Session 1
I go to get my new patient in the waiting room, but when I find it empty, I look down the hall and see a young woman walking away from me, dramatically flailing both arms in sync..? My best guess is she is on her cell phone giving someone orders, but when she turns around I realized she is letting Herself have it. I seem to have caught her mid-sentence and she instantly becomes quite flustered and then tries to act like she isn’t: “Oh, are you Doctor Lummus? I’m Poppy. Your next patient! Poppy Li!” All jazz hands.
I smiled broadly. A manic ball of energy, she is instantly disarming and quite charming, in an awkward teenager kind of way. “Follow me,” I chuckle.
Before she lets herself take the time to consider where she wants to sit, she impulsively charges to the couch and flops down. With a broad, theatrical gesture indicating her lying on the couch, “This is what you do, isn’t it? I’ve never been to a real therapist’s office before. Just Carol’s. You know Carol. She said I needed to see someone else because I was coming in too often.”
Wow. She talks really fast. So, quite anxious. “What is it you’ve been talking to her about?”
She fixes me with a stare. “My boss. Ian,” as if I should already know what he’s like.
“Ian.”
“Oh, you don’t know him? I thought Carol would have told you.”
I feel like I’m trying to catch up to a moving train. “No. Carol and I haven’t talked about you.”
“Oh! I thought that’s how it’s done! Anyway. My boss. Ian. Is an Arrogant. Dick. And he’s a bit thick, too. Hah! That rhymed! Dick. Thick. Dick —- Ha! Thick dick!” Another set of paired hand movements. For emphasis? Like it needed emphasis?
I pick one of my many options for comment: “He’s not that smart.”
“He thinks he’s a genius. Well, Mythic Quest Is genius, but it’s not just him that makes the game.”
“He doesn’t give you credit.”
“No,” she frowns like I am twisting her words. “He gives me credit. He just thinks he’s the only one who’s creative.”
“He’s let you know that being creative is not your role.”
“Well, no?” She’s getting confused when I try to offer back to her what she’s said. It’s like her ears are surprised by her mouth. I wonder if she has never said any of this out loud before. It’s hard to imagine she could stop herself from saying whatever she’s thinking.
“So, who are you close to at the office?”
“Other than Carol? Well, I’m close to everyone. We all get along. Well, mostly. We like to talk shit about each other.”
“Is there anyone you talk to about your feelings?”
She sputters, “Have you ever worked in gaming?! No one talks about ‘feelings’. That’s really girly.”
“Ah. Wouldn’t want to be girly,” I smile. “So do you know what it is you’d like me to help you with?”
“Yes,” her hands parallel, index figures pointed at me in the universal sign of a toy gun. It looks like she feels I’m on her wavelength now and is ready to lay it out for me.
“It’s time for me to look for a new job.”
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