Dr. Adrian, an unconventional sex therapist by trade and passion, greeted her current clients with a sense of intrigue and curiosity. Apparently, Carson and Paisley Morrison had gotten themselves entangled in an open relationship that hadn't ended so splendidly. Love was definitely a many splendored thing, but not so much in their case. She closed their individual files and took them with her through to her main office, a smile wide on her face.
"Good morning," she said. She dropped their files on her desk and looked up at a strikingly beautiful couple. Carson had platinum blonde waves that touched his broad shoulders and his gray eyes were stormy, showing a hint of blue. He definitely had the sex appeal to attract women.
She turned her attention to Paisley who was one of those stunning natural beauties. Her waist length brown hair required no styling and was slung over her right shoulder where it rested in her lap. Her angled features were makeup free and highlighted her plush lips and deep brown eyes. "Okay, so from the individual profiles you two filled out, I can tell two things immediately. One is that you two still love each other very much. Two is that you entered into an agreement you thought you wanted without truly researching just how it could affect your relationship."
Before Carson could comment, Dr. Adrian held up a hand. "Thankfully, you two still have what it takes to make this marriage successful, or else you both wouldn't be here today, but it's going to take work on both of your parts. I want to know the gritty, deepest, darkest secrets of your attempted open marriage. I want partners names-just their first names will be alright, what you did with them that you don't do with each other, things you liked and the things you didn't. If we're going to fix this it starts with complete and total honesty. So, I'll give you two thirty minutes while I go grab a coffee and I'll meet you back here."
***
A half an hour went by and Dr. Adrian found Carson and Paisley sitting in their chairs, unmoved. "Hello, how did you two do?" she asked and handed them both a coffee before she placed a tray of sugars and creamers on the desk in front of them.
"I feel better," Carson told her. "It may not seem like a lot, but writing this down made me feel a lot better."
"Good," Dr. Adrian replied. "That's the idea. Paisley?" The young woman handed hers over, a little jaded looking. "Thank you. Give me just a minute to scan them and I'll be right with you." Dr. Adrian looked at both files, perusing the questions and the scribbled answers. When she got to the partners list her surprise showed when she looked up at Paisley from over the files.
"What is it?" Carson asked, leaning forward, concern on his face.
"Complete honesty, right?" Dr. Adrian said, her question pointed at Paisley. The woman nodded her head.
"Carson, would you care to tell your wife how many partners you've had since your open marriage started?"
"One," Carson said, heat suffusing his cheeks.
"And Paisley?"
She kept a straight face, but let out a huff of air, once that seemed to have been in there a while. "None."
"None?" Carson asked, in obviously disbelief. "But the open marriage was your idea."
"I brought it up because you were unhappy," Paisley told him. "You didn't talk to me, let alone touch me. You weren't the Carson I knew, have known. You were distant and irritable and not yourself. I thought you were unhappy so I said that we should try an open marriage. I wanted you to be happy again, to be the Carson I fell in love with."
Dr. Adrian watched their body language as they talked and noted the way Paisley had turned away from him. Not a good sign. Carson, however, had turned toward his wife, a positive first step. "Okay," Dr. Adrian interjected. "It's obvious that communication broke down somewhere in the last six months, I'm going to guess it was from the very beginning, probably even before that. Still, the damage has been done because of it and the only thing that will fix it is for you two to spend some time communicating with and without words. How long has it been since you've been intimate?"
"Nearly a year," Paisley told the doctor, fighting the tears that stung her eyes. Dr. Adrian handed her a tissue.