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“It was just a happy coincidence then.”
“Now it sounds like you’re glorifying Romeo as your hero.”
“I’m not.”
“He’s dead, Chad.”
“Yeah. I know.”
He sipped his coffee to avoid her eyes.
“I’ve got a few questionnaires for you to fill out today.”
“Again?”
Keeley opened her desk drawer and pulled out a folder. “It’s always good to compare how you’re feeling now, to how you were feeling when you first started. You need to answer honestly.”
Chad looked away. “As if I’d ever lie…” He ignored Keeley’s eyes trying to crack through his skull. “Let’s get this over with.”
She brought them over to the couch fixed to a clipboard and handed Chad a pen.
“Read the statements below and indicate how much these apply to you on a typical day.”
Chad clicked the pen, eager to get it done. “Yep, I remember.”
Keeley moved over to the window to give him privacy. He didn’t see the point. Afterwards, she’d look at all his answers and pick them apart. There was no wrong way to feel, but she questioned his choices like a dog with a bone.
He guessed the appropriate responses, rather than answering the questions honestly.
Chad slumped, resting his back against the wall, and held out the clipboard. Keeley hurried over to him with a smile, only for it to morph into a frown as she scrolled through the answers.
“Something wrong?” Chad asked.
“Last week, I thought…”
“Thought what?”
“We made a breakthrough. You were honest with me.”
“I’m being honest.”
Keeley raised her eyebrow. “Really?”
Chad bristled. “Yes. Really.”
“Why do you keep holding things back from me, and don’t tell me you don’t, we both know you do.”
“You know why I hold things back … one wrong word, and you’ll report me to my DI.”
“Chad, my job isn’t to catch you out and get you fired. My job is to help you.”
“I don’t want help.”
“But you need it.” Keeley tore the page off the clipboard and replaced it with a fresh one. “Answer honestly this time, then we’ll talk through those answers, and I promise you, you’ll feel better for it.”
****
Chad hated it when Keeley was right. He hated laying there as her words of wisdom washed over him. He’d turned into a patient from a movie, sprawled over a couch, mouth motoring along with no thought to what he was saying. He didn’t know. He didn’t care. He hated the lack of control, but when he turned his head and blinked blearily at Keeley, he found he felt better.
