Page 42 of Stay Away from Him
Thomas:
I owe you an apology.
[pause]
Thomas:
Are you going to say anything?
Amelia:
I’m listening.
Thomas:
I got a little carried away at our last session. And I’m sorry.
[pause]
Thomas:
Well?
Amelia:
I don’t know what to say.
Thomas:
You can say anything with me. You know that.
Amelia:
Can I? I’m afraid of you, Thomas.
Thomas:
You don’t have to be. It will never happen again.
Amelia:
Won’t it? You sound like an abusive husband. You’re apologetic, you say it won’t happen again, until—what? Until I make you mad again?
Thomas:
Now you’re hurting my feelings.
Amelia:
Why? Because of what Kelli Walker is saying about you?
Thomas:
As if I could ever hurt Rose.
Amelia:
She has pictures, Thomas.
[pause]
Thomas:
So you believe it now? That I hurt her? That I killed her? Because you saw some pictures of Rose’s face all beaten up?
[pause]
Amelia:
Thomas, the last time I saw you, you flipped my glass coffee table. Shattered it. And then you choked me. You put your hands around my neck and squeezed. And I couldn’t breathe.
Thomas:
I was angry. I wasn’t thinking straight.
Amelia:
Men and their anger. You seem to think it’s a blanket excuse. “I was angry,” so—what? So you can do whatever you want?
Thomas:
Come on. You know I’m not like that.
Amelia:
I’m beginning to question what I know.
Thomas:
I’m going through the most stressful experience of my life. I’ve lost my wife. My kids are depressed and traumatized. I’m being publicly accused of things I didn’t do. And I’m paying a lawyer a small fortune to build a defense, so I don’t have to go to jail. I’m not myself, Amelia.
[pause]
Amelia:
Be that as it may—there’s something I need you to know.
[pause]
Thomas:
Yes?
Amelia:
I’ve been recording these sessions.
[pause]
Thomas:
What? Amelia, at our first session, I asked you, and you told me…
Amelia:
Yes. And now I’m telling you the truth. I’ve been recording from the beginning.
Thomas:
But why? Don’t you trust me? After all we’ve been through?
Amelia:
I don’t know what I know, Thomas. Not anymore. And that’s why I’ve been recording. Because I wasn’t sure if I could trust what I thought I knew.
Thomas:
Amelia, please. This is a betrayal. You have to delete them.
Amelia:
No. Not after what happened last session.
I’ve saved all the recordings on the cloud.
And I’ve set it up so that if anything happens to me—if I die—an email will be sent with a download link to those recordings.
Sent to the police and to the press. Including the recording in which you attacked me.
[pause]
Amelia:
I’ve listened to it. The sound quality is very clear. I believe anyone listening would understand exactly what is going on.
Thomas:
Why are you doing this?
Amelia:
I needed to do that, and I needed to tell you about it, to feel safe in here with you.
Unless I log into my email, unless I enter a password only I know and prevent the email from being sent each day—the police and the press will receive the recordings.
And I imagine they’ll be very interested in them.
Thomas:
Doesn’t that go against your professional ethics? Privilege, confidentiality?
Amelia:
I’d say we’re well past that, aren’t we? You already pushed me to go against my professional ethics when you demanded that I be the one to treat you—in spite of knowing you, in spite of telling you I was uncomfortable with it. You forced me to do this.
Thomas:
So you figure you’ll just break everything now? Broadcast to the world things I’ve said in here in confidence?
Amelia:
I’m not required to keep confidentiality in all cases. For instance, if I believe there’s imminent threat of a crime being committed, of a threat against a person’s life. In this case, I believe that person to be me.
Thomas:
You really think I’d…that I’d kill you?
Amelia:
It doesn’t matter what I believe. All that matters is that you know. If anything happens to me—if I die, or become incapacitated, the world will know everything that has been said in here.
Thomas:
You’ve made your point. So what now?
Amelia:
Now I have some questions of my own.