Page 4 of Volatile

image

image

image

Chapter Two

image

What the hell haveI gotten myself into?

What had Jacque said? A bit reserved? He would happily take a bit reserved over what sat before him.

“You said you’ve never been in therapy before, but have you ever visited your student counseling center?”

“No.”

“Are you enjoying school?”

“Yes.”

“What classes do you find the most challenging?”

“None.”

“And your favorite?”

The young woman shrugged.

Jon took a calming breath. He was doing his best to make her comfortable, to establish rapport between them, but she didn’t even have an opinion on whether she preferred to be called Lilian or Lily. He’d asked her basic questions for nearly an hour and had only received one-syllable answers in response, if at all. Normally that was fine; more often than not it took time to reach that level of openness with his new clients, but the problem lay with her complete lack of interest. It could be difficult enough to break through when the person actually wanted help. She wanted no part of being there. Coercion did not make for a healthy session.

Lily didn’t appear anxious or afraid, just... bored. She looked anywhere but him—the floor, the walls, her crossed hands. It was like she was hiding from him, hoping he’d eventually forget about her and stop asking all these annoying questions.

“So, you live with your older sister?” He’d discovered that little tidbit of information from Jacque, not her. Lily nodded, and he continued. “For how long?”

“A few years. Since our mother died.”

They were moving into full-sentence territory, and he felt a spark of encouragement. “And your father?”

She glanced at him for a brief second, peeking through strands of hair, before looking away again. “I’m not convinced I even have one.”

“Would you like to talk about that?”

“Is it even relevant?”

She stared out the window. The session would be over soon, and he had the feeling she couldn’t wait to run out the door. Jon tapped his chin with his steepled fingers. “It might be. It might not be. But whatever you’d like to share, I’m here to listen.”

Silence. A breeze blew in through the half-open window, blowing her long blonde hair from her eyes. “Lily?”

She didn’t respond; the neighbor’s remodeling project appeared to hold more interest. “Lily?” he repeated. “Is there anything you’d like to talk about?”

“My sister’s forcing me to come here, Mr. Blazek, but she can’t make me talk.”

Jon studied her, taking in her demeanor, her small act of defiance. Physically, she did resemble Julia, but there was more to it than that. So far, he agreed with Jacque’s assessment on all counts. There was more at play going on here, and it didn’t appear to be a cut-and-dried case of a woman protecting her abusive boyfriend. Of course, his first impression could amount to shit, but his hunch was telling him differently. And unless he suspected a harmful situation, he wouldn’t break trust and report an allegation based on another’s claim. Yes, there’d been physical evidence, but he had his suspicions about that as well.

“What do you do for fun, Lily?”

---