“Wait me out.”
“Patience is a skill,” I reply calmly.
Now his jaw flexes like I’ve offended him.
I pick up my tablet and notebook. “Before we start, we need to address what happened.”
“What happened is that you felt the need to get in some more jabs and I left.” His back straightens making him even taller and intimidating.
“You stormed out.”
“Same thing,” he scoffs.
“It’s not the same thing,” I say keeping my tone even, steady. “Walking out is a choice to avoid a uncomfortable situation.”
He laces his fingers together behind his neck. “Here we go.”
“Parker, this isn’t a situation where avoidance will help you. Avoidance creates?—”
His gaze hardens. “I don’t need you to explain what avoidance is. I graduated with a 3.6 GPA.”
“You’re right,” I agree. “You demonstrate it beautifully.” Sarcasm drips from my tone.
He opens his mouth only to close it again. Probably wanting to argue but holds back.
Good.
I open my notebook. “Here are the rules.”
His eyebrows lift. “Rules?”
I nod.
“You and your rules.” He gives out a humorless laugh.
“You came to me for help and if you want my help, you’ll agree to my rules.”
“And if I don’t?”
“Then you leave.” I hold his eyes on mine. “But if you walk out again, I’ll drop you as a client.”
The air shifts as his eyes flash. “You can’t do that.”
“Can and will. My time is valuable. Four-hundred dollars an hour to be exact. And I want to help people.”
He stands abruptly and I think here we go again. He struggles when emotions get involved. He walks to the frosted glass door then turns to me. “So, you get to say whatever you want, push whatever buttons you want, and I’m supposed to sit here and take it?”
“I don’t push buttons. I ask questions. You push your own buttons when you don’t like the answers.” I sigh. “If you want me to refer you to someone else, I will.”
His mouth twitches like he knows I’m right.
“Why are you even doing this?” He snaps.
“Because the Armadillos organization thinks I can help you, like I help other athletes. But I understand if you don’t trust me playing with your head.” I pause. “When the appointment was scheduled, I admit, I looked up and found some articles about how you haven’t been able to catch the ball this year like you have in the past.”
He quickly says, “I can catch.”
“Okay, then why are you here?”