Pillar Ch. 04

"You'll train her like a dog?"

Tom shrugged. "In a way. I know what she struggles with, and I'll make her do exactly that, but in the way I think is best for her. If she does well, I'll reward her. If she fails, I'll make sure she doesn't the next time."

Thomas balled his fist. "What kind of rewards are we talking about here? You'll sleep with her again?"

"I think so, but not much and certainly not at the start. Look, I'm not a therapist or anything like that, but I know something about taking charge of a woman's intimate life. It's what I do. It's why Ruth stays with me. It's also something I spend a lot of my time thinking about. I know one thing, Alex will do what I tell her to do, even if she doesn't like it, and even if she doesn't understand it right away. What I don't know is how much she'll learn from it. She'll be talking everything over with her therapist. He's helped her a lot so far."

Tom held up his hand in apology. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to go on about it. It's been on my mind a lot lately."

Thomas hadn't relaxed at all. "You've been thinking about this girl more than about Ruth?"

Tom looked Thomas straight in the eye and said, "I can't think about Alex without thinking about Ruth. How can I plan the time I need to spend on Alex in such a way that it doesn't impact Ruth? What will Ruth think if this or that happens? Will she feel bad about it? Will she accept it? It goes on and on. Nothing has started yet, but I think I will keep most of Alex's training to things she does on her own or with me there to guide her. If I think Ruth will benefit from it, then I'll ask her to do something if she's interested."

He got up from his chair and said, "I don't have much time right now, so I'd like to move the rest of the boxes. You know where to find me if you have questions, and you can always ask Ruth if you trust what she says more. This thing we're doing is something serious, something that will have value in somebody's life. I understand it's difficult to understand, but that won't stop me from doing it."

With those words, Tom left Thomas behind. Thomas would have his own thoughts, just like his wife. And just like her, he'd lost a fundamental trust in Tom. Time was the only thing that would show them the proof that they lacked now. One day Thomas would see that one smile on his daughter's face that would push him over the edge of trusting again. He'd nudge his wife and point at Ruth, and who knows, maybe she'd see it to. And if not, it was only a matter of time.