"We-elll," Nell began hesitantly. "How about I start with Eric?"
"That would be a good place to start. You've worked most closely with him, after all."
"About Eric. What can I say?"
"Why don't you start off by telling me what you thought when you first met him?" Nate suggested.
Nell looked at him incredulously. "Do you really have to ask me that? I took one look at him and thought I should just turn right around and get out while I still could."
"So you were intimidated?" he probed.
"No, I was terrified. Would you want to be left alone in a room with no windows and a door without any handles – left alone with a guy dressed like Eric?"
"I see what you mean." Over the years, Nate had kind of got used to Eric's eccentric dress sense, but he could see how it might strike a newcomer.
"He looked like one of those guys they used to warn us about at school." Nell was warming to her topic now. "The ones who wait in their cars outside the school gates. Sitting there with their hands in their pockets and a smile on their face."
"But Eric's nothing like that!" Nate was horrified at the direction this was taking. He knew Nell's mind could take some unusual twists and turns, but this was beyond strange. "Nell, you can't go around making accusations like that, just based on the way someone dresses."
"Oh, I know he's not a pervert – now. But you asked what I thought when I first met him, and that's what I thought. I took one look at him and thought 'pervert'. But I don't think that any more," she added hastily. "I just think he's got really, really bad dress sense. Maybe you could have a word with him?" She looked at Nate who was wearing a checked shirt and a tweed jacket and changed her mind. "Or maybe not. But you should have a word with Hetty about him. Tell her she should make Eric wear long pants. And socks. For starters."
"Moving onto work," Nate said, desperate not to let Nell start to critique his own clothes or to find any other orders he should give to Hetty. "How do you find working with Eric? Did you find his level of knowledge and expertise intimidating?"
"I've known a few guys who thought they were pretty smart. Of course, most of them weren't anywhere near as smart as me – they just thought they were. But Eric actually is quite smart." It hurt her to admit it, but Nell had this sneaking feeling might even be smarter than she was. Not that she would ever dream of saying that out loud. "But the thing is… " She looked at Nate helplessly.
"He makes you feel inadequate? That's perfectly natural, Nell .You've got to remember you've only been here for a very short period of time and you've still got a lot to learn." Nell was so smart it was sometimes easy to forget how young she still was, he thought fondly. Poor little thing, she must have felt so out of her depth. But never mind, he could help her to find a way forward, steer her through these troubled waters to a safe harbour. Preferably in his arms.
"Of course he doesn't make me feel inadequate, Nate. He makes me mad." Nell folded her arms, leant back in the chair and fixed Nate with a steely glare. "You see, most guys have to prove they're smarter than women – any woman. No matter if he's a bonehead and she's a Nobel Prize winner. It must be something to do with testosterone, I think. Either that or they're too stupid to know how stupid they are."
"Alright." Nate was beginning to feel dizzy as he tried to follow her logic. He was pretty sure Freud never had this sort of problem with his patients. But then 21st century LA was hardly fin de siècle Vienna after all, which was a pity in a lot of ways. Life must have been so much simpler back then. "So, Eric makes you mad – because he's not stupid?" Okay, he was grasping at straws here.
"No, of course not. That wouldn't be logical. You really should listen a bit more closely, Nate. Eric makes me mad because he always has to be right. He's really a very controlling sort of person, you know. It's lucky that I'm the opposite. I've often thought that maybe I'm too easy-going for my own good and that I should be a bit more assertive."
Nate was beginning to wonder if he should maybe go and get his hearing tested. "Some people might say that Eric was actually the epitome of laid back?" he suggested tentatively.
"Then they'd be wrong, wouldn't they? Eric doesn't want to hear anything that doesn't agree with his perception of things. He's very stubborn and he's convinced he's always right. " Seeing the incredulous expression on Nate's face, Nell halted her diatribe. "Are you alright? Because you look like you might be choking on something."
"I'm fine," Nate managed, and took a long drink of water.
"He's such a know-it-all. You'd think he was the only person ever to work in this area – but I've got much better credentials, and I'm sure if he'd just stop and listen to me for one minute he'd realise that I'm usually right in most things. The important things, that is. But he won't even give me a chance and it just drives me up the wall."
"Have you finished?" Nate said faintly
"I've finished. For now. But it's not like he's a rocket scientist or anything."
"As far as you know," Nate suggested gently. "Do you actually know anything about Eric – Eric the man, I mean? Anything about what he likes? His tastes in music maybe? What kind of car he drives?" Nell looked at him blankly. "Have you ever talked to him about anything except work?"
"No. And when I do talk to him about work and tell him what he's doing wrong, he won't listen. But I already said this, Nate. You should pay more attention. I'm not criticising you or anything like that, don't get me wrong. But really, it's not very professional of you."
"I think we might have a slight communication problem here." Suddenly, Nate felt as if he had to get out of the room before his head exploded. "How about we bring this to an end and see about getting that dinner?"
"That would be great. And tomorrow you can tell Eric that he should listen to me and do what I tell him? Oh, and tell him that when I want to use his keyboard, it's easier if he moves his hands out of the way." Nell beamed happily across the desk. "I knew I could rely on you, Nate."
Somehow, this session had veered rather wildly off-track, Nate realised. And he'd been powerless to do anything to halt the headlong rush of Nell's rollercoaster series of thoughts. He'd have to do some more preparation for the next meeting, so he could keep a tighter hand on the reins. After he'd been to see Eric, of course, and offer him some counselling. The poor man must be suffering from PTSD and selective deafness after being confined in the same room as Nell for over a week.