The Secret Shrink

Unsuspecting Clients -6

"Thank you for giving me some time off and covering for me yesterday afternoon. I know I awe you an explanation..." Harry begun but Jenny cut him short of his statement.
"No no no, you don't awe me anything. I could see what you were discussing was important and Robert seemed like your confidant so it's none of my business that you were pouring out to him. My question is are you feeling better or do you need some time off or maybe some professional help and therapy?" Jenny said.
Harry's face showed the relief and a wide smile was on his mouth despite the tears lurking at the corners of his eyes. "Take your time," Jenny added patting him on the back.
"Am better than how I was when we left the office yesterday, about therapy, am not sure it will help. But thank you, since sister Anna, no one has shown me such care when it comes to my emotions. I always try to keep them in check when at work," Harry finally said.
He stopped for a while looking around then turned to look at Jenny then continued, "Am sorry that my feelings got in the way of your work yesterday and am more than grateful for the opportunity you gave me. I have not opened up to anyone about what happened between me and Sharon and I think talking to Robert was definitely a step in the right direction. Am also sorry in case our situation has made it difficult to work together with open-minds. Thank you for your patience with both of us, I promise better efforts on my part."
Jenny was nodding the whole time and she was more than glad to see her efforts were finally bearing fruit. Harry looked up but staring at particularly nothing and smiled. "You know its funny but besides the hateful stare she gives me I still love her very much, I wish there was a way for me to share my feelings with her," He said then came to the realization he was telling parts of a complicated story that Jenny knew nothing of. He looked at Jenny and said, "Well now that I have mentioned it I guess it's best if I fill you in somehow. However, am not sure am ready to talk about it yet fully. For now, just know we were in a relationship, and before we made it official things went haywire and we ended things in a rather bad way. And don't blame her for how she looks at me or treats me at times trust me I completely deserve it."
"Am glad you shared that, and it means a lot to me that you feel better. Take your time, time heals all wounds a time will come when you will look back and laugh about it. Don't feel indebted to me in any way for yesterday. Am well versed with family therapy and your heart at ease means a more productive Harry here at work," Jenny said smiling at Harry. "Whenever you need someone to talk to, my door is always open or my wallet in case you want to share it away from the work environment. Now go prepare so we can get to that appointment we missed yesterday," She said standings up and giving Harry a chance to leave. She could see that he was feeling he had shared enough. She was glad to have finally gotten through to him and she knew that was the first of their talks to come about his relationship with Sharon. She ushered him out of her office and she walked back to her seat smiling; she picked a brand-new notebook and recorded all Harry had shared then locked that notebook in a drawer.
The next day Sharon did not appear at the usual lunch table. Jenny was not worried as she knew this was just a reaction after she saw Harry spend some time in Jenny's office. She watched from afar and was almost counting how long he had spent in that office. When he finally walked out, she gave him a death stare that turned Harry's smile into an empty glance to the ground as he walked past her desk to his workstation without saying a word to her or the other colleagues. The next day lunch was immediately after a project status meeting in Jenny's office so Sharon could not avoid having lunch with Jenny. She was, however, unusually silent all through with just nods and occasional 'yes', 'no' and 'sure' as Jenny spoke. When their lunch was done, Jenny held her arm as she was about to dash off.
"You know, it was quite interesting to hear Harry's side of engineering yesterday morning while He gave me a very clear profile of all the workshops we visited without using even reminder notes, but am not sure you heard me tell you all about that as we ate, you seem very distant today, are you okay dear?" She said. She made it seem so effortless that she was absolutely sure Sharon bought her cover story. Sharon took a deep breath and sank back onto her seat.
"Say what?" she asked. The gloomy look on her face changed in an instant into a relieved yet curious expression. Jenny could see both the interest to hear more about what she had just said as well as the relief when she learned and believed that their talk with Harry was not about her.
Jenny narrated her experience with the engineering side of Harry's personality over the past few days strategically leaving out Robert and the afternoon they had at Terry's Bistro. By the time they were done talking about Harry, it was way past lunch hour and Jenny had learned that Jenny was still interested in hearing and talking about Harry as long as their past personal relationship was kept off the topic. As they walked into the open office area they toned down their laughter when they discovered they were all of a sudden, the center of attention as Sharon's laughter was well loud and noticeable. Everyone was smiling except Harry who looked at his computer the entire time until both Jenny and Sharon got to their workstations. His heart was heavy and now that Jenny knew a bit about his past relations with Sharon, he was insecure about what Sharon had shared with Jenny.
When Jenny got into her office she took another new notebook scribbled down some notes concerning the Harry interest she picked up from Sharon and placed it in the locked drawer she had placed the other dairy about Harry. She smiled and all she could think of that afternoon was how close she was to cracking her two unsuspecting clients. She knew the counseling ethics required her to inform her clients of her interest to assist them with their issues and their consent to record anything they shared but for now, she needed some more time for both of them to feel the need for her assistance. She also knew she needed to keep trying to assist so that none of her best champions lost their job at the end of the year.