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“Really, really lucky. I always wanted that one, but it never worked out for me.” Resting her arms on the table, Lauren asked, “Do you draw a lot?”
“Yes.”
“Hmm. I’ll bet you’re good at it, right?”
Suddenly shy again, he nodded, instead of answering.
“Jacob, Jacob, Jacob,” she murmured, inflecting her voice with a touch of fake reprimand. “When you have a super power, you have to own it. Be proud and be loud. So, let me ask you again: I’ll bet you’re good at it, right?”
“Yes.”
She cupped her ear. “What did you say?”
“Yes.”
“One more time, like you really mean it.”
“Yes!”
“Much better,” Lauren told him with gusto, then made a fist and held it out. “Give me a fist bump.”
He looked at her raised fist with uncertainty.
“Never done that?” she asked, and when he shook his head, she began walking him through it. “It’s easy. First, make a fist, like me.” She waited for him to set his crystal down and comply. Once he had, his small fist making her smile, Lauren told him, “Now meet me in the middle.”
After a brief hesitation, Jacob moved his fist forward. When their knuckles bumped together, she said, “Boom,” followed immediately with explosion sounds before pulling her hand back and spreading her fingers wide. “Fist bump,” she deadpanned, as he laughed in delight.
Then, to her surprise, he held his fist up again.
“You want to do one more?” she asked.
“Yes,” he said eagerly.
Lauren made another fist, and this time, when their knuckles met, Jacob made explosion noises, too, making it her turn to laugh.
When silence had settled between them once again, she got up and grabbed a box of crayons and colored pencils and sheets of thick construction paper from one of the shelves, then set it all out on the table. “How would you feel about showing me some of your super power?” she asked.
“Okay.”
With a look of concentration, Jacob pulled a piece of paper toward him, then searched through the crayons until he found the one he wanted, and began drawing.
Chapter 51
Shortly after getting home, David checked his phone for messages, and saw that Paige had texted him.
PAIGE: How did Jacob’s session go with Lauren??
DAVID: She said it went well, and they laid strong ‘groundwork’, whatever that means. And she mentioned seeing a few red flags, but didn’t tell me what they were.
DAVID: That was a little frustrating, to be honest.
PAIGE: Don’t be frustrated.
PAIGE: Laying ‘groundwork’ is basically just establishing trust and rapport, which is really important. It can also sometimes take a while, so the fact they were able to get that in place during the first session is a win. And she’s just waiting until she has something definitive to tell you, because the last thing she wants to do is tell you something that turns out to not be true.
DAVID: Okay.
PAIGE: Did you watch the session?
