As soon as I get the address from Dr. Black and end the call, I panic.
I'm not prepared for this.
At all.
I waste time online for a while. Then play with Snickers.
I decide to leave early, just in case I get lost.
Dr. Black and the treatment Center are across the bridge in Mill Valley.
His wife, Leah is also a therapist and has an office in San Francisco.
She doesn't have a patient later, so she's letting Dr. Black use her office.
I'm nervous all the way to his office.
He sounded mostly okay on the phone, but will he be upset with me that I've been ignoring him these past months?
Is he going to be disappointed when he sees what little progress I've made?
By the time I'm outside the building, my nerves are frayed.
I'm still fifteen minutes early, but I knock on the door anyways.
Dr. Black answers.
"Isabella, I'm so glad that you came." He doesn't act like he's surprised to see me, but his words say otherwise.
"Sorry I'm early."
"Not a problem. Come on in." Dr. Black holds the door open for me. I walk in but don't sit.
"Isabella, it's nice to see you again. Dr. Black, Leah, says. She smiles warmly at me and holds her hand out for me to shake.
"You too, Dr. Black." I had never had any sessions with her, but I had seen her at the Center a few times.
"Okay, well I'm just going to go do some work at Starbucks. Call me when you're done," she says, leaning over to kiss Dr. Black on the cheek. "Bye, Isabella."
When she leaves, Dr. Black focuses his attention back to me. "So, why don't you take a seat?"
I look around. The set up is basically the same as Dr. Blacks office at the Center. I pick the seat I normally would have sat in there.
Once he sits down, he grabs his notebook and pen and opens it up.
"So, Bella. Where do you want to start?"
So, I think we're very close to finding out about what Bella was up to at the very beginning of this story. Any guesses?
One more later today!