I Will Always Love You (9 page)

“Thank you, but I don’t think my parents and sister will agree to family
sessions, especially my father. He thinks that I’m just wasting my time and his
money by coming here. He only agreed to the therapy because my mother and
sister practically insisted on it.”

Dr. Foster nodded her head and frowned. “Well, let’s not worry about that
now. We can deal with the family sessions when the time comes.”

“Okay,” Melissa said. She looked at her psychiatrist and couldn’t help but
smile.

“What are you smiling about?”

Melissa shrugged her shoulders. “I just want you to know that I’m
beginning to feel better about some things. At least, a little bit better. I’m
starting to feel as if I’m beginning to find Melissa again.”

“
That’s a good thing,” Dr. Foster said.

Melissa nodded. “Yes, I agree. But at the same time, I’m feeling a little
apprehensive.”

“Why is that?”

“What if I don’t like the old Melissa?”

“I don’t really think that you can ever be the old Melissa again. You have
been through so much in the past six years. I think that once you work through
some of the issues, you will find a new Melissa. And when that is
accomplished, you will want to move forward with your life.”

Melissa smiled again and nodded her head. “Yes. I am actually looking
forward to taking positive steps to move ahead.”

Part Two

Chapter 13

Chicago, June 1994

“Hi, Dr. Foster,” Melissa said as she strolled into the doctor’s office.

“Hello. And how many times have I told you to call me Irene? You haven’t
been my patient for well over a year, Melissa. Besides, we are now
colleagues,” Dr. Foster said as Melissa took the familiar seat in front of her
desk.

“Okay, okay, Irene. And what is this about being colleagues?”

“
Well, you’re graduating next week with your masters in psychiatric
social work, and you’ve been working with me at the shelter for abused
women for almost a year now.”

“I know. I can’t believe I’m finally graduating.” Melissa smiled at the
woman who helped her find her way through the darkness.

“You have worked extremely hard these last three years. You should be
very proud of yourself.”

“I am. But I still feel that there is more work to do.”

“That is why I asked you to come here today.”

“What’s going on?”

“Well, how do you like working at the shelter?” Irene asked.

“Oh, I like it very much. I mean, I haven’t been able to really have too
much one-on-one
c
ontact with the women, although I have sat in on some of
your group sessions when you volunteer there.”

“Yes, you have. And I believe that you are now ready to take a more active
role in the shelter. That is, if you’re interested.”

Melissa sat on the edge of the chair as Irene had her full attention. “Of
course I am. I love working at the shelter. What did you have in mind?”

“Well, Cathy is leaving in two weeks. She and Brian are finally getting
married, and they want to start a family immediately. So, she will not be
returning.”

“Well, I’m sorry to hear that. Cathy is a good social worker.”

“Yes, she is. But so are you. I’ve talked to Leslie, the shelters director,
about you. She would like to offer you Cathy’s position. Are you interested?”

“Yes,” Melissa said enthusiastically. “I would love to work at the shelter.
One of my goals is to be able to help women who have been in abusive
relationships. God knows that I have
p
lenty of experience in that.”

“Yes, you do. I was hoping that you would take the job offer. Leslie said
that you can begin working next week on a full time basis.”

“I’ll be there.” Melissa grinned and sat back in the chair.

Irene leaned back in her chair and studied her friend. “Now, how do you
think your parents will react?”

Melissa chuckled. “You know them. They weren’t too thrilled when I
began going to the shelter to help out. They’re just afraid that I’ll be hurt.”

“Because it’s not in a good neighborhood?”

“That’s one reason.”

“What’s the other reason?” Irene asked already knowing what the answer
would be.

Melissa rolled her eyes and shook her head. “They don’t want me
associating with ‘those kind of people’.”

“And what kind is that?”

“Irene, you already know.”

Irene smiled at her friend and former patient. “Yes, but I want to hear you
say it.”

Melissa sighed. “As my father puts it, he doesn’t want me associating with
‘women who have been abused and stayed around for more’.”

“Doesn’t he remember that you were once ‘one of those kinds of
people’?”

“Yes, but I think he just chooses to ignore that. You remember how he was
when he came to the few family sessions we had,” Melissa reminded Irene.

“Oh, yes,” Irene said in agreement as she nodded her head. “I remember
very well. I know that those were tough sessions for you, but we really did
make some great strides. Don’t you agree?”

“Yes, we did. I can still remember my father saying that the reason he was
so hard on me and pushed me with my school studies was because he knew
that I was intelligent, but lazy. And that he didn’t push
Sarah
because he
knew that her ability wasn’t up to par as mine.”
M
elissa shook her head at the
memory. She still couldn’t believe it.

“Yes, I remember that day. I thought it was a wonderful breakthrough for
all of you.”

