13
Laine
Sonia
“Good morning, Laine.” Sonia sits in her comfortable chair in a power suit, sensible heels, and perfectly coiffed hair. She gives a gentle smile and watches me make my way closer.
She doesn’t get up to welcome me.
She doesn’t make it a big deal that I’m here.
We’re just twogalscatching up over a cup of tea and a box of tissues.
“Good morning.” I take a seat across from her like I have every other day this week. I won’t always have to come so often, but for now, and especially after my freak behavior with Ang yesterday, it’s clear I need more help than once a month visits.
“How are you?” She leans forward and nudges an already poured cup of tea toward me. Flowery and green, it smells like dog barf and rainbows.
“I’m okay…” I pick up the delicate china and use it to warm my hands. “I had a weird freak out yesterday, so I guess I’m not fixed yet.”
She smiles. “Fixed… it’s such a strong word. I’m not sure anyone is so perfect they could apply the wordfixed. Better equipped to deal with life, perhaps, or better at handling a situation that makes them uncomfortable. But no one is infallible. No one is perfect.”
I look the woman up and down and use her as a distraction. “You look kinda infallible. You always seem so put together.”
“I’m almost seventy years old, Laine. I’ve had a lot of practice dressing myself in the mornings.” She pauses for a long beat the way she has every time we’ve met. She starts with small talk, I usually start the serious stuff by accident, she takes a breath as a signal for me to grab the chair, and we’re off. “What happened?”
“I panicked.”
“When?”
“Yesterday afternoon. I was in the garage working on this old Buick.” I look up from my tea and smile. “It’s a fifty-one Super with all the original parts. The leathers are still as soft now as they were when they belonged to the cow.”
Her lips twitch.
“I was hanging in the garage, listening to music, pulling bits out of the engine to get it ready to rebuild.”
“Whose car is this? Did you always have a project like this?”
“No. It’s Angelo’s. He owns the garage on Main Street, but this one isn’t work. He’s doing it up in his spare time, and apparently his garage is full, so he asked Kane to borrow his, which is why it’s at the house.”
“Mmhm.” Leaning to the side, she picks up a yellow legal pad and starts taking notes… or drawing squiggles. I have no clue what she writes. She never shows me, and mostly, I don’t want to know.
It probably just sayscrazy, crazy, crazy.
“He owns the garage in town. Plays with cars in his spare time. Asked his friend if he could borrow his garage.” Her light eyes meet mine. “Go on.”
I shrug. “So this beautiful car sat in the garage all alone all night. I went out to hang out with it, looked under the hood, then I think I blacked out, because I woke up with tools in my hands and parts of the engine laid out on the floor.”
Quietly laughing, she makes notes. “As an aside, not a professional comment, just something between friends…” She waits for me to glance up. “I find it humorous that you defend your sanity when it comes to being afraid of men. You’re so scared I’ll label you something you’re not and have you committed somewhere you don’t want to go.” White jackets and padded walls flitter through my mind. “But you speak of a car like it’s a human. You speak of blacking out and dismantling an engine. You play music for the car, too, don’t you?”
My stomach flutters with giggles. “Maybe.”
She shakes her head. “Okay, go on. New car, pretty car, car with feelings and musical preferences.”
Sonia has a way of soothing me. I don’t know how she ended up in my hospital room, I don’t know who called her, but I’m so unbelievably happy they did. The fact I feel legitimately crazy just because Ihavea shrink aside, she’s really nice. She’s like a warm hug and soft touches in the middle of a storm.
I’m not sure we’ve ever actually touched. I can’t recall if we’ve ever shaken hands, but her words, her presence, feels like a hug.
“So I was working on the car. I knew Angelo would be back eventually, but in all the time I’ve known him–”