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Dr. Balis:
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Good afternoon, Olivia. How are you doing today?
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Ms. Stillwell:
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Um, I'm okay. It's been a weird day.
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Dr. Balis:
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Oh, how so?
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Ms. Stillwell:
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Well, it started off when I walked in on a sultry phone call. Talk about weird! I went down to payroll to get some tax stuff straightened out. The admin down there told me to talk to Gary Hindle, and I headed to his office. The door was partly open, so I walked in. Now, I don't have virgin ears, so nothing he said really shocked me. But to hear it coming from someone and then have to talk to him about your paycheck...well, it's just really weird. He was totally embarrassed and kept stuttering and sweating. He kind of gave me the creeps. I was glad to finally get out of his office.
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Dr. Balis:
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That sounds like an uncomfortable situation for both of you.
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Ms. Stillwell:
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Yeah. At least I didn't burst out laughing. Caren just about fell out of her chair laughing when I told her about it.
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Dr. Balis:
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What else happened today?
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Ms. Stillwell:
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I had a reporter call me. It really freaked me out. Evidently, my father has been blabbing to any and every reporter he can find.
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Dr. Balis:
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Evidently? I thought you were going to move in with your father for a while. Didn't he mention it?
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Ms. Stillwell:
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Oh, good Lord. I could only handle being there for one night, Doc. He was even more smothering than I remembered. The one night I was there, I couldn't sleep, so I stayed up watching cable all night. He must have came down at least a dozen times to check on me. Finally, I threw a pillow at him, and he finally got the hint. Oh, but wait! I have some juicy news for you, Doc. Remember I told you about the executive at SII who was having an affair with a 14-year-old kid? Well get this, I saw them together.
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Dr. Balis:
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Hmm.
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Ms. Stillwell:
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Uh huh. And man, what a doll he is! No wonder she's rolling in the hay with him. He was carrying out some gifts. I bet they were presents from her for her boy-toy. They were wrapped kind of girly, so maybe not. He looks a lot older than fourteen, so I have a feeling that someone exaggerated on his age.
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Dr. Balis:
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Rumors are often inflated, Olivia. I wouldn't put too much faith in any of it being true.
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Ms. Stillwell:
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Oh? Hey, do you know these two, Doc?
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Dr. Balis:
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When have you ever known such an outrageous rumor to be true, Olivia? Just think about the rumors about you and Stephanie being lovers.
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Ms. Stillwell:
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Nice soft-shoe there, Doc. I see what you mean, though. Oh heck. It's more fun to believe the rumors.
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Dr. Balis:
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Even when they are so blatantly untrue as those about you and Stephanie?
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Ms. Stillwell:
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Well...
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Dr. Balis:
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Yes?
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Ms. Stillwell:
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Well, I can see how people would think that about Steffy and me. We do hang out together a lot, and we do sleep over at each other's houses, and sometimes come in to work wearing each other's clothes. But I figure that if people want to know the truth, they'll just ask.
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Dr. Balis:
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Then I suggest you take your own advice and ask this executive about her supposed affair with the underage son of one of her co-workers.
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Ms. Stillwell:
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Ouch! Calling the kettle black and all that, eh? The rumors are more fun.
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Dr. Balis:
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What is the saying? "Sometimes, truth is stranger than fiction."
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Ms. Stillwell:
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Ha! No kidding. I found out that an old friend of mine was kicked out by her husband. This was after she suggested that they each have one affair to help spice up their sex lives. Well, he did, and he fell in love. Now, she's at her wits end--no job skills, a small child to care for, and no hope of creating a decent income to support herself and her daughter. And all this after she herself had an affair first and was thinking about leaving him. What a mess.
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Dr. Balis:
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Olivia, let's talk about you, okay?
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Ms. Stillwell:
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Sure, sure. I just thought that this little anecdote fit in well with the flow of our conversation.
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Dr. Balis:
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You mentioned earlier about a reporter calling you. Tell me about what is happening with that.
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Ms. Stillwell:
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Nothing, nada, zippo, zero, ka-pooey. I'm not talking to reporters, or to lawyers, or to government officials--including the fuzz--or to my father. I don't feel strong enough to let all these strangers in so that they can examine my life, and poke and prod, and ask all sorts of personal questions. Speaking of attorneys, I have a joke for you: A famous lawyer finds himself at heaven's gates confronting Saint Peter. He protests that it is all a mistake--he's only forty-nine and far too young to be dead. "That's odd," says Saint Peter, "according to the hours you've billed, you're one hundred and nineteen years old."
