Page 10 of Someone Like You

Casimir

F rustration filled me as I pulled into the medical complex for our counseling session. Beth and I argued on the way over. It was nothing abnormal, but it did hamper my mood.

“Go ahead into the office. I’ll be there shortly. I have an urgent call to make.”

“It can’t wait, Beth?”

“No, Cas. It cannot. It’s related to Daddy’s fundraising campaign.”

I blew out a breath and exited the car, but not without slamming the door closed behind me. She pissed me off every chance she got.

I shot off a text message to someone.

Me: I need those phone records.

TC: This afternoon.

“Good afternoon, Mr. Perez. Please sign in, and Dr. Champagne will be right with you.” The receptionist greeted me as I stepped inside.

I signed in and took a seat. I busied myself with reviewing emails on my phone related to the other business I started a few years ago. I hadn’t mentioned it to Bethany, her parents, or mine yet. Only those who needed to know knew about it.

“Mr. Perez, I’m ready for you.” The silky-smooth voice of Giselle Champagne called to me a few minutes later. I checked my watch and noticed that ten minutes had passed since I left Bethany in the car.

“Is Mrs. Perez not joining us again today?” Giselle asked as I walked into her office.

The spicy floral fragrance she wore tickled my nose and tugged at my manhood.

“She’s outside making a phone call. She should be in shortly.”

Giselle’s smile faltered briefly, and her shoulders slumped before she nodded and closed the door behind her.

Could I have imagined her disappointment?

Did she enjoy our solo meetings as much as I did?

I tempered my excitement, because I knew that soon Bethany would be in here with us, and she would bring her negative energy with her.

She took her seat in the armchair beside the couch, and I made sure to scoot to the other side of the couch so that I could be closer to her.

“Did you do your homework?”

I nodded. “I did. Well, as much as I could.”

“What does that mean?”

“It simply means that I tried to have the conversation, but it only got so far before my wife decided that she wasn’t interested.”

“Casimir, what is it that you believe is holding you and your wife back from making any type of progress?”

I sighed. “She doesn’t want a traditional marriage. Beth wants the freedom to live her life without restrictions and not having to answer to anyone. I want a wife.”

“Does she know what that means to you?”

“She does. We had an in-depth conversation about our expectations before we married, and we both agreed to the other’s views. We made some changes to make sure that our goals aligned. Or at least we did verbally. But that’s about as far as those changes went. A conversation.”

“Have you shared with her how that makes you feel?”

“I have.”

“And what does she say?”

“Let’s just say that I think you would fit the view of a wife that I have better than my wife does or would be willing to.”

She angled her head in a peculiar manner. Then she shook it and stated, “Let’s not do that.”

“I’m simply being honest.”

She sighed dramatically. “I have to be an unbiased facilitator in this process. My personal feelings, thoughts, and life decisions have no place in these sessions, Mr. Perez. Is that understood?”

“I understand. But it doesn’t change my perspective.”

She leaned forward a little, and my eyes swept down to her cleavage. Realizing her mistake, she instantly sat up and tugged the cowl neckline of her taupe-colored fitted dress back up.

“Here’s what I have to offer. My services as your marriage counselor or recommendations for another provider who you can maintain strict professional boundaries with, Mr. Perez.”

“I really wish you would call me Casimir.”

“And I really wish you would respect the professional boundaries.”

“I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure that you don’t refer me to another professional.”

“Not just you, but Mrs. Perez as well.”

I nodded and sat back in my seat just as the door swung open. Bethany’s cheeks were red, and her eyes were bright.

“So, what did I miss?” she asked and clapped her hands together.

“We were discussing the homework that I gave Mr. Perez on his last visit.”

“Oh, the unauthorized visit?” Bethany stated and glared at me.

Giselle’s eyes swung back and forth between my wife and me, but she didn’t say anything.

“I explained to Dr. Champagne that I attempted to have a conversation with you regarding how you thought I saw our marriage.”

“Are we seriously back on that conversation again? You view this marriage as a dumping ground for your problems. You think that I’m supposed to be your servant and baby-maker. I have a life outside of the home, but you don’t seem to respect it.”

“Mrs. Perez, do you honestly believe that your husband only sees you as a homemaker?”

“I know that he does. He doesn’t respect my career. He believes that the work I do for my father’s campaign is just because I’m his daughter.”

“That’s not true, Beth. You know that I respect your intellect, the work that you do, and the name and reputation you’ve built for yourself. I just want you to put that same energy into creating a home for the two of us.”

“Why should I have to cook and clean when we have a house staff to manage those things?”

“It would be nice to have a homecooked meal from my wife every now and then. And it would also be nice to have children that my wife and I created. And I’m not talking about one created in a lab or one that another woman would carry.”

Bethany scoffed and shook her head at me.

“Casimir, this is not the place for these discussions. This is the ridiculous behavior that I refuse to entertain, Dr. Champagne.”

“Let’s back up for one moment, Mrs. Perez. Do you recall how important it was for him to respect your career?”

“I do.”

“Then let’s try to give him the same consideration as it relates to the things that he wants.

