“And you think this situation is similar?” Banner asks.

“Slightly, but this time, I truly don’t understand where this is coming from. I don’t know what triggered this or caused this line of thinking, so I don’t feel optimistic about fixing it.”

“Well, you gotta try, man,” Penn says. “This is your forever girl.” He pauses as if an idea has struck him. “You know, JP’s wedding is in three weeks. Why don’t you treat that event like what happened with the reading of the will?”

“What do you mean?” I ask.

He shifts on his chair and says, “Tell her you will give her the divorce—”

“But I don’t want a divorce.”

“I understand that. But she’s going to be angry with you if you don’t go along with what she wants, which will put her on the defensive. So maybe if you tell her you’re going to grant her wishes, she’ll be more receptive to your idea.”

“And what exactly is my idea?” I ask.

“Tell her you will give her what she wants, but in exchange, she needs to pretend to be with you for JP’s wedding because you don’t want to stir up drama for your friend before they get married. I’m sure she’ll say yes, so then that buys you some time. You can be there for her and hopefully get to the root of the problem while she ‘pretends’ to help you by staying married.”

“Hey, that’s a pretty good idea,” Banner says, perking up. “Shit, you should be glad I invited him.”

I hate to admit it, but Banner is right. It’s not that bad of an idea.

I scratch the side of my face. “But that’s three weeks. I don’t think she’ll buy it.”

“That’s why you need to act like you’re giving her what she wants,” Penn says. “Don’t pressure her, don’t try to win her back, but rather . . . observe. Learn. Figure out how you can fix this.”

“Yes,” Banner adds while lightly knocking the table. “She lowers her defenses when she doesn’t feel threatened. If she believes you’re giving her what she wants, if you’re indifferent to the whole thing, then hopefully, she’ll relax and open up a bit more. You know that’s how she works, man. Think about her past. She’s scarred from people leaving her life constantly—from her parents’ marriage, and from being bullied most of her childhood. She doesn’t process her feelings normally, so if you back off and let her believe you’re giving her what she wants, then maybe she’ll concede something, and you’ll get to the root of the problem.”

I think it over and know Banner is right. Her troubled past has bitten me in the ass several times throughout our life together. I’ve been more than happy to work through it with her, but I’ve only been able to navigate through it once I get her to open up. This is no exception, though the stakes are much higher. I can’t lose Myla. I love her. She’s my whole world.