Angie of the Garden

Chapter Nine-1

Hollis sat on the set of The Robin Wainscot Show and stared at the empty seats in front of the stage. In a couple of hours they would be filled by an enthusiastic crowd of people, most of whom were more excited by the prospect of appearing on television than by anything that was said during the show. Hollis wondered why anyone would want their personal problems laid bare before such an audience. Yet the callers were certainly anxious to reveal their deepest feelings; if that was not true, he would not be here.

One such person whose story would be discussed on that day's show was a man from Baltimore. He was a young and aggressive salesman who had quickly developed an impressive clientele. This individual, who called himself Roger, had only one thing standing in the way of his continued success. For some reason, soon after his career had started to take off, he developed a strong fear of flying. Roger's anxiety attacks began hours before the plane was due to leave. On his last trip he barely made it to his destination.

"I can't go on this way, Dr. Simms. I have a great wife. We want to start a family, and this is the only way I can support one. I have to fly."

Hollis noticed something in the inflection of his voice. The doctor suddenly knew what was troubling this man.

"Do you really want to be a salesman?" he asked him.
"Why, of course. I'm a natural at it. I could sell a drowning man a bucket of water."

The audience chuckled at his remark.

"You probably could. But would you want to? Isn't it possible that you'd really rather do something else? As a salesman you often have to coax people into buying things they might not really have any use for. Could that be bothering you?"

Hollis could hear Alec complaining about a snap diagnosis. The doctor was confident about his analysis of this patient, however.

"When did you first start to have trouble flying?" Hollis asked him after receiving no reply.
"About a year ago," Roger replied.
"Did anything significant happen to you around that time?"
"Sure. I got married."
"And as a result you suddenly felt the pressure which comes with being the breadwinner in a family. You believed there was no other option at this point in your life. You were suddenly locked in to being a salesman."

Once again there was silence on the other end of the line.

"You could be right, I guess," Roger finally responded. "So what should I do now? Should I quit my job?"
"I can't answer your question. Only you can decide that. But I think you're not really panicking because of your impending flight. I believe it's because you're feeling trapped by your new responsibilities. Your mind is interpreting the cause of your anxiety as a fear of flying so you won't have to deal with the real issue. That's just my opinion, of course. If you find that my interpretation doesn't help you, by all means see someone else."
"Thank you Doctor Simms. You've given me a lot to think about."

Hollis believed he had really helped the caller. Now as he sat on the stage, his thoughts turned to Angie Barton. She still had not reappeared in the garden. Hollis feared that the most fascinating individual in his life had slipped away from him.

"A penny for your thoughts, doctor?" Robin asked as she sat down next to him. "I charge much more than that, actually," he replied with a smile.
"You know, I don't have your ability to analyze other people's thoughts and feelings. In fact, I have enough trouble doing it with my own most of the time. But in my line of work, I talk with a great many people. I've developed a good sense of what's going on in their heads. I think you're having woman trouble, Doctor Simms."
"You could say that. I'm concerned about one of my female patients."
"Just tell me if I'm out of line. I think you have a thing for this patient. I know you're a married man, and that it's none of my business. But I also know the look on your face very well."