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“I figured I would’ve had more time. I wanted to just be Stormy Brooks for a bit longer. It didn’t take them long to find me. It’s weird. As for Lana, I am too actually. I had no intention of telling her, but she recognized me after a while, and I didn’t want to lie to her. Plus, she just seems like a person I can trust. She’s generous and kind. I lucked out with her being my roommate,” I reply.
“Excellent news. So, how have you been feeling other than this bit with the media? I mean you packed up and moved all the way up the coast. Have you heard from your in-laws?” she queries.
“I changed my phone number before I left so that none of my old shit could follow me up here. You’re the only person from Florida that has my new number,” I remark.
“I think it’s good to get a fresh start after everything you have been through, but I wonder ifmaybe you should reach out to the Jacks’ and let them know you are alright? I would be worried if you just disappeared on me,” she responds.
“Well, I wouldn’t disappear on you. But they don’t care where I am. You know they turned on me after Blaine’s death. They thought I only married him for the insurance money which I didn’t even know he had signed up for. It’s just better to leave them in the dust. Plus, now that the press knows where I am; they’ll find me. They want that money,” I say.
“They’ve been very difficult through all this. I don’t want you to be all alone in the world. You need a support system. I’m hoping that your new roommate can be part of that for you. You said her name was Lana?” she asks.
“Yes, her name is Lana, but I put her in my phone as Picasso because that’s what her head looks like, a Picasso painting. When I tell you that she has every color in her hair, I mean it. But it expresses her personality perfectly. I like her,” I tell my doctor. She writes something down in her notes and looks back at the video.
“So, have you found a job yet? I know you were concerned about that,” she mentions.
“Well, yes I did but then I got fired the same night. But I ended up getting offered another one the same night,” I reply with a laugh.
“You got fired on your first night? What was the job?” she asks.
“Well, Lana works for this catering company, and they were serving a large fundraiser. They needed extra employees so when she called her boss, I got the job instantly. When we got there, the owner, Gina, wasalready in a pissy mood so it didn’t help that some man ran into me and caused me to spill all the plates on my tray. We weren’t in the main venue, so no one really saw it happen but apparently he is this billionaire, and it was his fundraiser for his publishing company. I didn’t know who he was at the time and we both had a few choice words to call each other. Gina over heard and saw what happened and fired me on the spot,” I sigh, looking out my window then back to Dr. Heffington. “Anyways, I ended up cutting my hand pretty badly while I was cleaning up the glassware and the HR for the publishing company came up to me and got a doctor out there to put stitches in and everything. It was all kind of bizarre. Then she offered me a job. I didn’t know it was going to be for the arrogant man I had just confronted but it was. When I got there Monday morning, we arrived at the same time, and I managed to run into him this time. Neither one of us apologized and we continued to berate each other,” I shake my head through the phone, and she does the same. “Anyways, the HR woman, Mary, hired me because she saw the way I talked to Sebastian the night of the fundraiser and she said she knew I’d be able to handle him if I worked there,” I finish.
“Wow, that was an eventful first week. Is Sebastian still giving you trouble? Is he difficult to work for?” she questions.
“Not really. I can handle him. He’s no different than any other man. And once you learn to handle one you can handle them all. There is this other assistant there that was filling in until they were able to get someone in there. Elijah is a whole other story. He won’t leave me alone. He’s asked me out several times and I have declined and now when he isn’t busy which seemslike all the time, he’s hanging out at my desk. I’m going to have to come up with another way of saying I’m not interested since my words seem to have no meaning,” I confess.
“Have you reported him? Sounds like this Mary woman likes you and I’m sure she would like to keep you around. If she found out that someone was bothering you, I’m sure she would do something about it or at the very least have a talk with him,” she suggests.
“I was thinking about that too. If he keeps on then I will report him because he is driving me insane and it’s making me not want to go into the office. I don’t want to hate the job,” I reply.
“So, other than all that, how is your medications working? Are you still having to take the clonazepam?” I cringe because I knew she was going to bring this up and I don’t want to tell her about my night out.
