Case 2: Melody “You’ve got to meet my new boyfriend!” I shout across the room at my friend Mandy. Summer is over and I haven’t really seen anyone since college graduation. Mandy was the only one of my friends who was going to live around here now that we graduated, but she had spent the summer in Arizona as a gift from her parents. Now she was back and I couldn’t wait to let her know all about my summer.
*******
My summer had started like quite a few others. I was alone and missing all of my friends. One night I heard his voice as I tuned into VPR for the first time. His voice made me realize that it was okay to be without my friends especially if I had him. His name was Jackson Flanderson and he spent most of his time telling me all about the day and about his favorite songwriter.
I first heard him when I turned on the public radio station and his voice came through my speakers. I knew at that moment that he was my perfect man.
Our courtship started slow. I was too nervous to introduce myself so at first I would sit across the room and pretend to read a paper while listening to his voice reading the day’s events. The sultry sound of Jackson’s voice would flit across the room and around the newspaper I’m reading into my ever ready ears. I knew I couldn’t do this forever; sooner or later, I would have to get up the courage to talk to him.
I had been alone for so long. My last relationship ended when my boyfriend ran off and married Jennifer Aniston. Who knew that Brad would do that to me? What we had was so special. He had told me to keep the relationship a secret, and now I know why. He was just so wonderful to me, but I was just a fling on the side. My mother had always told me that I should stay away from men who would do that. I only assume that Jennifer never heard about me, otherwise I would hope that she wouldn’t have married him. Although, not all women realize it, one who cheats once will only cheat again. Brad proved that to me months later when he was found with Angelina Jolie. But back to my story, I kept seeing pictures of them prior to the event, but he kept telling me that it wasn’t real, that those were staged. I was nervous, but I loved him so. I promised myself that it would never happen to me again. I can’t even watch my TV anymore. That’s why I only listen to the radio now. With Jackson, though, I knew that it was different. He didn’t have all those tempting stars fawning themselves all over him. I knew that I would have him to myself.
Within two weeks I finally felt ready to take the next step. I moved to the chair closer to the small radio. I kept the newspaper in case I got scared, but I put it on the table. I had to be more assertive…I just had to. I assumed Jackson loved Cole Porter’s music; it was all he ever talked about and played on his show, other than talking about the news of the day. I decided that I wanted to learn more about it so that we would have something to talk about. I bought about 10 different CDs and listened to them constantly between our meetings. I decided to take voice lessons as well. I hoped to show him my love for him through my voice. I picked my favorite Cole Porter love songs and learned a few so that I could sing them to him. I knew he would love the effort I had put into this relationship before it hadn’t even started. I could already see us spending the rest of our lives together.
Shortly after I began my voice lessons I worked up the courage to speak for the first time. I embarrassed myself at first by accidentally interrupting him, but he didn’t seem to mind. He kept on talking and I could see him smile on the display screen on the tiny radio. It was that day that I decided that that radio was a disgrace and had to be dealt with. Early the next morning I set out to the local Circuit City to purchase a more impressive system. When the salesman asked what I wanted, I told him that all I longed for was a machine that would play VPR (Vermont Public Radio) clearer than I had ever heard it before and was classy. I came home with a Sony Shelf System that had 4 beautiful speakers so that I could be surrounded by the voice that I cared so much for.
I set it up that very same day and pulled my favorite chair right up close and stared into the two largest speakers set up right next to the receiver. It was like gazing into Jackson’s beautiful gray eyes. That night I made my first move.
I listened to him recant the days doings first. I wanted to make sure he got out everything he wanted to say. I made sure not to interrupt him this time, and I think he noticed. He told me that he wanted to listen to the song, “Looking at You” sung by the remarkable Liza Minelli. That song became our song that night. Cole Porter’s “Looking at You” came to describe everything that I felt about Jackson.
“Jackson?” I began, “Can I can you that? Jackson?”
Yes, you can call me Jackson. What should I call you?
“Melody,” I replied.