“I agree. It’s sometimes still hard for me to believe what he said. Why
couldn’t he have just told me what he thought instead of making me think that
I wasn’t good enough? It would
h
ave saved me so much trouble in the long
run.”

“Yes,” Irene agreed. “But I am a firm believer in the old saying ‘that which
doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger’.”

Melissa giggled.

“And just what are you laughing at?” Irene asked in mock anger.

Melissa shook her head. “You never cease to amaze me. The longer I
know you, you more you sound like my mother. I really am surprised our
doctor/patient relationship worked out so well.”

Irene raised her eyebrow and grinned at her friend. “Speaking of parents,
have you told yours that you and Stefanie are moving out and getting your
own apartment?”

“I have, and they weren’t thrilled about it.” Melissa shrugged her
shoulders. “But they do realize that I need to stop relying on them so much.
I’m twenty-seven years old and Stefanie is almost five. We truly need to start
making our own life.”

“So where are you going to live?”

“I’ve found an apartment in the same building that Valerie and Dennis live
in, so Stefanie can play with their son, Evan. And it’s not that far from Mom
and Dad, which makes them very happy.”

“It sounds like you’re getting everything in line. Now you just have to find
a man.”

Melissa groaned and rolled her eyes. She crossed her arms over her chest
in a purely defensive move. “We’re not going to have that conversation again,
Irene. Are we?”

“Of course we are. It’s my mission in life to find you a good man.”

Melissa laughed out loud. “No way,” she said as she held up her hands.
“Besides, the only good man I know under the age of fifty is Simon. And he’s
already taken.”

“Yes, he is,” Irene commented about her husband. “But there are some
good men out there.”

“Yeah, they’re either too old, spoken for, just broke up with someone that
looks just like me, or gay.”

Irene smiled at the picture Melissa painted. She knew that over the past
four years Melissa did have some dates with a few different men. But none of
them amounted to anything more than dinner and a movie. “I think you’re just
trying to find excuses.”

Melissa looked away and Irene studied her profile. She noted that the last
three years have been good to Melissa. She had her chestnut hair cut so that
it lay on her shoulders in soft waves, which framed her face perfectly. Her
jade eyes had a sparkle to them especially when she spoke of Stefanie.

“How is Stefanie?”

Melissa smiled and looked back at Irene. “She’s great. She’s so smart and
inquisitive. And she loves going to pre-school.”

“Have you thought about him lately?” Irene questioned.

Melissa didn’t have to ask about which ‘him’ Irene was referring to. She
knew Irene was asking about Stefan. “Yes,” she whispered as she looked
down at her hands.

“Have you heard from your cousin, Brigitte?”

“We spoke a few days ago.” Melissa lifted her eyes to Irene. “She said that
she hasn’t seen Stefan in quite
a while
. Brigitte is so busy with the baby, that
she doesn’t have much time for anything these days. But she does say that
Rolf is very helpful to her.”

“That’s good,” Irene said as she noted the cloudy expression in Melissa’s
eyes at the mention of Stefan. “Are you okay?”

“Sure, I’m fine,” Melissa lied.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“Why? Talking about it won’t change it.” She shrugged her shoulders. “I
messed up. I had a wonderful man in my life, and I let him go.”

“But there really are other wonderful men in the world, Melissa.”

She sighed. “That’s what I hear. Who knows, maybe someday I’ll actually
meet one. But right now I have a lot on my plate. I’m moving, I have a
daughter, I’m graduating with my
m
asters, and I’m starting a new career.”

“Yes, you are busy.”

“Speaking of busy, I have to go,” Melissa said as she stood up.

“Okay,” Irene said to her friend. “I’ll see you at the shelter next week.”

Chapter 14

“You’re just going to throw me to the wolves,” Melissa said as she looked
at Irene in disbelief. They were walking down the hall of the women’s shelter.

“You’ll do fine, Melissa. You’ve sat in on some of my sessions before.
And don’t worry; I’ll introduce you to the women before I leave the room.”

“But, Irene, this is only my third day of working here.”

“So you have experience,” Irene remarked with a grin and a wave of her
hand.

“Very funny,” Melissa said. “But what if they don’t like me?”

Irene stopped walking and turned to face Melissa. She put a hand on her
arm and calmly stated, “Melissa, they don’t have to like you for you to be able
to help them. They only have to trust you.”

“How do I get them to trust me?”

“That’s for you to figure out.” Irene walked the last few feet to the door of
the group session room and stopped. She turned and looked at Melissa who
was panic stricken. “Melissa, get hold of yourself. Everything will be fine. I
have faith in you. Now let’s go in.”

Melissa squared her shoulders and lifted her chin as she took a deep
breath.
I can do this
, she thought to herself as she stepped into the room
behind Irene. Melissa noted that the room was already set up for the group
session. The chairs were in a circle in the front of the room and the women
were already seated. Melissa took the empty seat next to Irene and looked
around at the women.