Page 72 of Stay Away from Him

Thomas:I got a little carried away at our last session. And I’m sorry.

[pause]

Thomas:Well?

Amelia:I don’t know what to say.

Thomas:You can say anything with me. You know that.

Amelia:Can I? I’m afraid of you, Thomas.

Thomas:You don’t have to be. It will never happen again.

Amelia:Won’t it? You sound like an abusive husband. You’re apologetic, you say it won’t happen again, until—what? Until I make you mad again?

Thomas:Now you’re hurting my feelings.

Amelia:Why? Because of what Kelli Walker is saying about you?

Thomas:As if I could ever hurt Rose.

Amelia:She has pictures, Thomas.

[pause]

Thomas:So you believe it now? That I hurt her? That I killed her? Because you saw some pictures of Rose’s face all beaten up?

[pause]

Amelia:Thomas, the last time I saw you, you flipped my glass coffee table. Shattered it. And then you choked me. You put your hands around my neck and squeezed. And I couldn’t breathe.

Thomas:I was angry. I wasn’t thinking straight.

Amelia:Men and their anger. You seem to think it’s a blanketexcuse. “I was angry,” so—what? So you can do whatever you want?

Thomas:Come on. You know I’m not like that.

Amelia:I’m beginning to question what I know.

Thomas:I’m going through the most stressful experience of my life. I’ve lost my wife. My kids are depressed and traumatized. I’m being publicly accused of things I didn’t do. And I’m paying a lawyer a small fortune to build a defense, so I don’t have to go to jail. I’m not myself, Amelia.

[pause]

Amelia:Be that as it may—there’s something I need you to know.

[pause]

Thomas:Yes?

Amelia:I’ve been recording these sessions.

[pause]

Thomas:What? Amelia, at our first session, Iaskedyou, and you told me…

Amelia:Yes. And now I’m telling you the truth. I’ve been recording from the beginning.

Thomas:But why? Don’t you trust me? After all we’ve been through?

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