Fragment #69 - Unexpected encounter at the shrink's

It’s the end of the afternoon and I am on my way to Dc McCourt’s office. I got a lot of work to do for tomorrow – it sucks that I am now willing to do so well in my classes, thanks to “Enya the spy”. I shouldn’t be mad at her, she only wants to learn and she is sweet and everything, but she is so getting on my nerves. She is this sort of too kind and too perfect girls I can’t stand because I so want to have their calm and apparent confidence. This might be something I will talk about in the coming session with Shiobban McCourt. Well, I would prefer discussing Enya than Jack, to be fair… I had a moment, a couple a weeks ago, thinking it was a bit inappropriate I would keep on going to see a shrink. I am fine. But will I always be? And if I am lucky enough to be able and afford this sort of doctor, and be less of a burden to friends and family, well, after all… Who can it hurt? Anyway, she doesn’t seem inclined to let me go.
I enter the waiting room, and sit two chairs away from a young blond woman. It’s only the two of us in there. She seems calm, confident, and her very short hair reveals delicate features. I can’t help but wonder what brought her here. But it’s none of my business. I open my handbag and take my French Glamour magazine out, and starts leafing through it. After a while, I feel observed. The blond lady isn’t turning her own magazine pages anymore. I slightly turn my head to take a look at her and realize she is sort of staring at me. She blushes now I am looking at her too, and soon asks: “Pardon me, are you French?" A bit surprised by the question, I remember I am reading a French magazine, and realize she is as well.
"Yes I am. Is that the French Premiere you are reading?” The woman seems to relaxe a bit, and answers to me in French.
« Oui, j'adore le cinéma. »
« Vous parlez français? »
« Je suis française »
« Le monde est petit... Vous vivez à Glasgow depuis longtemps? »
« Depuis 8 ou 9 ans. Vous-même? »
« C'est la 5e année »
« Pardonnez-moi ma curiosité, mais que faîtes-vous à Glasgow? »
« J'enseigne le français. Et vous? »
« Je suis journaliste. Au Glasgow News. »
« Je le lis assez souvent, c'est un bon journal »
« Merci. » She smiles while thanking me for that compliment on the newspaper she works for. I smile too, hoping she doesn’t realize that I am now thinking the only French journalist working for the Glasgow News I could think of who would need a shrink, is that assistant’s sister who went missing in December, Charlotte Collomb I think… Let’s keep talking…
“Et vous travaillez sur un article en ce moment? »
« Et bien, je suis en congé maladie, mais j'ai décidé de m'avancer un peu. Je fais un article sur les étrangers vivant à Glasgow. Vous savez, pourquoi Glasgow, etc. Au fait, vous enseignez le français dans une école ou à l'Alliance? »
« Une école, dans le sud de Glasgow. »
I don’t really feel like talking about my own job, so I keep asking on this article she is working on, about foreigners living in Glasgow. She tells me about the strange answers she got interviewing them, the reasons to stay in here… I now think about my own reasons, not all rational, mainly driven by the fact I just fell in love with the city. Well, and Steven maybe, but let’s not think again about it. While laughing about those interviews, the ice seems to be breaking, and in the end she introduces herself: “Je m'appelle Charlie Collomb.” We go on talking about the interviews, and decide I could give her one this week. This could be fun, and it is not this usual I really enjoy talking with a French expatriate like myself: it often makes me feel like I am not so special, and that too much other people know about “my”special place. This interview thing could be fun. Next Wednesday at Starbuck’s, on Byre’s Road? Let’s do that. I realize a bit late that I don’t live in the West End anymore, but it doesn’t matter: it still feels like a familiar neighborhood to me and I should enjoy that.
Dc Mc Court then opens the office’s door and invites me to come in. After Charlie gives me her card, we quickly say goodbye. We will see each other again soon… And I keep thinking about how unexpected the encounter was for such a place.