The Sessions Page #3

Oh. Uh...

Yes, I think that would be fine for me.

Where are you from?

Boston. You?

Salem. Small world.

Oh.

We'll talk for a while to begin with,

and when you're ready...

...we'll start doing

some body-awareness exercises.

MARK:

Holy Mother of God.

What are body-awareness exercises?

Which one?

Doesn't matter.

Will you stop acting

like you're going to your own execution?

I'm not acting.

Okay, the purple one.

Just try and think about

something else.

Baseball, for example.

That's what they usually tell boys to do.

Baseball.

You mean like

hope I make it to second base?

That's helpful.

Okay. All right. Be like that.

Uh...

(DOORBELL RINGS)

Maybe she forgot.

Yeah, she forgot

or she got the date wrong.

We should... We should just forget it.

Let's go back. Come on.

She has not forgotten. See?

(DOOR OPENS)

CARMEN:
Hi.

VERA:
Hi.

Come on in.

All right.

Hi.

Hi.

Thank you.

Okay. I'm going.

I'll be back around 1,

but if you guys are finished early...

...you can just let yourselves out.

Okay.

Have fun.

Thanks. Bye.

Bye.

(VERA SIGHS)

What time is it?

Twelve after 11.

I think there's a strong possibility...

...she's had second thoughts.

Mark.

If she does arrive, she'd be perfectly

within her rights to turn around and run.

She won't.

(DOORBELL RINGS)

CHERYL:
Hi. I'm Cheryl.

VERA:
Hi.

CHERYL:
Sorry I'm late.

Oh, no, no, not a problem.

Come on in.

I'm Vera, one of Mark's helpers.

CHERYL:

Nice to meet you.

VERA:

Nice to meet you, too. Just...

Hi, Mark O'Brien.

Hi, Cheryl Cohen Greene.

I'll be back in, say,

two hours?

Yes. Perfect.

Okay.

So...

Your money's on the desk over there.

Yes, it is. Thank you.

That was the wrong way to start off.

It really was. Shall we start again?

Please. You start.

Although the aim is for us to have sex...

...I'm not a prostitute.

You don't have to pay me up front.

I have nothing against prostitutes,

but there's a difference.

We can talk about that later.

I'm sorry.

The other thing is, there's a limit

to the number of sessions we can have.

Did Laura mention that

when you saw her?

I'm sorry. I don't remember.

The limit is six, but that gives us

plenty of opportunity to explore.

Six.

So I understand

you're able to have an erection.

Yes, but not by choice.

Do you know how many men there are who

would give anything for a natural erection?

Is this your place?

No, it's a friend's.

The only bedroom furniture

I have at my place is an iron lung.

I've been wondering maybe

about possibly buying a futon...

...you know, in case the need arose.

It might be worth thinking about.

I've got the space, I think.

It can be expensive, though, a nice...

Futon, I mean. How much do you think

a good one would cost?

Because I never...

Mark, take a deep breath.

Yeah.

And let go.

(EXHALES)

Do I seem anxious?

You do a little.

So Laura tells me you're a poet.

What's it like to be a poet?

It's a way of living inside your own head,

which is where I spend most of my time.

But not today.

Nice shirt, by the way.

Thank you.

So I'm gonna ask you

some basic questions, okay?

Sure. Explain to me, so

that I really understand...

...exactly what the iron lung is for.

It keeps me breathing.

I can spend a few hours outside of it

with my portable respirator...

...depending on how I feel...

...but I work and sleep in the iron lung.

And how do you feel right now?

Out of my league.

(CHUCKLES)

I meant your breathing.

Oh, fine.

In fact, better than usual.

That's great.

Shall we get undressed?

Sure.

So it's good for me...

Be careful.

Did that hurt?

Not yet.

Do you have any areas

of unusual sensitivity?

Any parts of your body

you don't want me to touch?

I have normal sensitivity all over.

I'm not paralyzed exactly.

It's just my muscles don't work too good.

But you could touch me anywhere.

That's great.

Ow! Ow!

Stop! It hurts! It hurts! Holy Mother of God.

What...? What's wrong?

Ahh! My fingers are caught.

It's okay. It's okay.

I've got it. I've got you. Don't worry.

Be careful, please.

Mark, I'm gonna be really careful

with you.

I don't want to hurt you or injure you

in any way.

And it's really not sexy when

you yell at me. Okay?

I won't yell at you any more.

But you'll tell me, calmly...

...the minute something starts to hurt.

Yes.

Okay.

Here we go.

Piece of cake. Heh.

Nice shirt.

You already said that.

Did I?

Okay.

I'm gonna slide these down.

Be careful with my feet, okay? My feet.

Be careful.

Hold your breath.

Okay. Whoa. There you go.

Careful. Not so fast.

(WATER RUNNING)

You ready?

Whoa.

I'm gonna take that as a yes.

So the difference between me

and a prostitute...

...is a prostitute

wants your return business.

I don't.

I'm here to help you

learn about your sexual feelings...

...so you can share them

with a future partner.

Mark, I want you to tell me how it feels each

time I touch a different part of your body.

Okay?

You know, whenever I'm naked...

...everyone else in the room

is always dressed.

Now that I'm in bed with

another naked person, it's very confusing.

Why is it confusing?

I'd always expected that God

or my parents would intervene...

...to keep this moment from ever happening.

Not this time.

So if something feels good,

you tell me.

If something is ticklish or bothers you,

I want you to let me know.

I don't want you to tolerate anything.

Okay.

I'm gonna start with the top

of your head.

You have soft hair.

It's really nice to touch.

Does it feel good?

It does.

That feels weird.

Weird good or weird bad?

Just weird.

That's good.

Still good?

Everything good so far except the ear.

Are these the body awareness

exercises?

You're very clever to have worked that out.

People tell me I'm very perceptive.

Mark, would you like to

see what I feel like?

Sure.

You touch one, you have to touch the other.

It's sort of a rule.

That's a good rule.

Are you wearing cologne?

Yes.

I like it.

I don't usually like cologne,

but I like that.

So, Mark, I'm gonna move my hand

along your body...

...down to your penis, and

if you feel me... Ooh!

(MOANS)

Oh.

Nice job.

I thought there would be more to it.

Not that it was unpleasant.

After all, I was in bed with a naked woman.

She complimented me on my shirt,

my hair.

She held my penis.

I haven't even seen my penis

for over 30 years.

Am I sharing too much, Father?

No, no. I'm used to it.

So next week.

Friday the 20th, same time?

That's good for me.

Next time, we'll start to work

on intercourse.

Were you afraid at the thought of seeing me?

Oh, God, I was terrified.

You should be proud of yourself.

You did great. We've made real progress.

Can I ask you something?

Sure. What would you like to ask?

Anything, really.

Just tell me something about yourself.

Anything.

Okay.

Um... I'm a very private person.

I have a private life.

I need you to be aware of that.

But that's about it.

This therapy's about you.

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes