.

"My methods are unorthodox. They might make you uncomfortable, and that's the point. To push past the limits of what you think yourself capable of as a partner and human being.

"Nothing leaves the safe space of this room. Nothing you can say will shock me or make me think less of you. We're here for a common purpose. To save this marriage." He clapped his hands and said, "Now, face each other, please. We're going to begin by reintroducing your energies."

Linda and Dennis remained unmoving.

Yaron chuckled. "Sometimes we become so wrapped up in a routine, we forget to look each other in the eye. When was the last time you had even ten seconds of solid eye contact?"

"Ten seconds of eye contact?" she whispered. "I can't remember."

Dennis sighed. "No one does that."

"We used to," Linda said, her memory zeroing in on one hazy evening in particular. They'd climbed to the roof of the school during summer vacation. With the sun warming their skin and a breeze cooling it, they'd looked into each other's eyes so long they'd lost track of time.

Now his brow furrowed. And then he surprised her by saying, "You're right. We did."

"Excellent, Dennis. You heard her."

"Ten seconds?" Dennis asked.

"Ten is an arbitrary starting point," Yaron said. "There are no time limits or rules within this space. If something feels right, we'll continue with it."

Linda's heart hammered in her throat as she faced Dennis, their knees bumping, as they were both sitting cross-legged. "Um..." My God, she was having a literal heart attack looking her husband in the face. Honestly. She lifted her gaze to meet Dennis's eyes.

They were steady and lost at the same time, a combination she never expected. The agony she saw in his eyes pierced her, and it was hard not to turn away.

She only made it five seconds, her attention cutting down to her lap.

"What happened?" Dennis asked gruffly.

"I don't know," Linda said apologetically.

A few ticks of silence passed before Yaron piped up.

"Why don't we ease into this a little bit. Linda, are you comfortable with Dennis's touch?"

"Yes," Dennis answered for her, a hint of pleading dancing across his granite features, surprising her. "Just... give me that."

Feeling as if she were balanced on the edge of a diving board, Linda nodded. "Yes."

"Okay. Linda, close your eyes. Remember, you're in a safe place. Dennis, I want you to explore her face with your fingertips. It will be a little less intense than the eye contact, Linda, but reestablishing the connection is what we're after here."

Dennis hadn't even touched her yet and goosebumps were already rising on every inch of her skin. She let her eyelids drop and held in a deep breath as Dennis reached out a hand and curved it to her cheek. The instant their skin touched, the breath rushed out of her on a whimper.

All of her focus raced to the hand on her face. Every nerve ending zinged in that direction, wanting attention.

"Learn her, Dennis."

"I know her face better than mine," he said with a gruff, masculine voice that made Linda shiver.

"Trace her eyebrows, her lips. Let her feel you looking at her and acknowledging her," Yaron coached.

Dennis's thumb arched along with her cheekbone, made a pit stop at her dimple, running the tip of his finger through it. Dennis brushed his fingertip along the bow of her mouth, the crease of her chin. Moved higher and rubbed circles into the center of her forehead, and all the scattered parts of her calmed while it happened.

For once, she was nowhere but right there, inside herself. She felt shivers down her spine. All because Dennis was looking at and touching her? Was he? Or was he doing this exercise just to win her back?

When was the last time they had touched out of affection and without sex roaring in like an insatiable beast? She'd had no idea how much she'd been craving it.

"Thank you, Dennis," Yaron said quietly after two solid minutes passed. "Well done."

His fingers lingered a few more seconds before he reluctantly lowered his hand. Linda opened her eyes to find Dennis looking momentarily shell-shocked before he hid it.

"Dennis, how do you let Linda know you appreciate her?"

It visibly took Dennis a few beats to focus and his voice was little more than a rasp when he finally answered. "I provide."

"That would have been my guess." The therapist said before turning to Linda.

"When Dennis provides for you, Linda. Does that make you feel appreciated?"

"I..." Her brow wrinkled. "I guess it does. In a way..."

"What would make you feel more appreciated? If he brought you a gift? What if Dennis simply told you he loves you?"

"Yes," she breathed, her pulse thumping.

Yaron made a knowing sound. "You need words."

She thought of Dennis telling her he appreciated her. Out loud. "Yes. I think I do."

Yaron nodded vigorously. "I'm going to take a shot in the dark that neither of you is familiar with love languages."

Silence.

He encompassed them both with a warm look. "Each one of us has a preferred way of expressing love and having love expressed to us. Dennis expresses love through deeds. But you need to receive love through words."

"So... that's it?" Dennis asked. "Ten minutes and we already have a solution?"

"You would love that, wouldn't you?" Yaron smiled at him, eyes twinkling. "No, Dennis. You have an answer. The solution requires a lot more work. And practice. Humans are creatures of habit. And old habits die hard. If you get back together now, sooner than later, you'll fall back into the old patterns. Do you think Linda will give you a second chance if you return to your mute act?"

Dennis looked at his wife out of the corner of his eye and shook his head slowly.

