Checkmate: THE NEXT LEVEL (R)

ThirtyFour

"Hi Mya, how are you today?"

"I'm good, thanks for asking."

"No problem, let's get started. So the first thing that I want to discuss is this month long break you both took from each other after our first session. How did that go for each of you?"

"It was hard but it was needed honestly. We both got the opportunity to fix whatever issues that were still lingering."

"Yeah." I agreed. "I worked on finally forgiving Mya for everything. I was either going to be happy or miserable because I was still tripping off of what was. But I'm better now."

"Great." Dr. Thompson nodded. "So now that you did the month apart and everything now has things with you and Mya been? Have you two decided that you're ready to get back into the swing of things or is it still hesitation."

"Um, I think we both just want things to be a little more solid before we decide to jump back in. We still have other things that need to be fixed."

"Well I'm glad that you two did decide to take some time apart and reflect on everything because our last session was hectic. I did mention that the first one is always more emotional because everything is still fresh but we should've had a little bit more control on everything. Today we're going to work on building that trust back because if you guys don't trust each other, the relationship is pointless. Mya, I'm going to start with you. What can you do to make sure that from here on out, you two are happy?"

"I can be more open, I can stop letting temporary emotions cause me to do things that put us in a bad position. I can be more understanding too. Sometimes I make Chris feel like his feelings aren't valid or he's not allowed to express his disappointment whenever I mess up." Mya said.

"Why do you do that?"

"Because honestly I haven't fully let go of the past, meaning him cheating and everything. My mindset has basically been, who are you to judge me after everything you've done and I was wrong for that because what he's done before doesn't mean that I get a pass for the mistakes I make."

"That was a perfect answer. I've honestly been waiting for you to admit that. I could tell that you wanted to use the things he has done whenever he complains about you."

"Yeah and I can't be like that, it isn't fair to him."

"That is true. Chris, same question, what can you do?"

"I can not give up so easily. Whenever Mya is in her selfish mode and shuts down I kind of basically just say fuck it and let her have her moment. I have learned that my wife isn't vocal and I think she wants somebody to push her to talk because that's how she sees that you really care about hearing what's wrong. I also think I need to figure what I can do to make my wife realize her beauty because that is something that she also fights with and I hate it because I think she's breathtaking. I can be more compassionate towards her as well. I always feel like she's tripping on something to hard or she's doing the most and that's probably why she shuts me out. Another thing I want to work on is being more romantic. I gotta wine and dine my wife it always about gifts and shit like I need to make more time with her."

"What makes you think you aren't romantic enough with her? Has Mya expressed that to you?"

"Naw but I just know how when people say that thought we only have sex and nothing else. I don't want people to think that's the only reason for us being married."