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“Cindy, it’s so wonderful to have you on our show. Your upcoming film, Desert Hearts, is rumored to be a summer blockbuster hit! And Jillian, you have no idea how much I’ve looked forward to meeting you. Since your unveiling in the media, everyone is dying to know a little bit more about the therapist to the stars.”
“Oh, not to the stars plural,” I said with a chuckle. “Just with Cindy. I’m actually just finishing up my dissertation. Until I went on hiatus to finish my paper, I was working at the local health clinic in group grief counseling.”
“But she is absolutely amazing,” Cindy jumped in quickly. “I was having a rough night out and barely keeping it together, and this angel comes along and says all the right words to make me feel better. There wasn’t a chance that I was going to let her go. I can honestly say that Jillian has made me a stronger person for it.”
My cheeks reddened just a little under the praise. Cindy was an excellent actress and put on a great face for the public, but the moment felt genuine. I’d never let myself believe that I was making progress with Cindy. I always wondered if maybe she kept me around because she was a little lonely.
“So what kinds of issues were you dealing with, Cindy?”
“Stress and anxiety and heartbreak.” Cindy’s tone dropped just a little. “I feel all this pressure for me to succeed, to push myself to be better, and it can be a heavy burden.”
Joyce focused on me. “And how do you help a celebrity like Cindy deal with that pressure?”
“The point that I’ve always tried to make with Cindy is that her emotions aren’t tied to her being a celebrity. They’re tied to her being human. These are the kinds of pressures that we all feel. We all feel stress and pressure from our jobs, whether it’s to make the boss happy or to make sure that our families are taken care of. Make sure that those we love are proud of us. Cindy sometimes gets wrapped up in the fear that her success should make her deliriously happy and that she shouldn’t be feeling these things. It kept her from really talking about it with anyone else, so when a stranger came along and the floodgates just opened, she realized that she needed help.”
Joyce nodded. Her eyes were strangely bright. “Everyone feels stress, that’s for sure. And everyone deals with heartbreak. Do you think your experience with your husband has helped you in your therapy? Losing a husband and miscarrying a child at the tender age of eighteen could not have been easy. Did you seek therapy and is that why you refused your husband’s attentions in college?”
My vision blurred, and I gripped the arm of the chair. “I’m sorry?”
“And has helping Cindy had any effect on your rekindling your relationship with your husband? It must have been such a shock to realize that the divorce you thought you handled so seamlessly years ago wasn’t even legal, but it looks like the old spark is back. Let’s see the photo.”
Horrified, I turned my head to the screen behind me and looked at the picture of Brendan and me at the gala we attended. I was dancing in his arms and looked every bit like a wife in love.
“This was taken just a couple of weeks ago. Your life has had some major ups and downs. Does that help with your therapy?”
I was going to throw up. Right here on television, in front of all of these people, I was going to hurl. Humiliation and betrayal stuck in my throat, making it difficult for me to swallow or even breathe.
How could Brendan do this to me?
“You know,” Cindy said quickly, giving me a worried glance, “I actually met Jillian’s husband just last week. I know that they got together when they hired an attorney to look into the matter, but it’s obvious that the two are handling it like pros. I was very impressed. I think I would have been a mess. But they act like old friends, and I guess that’s the upside to going through a tragedy.”
My friend had given me a lifeline, and I grasped at it and pulled. “It’s true. Heartbreak can easily pull a family apart, and Brendan and I went through our dark moments. At that time, I made the mistake of not seeing a therapist. We made the mistake of taking our anger out on each other, and while it didn’t end well then, we’ve both grown and matured. We were able to handle the shock of our marriage still being intact, and now we’re handling the divorce, but we are still friends. Sometimes it’s hard to take our own advice, so I do turn to friends and coworkers in times like this to remind myself to practice what I preach. I’m sure we’ve all been there. A dose of your own medicine can be bitter.”
