Page 16 of (Not So) Mad About You

THE STAFF ROOM was filled with armchairs and couches that had long ago seen better days. It was dark outside now and unflattering fluorescent lights lit the room.

“Alrighty,” Josh said. “Here we’ve got Daria, she’s meditation.”

A limber, attractive, dark-haired woman looked up from a magazine and smiled. Bea smiled back.

“There’s Celine, our chef extraordinaire,” he said, pointing out an older woman who raised her hand in greeting. “And this is Lex, our therapist and head of the program.”

Lex looked up from her notes. She was young, far younger than Bea would have expected. She had short, blonde hair and gray smudges under her eyes that made it look like she hadn’t slept for weeks.

“Everyone, this is Bea, the new yoga teacher,” Josh said, grabbing a cup from the coffee table and filling it from the tea urn in the corner.

“Wait, aren’t you supposed to be Liz?” Lex asked, looking confused.

“Liz had a message from the universe,” said Josh, handing the tea to Bea.

“I’m the stand in,” Bea said. “But I’m very happy to be here, even if I’m a bit late.”

“As long as you’re on time for your sessions,” Lex said. “Here, take a look at this, it’s your schedule.” She handed Bea a piece of paper.

Bea scanned the sheet and then frowned. “I’m alright with the yoga, obviously, but you’ve put me down for group therapy as well.”

“Is that a problem?” Lex asked.

“Well, I’m… I’m not really qualified for—”

“We all step up where needed,” Lex said. “And there wasn’t anyone else available, so I’m sure you’ll muddle through.”

“Yes, but—”

“Listen, I’ll be honest, Bea, was it?” said Lex. “We’re shorthanded, short staffed, and the whole budget is on a bit of a shoestring at the moment. You’re going to have to step up.”

Bea took a breath. She didn’t want to do this. Stepping up was one thing. Providing therapy to potentially sick or violent people was quite another. There was no way she was qualified to do that. And she wondered if Lex was in any way qualified to do what she was obviously doing. She looked all of fifteen.

“Is that a problem?” Lex asked.

Bea felt every eye in the room on her. She cleared her throat and thought about standing up for herself, thought about saying the right thing, but everyone was looking and she didn’t want to make a scene.

One step at a time. Maybe standing up for herself once a day was enough to be going on with.

“No, no problem,” she said. “I’m sure I’ll… get used to it.” She’d have to pick Lex’s brains on this, get some pointers, but therapy was essentially just listening, right?

“Excellent,” Lex said. She clapped her hands together. “Alright everyone, it’s time to get this show on the road.”

Bea thought she didn’t sound as confident as she would have wanted. In fact, she sounded an awful lot like a student intern. But she paid attention anyway.

“We’ve got six clients for this session,” Lex was saying. “We need to ensure that they have a good experience and will be recommending us.”

A good experience? From Liz, Bea had an overview of the program. As far as she knew, the place was part of a mandated anger management program.

“A good experience?” she whispered to Josh.

He rolled his eyes. “Bradshaw wasn’t getting enough clients through the courts and social services. So he opened the program up and advertised it privately, made it look like some kind of relaxation retreat for people with temper tantrums.”

“Right,” said Bea. That sounded like a match not at all made inheaven.

“Put on your best smiles and let’s go and meet the clients,” Lex was saying, standing up.

Bea followed along behind, starting to think that maybe this program wasn’t quite what she’d been led to believe. She could say something, of course, but then… then she might not be working here tomorrow, and that hardly seemed like a good thing.

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