“Touch on an old memory…a particularly bad one?”
Of course. Russell was part of the therapy team and would know Tessa’s secrets, especially the not so pretty ones, like rape. “Yes.”
Russell leaned closer. He smelled of soap and spearmint gum. “Breathe slowly and deeply. Don’t try to brush away your memories or feelings, let them come, but remember you’re no longer there. It’s in the past, and it can’t hurt you now.”
Tessa took a long, full breath and remembered the feel of Kent’s hands as he pushed her dress up and forced himself upon her. Her heart thumped wildly, and she took another deep breath.
“It’s all right, Tessa. You’re safe. Keep taking those slow, deep breaths.”
Tessa listened to the calm, warm sound of Russell’s voice. She’d known him for about sixty seconds and already she was mesmerized by him.
“Better, now?” he asked after a couple minutes.
“Yes, thanks.”
He took her hand. “Let’s go for a walk. The fresh air will do us good.” He glanced at Tessa’s shoes. “Are you okay to walk in those?”
“Depends on how far.”
“How about a few blocks?”
“I can handle that.”
Out on the sidewalk, Russell said, “That wasn’t the way I’d hoped to start our sessions, but it brought up a good point.”
“I shouldn’t wear low cut dresses to a bar?”
“You shouldn’t blame yourself for someone else’s bad behavior. And,” he smiled, “I need to teach you some moves that would knock an asshole like that on his butt.”
Tessa smiled; a big, toothy grin. “I think I’d like that.”
“We’ll work on it.”
By the time they reached their destination, an Italian restaurant five blocks from Tessa’s hotel, both were relaxed and chatting. About kickboxing.
“Seriously,” Russell said as he opened the door for Tessa to enter, “it is great exercise. And if you ever have to use it, a well-placed foot to the groin does amazing things to a man’s libido.”
“I’ll remember that,” Tessa said.
Russell ordered a bottle of Chianti and they decided on an antipasto platter to start. Like the appetizer they shared, their conversation was a nibble of this and a bite of that, and Russell kept it lively. He was also masterful at getting Tessa to talk. She’d waxed philosophical on the difficulties of designing the perfect sundress. She talked about her design business, both before and after Mark’s death, and the stress of being a little fish in a very big pond. And occasionally she found herself revealing something she hadn’t consciously thought about in years.
“I still miss my parents,” she said, half way through her veal and second glass of wine. “My inheritance made the financial aspects of life easy. It provided Mark and me with the start-up capital for the business. And unless I do something really stupid, it should be enough to keep me comfortable for the rest of my life. But I’d give it all up to have my mom to talk to.”