“I’ve taken it a couple times since I’ve been here. I don’t take it every day like I used to when everything happened. But I did have an incident with it,” I look at her and frown.
“You might as well tell me, Stormy. I will get it out of you one way or another,” she asserts. I see her stern face on my phone, and I know I have no other option than to tell her what happened.
“Well, I was in a cab coming home from work and a song from Damaged Jacks came on. It was one of the older ones where I was singing. The cab driver immediately turned it up and I banged on the partition to get his attention but by the time I did, the damage was done. I had to sit there and listen to it, and it brought back those terrible images of that night from the kitchen floor. Anyways, once he dropped me off infront of my apartment, I took out the medicine and swallowed it without any water or anything. Once I got into the apartment, Lana could tell something was wrong. I’d texted her that I was on the way home and I was fine, so she knew that something happened between then and when I got home. She held me as I got upset explaining what happened and then out of nowhere, I declared that we needed to go out for drinks,” I say in a low voice, not wanting her to hear how I reverted back to my old ways that night.
“Stormy, you know better than that. Please tell me you didn’t get drunk on the medication. If you keep abusing it, I won’t prescribe it anymore,” she declares.
“Lana took me to a karaoke bar but to be fair she didn’t realize that they would have karaoke that night and she didn’t know that I had taken medication. Anyways, we had a couple shots, and I had another drink. I ended up on stage singing and then Sebastian came, which is a good thing because I ended up passing out on the street. I know it’s terrible and I’m sorry. I haven’t taken the medicine since,” I claim.
“Why would Sebastian come to get you. Is there something going on between you and him?” she asks. I don’t really know how to answer. Yes there is but what exactly I don’t know.
“I slept with him the other night. It was raining and he gave me a ride home. He came up to help me with my hand which I told him I didn’t need him to, but he insisted then one thing led to another. I know it’s terrible. Blaine has only been gone just over a year. Tell me I’m a terrible person,” I insist.
“Stormy, calm down. No one is saying that you’re a terrible person. How long it takes to getover someone is specific to that person. You weren’t really romantically involved with Blaine even though you were married. You were more of best friends and roommates than lovers. As for sleeping with your boss, I wouldn’t say that’s the smartest move. You don’t know what will happen between one another so it could cause some strain at work. But I’m sure you can handle it,” She asserts.
“The thing is I wasn’t going to sleep with him. I still basically hated him. But then he helped me through panic attack episode, and I didn’t have to take any medicine. It was amazing. He was able to ground me to the moment and pull me back before I slipped further away. He used a technique that I wasn’t familiar with, but he said that his cousin who has PTSD told him about it. Sebastian got me to name three things I could see and smell. It got me thinking more on that and less on what I was panicking about,” I answer.
“That’s a great technique to have in your arsenal. I feel ashamed that I didn’t teach you that while you were staying here. Using your senses and naming things you can see, feel, hear and smell are great ways to ground yourself to the present. It can be hard to do if you are already too deep in a panic episode but that’s great he was able to help you with that. I’d say he isn’t so bad after all. Maybe you just got off on the wrong foot,” She explains. “Now with this drinking and taking your medication, that is a big no no. I don’t want to hear you doing that again. Thank you for trusting me enough to tell me but that’s strike two. If you do something irresponsible again then I’m going to take that prescription away from you. Do you understand?” she questions.
“Yes, ma’am. I’m sorry that I did it. It was stupid and reckless, and I could’ve come out worse than I did. Thank you for holding me accountable,” I say.
“So, I didn’t know whether to bring this up or not, but I’ve seen a picture with an article with you and this man. It had you passed out in his arms, and I was glad that we had this appointment today so I could figure out what’s going on. That’s Sebastian, correct?” she asks.
“Yes, that’s him. He came there to check on me,” I respond.
“That doesn’t sound like just a hookup to me. Are you sure he doesn’t really care about you?” I have to sit and think for a minute. Sebastian acts like he cares for me, but he’s also known to have a line of women. I don’t really know what’s true.
