Harry leaned back and closed his eyes. ‘I’d better get to know you then.’

48

Harry lay on the sofa with his head resting on the padded armrest. Bloom had told him to make himself as comfortable as possible before they started. He had never tried hypnosis before. Truth be told, he always thought it was something for needy neurotics who didn’t know their own minds. But Bloom said it was more of a relaxation process, something that enabled people to access subconscious regions of the brain. It had to be worth a shot.

‘Close your eyes and take a few deep breaths for me,’ said Bloom. She sat on the opposite sofa.

He did as he was told and followed her instructions to find a serene place inside his head. He chose the beach he’d taken Sophie and Jake to when they were little. They’d always laughed there so it seemed as good as any.

‘Once you feel completely relaxed and ready, just raise your finger for me,’ said Bloom. Her voice sounded a little further away. ‘Thank you,’ she said when he did as she asked. ‘I’m going to ask you a series of questions to reflect on. Then when we’re done, you can share any insights you believe may be helpful to your current situation. It is likely that you know something, have seen something or done something that someone wants you to forget. And, as our behaviour is largely habitual, we can often predict future actions by examining those in our past. So I’m going to ask you to think of genuine examples of past life experiences that may be helpful. Are you ready?’

Harry lifted the index finger of his left hand a touch.

‘Can you think of a time in your life when you have been given access to someone’s secret?’ She waited a moment to give him time to think, then said, ‘Did you keep that secret? If not, why not and who did you share it with?’

The memory that came to mind was Caroline’s second pregnancy with Jake. They had experienced two pretty distressing miscarriages after Sophie and so Caroline was adamant that no one should know about this baby until they had confirmation that all was well at the twelve-week scan. This had been a huge challenge for him, because twelve weeks felt like a very long time to say nothing. There had been a couple of occasions where he’d nearly slipped up and one moment where he had consciously considered confiding in his best friend. But, in the end, he’d done as instructed.

‘Have you done something you regret and, if so, how did you respond?’