Chapter Five
Ahigh-pitched dinging broke Reese out of her slumber.
Why were alarms so offensive-sounding?
She groped around on the side table by her bed until her fingers wrapped around the offending piece of technology. Clicking off the alarm, she lay there for a second, rubbing her eyes and stretching out wide.
Today was going to be the day that she would finally get to go to The Church and at least start setting her office up. She was scheduled to do trainings on the computer in the morning, and then Tyler said she could finally go to The Church.
She had spent the last week at various parts of Turtle Grove learning how things were run.
She spent a good period of time at Tindle Street.
Two counselors, just like The Church, ran their little operation there.
They shared an office with auditors and had two residential homes where they did Group.
Unlike The Church, though, they cooked their own meals instead of relying on the cafeteria at Main.
She had met a lot of clients and enjoyed getting back into a clinical environment.
Only this time, it felt different. It wasn’t as sterile as her last position was.
It really was kind of like a thirty-day family.
They would stay there for twenty-eight to thirty days, relearning how to live surrounded by the same faces morning and night.
They did group therapy together. They did afternoon chores together.
They did an evening group and a morning devotional.
Kerrie was right when she said that they would leave rehab with relationships that were unique to the outside world.
These men may never see each other again, but for a brief moment in time, they got to see a raw side of each other that no one else did.
Throwing back the covers, she found herself brimming with anticipation for the day. Soon, she’d have her own clients. It would be good to get back to what she felt passionate about.
She quickly got herself dressed, choosing a navy blue dress that wasn’t too tight or too short.
Though she did wear a lot of dress slacks and blouses to work, she did enjoy wearing dresses because it made her feel more feminine.
She loved wearing high heels but couldn’t stay in them all day, so she selected a low-heeled shoe to go with them and put on some makeup, giving herself an appreciative look as she looked in the mirror.
Thanks to the clutter in the home, she really didn’t have access to the kitchen the way that she would like.
So she had set up a small folding table in her room with a microwave and an air fryer.
It wasn’t the nicest setup, but it worked for her, along with a mini fridge.
She looked forward to the day when she would be able to utilize the home the way it was intended, but she would have to make do for now.
Tomorrow, a dumpster was going to be delivered from the local landfill.
She was surprised at how affordable it was to rent one and have it delivered and taken away.
She didn’t anticipate saving many things.
She fully intended to throw most of it out, but that still would take a lot of time, especially when it was just her.
She hoped that Haley would be able to come over and help some, but Haley’s kids took up a lot of her time, which she understood, but it didn’t make her feel any less lonely.
She microwaved a breakfast burrito and tossed a pack of crackers and a packet of popcorn into her purse as coffee brewed in a small coffee maker. She inhaled the aroma of the brew once it was done. She took her coffee black.
As she got herself settled into her car, her dashboard lit up. Haley was calling.
“Hello, my favorite friend,” Haley greeted her.
She grinned to herself as she backed out of the driveway. “Hello.”
“So, I just wanted to remind you that we’ll be out of town this weekend for that soccer tournament for Addison. We’re going to be leaving Friday morning and will be gone all weekend. We’ll get back late Sunday. If you need to shower, I’d come by Thursday.”
Great. Her inconvenient bathing was being even more inconvenient. She held back a sigh. “Thank you for letting me know. And for letting me mooch off you.”
“You know you’re always welcome. When do you think you’ll be able to get the shower fixed there? You’ve got to be getting tired of trekking across town to wash up.”
She snorted. “You have no idea. I’m so close to getting a kiddie pool and boiling water on the back porch.
I have the dumpster coming tomorrow, so I plan to spend all my extra time tossing shit into it.
Once I have a decent path to the bathroom and through the living room to the kitchen and then to the laundry room where the water tank is, I’ll call someone.
I can’t even comfortably get to the kitchen yet.
I’m not bringing someone in with it like that. ”
“Damn. I still can’t believe how bad she let it get.”
“Honestly, I’m convinced it’s a punishment to me for leaving.
It’s literally just a bunch of junk from yard sales and thrift stores.
None of it is anything of any importance.
There’s got to be at least two hundred baby dolls.
Some porcelain, some of the soft toy kind.
Just dozens and dozens of dolls all over the house.
Do you know how creepy that is? I feel like I’m being watched at all times.
” She shuddered, remembering the creepiest one she’d found yet.
It was a stringless marionette with overly large painted black eyes and cracks in its little face.
She tried not to look at it for fear it would actually move.
“That does sound creepy. Save one for me. I want to put it in my mother-in-law’s house. See how long it’ll take her to notice,” she laughed.
Having met Haley’s mother-in-law, Reese understood completely. “Deal. I know exactly which one. The little fucker will scare the hell out of her.”
They both laughed.
It was nice to chat with someone on the way to work. She even sat in the parking lot continuing to talk to her best friend until right at clock-in time, which caused her to hustle inside.
She made it to the morning meeting exactly at 8:00 a.m. on the dot to start her day.
After a morning full of trainings, lunch, and getting sidetracked by Tyler, she was finally getting to check out her office.
Anticipation rippled through her as she entered the building. She was so close to getting back into the thick of addiction counseling that it was like she was pacing at the starting line of a race. She was so ready to take off.
A blast of cold air hit her when she walked in. It was like a freezer. She rubbed her hands over her arms.
“Yeah, you’ll probably need to bring a sweater or parka when you come back.”
Her head jerked up to the small set of stairs that led to the only hallway in the building. Jayvon Clark, the assistant in The Church, was standing outside his office wearing a thick hoodie and a large grin on his face. She hadn’t been able to talk to him much, but he seemed nice.
“Is the air conditioning on? It’s not even hot out.”
“You didn’t hear this from me, but Kerrie is going through menopause. The AC has been on since the third week of February. I think there’s been maybe five days since then when it was off.”
“I wonder if that was the day I was here. I don’t remember it being like the Arctic.”
“Are you finally getting to start working here?”
She nodded. “I’m getting my office ready today, and then I think I shadow you and Kerrie tomorrow. Then I’ll start out with two clients and go from there.”
He nodded. “That sounds good to me.”
“Do you know where the key to my office is?”
He pointed down the hall. “Kerrie has a master set of all the keys needed for The Church and Sparrow House. Let’s go see her, then we’ll open it.
Maintenance should be here this afternoon to change the doorknob and locks.
Wilson took his with him, and policy says the locks need to be changed if there’s a key unaccounted for. ”
“That sounds good to me.”
She followed him down the hall, their footsteps clacking against the highly polished yellow oak floor.
Even just walking down the hall, she felt the different atmosphere from Main.
Gone was the impersonal, sterile environment.
In its place were clients’ touches on the walls.
The bright lights above were uplifting, filling the space with joy instead of the harsh overhead lights that made every room feel like some drafty warehouse.
Even the hand-painted rock that was being used as a doorstop for Kerrie’s office made Reese smile.
Jayvon thumped his knuckles against the door. “Can we come in?”
She heard Kerrie answer, “Who’s we? But yes, of course.”
He motioned for her to go in.
Kerrie’s face lit up at the sight of her. She was hunched over her computer, but then she straightened upon seeing Reese. “Oh, looks like someone has finally been released from training hell.”
She couldn’t help but laugh. “Yes, finally.”
“That’s great. When will you start here?”
“Tomorrow. I’m supposed to shadow you and Jayvon, then I’ll probably get a couple of clients the next day. I was coming to get familiar with my new office.”
A grimace took over Kerrie’s face, pulling her lips back. “Uh, yeah, we can do that.”
“Uh-oh, that look on your face doesn’t make me feel very confident about this office.”
Tugging open her desk drawer, Kerrie lifted a set of keys out. “Let’s just say Wilson didn’t take much with him.”
When Kerrie opened the office, Reese was hit with a wave of dusty air and something else, something that smelled almost like tobacco. When Kerrie stepped back to let her look in after flipping on the light, her stomach plummeted.
“Yeah, I’m sorry I didn’t get around to cleaning it. It has just been the two of us, and there just hasn’t been time.”