Yaron looked at Dennis and said, "During one of these sessions, we're going to talk about what Dennis needs to feel loved and appreciated..." He paused. "For now, though, we're going to focus on Linda, since she's the one who was troubled enough to leave the marriage.

"I'm going to give you a homework assignment. A few of them actually. Since you've already separated, we're working on an accelerated healing track. Unfortunately, I think sex is getting in the way of really seeing each other."

"We aren't..." Linda licked her dry lips. "Doing that now."

She heard Dennis muttered something about putting their business on the street.

"That's good," Yaron said. "That helps to focus your attention on other areas of your relationship."

"Says who?" Dennis asked defiantly.

"Says me," Yaron didn't bat an eyelid. "One of your homework assignments is to keep not having sex." He split a speculative glance between them. "I will allow kissing."

Linda hadn't been kissed in so long, without sex happening at the same time.

"Kissing is often more intimate than sex and it breeds further intimacy, such as talking or looking into each other's eyes," Yaron was saying. "Now. For the next assignment. Dennis, you're going to write Linda a letter."

"Come again?"

"I don't think words come that easily to you. Just like Linda with the eye contact, we're going to ease into it. Let's try verbalizing on paper first."

Dennis shifted in his pillow. "What am I supposed to say?"

Yaron smiled broadly. "That's up to you to decide."

CHAPTER 7

Linda left the mall and walked to her car. She was exhausted. She was struggling to sleep in a strange bed. Alone.

Lost in her thoughts, it took Linda a moment to see the envelope on her windshield, tucked beneath one of the wipers. Her name was written across the front in a familiar handwriting.

Linda's stomach winged up to her throat as she plucked the envelope out of its place. With it in hand, she looked around the empty parking lot, as if her husband might be leaning against a lamppost, but there was no one there.

With a deep breath, she retrieved the letter and switched on the overhead light, sliding the folded piece of paper out of its envelope.

My beloved Linda,

I've been thinking a lot about the happy days we once shared as a loving couple. I wasn't aware there was a problem in our marriage. I really wasn't. I guess I've been too focused on myself. I'm sorry I made you feel ignored and unloved. I never meant to make you feel you were not important to me. You are.

Will you please just consider the possibility that I love you more than you realize or that I'm incapable of expressing it with words?

I believe that we still have that same love in our hearts that first brought us together. I'll do anything I have to do to rekindle it. You have my word. Even keep seeing that weird therapist you chose.

I'll share a secret with you. You have a freckle behind your ear, in a place that's impossible for you to see. I'm not sure if anyone has ever told you about it, but I pretend it's my secret. The first time I kissed it, we were at homecoming. The dance was over and it felt like we'd just gotten there. We looked around and everyone was gone. When you turned your head, that's when I saw the freckle, right in the crease where your ear meets your head. I leaned in, kissed it, and you told me you loved me for the first time.

I was convinced that freckle was magic. The secret way I made you fall in love with me.

When you left me, my first thought was I should have kissed that freckle more. I bet you didn't know you married a ridiculous man.

I'm proud to have you as my wife. I'm proud of the person you are. You're incredible. I'm sorry I didn't tell you often enough.

Yours,

Dennis

Linda could almost feel Dennis's lips behind her ear, whispering those words that made her feel so desirable. Not as a sexual object, but as a singular woman. As Linda.

This was how she had felt then. Important. Cherished.

Heart trapped in her throat, Linda read the letter again. And again. She was preparing to read it a fourth time when a knock on the window made her jump.

Harry, the security guard, waved from the other side of the glass.

"You all right in there, Linda?" his voice came muffled through the window.

"Yes," she croaked, stuffing the letter back into the envelope. "I was just getting ready to leave, thanks for checking on me."

Harry nodded. "Wouldn't want to catch hell from Dennis," he said almost absently, throwing her a wink. "Or miss out on that extra twenty dollars a week he gives me to make sure you get to your car safely."

"He... what?"

"I've been putting it into a college fund for my granddaughter." He chuckled. "You take care, Linda!"

When Linda walked into her room at the inn, she took her cell phone out of her purse and called her husband.

"Hi, Dennis."

"Linda."

"So... I found out you've been paying the security guard to watch over me?"

Silence passed. "Harry was supposed to keep that between us."

"Dennis..." She shook her head. "Don't you think I would have liked knowing that?"

"You should assume I'm doing everything I can to keep you safe."

Her laugh sounded dazed. "But it would have made me feel special. It would have told me that I'm special to you."

Pressing the phone to her ear, she lay down on the bed. "A lot like your letter. It made me feel like... the old me. I read it three times."

He came back almost as fast. "I wasn't sure I did it right."

"What were you hoping to achieve with the letter."

"Truthfully? I wanted it to make you come home."

"Don't you agree there are things we have to straighten out way before that happens?"

He cleared his throat and fell silent for a moment. "You couldn't even look me in the eye for ten goddamn seconds, Linda. I know we've got a big problem now."

Their marriage might have gone radio silent, but she knew Dennis enough to know he had been holding on to this one thing, possibly even obsessing over it.