I have a mess to clean up over here. Thanks, babe,” I teased, and she grinned.
“Really? At work?”
Joplin barked louder, and I nodded. “Go get the door. Check the peephole first, make sure it’s your mom.”
“I will. Thank you,” she added quietly.
“I can’t wait to come home,” I replied, ending the call.
CHAPTER NINE
Sandy
“I was depressed. I was diagnosed with depression, anyway,” I added, reaching for the throw pillow on Dr. Adam’s couch. When I realized that probably every patient who came in gripped that pillow as they confessed all of their darkest secrets, I gingerly set the thing aside.
Dr. Adams, the first female psychiatrist I’d ever seen, gave me a gentle smile. “You don’t believe that you were depressed,” she mused, more of a statement than a question.
I shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe I was, but that wasn’t the reason I was there. I was there because Jack hit me and…,”
I trailed off, picking at a piece of lint on my jeans.
“Sandy?” Her calming tone became just a little more stern, and I raised my eyes.
“He raped me. I know that now. I didn’t think it was okay to call it that, since he was my boyfriend. But my friend, Jessica, told me to call it what it was.”
She wrote something on her notebook, her eyes a mask of pity. “Can you tell me about Jessica?”
“Jess?” I smirked, shrugging again. “We’ve been friends for almost four years. We go out sometimes.”
“Shopping, movies?” s he probed.
I thought about the last time Jessica and I had made plans to meet for coffee on a Sunday morning. Jack had given me the biggest guilt trip since he was in town for the first time in two weeks.
He’d moved quickly to anger, saying that he couldn’t help but be jealous that I’d rather spend my time with my friend than him.
“ Jess’s mom is so sick, Jack, ” I’d reasoned, my eyebrows knitting, my voice pleading. “ She’s terminal. She needs my support. ”
He’d glared at me, his eyes a mask of disappointment. Finally, he walked away, ignoring me for the rest of the day. No matter how many times I spoke to him, he refused to answer me. I’d finally broken down in tears, begging him to speak to me.
He’d taken me to bed, and I ended up canceling with Jessica Sunday morning.
“Sandy?”
The doctor’s voice brought me back to the present, and I blinked, reminding myself that my mother was just a few feet away, in the waiting room.
“ Sometimes,” was all I managed.
She waited for me to elaborate, and when I looked down at my fingernails, she pushed on.
“Jack chose your counselors in the past?” she confirmed.
I raised my eyes. “Yes. Only males. He didn’t want to feel like he was being attacked.”
“Attacked?” s he asked.
“Ganged up on. Because women stick together, and before long, we’d have him starring in his own abusive Lifetime movie. That’s what he said.”
She jotted something down on her white notepad before continuing. “Any other friends, other than Jessica?”
I smiled. I couldn’t help my ear to ear grin. “Jason Brewer. I’ve known him since second grade. Brew, I call him,” I corrected.
Dr. Adams returned my smile. “You are very close to Jason?”
I thought of the night before, and the myriad of expressions that must have washed over my face were enough for the doctor to urge me on with a patient nod.
I clasped my hands together nervously. “We’ve been best friends all of our lives. Platonic. He and I work together, and he was promoted to my boss a year ago, right before he got married.”
“So Jason is married?”
“He was. He got divorced after four months. That was the other time that Jack hit me. I let Jason come over while Jack was out of town, and we watched a movie and had pizza. We’ve done that since we were kids, whenever either one of us goes through a break-up.”
She wrote something else down, and with a careful sigh, leaned forward slightly. “Tell me about
“Really? At work?”
Joplin barked louder, and I nodded. “Go get the door. Check the peephole first, make sure it’s your mom.”
“I will. Thank you,” she added quietly.
“I can’t wait to come home,” I replied, ending the call.
CHAPTER NINE
Sandy
“I was depressed. I was diagnosed with depression, anyway,” I added, reaching for the throw pillow on Dr. Adam’s couch. When I realized that probably every patient who came in gripped that pillow as they confessed all of their darkest secrets, I gingerly set the thing aside.
Dr. Adams, the first female psychiatrist I’d ever seen, gave me a gentle smile. “You don’t believe that you were depressed,” she mused, more of a statement than a question.
I shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe I was, but that wasn’t the reason I was there. I was there because Jack hit me and…,”
I trailed off, picking at a piece of lint on my jeans.
“Sandy?” Her calming tone became just a little more stern, and I raised my eyes.
“He raped me. I know that now. I didn’t think it was okay to call it that, since he was my boyfriend. But my friend, Jessica, told me to call it what it was.”
She wrote something on her notebook, her eyes a mask of pity. “Can you tell me about Jessica?”
“Jess?” I smirked, shrugging again. “We’ve been friends for almost four years. We go out sometimes.”
“Shopping, movies?” s he probed.
I thought about the last time Jessica and I had made plans to meet for coffee on a Sunday morning. Jack had given me the biggest guilt trip since he was in town for the first time in two weeks.
He’d moved quickly to anger, saying that he couldn’t help but be jealous that I’d rather spend my time with my friend than him.
“ Jess’s mom is so sick, Jack, ” I’d reasoned, my eyebrows knitting, my voice pleading. “ She’s terminal. She needs my support. ”
He’d glared at me, his eyes a mask of disappointment. Finally, he walked away, ignoring me for the rest of the day. No matter how many times I spoke to him, he refused to answer me. I’d finally broken down in tears, begging him to speak to me.
He’d taken me to bed, and I ended up canceling with Jessica Sunday morning.
“Sandy?”
The doctor’s voice brought me back to the present, and I blinked, reminding myself that my mother was just a few feet away, in the waiting room.
“ Sometimes,” was all I managed.
She waited for me to elaborate, and when I looked down at my fingernails, she pushed on.
“Jack chose your counselors in the past?” she confirmed.
I raised my eyes. “Yes. Only males. He didn’t want to feel like he was being attacked.”
“Attacked?” s he asked.
“Ganged up on. Because women stick together, and before long, we’d have him starring in his own abusive Lifetime movie. That’s what he said.”
She jotted something down on her white notepad before continuing. “Any other friends, other than Jessica?”
I smiled. I couldn’t help my ear to ear grin. “Jason Brewer. I’ve known him since second grade. Brew, I call him,” I corrected.
Dr. Adams returned my smile. “You are very close to Jason?”
I thought of the night before, and the myriad of expressions that must have washed over my face were enough for the doctor to urge me on with a patient nod.
I clasped my hands together nervously. “We’ve been best friends all of our lives. Platonic. He and I work together, and he was promoted to my boss a year ago, right before he got married.”
“So Jason is married?”
“He was. He got divorced after four months. That was the other time that Jack hit me. I let Jason come over while Jack was out of town, and we watched a movie and had pizza. We’ve done that since we were kids, whenever either one of us goes through a break-up.”
She wrote something else down, and with a careful sigh, leaned forward slightly. “Tell me about
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