Under Control.

13. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦

The clock located in one corner of the room sounded as if it was ringing in his ear. Each tick and tock made him feel in suspense. The middle aged lady jolted down some notes. Hunter wanted to refrain from bouncing his leg up and down on the wood tiled floor. It made too much noise, he did not want to expose his anxiety. These— meetings made him feel uneasy. Rachel seemed calm and ready to tackle it all. Could it be he felt uneasy because he was the perpetrator?

Bonnie Giles, the middle aged woman with a grayish bob cut sat opposite them with one leg crossed on top of the other. Rachel had looked her up, apparently she had a couple of books and was a grand expert of these relationships things. Hunter just went with it, he did not want anymore arguments with Rachel in all honesty. Lately they argued about the toilet seat, about the cereal box, about closet space, about everything— just everything. It was draining, the tension was clear and visible even in thin air.

"What are some of the biggest problems in your marriage?" Bonnie asked.

Giving them time, Rachel was quick to answer. "He cheated! Everything was perfect then he went on to cheat. As if I wasn't good enough as if I did not do enough as if—"

"Calm down, calm down Mrs. Clifford." Bonnie countered quickly. Hunter wished the ground would open up and swallow him. He had heard this same line and million times, it was beginning to sound like a chorus for Rachel's hit song of the year.

"Alright, alright. Mrs Clifford, your spouse may have different perspectives on the status of your marriage. Ask your husband what he thinks are the biggest issues in your relationship. You may be worried about financial stress and infidelity, while your spouse is worried about trust issues and lacking communication. Do not combat your spouse's answers. Listen to them closely so you can learn from them and grow as a couple."

With a sigh, Rachel turned to look at Hunter timidly. "Hunter, what are some of the biggest problems in our marriage?"

It took a while for him to answer.

"Mr. Clifford?" Bonnie questioned.

"I— the problem is Rachel is unforgiving and keeps living in the past when I'm trying my level best to move forward. That is why I'm here to work things out. She constantly recalls my mistakes for me to hear..." Hunter let out. Rachel sighed looking away, she already had an answer but Bonnie gave her a hand sign to pause before speaking harshly.

"When Did The Problems Start?" Bonnie continued.

"See if you can point out the moment when your relationship took a wrong turn. Was it a trip you took, a decision you made, a person you let into your life...? If you can determine the triggers for your arguments as a whole, you may be able to reverse the issues and get back onto a successful path. If you cannot pick a time when problems started, try to think back to the last time you both were truly happy. You may be able to use that as a building block for happiness in the future."

"It all started when he started teaching this student from Africa. We were happy and after he met her everything went downhill." Rachel spoke out, a little hurt by her own words.

"Mr. Clifford is this true? Do you feel the same way? Your problems started when you let this person into your life?"

Hunter never saw Karishma as a problem infact when she entered his life, she felt like a breath of fresh air. He was used to his routine and it felt nice and adventurous to derail a bit but he couldn't exactly say that out loud. Clearing his throat he nodded.

"Mr. Clifford!! Verbal communication please." Bonnie pushed. In all honesty, Hunter was always the quiet type, he kept most things to himself. He found it hard having to be forced to push out every thought and feeling in front of his wounded wife and a mere stranger."