This is part 6 of the series with Tommy and Mrs. Pearson, the preacher's wife. Thank you to a few people who sent some ideas and others who just wrote to tell me what they liked.
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Tommy was lying on the couch thinking about what had just happened. Earlier he had sex with Mrs. Pearson. She kept saying he should call her Karen but in his mind she was still Mrs. Pearson, the wife of their preacher. And he had never had sex with anyone before. He didn't know what to say when they finished. When she said, "that's one way a date can end," he didn't say anything.
She had gotten out from under him and gotten up, brought him a towel "to freshen up" she said and then gone away for a few minutes. "Tommy, that was a very nice date and I think it was helpful in showing you how the end of a date goes sometimes. But I don't think you should drive home this late so here's a pillow and blanket for the couch. I think we had a good session tonight. I want to thank you for a nice night." Then she went away, upstairs.
So now he was lying in the dark on the couch thinking about the amazing night and wondering what to do next. What he didn't know was that she was upstairs lying in her bed, feeling a little guilty but also very good. She was telling herself that it was a natural part of the teaching and counseling process and that she was doing it for Tommy, to help him, to make sure he knew things he would never learn from his mom.
In the morning, she made breakfast for them and she was acting just like nothing had happened. Tommy wanted to say something but he didn't know what to say. Mrs. Pearson kept talking about her husband who was off visiting his friend the Deacon with Tommy's mom. She told Tommy she had to cover a meeting for her husband with two older ladies in the church. "I might start counseling one of them. She's been upset since her husband died and I need more counseling experience. We can keep working later but we might not have a lot of time if you and I have to go get my husband and your mom. Now hurry along so my next client feels comfortable and private."
When he drove back to his own house, Tommy realized he hadn't really said anything much that morning and he felt like he'd been rushed away. He tried not to think about it and ended up doing a few chores his mom had left for him.
Late in the afternoon, after he was done and was just relaxing and doing nothing, he got a call on his cell phone from Mrs. Pearson. "Tommy, I can't explain right now but I need to pick you up and we have to get up there to see your mom and my husband. I'm almost at your house. Be ready to go. Bye."
She sounded urgent and Tommy was surprised. He thought everyone would come home by themselves. Mrs. Pearson pulled in and he went out to the car and got in. He didn't have luggage because he assumed they would drive up and back and get home late.
She didn't seem as odd as she sounded on the phone but she didn't speak for the first fifteen minutes so finally he asked her, "Is everything okay, Mrs. Pearson? Did something happen?"
She looked and smiled. "Everything's fine. What could be wrong? And I thought we had agreed that you would call me Karen. After all, we are both adults, just the same as each other, adults. And I call you Tommy and you call me Karen. All my clients will call me Karen. You don't think Mrs. Johnson called me anything except Karen do you? That would be strange and it would be strange if you didn't call me Karen."
Tommy felt better but still not sure what was going on. But he knew he needed to say something. "Oh, okay Karen. I will make sure I do. So, uh, was your counseling good? I mean did it go well or how it was supposed to I mean?"
Karen was feeling more relaxed. "Tommy, thank you for taking an interest in my work and my day. That's a nice thing to do. And it did go very well. I won't say too much about Mrs. Johnson because that's confidential but I felt like I was able to help her and she was able to open up. Counseling is more effective when you share feelings and it was hard for her. Being a widow can be hard and I think it can be hard for her to be attracted to a man she shouldn't be. That's hard for anyone especially a woman who's married or I mean widowed. And it can be hard to admit to a therapist or yourself who you have thoughts about. I think if you don't talk to anyone you might act out on those ideas or explore them or experiment. But with a therapist maybe she can have release just being able to express her ideas and share her dreams and fantasies and know that they are not strange no matter how unusual they are. Maybe by telling me, I mean when someone talks to a therapist they can figure out a little what's not strange and share and know that maybe a lot of people have thoughts that are unusual and that they often keep private. I want to be the kind of therapist that a client can tell anything and even if she doesn't use names and I can figure out who she really means that it's okay that I won't care no matter who it is she's talking about and what she fantasizes about doing to him. After all fantasies are fine. And even when a therapist experiences an emotional sharing, there's nothing wrong with the way she feels too. It happens all the time. So yes it was a good session. For her I mean."
Tommy was surprised at how much she said and a lot of it made him think but he also knew he should keep talking to and not just think. "I think that's great Karen. It must be good for her to talk to someone so understanding. I think you are really helping people like her and she probably feels a lot better. I think therapy helps a lot of people and it must be better with an understanding person like you as a therapist. I thought therapy was weird at first but then I met you and I bet Mrs. Johnson is the same way. I don't know how many clients you have but I bet a lot of them change a lot after the first visit or two."
Karen looked thrilled. She reached over and patted Tommy on the thigh while she drove. "You're very understanding too Tommy. You really get this. She was different after the first couple meetings. She got so open. The woman today is someone you wouldn't even recognize almost. By the end it was very emotional and some of the things she said were amazing. Oh, I don't want to talk about them because they were private of course and I'm not judging anyone's fantasies. I hope some of my other clients will start to open up soon even if their fantasy life is less kinky. But it just reminds me that we all can understand each other and you never know. I've only had two clients open up a lot. Well two if you count her and you. I think you're open aren't you? I feel like I understand you even if you haven't told me directly in all those words about what's on your mind. Do you feel open, Tommy?"
Tommy fidgeted. "Yeah, sure, I'm open. Pretty open."
"Okay, Tommy. Let's try questions. I'll go deep but no judgment at all. Short answers are fine. This is like word association at first. Quick, without thinking. Were you a virgin last week?"
"Um, um, yeah I guess." It was getting darker so she didn't see him turning red a little.
"Who is more likely to be in a fantasy dream of yours, Tina at the Coffee Shop or me?"
"Well, you are."
"Now word association. Very quickly, the first word you think of. And go." With that she asked very quickly, not letting him think.
Warm? Night.
Dark? Sky.
Hot? Cold.