Now, that’s not to say that your concerns aren’t valid,” Giselle stated as she held up a finger to Bethany, who was ready to cut her off based on the way she was turning red.

“Mr. Perez, Bethany’s decision to procreate or not should be decided between the two of you, but you also must respect her feelings about her choice when it comes to her body. That is her choice.”

“And she’s my wife,” I growled.

“That may be true, but that doesn’t mean that she lays down all of her rights when it comes to you.”

Beth shot me a smirk and crossed her arms. “Thank goodness someone has some sense.”

“Although, I do want you to consider your husband’s feelings.

Think about how he might feel about another woman experiencing what he wants to experience with you.

He wants a child, and you’re not opposed to it.

But he wants to be there every step of the way, seeing his child grow in your womb, feeling her move for the first time, seeing every change that happens to your body as this occurs. ”

“And that’s what I don’t want!” Beth shouted.

“Calm down, Mrs. Perez. No one is taking away your rights. I simply asked you to consider—”

“You know, Dr. Champagne, I’m sure you mean well, but these sessions are not really helping my husband and myself.

I expected a therapeutic experience and some healing and growth when this was all over with.

But I honestly believe that these counseling sessions of yours have made our marriage worse.

My husband has these delusions that I am supposed to change when he is the one that’s changing.

I have been the same woman that he met until this day.

Prior to these sessions, he was a content man, but now he’s dissatisfied, as though he wants something more.

Something about my husband has changed, Dr. Champagne, and I believe it is connected to these sessions.

Especially after speaking with Mother, she thought maybe I—”

“Your mother?” I asked, leaning back and mugging the shit out of Beth.

“I thought we signed an agreement stating that everything in these sessions would remain between you, me, and Dr. Champagne. What was the use of all of that if you weren’t going to follow through?

As a matter of fact, have you followed through on any of your promises?

Maybe that’s why we can’t get this thing to work. ”

“This thing? This thing, Casimir? This thing is our marriage! Or does it not mean anything to you anymore?”

“It means everything to me. But obviously not to you, seeing how you were the one that bailed on these sessions. I wasn’t the one who wanted to start coming here in the first place, Bethany.

Or did you forget that too? It was you who dragged me here.

Just so Ms. Champagne could become another member of your audience you enjoy bashing me in front of. ”

Beth stood from the couch, crossed her arms, and looked down at me. “You know, you people are all just alike, aren’t you?”

I wanted to knock the fuck out of her. She’d said things like that before.

I knew that my wife was prejudiced, although she didn’t believe that about herself.

But I never in a million years thought she would embarrass me or herself by saying shit like that so publicly.

What happened behind closed doors was one thing, but having a witness to her ignorant behavior was another thing.

Anger rose within me, and I closed my hands into tight fists. My jaw clenched because I was seconds off calling her a bitch. I didn’t want to disrespect my wife that way, but I was sick of her disrespect.

Dr. Champagne stood from her chair and moved between the two of us.

“Mrs. Perez, tensions can run high, and things can become volatile in times of pressure and strain in a marriage. The two of you are under a lot of pressure right now, having differing opinions on the way you want to live your life and the way you want to be viewed by others. When cultural differences come into play—”

I didn’t want her trying to smooth shit over, not after she had been insulted.

Dr. Giselle Champagne was a queen and deserved to be treated as such.

Even in the face of my wife’s insolence, she still held her poise.

She was to be commended, and I wouldn’t allow her to be insulted further.

I knew that was the path that Beth was on.

“Dr. Champagne, while I appreciate your magnanimous attempt to soften the impact of my wife’s deplorable words and insolent behavior throughout this session, I think it’s time that my wife and I leave. We have greater problems than we realized,” I stated in a quiet voice.

Beth rolled her eyes and then said to Giselle, “We will not be returning for your services. Please send the final invoice, and we will pay it. Perhaps our time slot will be more useful to some poor couple who believes they need your services.”

I stood and grabbed Beth by her wrist, and she jerked away from me. To keep from smacking the shit out of her, because I wasn’t that man, but she was pushing my limits, I placed my hand on her lower back and ushered her toward the door. Bethany reached back and removed my hand as she scowled at me.

“Mr. Perez, if I may suggest something,” Giselle stated.

I stopped, but I couldn’t look into her eyes. My need to protect her in the moment superseded my need to protect my wife. I didn’t want Giselle to see the longing I had for her in my eyes.

“Mr. Perez, please,” she pleaded.

I turned back to look at Giselle, and she stared me in the eye.

“I cannot tell you how to run your marriage. But I can suggest that perhaps you may want to be careful how you conduct yourself, Black king, in volatile times.”

I nodded, and Beth glared at us, squared her shoulders, and walked out of the door. I left knowing that if I stayed in Giselle’s presence, I would do something I might regret.

“I want a divorce,” I declared as I unlocked the car doors.

“Cas, please,” Beth started when we got in the car and rested her hand on my wrist.

I jerked away from her touch, started the car, and floored it out of the parking lot.

“Don’t say a muthafuckin word to me,” I growled.

Beth turned in her seat away from me and busied herself on her phone. There was no doubt about it. I would do what I needed to do. I had two very important phone calls to make when I returned home.