Slow No Wake - By Dakota Madison Page 0,5

always so hot, so panty hose were probably not required. I felt kind of weird wearing a short skirt with my legs exposed. I thought about dress slacks and a blouse but most of my things were geared toward Midwest weather. I sensed a trip to the mall to buy some new outfits was definitely going to top my list for the following weekend.

I grabbed the lightest summer pants I owned and paired them with a white satiny blouse. Most of my shoes were heavy and dark. They didn’t seem appropriate for the Florida sunshine. I grabbed my lone pair of open-toed shoes and put them on. I looked at myself in the full length mirror I had just purchased the previous day.

I sighed. “It will have to do,” I told myself. Now that I was starting a new life in Florida, I felt like I wanted a new look. Add a haircut and make-over to the list of weekend activities, I thought.

I was fortunate to have secured a position as an outpatient mental health counselor, a nearly identical position to the one I had been doing with my previous employer in my hometown. My first boss hired me right about of graduate school and he always praised me for being a model employee and skilled therapist. He had a friend, who was the director of a large mental health services program in Florida. When I told my boss I was thinking about moving half-way across the country, he phoned his friend, and the man hired me by phone on my boss’s recommendation. Obviously, I wanted to do my best not to disappoint my new supervisor.

When I arrived at my new place of employment, I was impressed with the state-of-the-art facility. I had viewed their website dozens of times and memorized as much as I could about the place. Not only did they have outpatient mental health treatment services for youths and adults, they had day treatment and residential programs as well. It was quite an elaborate operation. The campus where the facilities were housed was immaculate with beautiful landscaping and sleek modern buildings. I was nearly giddy that the sidewalks were lined with palm trees and a pond in the center of the campus was filled with ducks. The benches that surrounded the small pond looked so inviting I knew immediately where I would be spending my lunch hours.

When I entered the main administrative building, I stopped at the front desk.

“How can I help you?” I young Asian American woman sitting at the front desk asked politely. I noticed she was wearing an ID badge that indicated her name was Lily Lee. She looked to be about my age, mid-twenties, with perfect features and a lovely smile. I was immediately jealous of the woman’s hair, so sleek and elegant. I had spent my life with a mop of curly brown hair and the fact that my mom always referred to my hair as a rat’s nest didn’t make me feel any better about it.

“My name is Alexandria Wilkens,” I said. “I’m a new employee.”

“Of course,” Lily said. “Tom Barrett, the Clinical Director, is waiting to see you.” She pointed toward a corridor on her right. “Just go down the hallway and his office door is at the very end. You can’t miss it.”

“Thanks,” I said.

As I hurried down the hallway, I glanced at my watch. It was only 8:45. I thought I remembered Tom telling me I needed to be in by nine every morning. I hoped I hadn’t been mistaken. That’s all I needed: to be late on my first day.

I knocked a few times on the door with Tom’s nameplate on it.

“Come in,” I heard through the door, so I opened it tentatively.

“Good morning, Mr. Barrett.” I realized that we had only spoken on the phone when he interviewed me and wondered if it was possible that he remembered my voice.

“You must be Alexandria,” he said as he smiled up at me. When he rose from the chair, he extended a hand for me to shake. I did.

“Everyone calls me Lexie,” I said.

Tom Barrett was tall, probably six feet three, and lanky. He had wavy red hair and freckles and his appearance kind of reminded me of that old-time marionette, Howdy Doody.

“Please, have a seat,” he said. He sat back down in his chair and I took a seat on the other side of his desk. “First off, Lexie, please call me Tom. No need for formalities