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Dr. Balis:
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Hello Sylvia. How are you today?
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Ms. Bows:
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Hello Doctor. It's nice to see you. You know, sometimes I think that our sessions are the only islands of sanity in my life.
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Dr. Balis:
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Had a bad week?
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Ms. Bows:
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Doctor, I feel like I live in a soap opera--there's never a dull moment and there is always some sort of crisis going on. I swear if I ever write a book about my life people would just assume it's a work of fiction. Could anyone ever be asked to believe this?
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Dr. Balis:
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You mean your twins?
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Ms. Bows:
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Them too.
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Dr. Balis:
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How are they doing? How was your check up with Doctor Malleson yesterday?
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Ms. Bows:
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The boys seem to be doing fine. They are getting to be a respectable size--about three and a half pounds for one and two pounds for the other. Together, I'm carrying the weight of a newborn infant.
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Dr. Balis:
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But they are still much too small, Sylvia.
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Ms. Bows:
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I'm not planning on giving birth this minute, Doctor. I'm hoping for a few more weeks. That should give their lungs and hearts time to mature a bit more. But I'm confident now that if I do give birth today, the boys will live.
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Dr. Balis:
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I'm very glad to hear that. So what happened last week to put you in such a strange mood today? Did you finally talk to Mr. Major?
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Ms. Bows:
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Indeed I have.
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Dr. Balis:
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And? Are you being fired?
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Ms. Bows:
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Not according to Lloyd.
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Dr. Balis:
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So what's going on? What about Nils?
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Ms. Bows:
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Okay, let me explain. Lloyd finally called me back Wednesday of last week. As always, he was extremely charming and pretended that he just didn't understand my agitation.
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Dr. Balis:
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Did you tell him that you knew about Nils?
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Ms. Bows:
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I said that Rene visited my department last week and she got a very strong impression that I was being replaced by Mr. Landors.
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Dr. Balis:
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Did you tell Lloyd that you spoke with Nils personally?
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Ms. Bows:
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No. Well Mr. Major was extremely apologetic for Mr. Landors.
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Dr. Balis:
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Apologetic?
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Ms. Bows:
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He basically told me that he was having a fling with Mr. Landors and that somehow Mr. Landors got it into his head that he would be replacing me.
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Dr. Balis:
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Did Lloyd make him believe that?
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Ms. Bows:
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I suppose. Mr. Major is big on making promises that he never plans to keep, especially to his lovers.
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Dr. Balis:
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Did Lloyd actually tell you that Nils was his lover?
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Ms. Bows:
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He checked out the waters first--he made sure that I all ready knew about his little habit and then he was much freer with the rest of his account. Lloyd told me that he assumed that I would be out of commission for some time. He said that he was surprised that I was willing to do a lot of work at home given the difficulties with my pregnancy. But he was willing to accommodate me and try to work it out so that I had the ability to work from here if I so desired.
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Dr. Balis:
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But he still put Nils in charge of your department.
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Ms. Bows:
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I asked him about that. He told me that he didn't think Nils could do much damage there--my staff is very well trained and I left at a time when a lot of the work could be taken care of without much supervision. Basically Lloyd was trying to make Nils feel good about himself. He even assured me that he would keep Mr. Landors away from the office as much as possible so that he would keep out of my business.
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Dr. Balis:
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How nice of Mr. Major.
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Ms. Bows:
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Lloyd tries to be accommodating to everyone.
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Dr. Balis:
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I see. Did his explanation satisfy you?
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Ms. Bows:
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Of course not. I told him that I also knew about the interviews.
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Dr. Balis:
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Did he know about them?
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Ms. Bows:
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At first he pretended that he didn't know anything about them. But I pressed on--it's not like it's a regular procedure to question everyone in the department about their boss while she is away on maternity leave. Nils was clearly trying to find some information and I have to presume that it was under the direction of Mr. Major.
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Dr. Balis:
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What did Lloyd have to say about that?
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Ms. Bows:
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He told me that he was amazed to hear it. He wanted to know if I was sure about this. I told him that he hired an investigative reporter and should know better than to try to blow smoke in my eyes.
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Dr. Balis:
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Did that work?