Melody? That’s a lovely name. I’ve noticed you watching me lately.
I blushed. “Well, you see. You’ve caught my eye. I was wondering… would you like to have dinner with me tonight?”
I’m afraid that I do have to work… but I would love to have dinner with you. Can we do it during song breaks?
“That would be wonderful. I’ll go prepare dinner right now.”
I ran down the hall into the kitchen. I couldn’t believe how easy that was. Jackson is the perfect man and now he is going to be mine. I chose to serve us the spaghetti that I had been saving for a special night. I used the homemade sauce that my mother made. It’s always a big hit with my friends; hopefully my mom’s sauce would be a big hit with Jackson. While I was cooking I heard him discussing the 1930’s era of Cole Porter music.
While he was speaking about Cole Porter and his horse riding accident, I set up the table right in front of the window. I placed the two smaller speakers opposite my chair and continued to set the table. I used my best china, which was some blue willow china that I had picked up from the local discount place, but Jackson didn’t have to know that. I hope he thought I had class. I also made sure to set the silverware just as my mother had taught me when I was a young girl. I placed the forks on the right, the knife facing in on the right and the spoon outside of that. As a final touch I found an elegant candle that I had hidden away for a night when the power went out. It was lilac scented.
“Although Cole’s accident in 1937 left him in constant pain, he still continued to write music.” Jackson said, “Now here’s a classic song from that era of Porter’s life, “Most Gentlemen Don’t Like Love.”
He must have realized that I love that song. Our first date and he plays all these great songs. He’s a wonderful man. As he finishes his intro I finish serving up two mouth watering plates of spaghetti. The music began and I heard him speak to me.
That looks delicious, Melody.
“I hope you enjoy it, I’ve been saving this sauce for a special time, and I believe this is it.”
I can’t wait anymore let me taste it. He took a bite and smiled. Delicious. Just like I thought.
This man was exactly like I had hoped. Brad never complimented my cooking. I had never been too sharp in the cooking department. My friends joke because in my first apartment I managed to set fire to water. That wasn’t exactly true though. There was a fire and it did involve boiling water, but it was more or less because I never cleaned the stove. I know now that keeping the stove clean is important in not setting fire to my apartment. My friends still won’t drop it though. Let’s just say if everyone who cooked had a score from 1-10 on cooking skills I would probably be around a two. I can cook, but it’s not too good. That’s why I chose spaghetti, it’s easy, and therefore it’s pretty hard to screw up too badly.
Did you hear me the past couple of nights when I ended my show with the song “You’re the Top”?
“I did hear that. I like that song.”
I started playing that song for you, Melody. I hoped you pick up that it was for you.
“For me?” I asked.
Yes. It is a song that I hoped you would enjoy and maybe one that would get you to come and speak to me. I’m glad that it seems to have worked.
“Jackson, I’m so glad that I finally spoke to you. You’re a wonderful guy. I’d like to ask you something, but my mom always told me never to make the first move.”
Melody, will be my girlfriend?
I was so happy to hear those words so I leaned over and kissed him right on top of the left speaker sitting to the left of the plate across the table from me.
Our relationship progressed quickly from there. It began with dinner and continued to be wonderful at that. Every night at 6 o’clock when he came on the air I would serve tea, usually green tea or honey lemon and we’d talked through all the Cole Porter songs. Around this time I think I fell in love with Cole Porter as well as Jackson. Cole Porter’s music was so beautiful and his love songs were so true to life. They seemed so sincere, just like my relationship with Jackson. Once a week I cooked him dinner and he never failed to compliment it, whether or not it was any good.
About three weeks into our relationship I realized that Jackson hadn’t tried to take our relationship further. I wanted him to take the next move, but I knew that I would need to convince him. I had to do something.
The next morning I went out for a shopping spree. My first stop was by my favorite clothes shops. I was looking for low-cut shirts and short mini-skirts. I was hoping by showing off as much skin as possible I would convince him to take the next step. I tried on many outfits that day and within a couple of hours I had found three or four outfits that not only looked great on me, but showed of my beautiful cleavage.
