Stevie and Lindsey sat in the waiting room area, waiting to be called back for their first session of marriage counseling. A short, balding man in his late fifties or early sixties stepped through the door, letting out another couple. The woman looked angry, her arms crossed over her chest, her lips thin and tight. Her eyes could set the room ablaze if she so chose and her husband was following closely behind, apologizing profusely. Lindsey's palms started sweating, hoping that wouldn't be his fate. The older man smiles broadly, standing in the doorway.

"Buckinghams" he said and Stevie looked up, taking Lindsey's hand and giving it a gentle squeeze.

"That's us" she said softly, not to the therapist but more to Lindsey who seemed to want to turn and run.

They both walked to the door and the short man shut it behind them. "Take a seat. I'm Dr Joseph Banzo. I've been in practice for 35 years."

"Practice makes perfect, right?" Lindsey said, laughing awkwardly. He got no response from the doctor or Stevie. She just stared at him and the doctor continued on without much acknowledgment of the bad joke or the strange chuckle that followed.

"I have helped countless couples overcome their problems. All situations have worked out the way they were meant to." The last line didn't sit well with Lindsey.

"How many of these people got divorced?" Lindsey asked. "Did they all stay together?"

"Well, the thing is, some people are just not meant to be. Love does not conquer all and some problems are not worth fixing. Sometimes the ship has sailed long before we even make it to the harbor to board, if you get what I mean." The small, balding man crossed his legs and played with a gold ring on his pinkie finger.

"I...I guess so." Lindsey said with a shrug.

"This is a judgment free zone, so feel free to tell each other what problems you really have with each other.  Does he leave his socks laying around or is she a terrible cook and you've been stomaching it for years?" He gestured wildly with his hands. His accent was thick, as if he's from the east coast rather than from the area.

Where did Stevie find this guy? Lindsey thought to himself. "No, she's a great cook and I guess I do leave laundry laying around but I've been trying to get better."

"You have." Stevie said, reassuringly.

"Let's get to the real problems then because I know you wouldn't be so compelled to enter my office if your life is one big, sappy, romance movie. What brought you two here in the first place?"

"Well, um, we have a very unique set of problems" Stevie said carefully and Dr Banzo leaned forward, a gleam in his eyes.

"Continue..."

"Where should I start?" Stevie asked a genuine question but the doctor rubbed his hands together, as if gearing up for quite the doozie.

"Well, I guess our biggest problem was...years ago, I used to drink a lot and I, uh, I got myself in some trouble." Lindsey said.

"With the law?"

"No, with women." Lindsey lowered his eyes and felt embarrassed and unworthy of Stevie's love all over again.

"How many?"

"Six" Stevie said. "Six women, starting from 1975, up until I caught him...what is it, 4 or 5 years ago now?" She looked to Lindsey and she was already becoming angry.

"Six?" Dr Banzo asked. "Is that right, Mr Buckingham?"

"Y-yes" Lindsey admitted and Stevie withdrew her hand from his, crossing her arms. "As I mentioned, I was a drinker, we dabbled in drugs. We both did for a while. The first time I cheated, Stevie and I had been married for a year. We had been trying to have a baby and it was daunting. It took the joy out of it, yknow? It was scheduled and no longer spontaneous."

"So you found someone else?"

"I guess I did." he said and Stevie scoffed. "I'm sorry, Stevie."

"Did you end up having a baby?"

"No, well, not then. We have a beautiful daughter named Arabella."

"We'll talk about her later. What happened next? How did your total get to six? You've been married since 74, correct?" Lindsey nodded and Dr Banzo scribbled something on a yellow notepad.

"Well, as I said I used to drink a lot and I had woken up in more than a few beds in my time, before I started to try and get better."

"I'll say. Do you remember names or faces?"

"Not really."

"Hmmm..." he said, writing on his notepad again. "What about the time you caught him, Mrs Buckingham?"

"He and Lydia--"

"That's the woman's name?"

"Yes. She's a tall blonde with big boobs." Stevie rolled her eyes. "I caught them kissing on the sofa and he swore to me that's as far as it went. He admitted later that, that affair had lasted almost a year and I had no idea."