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Ms. Bows:
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Lloyd admitted that he might know where Nils got the idea to question my people although he said that Nils was completely on his own about this and that he, Lloyd, would have never given such an instruction to that little pipsqueak. He even went farther to say that if Nils, "that little cocksucker" as he called him, was trying for my job he was in for one hell of a surprise. Lloyd assured me that he worked hard getting me for this job and was not about to lose me over a piece of tail no matter how good he might be.
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Dr. Balis:
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I guess that's reassuring.
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Ms. Bows:
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I asked Lloyd where Nils might have gotten the idea that there might be something valuable in questioning the people in my department.
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Dr. Balis:
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Oh, that's right. And?
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Ms. Bows:
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That's where I felt that Lloyd was clearly avoiding telling me the truth.
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Dr. Balis:
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What made you think so?
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Ms. Bows:
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It's just the way he started to phrase things and the tone in his voice. He was trying very hard to circumvent the issue. But when pressed, he did admit that he told Nils that there were rumors about my sexual conduct at SII.
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Dr. Balis:
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Are you surprised?
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Ms. Bows:
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A little. Who I socialized with after hours is strictly my business.
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Dr. Balis:
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You did break into SII's health records and get the HIV status information on every male SII employee.
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Ms. Bows:
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Lloyd apparently knew about that.
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Dr. Balis:
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I found out from Ms. Wolf, if you remember.
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Ms. Bows:
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That bitch.
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Dr. Balis:
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It's safe to assume that Mr. Major got the same memo.
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Ms. Bows:
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I know. But that was months ago.
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Dr. Balis:
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What else did Lloyd indicate he knew?
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Ms. Bows:
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He said that there were rumors that my babies were fathered by someone at SII.
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Dr. Balis:
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Did he tell you why he would care about this?
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Ms. Bows:
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No. He was trying to get a reaction out me.
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Dr. Balis:
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Did he?
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Ms. Bows:
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I told him that the father of my babies was Tom Bows. And it's true. Tom is the legal father of my boys even if he is not their biological parent.
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Dr. Balis:
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Was Lloyd satisfied with that?
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Ms. Bows:
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He seemed to be. I also asked him about my SII account.
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Dr. Balis:
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I was interested in what happened with it.
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Ms. Bows:
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He told me that they were upgrading their firewall and he would be happy to get someone to investigate my log-on problems for me. And that was that.
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Dr. Balis:
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So do you believe him?
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Ms. Bows:
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I believe some of it.
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Dr. Balis:
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You still think that Lloyd is responsible for the interviews?
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Ms. Bows:
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I think he told a very interesting story to Nils and made a few implications...
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Dr. Balis:
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If Nils did some footwork, gathered some information...
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Ms. Bows:
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Precisely--then Lloyd would show his appreciation by giving Nils my job. I'm not saying that that is in fact what Lloyd would have done if Nils was successful. It's just what he could have made Nils believe. So Nils took Lloyd's advice and started the investigation. I also believe that it wasn't an accident that I was cut off from the SII network.
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Dr. Balis:
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You think that Lloyd is responsible for that too?
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Ms. Bows:
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If Nils wanted to go through my personal computer records...well I might be a bit paranoid there. I don't know. We'll see how things turn out.
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Dr. Balis:
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So what will happen now?
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Ms. Bows:
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My guess is Lloyd is going to have a little talk with Nils. But I still don't know why Lloyd wanted to know so much about me that he would risk a scandal. He knew I wouldn't take this lying down.
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Dr. Balis:
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Perhaps he thought that he had a good cover story.
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Ms. Bows:
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Perhaps. I talked with Tom about this.
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Dr. Balis:
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What does Tom think?
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Ms. Bows:
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He thinks that Lloyd is up to something. But he is urging me to stay out of it until the boys are born. You know Doctor, I'm just amazed at how obsessed Tom is about these kids. For a man who never wanted to have children, this is practically a miracle turn around in world view. But our time is up. Thank you for listening to me Doctor. By the way, do you see what I mean about soap operas?
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Dr. Balis:
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I must admit that your story is a bit wild right now. But don't worry, in a couple of weeks, you'll be too tired and sleep-deprived to care.
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Ms. Bows:
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Thank you Doctor. You always know just what to say to make me feel better. I'll see you next week.
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Dr. Balis:
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Goodbye Sylvia.
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###
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Doctor Balis' Notes on this Session
Transcripts of Sylvia Bows' Therapy Sessions