My next stop that day was by lingerie store. I hadn’t been in here since my courtship with Brad. I needed some new lingerie that would really accentuate my feminine form. I only hoped that Jackson would really appreciate what I did. All in all I spent around $200 that day. I was sure Jackson would get the hint. I was pretty excited about it all.
That night when Jackson came into my house I was wearing my favorite outfit that I had bought that day. The top was a bright red that set of my brown curly hair and my chocolate colored eyes, there were sparkles sewn in around the necklace emphasizing my cleavage which was thoroughly enhanced with my new cleavage bra. The bottom was black and shiny and clung to my hips like no tomorrow. I saw down and saw his eyes bug out.
I had prepared a dinner of order out Chinese that night, which was Jackson’s favorite meal. At a most opportunistic moment I dropped my fork as I made my way to the table. I made sure to bend straight over as I picked it up to show him even more of my cleavage as it bulged out of my tight red top.
Are you trying to tell me something, he asked.
“You know what my mom says,” I responded.
So I was thinking… would you like to spend the night together?
“That would be exactly what I would want. I’ll go and prepare the bedroom for us.”
I made my way into the bedroom and put on one of my new pieces of lingerie. It was a sheer black baby doll with matching thong and covered over everything with a sheer silver robe. This will wow him, I thought to myself as I finished preparing the room. I let down my hair before I walked out of the room and put on my biggest smile.
His jaw dropped I tell you. It dropped hard. I went over to him and kissed him on the speakers ever so gently and held him to my breast. I’m pretty sure he was drooling. After that I placed the Sony Shelf System and the 4 speakers on my rolling cart and told him that he would only be unplugged for a few minutes… he said okay as “C’est Magnifique” played in the background.
I rolled him into the bedroom plugged him in and placed the two larger speakers into the bed underneath the covers. I slipped off the silver robe and crawled into bed next to him. I can’t really tell you anymore of what happened that night as I don’t want to tell you of the smut that went on that night. Let’s just say that he was everything that I had hoped for, and he knew how to please me in such a way that left me breathless.
When I awoke the next morning he was gone. He must have had to go to work early. He had said before that he had two jobs. The job at the radio station that I got to know him through was one job; the other was as a music teacher at the local state college (He often mentioned it on his radio program). I knew that I would see him that night so I didn’t worry too much.
That night, just prior to Jackson’s arrival to see me I let my black and white spotted rabbit, Mr. Polkadot, out to dash around my living room while I read a biography of Cole Porter that I had picked up from the library that morning. He was having a grand old time hopping around from place to place. This was the first time he was allowed in the living room yet, I had been starting to slowly introduce him to new places. He seemed to enjoy all the areas in my living room as opposed to the areas of the kitchen because of all the soft places to hide and the fact that I was giving him free reign of the place and not blocking off all of the fun hiding places.
I turned back to my book and started to gain knowledge of Cole Porter’s life during his Paris years. All of a sudden in the corner of my eye I saw Mr. Polkadot dart across the floor over toward my dust covered old TV and then back into hiding under the rocking chair. I turn back again. It’s hard to concentrate on the book. I’m looking forward to seeing Jackson and with the rabbit running around, well, it’s just one more distraction.
Mr. Polkadot runs across the floor once more and ends up running over the remote control. He hits the power button and turns on the TV. I jump and looked toward the blasted box. There on the bright screen is Brad Pitt. I get really nervous and hold my book up higher, hiding my face.
Hey Melody, I’ve missed you.
I ignore him, or at least I try to. He’s still so attractive.
Please talk to me. I want you back. I want you to still be mine.
Why is he doing this to me? I already have found another. “I’m not interested, Brad. I’m over you now.” Yeah, I’m over him… I’m over those muscular arms and that baby face that always made me weak. That man always made me so happy. I remembered the nights that we would lie in bed while he talked to me and we walked his favorite movies, like Fight Club or Se7en. I don’t know why he always chose those creepy movies, but in all honestly, I love them too.
