It was the day of Etienne's appointment with the therapist. His heart was pounding so hard, he felt everyone around him could hear him.
"What would the therapist think of him?"
"I would come across as a monster!"
"Etienne," his name was called. Well, there was no turning back now. He entered the therapist's room. It did not look so bad, not like a doctor's clinic - sterile.
Jenny, his therapist, smiled and asked him to sit on a comfortable armchair. The room felt so calm and her presence put him at ease.
After the formalities were done, Jenny asked him what he would like to talk about. He did not feel forced to reveal anything he was not ready for.
He started talking about Nandhini and how he felt he needed to work on some issues that would affect his relationship with her.
"This isn't so bad," he thought.
He was so comfortable talking and did not even realise that he had begun talking about his childhood. The little boy in him took over the session.
The pain the lost little Etienne felt poured out for the first time in Jenny's office as tears rolled down the grown man's cheeks.
Jenny listened patiently, nothing about her showed any form if judgment. She was patient and it was as though she understood his pain.
Soon, the session had to end.
Etienne felt a huge sense of relief and he was going to meet Jenny again.
"Why didn't I do this earlier?" he thought as he left the clinic that day.
