Checked Read Online Free PDF

more session under the care of Dr. Blake. Dr. Blake has confirmed that he will be here for your appointment on Wednesday. See you then!”
    Thanks, Annie . Good to know in advance, I guess. Now I can get a whole five and a half days of worrying in. Awesome.
    It is just one more week, though, and he is being nice now…even respectful. I smile at the thought.
    As I prepare to mop the kitchen floor, I wonder whether he’ll actually look in my general direction during our next appointment. {A solo spotlight shines on Phil Collins as he begins his “Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now).” }   Kitchen floor: mopped. Pictures: straightened. Living room: swept. {The refrain repeats again and again.} Mirrors: cleaned. Blinds: dusted. Shower: in progress. {And again.} Legs: shaved. Hair: shampooed and conditioned. {And again and again and again…} Thoughts: running rampant.
    The counting in “sets of two, or five, or whatever,” the tissues for the door—anyone who has read one article about OCD could have guessed.
    I thought that the cooking channel was my own unique piece of crazy though…

 
     
     
     

    Chapter 5
    girls’ night
     
     
     
     
    OUT OF THE SHOWER. MANDY’S home. I hear her moving around in the kitchen, probably preparing tonight’s margaritas. Melanie will want one when she arrives.
    I get dressed in shorts and a big Kelly Kapowski-style off-the-shoulder t-shirt. When I get out to the living room, Melanie is already sitting on the couch in button-down flannel pajamas. She says hello as she hurriedly moves her margarita from the bare glass table to a coaster.
    “I saw that,” I say with a smile.
    “Just practicing for when you are all fixed.”
    “I’ll bet those drink rings will still piss me off even when I’m ‘fixed.’” I smile again and join her on the cushiony couch.
    “Who is getting fixed?” Mandy comes into the living room and heads right to the DVD player. “Callie? Does this mean she’ll be having more than one margarita tonight?”
    “Not fixed yet, Mandy,” I say as I join her by a bag of DVDs. “What are our choices for tonight?”
    Mandy grabs the bag of DVDs before I can even see the title of one.
    This week’s choices are…” She pauses for dramatic effect. “Friends Season 5, Friends Season 8, or Friends Season 9. ” She holds up three DVDs, fanning them out in her right hand.
    Before Melanie or I can begin to voice an opinion, she continues.
    “I know I don’t get a vote here since it is my week to select our three options, but…” She plucks out Season 9 with her left hand and holds it up by her face, pouting her lips.
    “Cheater,” Melanie scolds while nodding her head and agreeing to the choice. I quickly offer my own agreement. It’s sometimes such a relief when one of us has some sort of watching preference; otherwise, we sometimes waste up to an hour trying to decide which DVD we are probably going to talk the entire way through anyway.
    Mandy smiles and randomly puts Disc 2 in the player as Melanie and I spread out a blanket to share on the couch. We start talking before the characters even jump in the fountain during the opening credits.
    Melanie tells us about Abby’s dance lessons and Doug’s attempts to make dinner on the nights she’s been working late. As she finishes a story about a burned batch of macaroni and cheese, I think about how nice it is to see her so relaxed. I bet she won’t be able to keep her eyes open very long tonight.
    When we decide to stop and switch to Disc 3 of Friends , Mandy goes to the kitchen to refill Melanie’s drink. She comes back with a margarita for me too—my one drink for the evening. She also brings out some pretzels and Doritos.
    I sip my drink as Mandy whines about a science project she is expected to do.
    “I actually have to study windmills. Where am I even going to find some?” She bites into a pretzel as she groans. “What is a future art teacher supposed to do with all this stupid windmill