Page 31 of Rebound With Me
Vince
Dr. Glass’swaiting room hasn’t changed at all in the year or so since the last time I was here. I was lucky she had a cancellation tonight, so I can talk to her before I decide whether or not to see Nina again on the fifth.
I flip the switch to let her know that I’m here and try to figure out what I’m going to say, but she opens the door to her office almost immediately.
“Vince. Good to see you, come in.”
“Hey Dr. Glass.”
I take a seat in the comfy floral sofa and move the throw pillows out of the way, like always. I know she thinks I’m trying to control the situation by doing this, but I don’t care. Comfy sofas don’t need more pillows.
She smiles at me, her notebook and pen on her lap. Her blonde-white hair is a little longer than she used to wear it, and she’s wearing lipstick. That’s new. At some point I had this fantasy that she and my Dad should meet and date and end up together, but that would have just been weird. She stares at me, watching and waiting.
I don’t have a fucking clue where to start. I’m rubbing my knuckles. I swear to God they haven’t hurt at all until I sat down here.
“Been a while,” she says, non-accusatory.
“Yeah, sorry. I got busy and things were, you know, coasting along.”
She slow-blinks and nods. “I know how it goes. You don’t have to apologize. I’m always here for you when you need me.”
“Yeah, thanks.”
She waits a few more seconds, and then says: “So what’s going on?”
My knee bounces up and down. “Yeah, I mean, it’s not really a big deal but it might be something, I don’t know.”
“Okay.”
I don’t know how much time passes before I finally say something, a few seconds or a minute. “What kind of dish detergent do you use?” Is what I blurt out.
She doesn’t even look at me like it’s a crazy non sequitur. This is probably how most sessions start with guys.
“For hand-washing? In the sink?”
“Yeah.”
“Dawn,” she says, “for really greasy pots and pans. Ivory for everything else.”
“You do? Is that pretty common? Ivory? That brand?”
“It’s quite popular among women. I’d imagine.”
“Why’s that?”
“It’s easy on the skin of your hands and it smells nice.”
“It does…So how come I’ve only known two women who use it? Besides you now, I mean.”
She crosses her legs, leans back and drapes her arm over the back of her chair. “Why don’t you tell me?”
“I don’t know.”
“Who are the two women?”
Pause.
“Um. So, I broke up with Sadie. I mean, she broke up with me. This weekend.”