"After you caught them, what happened to your relationship?" Dr Banzo looks up from his writing, playing with his gold ring again, pen still in hand.

"We ended up in separate rooms and we fought endlessly."

"Was there still intimate physical contact?"

"Oh yeah...!" Lindsey said with a gleeful grin and Stevie elbowed him. "Sorry"

"Why didn't you just pack up and leave, Stephanie? It sounds like it was a living hell."

"It was, but I love him. I guess that's a stupid reason but we were living what looked to be a dream life to everyone. We had a beautiful home, our dream home, that was featured in magazines, we were interviewed for marriage advice and touted as The Power Couple, we had parties..."

"We traveled a lot and had a lot of fun together. That love never left for either of us. Yes, we fought a lot and hurt each other more than I'd care to admit but I feel so guilty over all I have done. I'm so scared of losing you, Stevie." Lindsey said, turning to her. "I don't deserve you, I know I don't, but I love you and I pray everyday that's enough to keep you here. I couldn't live without you."

Stevie softened a little, hearing his words. "I couldn't live without you either."

"Tell me about before your daughter was born. You were in separate rooms, fighting...what would that entail?"

"Yelling, screaming, breaking things...she egged my classic cars and left spots."

"Ouch" Dr Banzo said, continuing to write.

"I had them repainted and sealed, it wasn't cheap and I was livid but it ended up fine. I'd cut up her lingerie, pour out her perfume, break statues and generally just treat her like shit. I never showed her as much kindness as I should. I would insult her and parade her around, all while tearing her confidence down, hoping she would stay."

"Mental and emotional abuse are powerful tools for manipulation. What about the physical aspect you mentioned before? Where does that come in?"

"After we would fight, we needed to de stress. Making love was the only way we could express ourselves to each other...we always understood each other much better that way."

"Using intimacy to mask bad communication skills." More writing. "Alright, and your daughter, Arabella?"

"Yes, God, she's the light of my life. She's just as beautiful as her mother. Feisty, but focused and she's not even two yet. She's incredible- such a gift to me." Stevie took his hand and squeezed it, kissing his knuckles.

"How was your relationship leading up to her birth?"

"It was up and down" Stevie said.

"How so?"

"We lived separate lives in separate rooms, couldn't even use the same staircase. I got pregnant and I was terrified but also very sad, conflicted. The moment I found out, I was in love but with how our relationship was at the time, I considered my options." Lindsey kissed her temple. "He came to me one night in my room when I was four months pregnant. I hadn't told him about the baby yet and I had pretty much locked myself away, working on music for my album or crying and journaling."

"That night, I missed her more than ever. She revealed her secret to me and I was shocked. My wife was pregnant with my child and I had no idea. All I had seen were doctor's appointments written on the calendar and I was so scared she had...cancer, and I didn't want her to be taken from me."

Dr Banzo began writing once more, irritating Lindsey. "So did it get better after you found out she was pregnant?"

"No, I ran from her...emotionally. She gave everything to me and I to her, just to get scared. I did so many terrible things she didn't even know about yet and I thought she'd never forgive me."

"Did she forgive you?"

"No" Stevie spoke up. "I suppressed it. It was easier not to deal with it. All I wanted was for my little girl to have a real family. One where her parents weren't fighting."

"When did he lay it all out for you? How was your relationship before and after?"

"We were fine before. Genuinely showing affection toward each other when we hadn't for a couple of years before hand. She was big and beautiful and I was so proud to watch her grow with our daughter. We had a party the evening she went into labor. She was due in a week and we wanted all of our friends and business partners to see the house and celebrate the pregnancy with us. Two photographers came to take pictures of her night garden and my studio, as well as my office and library. They wanted to capture our distinct spaces. Stephanie's garden was famous, everyone wanted to see all the work she had done. Her naturally black roses were a rarity and were surrounded in mystery, just like the woman herself." Lindsey kissed her again, rubbing her thigh nervously and Stevie leaned into him. "I love you" he whispered.

