Sheena sent three listings that met Patricia’s stated requirements: right neighborhood, appropriate parking, accessible building, realistic price. Patricia went to see two of them. The first one she ruled out for reasons I found unpersuasive but Daniel and I had agreed we were not going to adjudicate her objections as long as she was engaging with the search in good faith, and Patricia engaging with the search was good faith, even if one ruling-out seemed thin.
The second showing was the one that became her apartment.
What the Counselor Asked
Martin Cole had an office in a professional building with beige carpet and a waiting room that contained a small fountain, which I found either calming or irritating depending on the week. He had diplomas on the wall and a way of asking questions that suggested he already knew part of the answer and was waiting for you to find the rest.
The early sessions were useful and uncomfortable in the proportion that useful things tend to be uncomfortable.
He asked Daniel, in the third session, about what he thought the consequence would have been if he had set the departure date in week five instead of week eleven.
Daniel said: his mother would have been upset and might have felt rushed.
Martin said: and what happened instead?
Daniel was quiet for a moment. Then: Maya felt like a guest in her own house for two and a half months.
Martin said: which consequence would you have preferred, looking back?