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Dr. Balis:
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That's amusing, Olivia. I'm glad that it's not a psychiatrist joke. But you do realize that you're avoiding any discussion relevant to your attack, don't you?
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Ms. Stillwell:
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I don't want to talk about it today, Doc. Is that okay?
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Dr. Balis:
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I don't recommend it for the long term, but I think it'll be okay to discuss something else today.
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Ms. Stillwell:
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Thanks, Doc. By the way, I found a chick for my dad. At least, I think she's a possibility. Her name is Barbara, and she's not hard on the eyes, if you know what I mean. I'm going to do some snooping and see if she's attached or anything.
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Dr. Balis:
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How did you meet Barbara?
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Ms. Stillwell:
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She works at SII, of course. I saw her in passing and asked Vinny who she was. Vinny grinned and told me her name. When I asked what the big goofy grin was about, he changed the subject. Oh, that's the other weird thing that happened today. Vinny asked me to have a dinner meeting with him tonight. I was pretty shocked. He really took me off guard with that one. Since he said it was a meeting, I said okay. I'm assuming that Brad and Kelly will be there, too. They're the other two people in our group. I got the impression it's one of those Dilbert-Management, team-building types of things.
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Dr. Balis:
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Sometimes it helps morale and productivity to do things outside of the office.
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Ms. Stillwell:
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We'll see. I'm not so sure I want to spend my off-time socializing with the people from work.
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Dr. Balis:
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Olivia, have you been sleeping well? You seem a bit edgy.
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Ms. Stillwell:
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Doc, that melatonin stuff is not working very well. Besides, I'm not sleepy. I guess I get about 3 or 4 hours of sleep a night. But I'm getting up every couple hours to take the puppy out.
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Dr. Balis:
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You have a puppy?
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Ms. Stillwell:
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Yup! I adopted her Friday night. She's a nine weeks old Rottweiler named Sherman. They found her tied to the mailbox of the animal hospital one morning. She'd been left out all night and was shivering when they brought her in. The vet kept her at the hospital and has had her for about 2 weeks now. She's so cute! She's only eleven pounds. The vet said she's going to gain about ten pounds every month and will be around ninety or a hundred pounds when she's full-grown. I'll bring some pictures in next time to show you.
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Dr. Balis:
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What made you decide to adopt a puppy?
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Ms. Stillwell:
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I told you that I'd been talking with a Rottweiler rescue group, right? Well Judy, the woman who runs the rescue, has been giving me lots of information about Rottweilers. I joined an e-mail list about Rotties and have read a ton of books in the past couple weeks. Judy wouldn't let me adopt a Rott from her organization because they don't adopt out guard dogs, only family pets. At first, that irritated me, then I realized that it's her organization and she can do what she wants. I can respect that. We talked about it for a while, and she told me that while Rottweilers are territorial, they are even more social. Lots of times, they become problems, like Chain Saw, when people leave them outside to be guard dogs and don't make them a part of the family. Anyway, I saw an ad in the paper about this puppy and checked it out. The vet said I could adopt Sherman only if I promised to take good care of her, get her spayed, and bring her in for all her shots. I can do that! Besides, if I have the dog from a really young age, she'll bond with me and be more likely to protect me later on.
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Dr. Balis:
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Puppies are a lot of work, as I'm sure you're realizing. I'm glad that you plan on being responsible about this dog, Olivia.
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Ms. Stillwell:
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You know, even though Sherman is just a teeny little thing, I feel safer having her. When I told my father about Sherman, he laughed. I told him that if someone were to break into my house, I could shout, "Stop! Or I'll throw my puppy at you!" Of course, I wouldn't do that, but it was funny to think about.
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Dr. Balis:
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Looks like we are out of time, Olivia. Next week, I'd like to talk some more about your attack and how you are doing, all right?
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Ms. Stillwell:
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I'll be ready, Doc. Thanks for letting me off the hook this week. I can't come in next week, but I'll see you the week after, okay?
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Dr. Balis:
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I guess it's all right, as long as it's not a stalling technique.
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Ms. Stillwell:
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No, no. It's legitimate. Thanks. Goodbye, Doctor.
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Dr. Balis:
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Goodbye, Olivia.
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###
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Doctor Balis' Notes on this Session
Transcripts of Olivia Stillwell's Communications
