"Have fun, okay?" Joe said. "And remember just ask Evie's mum if you ever need to call us."
Ella nodded excitedly. "Okay, bye daddy! Love you."
"Love you too, have a good time," Joe smiled, before letting Ella run up to the front door. She was having a sleepover at her friends Evie's house, and couldn't be more excited for it. After making sure Ella got in the house safely, Joe drove home.
Once at home he sat down on the couch, enjoying the moment of rest as he picked up his book and began to read. Thirty minutes later, the lock on the door clicked and the door swung open, revealing a disheveled blonde woman.
"Hey love, how was the meeting?" Joe asked.
"It was fine..." Taylor said, giving him a tired smile.
Joe nodded, seeing that she must have had a hard day. He put in his bookmark, before walking over to her. "Anything I can do?" Joe said.
Taylor shook her head, "I'm alright."
"You sure?" Joe asked worriedly.
"I said I'm alright," Taylor cast an annoyed glance at him.
Joe bit the inside of his cheek, "Okay. Well if you're not feeling up to it, we can cancel on the therapy session. We'll just reschedule for next week."
Taylor mentally facepalmed, she had completely forgotten about the appointment. "No, no, we should go. We've already canceled three times."
"It's okay, we can just cancel one more time. You're obviously a little tired, you should get some rest," Joe assured her.
"Joe, let's just go. I really don't want to cancel again," Taylor sighed. "I'm not tired, it's fine."
Joe pursed his lips, "Okay, I guess we'll go."
So an hour later, they ended up in the lobby of the therapists office, waiting patiently. Taylor played with her hands nervously, staring down at her lap. Joe turned to her, taking her hands in his, relaxing her fidgeting fingers.
Eventually their names were called, and they stood up, walking over to the office. "Hi!" They were greeted with a warm smile from a brunette woman in her early twenties. "I'm Ms. Dolenshi. You can call me Kara. I assume you're Taylor and Joe?"
Taylor nodded, reaching out her hand to shake Kara's. "Nice to meet you."
Joe did the same, and Kara motioned for them to sit down on the couch. "So, let's get started," Kara said, shuffling some papers around. "Let's just get to know you guys first. Anything you want to tell me specifically?"
Joe and Taylor paused, neither one sure what to say. "When'd you guys meet?" Kara asked, trying to jumpstart the conversation.
"It was at a party in 2016," Joe said, "In LA. Who's was it again?" Joe turned to Taylor.
"Gigi's," Taylor supplied. "And then we saw each other again at the Met Gala where we exchanged numbers, and we just continued talking and now... here we are."
Kara smiled, "Great. So when did you guys began to notice a conflict between you two?"
"There was never really a conflict," Taylor said slowly. "More of just... a disconnect. But there was never a huge fight or anything. But it was about eight months ago when notice it. Then five months ago we got a divorce... then two months ago we got remarried."
Kara nodded, jotting down notes, "Alright. So let's start with the basics. The goal for today is just to find the root of the problem. And though you said there was just a disconnect, there's a reason behind that disconnect, and that's what we want to look into. Let's start with a simple exercise. I want you two to face away from each other, and start by saying what you think might've been bothering you about the relationship. And the other person won't reply, so just say whatever you want, there won't be repercussions."
