Page 36 of Rock On

Then without a word, she turned and practically ran out of the room.

And for some inexplicable reason, I ran after her.

FOURTEEN

Harley

“Harley, wait!” Tommy was calling my name, but I could move a lot faster than him.

I was furious, both at myself and at Allisha for letting this happen.

She knew who my ex-husband was, and she had to have known he was here.

I felt like a complete idiot, having opened up to her about everything yesterday in our session, and her not saying a word.

I didn’t know whether I was going to sue her or Harmony Place, but it felt like I had to do something because I was fucking furious.

“Harley, wait.”

That was Allisha’s voice, and I whirled, angrier than I’d been in a long time. “How could you humiliate me like that?” I demanded.

She didn’t appear at all embarrassed or even regretful about what she’d done.

“How did I humiliate you?” she asked. “Not a single person in that room knows who you are or anything about you. And as far as what you and I talked about yesterday, neither does Tommy.” She paused. “Did I tell you anything about him?”

I scowled. “No, but?—”

“So why would you think I’d tell him anything?”

“You owed it to me to tell me he was here.”

“I wasn’t sure you were his wife until our session yesterday, and then I made an executive decision based on nearly two decades of experience to allow the two of you to see each other in session and decide whether or not you wanted to be there together. There is nothing unethical or unprofessional about any of it. I had no idea who you were to each other until yesterday.”

“Could the two of you slow the fuck down?” Tommy finally caught up with us and he looked aggravated. “And what the fuck, Allisha?”

She sighed, as if we were wearing on her patience, and essentially repeated what she’d just told me.

“That wasn’t cool,” he said when she was finished. “You should have given us a head’s up.”

“Actually, I had very sound reasons for wanting the two of you to be in the same room together without prior warning. Group therapy is about dealing with grief by sharing, and in your cases, you’re grieving the same person. I think it could be cathartic for both of you.”

“I disagree,” I said, my face tight with frustration.

“All right. Then we can come up with a schedule for alternating attendance in the group sessions. Beyond that, there’s no reason for either of you to run into each other. And let me reiterate that nothing either of you tells me leaves the room. Do not insult my integrity or professionalism by insinuating anything else.” She glared at us, and I looked away first, unsure what to do next.

“I felt blindsided,” I admitted.

“I know.” She nodded. “That was done intentionally. I needed to see how the two of you would react to each other. And now I know.”

“What do you now know?” Tommy asked, his face a mask of nothingness, which was odd for him.

“What I already suspected.”

“Which is?” I asked, when she didn’t seem keen on expounding.

“That the two of you both have a lot of emotions, lingering anger, and a distinct lack of closure. Something you need to deal with. The way you behaved when you saw each other was quite telling. You were both upset, but while Harley ran, Tommy had the need to follow. That right there tells me a lot.”

“What does it tell you?” Tommy asked. “That I’m a pathetic sap who’s still chasing after my ex?”

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