“Please, leave me alone.”
I can’t. I was wrong to leave you. Please, give me another chance. You know we were perfect for each other.
“What about you and Angelina Jolie?” I retorted.
That’s all a show.
“You mean like with Aniston?”
Please, don’t bring that up.
“I told you, Brad. I’m with someone else now.”
Who is he? Who is this perfect man?
“He is perfect. His name is Jackson, and you don’t know him. So leave me alone and stop trying to fence me in. I never want to see you again.”
At that moment the TV screen went blank and I looked down to find Mr. Polkadot sitting on top of the remote. When he moved I picked up the remote and threw it in the back of the largest cupboard in the kitchen. I’m glad that was over. I was positive that I would never see him again. I only hoped that Jackson would show up soon to help me alleviate the pain in my mind from seeing that two-timing bastard again. I was so upset that I was shaking when I heard his voice in the other room.
“Good Evening and welcome to Porter’s Place. I’m your host Jackson Flanderson and we have a great show for you today. We’re going to start with a song that really touches my heart.”
As the strains of the song “I am Loved” drifted over the airwaves I ran into the living room and cried to Jackson. I told him everything that had just happened to me and he smiled and held me and let me know that I truly am loved. He always knows what to play and what to say to ease my troubled mind.
That night I told him that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him. He agreed that this was a great idea and after I served him a dinner of spaghetti, we went to bed and spent the rest of the night holding each other. I was so lucky to have him, he was my shining star.
It wasn’t too long after that that I got a letter from my friend Mandy. She was coming back home and needed a place to stay. I called her that night and told her that she was welcome to stay at my place and that she should meet my new boyfriend. She seemed skeptical for some reason. She asked me if this was like the Brad Pitt thing. I told her that she didn’t have to worry and that it had nothing to do with any TV or Movie stars. She breathed a sigh of relief. It was nice to know that Mandy didn’t want me to get hurt like I did before. Mandy had always been my best friend.
We met back about 15 years ago in the 2nd grade. I had just moved to town and was missing all of my friends. Mandy was the first person to come up to me at my new school. I was hanging upside down from the monkey bars when a little girl in pigtails came up to me and grinned with 4 of her front teeth missing. She poked in the arm and I was so surprised that I lost my balance and fell down. I started to cry, but she helped me up and I forgot about the pain and started to laugh. From that day we were nearly inseparable. In fact, it wasn’t until this summer that we were away from each other for more than two weeks. I couldn’t wait to see her. She might have even met Jackson before since she had done an internship at the VPR the previous summer. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if they were already friends?
I arranged for her to move in on a night that Jackson was coming over. I couldn’t wait. I purposefully didn’t want to tell her too much about Jackson so that she would be really surprised, like I knew she would be. I even decided to order out from the local chicken joint so that we would have some appetizing food to eat as she met Jackson and we reacquainted with each other.
She arrived around 3 o’clock on the Friday that we had planned. We spent a couple of hours getting her stuff moved into my extra bedroom and adding some of her decorations around the house, and then we went to pick up the food from the chicken place. I set the table up while she took a shower and put the food out for us. I also moved the radio speakers from the shelf to the table so Jackson could join us.
A few minutes before six o’clock, Mandy came out of her room ready to eat. We sat down and she asked where my new boyfriend was. I told her Jackson would be there in just a few moments, but that we should start eating because he never minds. Just then I heard Jackson, “Good Evening and welcome to Porter’s Place. I’m your host Jackson Flanderson and we have a great show for you today. I hope you’ll enjoy the first number of the evening, “Delovely”.”
“Mandy, I would like for you to meet my boyfriend Jackson.”
I heard a snicker and a choke and looked over to find Mandy holding her hand in front of her mouth trying to hide a smile.
“Well, he’s nothing like Brad, is he?”
