Weather Girl by Rachel Lynn Solomon

Author:Rachel Lynn Solomon [Solomon, Rachel Lynn]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2022-01-11T00:00:00+00:00

17

FORECAST:

A hazy few days of uncomfortable truths

MY THERAPIST’S OFFICE has a view of Lake Union and a couch that contours to my body so perfectly I’m scared to ask her where she got it, because I know it’ll be out of my price range. I’ve been in a handful of therapists’ offices, and none of them have made me quite as calm as Joanna’s.

Today’s a therapy doubleheader. I’m still a little sore from physical therapy after a woman named Ingrid stretched and bent my elbow, wrist, and fingers for thirty minutes, and now this. I’ve been seeing Joanna for almost three years, since I moved back to Seattle and my former therapist retired and recommended her to me. Seeing someone new is daunting—starting from the beginning, unpacking all your baggage for a stranger, knowing they won’t think less of you for your irrationalities but being terrified nonetheless—but it was worth it to find her. I go every few weeks, sometimes less frequently if I feel like I’m managing okay.

“How’s work been?” Joanna asks, taking a sip of tea from her mug with a watercolor Seattle skyline on it. She drinks it every time I’m here, and the soothing lemon scent must have a way of untangling my messy brain as well as her questions. With her long dark hair and straight-across bangs that always make me consider cutting mine, I’ve never been able to guess how old she is. She looks like she could pass for twenty-five, but she carries herself with the wisdom of someone who has helped a lot of people wage war against their demons.

“Not too bad.” Almost ten years I’ve been in therapy, and every time I’m here, I’m all brief answers at first. How are you? Okay. What have you been up to since last time? Not much. I have to ease into it, a duckling learning to swim again and again. Joanna must be used to it because she lets her questions breathe. Therapy and journalism have that in common. “A little challenging with my arm, but I’m getting used to it.”

“I’m so sorry that happened to you,” she says in her ever-warm way. “Has Torrance been understanding?”

“She’s been much better than usual, actually.” And this is where I debate how much of the plan I want to share with her.

Logically, I know it’s the job of a therapist not to judge you. While I know Joanna wouldn’t outright express disappointment, I’m still reluctant to tell her I’ve kind-of sort-of been manipulating my bosses to fall back in love with each other.

I opt for a half-truth. “She and her ex-husband seem to be getting along, which is good for the rest of us.”

“Her ex-husband, the news director? Seth?” Joanna’s memory astounds me. I’m not sure if she just takes meticulous notes or what, but she’s able to recall names even of people I’ve mentioned offhand.

“No passive-aggressive signs, no blowups in the newsroom for the past couple weeks. I’d forgotten what that kind of harmony felt like.

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