Oh dear, Barbie thought. She would have to work on everything about this wretched girl, including quietly dabbing instead of honking her nose.
“You do scowl a lot and have very strong frown muscles, ” Barbie pointed out. “I think Botox would be a very smart place to start. I can hook you up with my doctor. But first, let’s talk about your boyfriend and what happened. ”
“Andy’s not my boyfriend!” Regina cried harder, her face blotched and puffy. “He let me be his intern this morning and we went to the morgue and he got irritable.”
“Andy works at the morgue?” Barbie was horrified.
This was going from bad to worse. The last place someone like Regina needed to be was a morgue, and the idea of winter colors only became more distasteful and inappropriate. Anybody who spent time at the morgue should not be wearing bright red and black.
“He’s a trooper,” Regina explained with mounting impatience. “But that lady who runs the morgue didn’t like me, either, and wouldn’t let me watch an autopsy just because I couldn’t spell.”
Barbie listened in perplexed silence.
“You know,” Regina went on, “that lady chief.”
“Oh yes. I’ve read about her and seen her on TV, “Barbie said.” Now with her blond hair and trim figure, she does fine in winter colors. But I’m beginning to see that we should try something different with you. Maybe summer colors. Have you ever worn a skirt?”
“Winter colors? A skirt? What is this, a Mary Kay Clinic?” Regina was insulted and repulsed. “I came here to talk about my problems! I didn’t come here to have you turn me into my mother!”
“We’ll talk about your mother another day, “Barbie directed her client. “One thing at a time. We’re going to need a lot of sessions, sweetie. But I think we should get back to Andy, because clearly he has hurt your feelings. ”
“I’ve never had anybody like him pay attention to me, and then I have to be such a big dumb fuck and fall for it. ” Tears flowed again. “He told me I don’t have any friends because I’m selfish and have no regard for the feelings of others, and then he exiled me to the bay and yelled at me when I was trying to find keys and a body fell on the concrete. ”
“Oh, my!”
This was far more than Barbie could process, and the images flashing in her mind were more than she could bear and would, no doubt, disturb her much-needed sleep tonight.
“I ruined my chance.” Regina sobbed. “I realize I did and don’t know what to do about it. I want him to respect and admire me for something, but I don’t know what. ”
“All of us women need to work hard for praise and admiration.” Barbie understood something at last. “Oh yes, that is very important. So what you need is a little project. What little project could you start that might get you on the right track? Something you do all by yourself that
would impress others and give them a higher opinion of you?”
Regina thought hard for a minute, sniffing and wiping her nose.
“What about if we start with waxing and complete skin care?” Barbie suggested. “Then we might chat about dieting and yoga. ”
If only Regina could prove herself just once.
“Papa needs a Seeing Eye horse,” she said, feeling a surge of hope. “Maybe I could be in charge of supervising it. Someone will need to feed and brush it and practice commands with it. ”
“Does your father have a horse that’s gone blind?” Barbie frowned without changing expressions, the paralyzed muscles in her forehead smooth and uncommunicative.
“No. He can’t see and wants a minihorse because we already have Frisky. ”
“Oh. Well, what a sweet idea. ” Barbie tried to be encouraging. “Then why don’t you start with that? Let’s work on supervising your father’s little Seeing Eye horse. ”
“He can take it to the race tomorrow night, and I’ll make sure everybody sees me supervising, ” Regina said, her mood a bit lighter. “That will impress everybody, even Andy!”