*******
Considering how dinner the previous night was a complete failure I was not surprised to find Jackson not in bed with me when I woke up. I also expected a lot of jeering from Mandy, who didn’t seem to approve of my newest relationship again. I couldn’t imagine what kind of guy she thought would be a good choice for me. I didn’t know what was going on in her mind.
After my morning shower, I went out into the kitchen for breakfast before work. Mandy was already in there preparing for her day. She didn’t mention anything and I didn’t bring it up either. I was starting to think that this living arrangement might not be the best of ideas. We chit-chatted through breakfast and then both left for our respective jobs, I to my secretary gig at Dr. Avery Benton, D.D.S., and Mandy to her new job at the radio station. She had been hired there as a producer at VPR. Lucky girl, she may not like Jackson, but at least she’ll get to see him before his show.
When we arrived home that night, Mandy asked me how my day was. I replied cordially. Then she told me that she had a surprise for me. “I got us permission to go and listen to Porter’s Place over at the radio station. What do you think?”
“Mandy. I love you. I’ll go and get ready now.”
I ran out of the room to get ready with a big smile on my face. I glanced back at Mandy to see a look on her face that I couldn’t quite place. It seemed to be a mixture of a few different emotions. There was the usual happiness and love, but there seemed to be a hint of sadness in her eyes.
We left for the station with plenty of time to spare. Mandy told me that we could possibly talk to Jackson before he went on the air and that she did think he was a really nice guy. When we walked into the station she led me over to her office so we could take off our coats. Then she gave me a tour of the studio which ended with us going up to a studio door labeled with a few different show names, the last one being “Porter’s Place,” I was excited to see my baby at work. Mandy opened the door and started to speak.
“Jackson, I’d like you to meet my good friend, Melody. She’s a big fan of yours.”
I looked at the man that Mandy called Jackson and instinctively shook his hand. This wasn’t the man that I fell in love with. This must be a joke. Jackson was around my age with dark brown hair, a goofy smile, and beautiful gray eyes. This man was at least 50 years old and his brown eyes were anything but spectacular. I played nice for awhile until he told us he had to get ready for his show and invited me to visit him on the show and talk about Cole Porter. I nodded.
When Mandy got me back to her office, I exploded, “What kind of a sick trick is this?”
“Melody, it isn’t a joke. That is Jackson. Just listen.”
We walked out into the hall and I could hear my Jackson’s voice, but it was coming out of the man that I knew couldn’t be him.
“Melody, let’s go home, okay?”
“No!” I ran out of the room and out of the studio and ran as far as I could before breaking down in the park that I always found solace in during my college years. What was wrong with me? What was wrong with Jackson? I was so confused.
After fifteen minutes of sitting there, crushed, and with tears streaming down my face, I felt a familiar pair of arms engulf me and hold me tight.
“Melody, I’m sorry that you had to see that. I couldn’t let you go on pretending though.”
“Why not? Why can’t I just be happy?”
“Listen, I think I have a great idea. I’m having some issues lately myself and I found a great place to go and be listened to. I’ve heard there are some great people there. Maybe one of them would be perfect for you and you can stop living in your head and start living with me.”
“What kind of place is it?” I asked.
“It’s group therapy, but there are a wide variety of people and some people just like to be there to help out other people. What do you say?”
“And you’ll be there with me?”
“If you need me, you know I’ll be there. You’re my best friend. I’m there for you no matter what.”
“Alright. I’ll give it a try. When do we start?”
“Soon and who knows, maybe you’ll even find a boyfriend there who isn’t a disembodied voice on the radio or Brad Pitt. Although, I can’t blame you on the Brad Pitt thing. So, What do you say we go home?”
I nodded and we stood up to leave. Maybe I would find a boyfriend soon. I dried my tear-stricken face and gave Mandy a hug. I knew there was a reason I kept her around. We turned and arm in arm walked home.
Group Therapy | Case 1 | Case 2 | Case 3 | Case 4 | Case 5
Case 6 | Case 7 | Case 8 | Case 9 | Case 10 | Therapy Session
