I push myself up from the floor. “No, this is a private session. I can’t cancel it.”
He pauses. “It’s Tuesday.”
“Yes?”
“You have these sessions every week.”
That has mefreezing. “You’ve noticed?”
“Yes.”
Shaking off my unease, I wave a hand through the air. “Well, anyway, I have to have this meeting. It’s important.”
“Okay, but I’m staying in the room.”
His words are final, yet I can't help be push back. “No. You can’t. Patient confidentiality—”
“I don’t care. I won’t listen. But I’m staying.”
“No.”
Eli crosses his arms, his muscles straining distractingly. “You know I’ve been listening to your sessions for the past couple of months.”
My mouth opens and closes and my brow furrows. I hadn’t known that. But I guess I should have. It never crossed my mind. I deflate, knowing I won’t win. “I want to wear headphones so you can’t hear her.”
He shrugs. “Sure.”
Eventually, I nod. “Okay. Thank you.”
Eli makes us dinner, then brings me my laptop.
I sit at the kitchen table, while he sits on the other side.
At seven, the screen lights up with Izzy’s call.
“Hi, Izzy, how are you this week?”
The last couple of sessions she’s been quieter than normal. I took her on as a client as a favour to Enzo Russo. He’s a friend of Carina’s. And the nephew of the leader of the Italian mafia. His father runs his own banner in New York, meaning he’s their heir to the New York mafia. Big deal. Not someone you say no to.
Izzy’s his wife, and she was assaulted by her ex-husband. A few weeks ago she was kidnapped and lost the baby she was carrying.
This week, she seems a little more herself.
“I’m doing… okay, I guess. We had a memorial. I named the baby.”
I smile, trying to ignore Eli’s eyes on me. “What did you choose?”
“Alessandra, if they were a girl, and Alessio, if they were a boy.”
“That’s nice. Why those names?”
Izzy smiles sadly. “Those are my parents' names. It seemedfitting.”
“What did you do for the memorial?”
She looks at me through the screen, her eyes slightly reddened. “Buried the pregnancy test and sleeper I bought to surprise Enzo.”
“How did that make you feel?”