Dad's Club

Therapy

I've always loved my job. It may not be as glamorous as my husband's; I'll never win a big golden trophy or have my name in the tabloids when I go out for coffee, but to me it's just as rewarding.

That is, when it didn't make me want to strangle my clients.

"Sabrina, did you talk to Chris about any of this?" I looked up from my notebook, where I had kept track of all of her madness over the past six years, and tried to look into the actress's eyes.

She just kept staring at her nails.

"I don't have to tell him. We aren't married anymore."

I sucked in a deep breath, containing the urge to scream at the dumb bitch.

"Sabrina, I know that you're in between seasons and you want to take a bit of a vacation, but you need to remember that you have children you're responsible for." I clicked my pen a few times. "Did you plan on hiring a nanny to take them with you?"

She groaned and buried her head in her hand. "Mika ran off the last nanny I hired, and Chris threatened another custody battle if I didn't 'put in the effort' to raise our girls." She snorted. "As if that bastard spends any of his own damn time looking after them! He just passes them along to his little house whore to be looked after while he goes to casting meetings to find another mistress."

I wanted to roll my eyes. Self projecting, much?

"I know it's hard, Sabrina, but you and I both know how much Chris does to spend as much time with your girls as possible." She scoffed, but I held up my hand. "He may not be a perfect man, but he really tries for them."

She sighed. "I suppose I can call him and see if he doesn't mind taking the girls for the month."

I nodded. "Have you told the girls you planned a vacation yet?"

Sabrina was silent for a moment, and I let out a small huff.

"Before you even book your flight, you need to let them know what you're doing so they don't think you're abandoning them. And you should plan to keep in touch, especially with Celene. You know how much it hurts her to be away from you."

I got her to nod, and I shook my head. "Sabrina, I know you're under a lot of stress from the production company at the moment, but is there something else going on?"

I reached a hand out to hold onto hers, and she squeezed it lightly.

"Mika hates me."

I couldn't imagine why.

"Oh, honey, she's probably just going through a rebellious phase." I rubbed her back in slow circles. "Do you want me to talk with her about it?"

She shook her head. "She'll just tell you that I'm a horrible mom."

I already knew that.

"Honey, parenting is hard. Everyone makes mistakes."

Sabrina looked up at me and bit her lip. "I know! She doesn't understand all of the stress I'm under, the stress she causes me." She flexed her fingers in an arching gesture, a sour look on her face. "It's always 'Daddy this' and 'Daddy that'."

I tapped my pen against my notebook as I tried to word my next statement, not wanting to cause the short tempered actress to have another fit.

"I know she's still young, but have you thought about letting her choose who she lives with when she's a bit older?"

Sabrina scoffed. "And have her run straight into his arms without so much as a goodbye? I think not."

I raised an eyebrow. "That's your choice, Sabrina. We're out of time today, I'll see you next week?"