"I love you too" She kissed his lips softly and sighed, remembering their beautiful home.

"You're speaking in past tense."

"Yes, we moved. We had a lot of bad memories in the house and after our daughter was born, we couldn't take it anymore. We had a massive clear out and sold most of our art work or donated pieces to various museums. We started over and moved into a spacious apartment with a spectacular view. 180 degrees of ocean."

"Do you miss your dream home at all?"

"I miss my studio and the reason for buying it but...no, I guess I don't."

"And you?" Dr Banzo asked.

"Everyday" Stevie said, nodding. Tears fell down her cheeks and Lindsey wiped them away, kissing her repeatedly.

The short, balding man put his notepad down. "We only have a few more minutes left in the session and I have a few assessments and an assignment for each of you. You may not like it and you may not agree but at this point, something needs to be done."

"It does? We're fine!" Lindsey said defensively.

"No, you're definitely not. You're possessive, controlling, manipulative and abusive, whether you believe it or not. You force her into decisions, bend her to your will then use affection to draw her back in. You bet on the fact that she loves you enough to stay. Despite what people tell you, and as I have said, love does not conquer all. And, you, Stephanie, are an enabler." Stevie's eyes widen. "You allow him to continue his terrible and destructive habits because they make him happy. That's all you want for him, happiness, and that's not a bad thing but you don't temper him. You let him run off the rails then chase after him to clean up the mess. Your relationship is horrible and by the sounds of it, always has been. You got married and though I don't know what was happening before that, I can tell it felt like the only option for both of you. We can save that for another session, but Mrs Buckingham, you have to put your foot down. Don't let him walk all over you then allow him to seduce you. As much as you love your daughter, she should not exist." Stevie began to sob and Lindsey held her. "Listen to what I'm saying- if you had both gone your separate ways rather than stay together, where it became an even bigger complicated mess of emotions, she would have never been conceived. I would never say your child is a mistake but the two of you have put each other through more than I have ever seen or heard in all of my 30-plus years. You're a ticking time bomb." Lindsey clenched his jaw and gripped the arm of the chair hard until his knuckles were white. "My advice is an experiment. Stevie, Lindsey, I would like you to both imagine you two are no longer married. Co-parent, lead separate lives again, independent of each other. No sex, no affection, woo her Lindsey, date her and make her fall in love with you again now that everything is on the table. Stevie, don't suppress anything. I'd like to see you both for many more sessions and I want to hear about each of your dates. The second part to this, is I would like Stevie to date other men."

"Okay, now that's just bullshit! She's my wife!" He shouted, standing up so quickly that the chair toppled over.

"It's an experiment and I warned you, you wouldn't like it. You need to deal with your possessive and jealous nature. You're volatile, Lindsey and it needs to be curbed. You have had your time to date around and meet new people while Stevie has been playing the doting wife for years. It's her turn to see if she would like to choose someone new or stay where she is. If your love is as strong as you believe it is, it will endure and she will come back."

"I don't like this idea." Stevie said.

"That's it, Steph, we're leaving. This guy just wanted to fuck with our lives while he sits pretty in his mobster suit and Italian leather shoes."

Dr Banzo twists his ring, perfectly calm in his seat across from the couple. They were both ready to leave per Lindsey's request and Lindsey ripped open the door. "Remember, Stephanie, he's manipulating you. It's your time to decide. Whether you take my advice or not, your marriage won't last unless you face your problems head on. Running solves nothing." Stevie stared at the man, the thoughts already in her mind. She mulled it over and Lindsey yanked her into his side, kissing her hair.

"Fuck off!" Lindsey said, slamming the door behind them. He hurried her outside. "That dude is a quack! He thinks he can fuck with our heads like that? He called me a manipulator but what do you think he's doing? Typical! More like Dr Bozo!" he scoffed. He tucked Stevie into the car, getting in himself and speeding off down the road. Stevie stared out the window, biting her finger nail, deep in thought.

A/N: This is supremely long but I didn't want to split it up. I really hope you like this and that it's not too boring.