Page 47 of The Last Session

“All right.” Sol raised his head. “I also want to start tonight by saying this: If youdosee me acting like a motivational speaker, please let me know. Because I’m not here to motivate anyone. If you’re here, then you’re here for a reason. My job is to help facilitate the change that you came to make. So.” He straightened and clapped his large hands. “Let’s hear some reasons why you’re here.”

There was silence.

“Relationships!” Karen finally called out.

“Yes.” Sol angled his upper body towards her. “What about relationships?”

“Well, I’m divorced and single.” She shrugged. “So clearly I suck at them.”

Everyone chuckled, relieving some of the nervous tension.

“Oh yeah?” Sol grinned.

“Yeah. A friend suggested I get my butt here pronto.”

“Gotcha. What’s your name, dear?”

Dear.Yuck. That was condescending.

She didn’t seem to mind. “Karen.” She shifted. “From Tempe, Arizona.”

“Karen from Tempe, Arizona. Thank you for speaking up first. That’s a good answer, right? I imagine a lot of people here can relate. Anyone else have a different answer?” His eyes roamed the table, passing over me, startling me with the intensity of his gaze. I felt suddenly anxious, like I might be called to come up in front of the class.

“I’m here for the same reason,” Dawne said. “Except I always findotherpeople who suck at relationships.”

Sol’s eyes trained on her. “And you are?”

“Dawne.” She nervously twirled a lock of hair. “With ane.”

“Dawne with ane,” he echoed. “You feel like you’re attracted to the wrong partners.”

“Exactly.” She said it emphatically.

“Do you know why?”

She shrugged. “Something to do with my parents?”

“Good.” Sol nodded approvingly. “You’re on the right track.” He drummed the back of his seat. “Anyonenotknow why they’re here?”

No one moved. It might’ve been Sol’s strong presence, or just the nature of people opening up about themselves, but the energy of the room felt charged. A cool wind rushed in through the open doorway, making me shiver.

“I ask because those without a goal are the ones to give up first.” He scanned the table, his eyes stopping on me. “Anyone else want to share?”

My stomach growled, embarrassingly loud, in response. I slapped a hand on my belly as if to quell it.

“Can we do this after we eat?” Mikki murmured.

Sol trained on Mikki. “Say that again?”

She smiled sweetly. “I was just wondering about dinner. It smells amazing.”

“And you’re hungry.”

“Yep.”

His dazzling smile returned. “So you’re saying you’re feeling a little uncomfortable right now?”

“Sure?” She was smiling back, but a new, fraught tension filled the space.

---