Reading: "Sibyl of Doom" from RITUALS of the ANTITHETICAL (A.Glass 2023)

 

“Hello Deborah. It’s Andrea from Executive Solutions, the Talent Acquisition firm for the Feldstone Group. It is in regards to your application for the Business and Market reporter. Could you kindly call me back on Six Three Four, Four Zero Six Nine. I’ll speak to you soon.”
Nearing the edge of the footpath, still holding the phone to her ear, she raises her free hand for an oncoming cab. The cab pulls up alongside the footpath, Kinsman enters the passenger side closing the door.
“Seven West, Forty Sixth street,” Kinsman requests to the cab driver, who begins to drive onto the requested destination. Placing the hands free airpod into her right ear, Kinsman returns the missed call.
“Hi, you have reached Andrea Elders of Executive Solutions. Unfortunately I cannot take your call at this point in time, please leave a short voice message with your name and number and I will return your call as soon as I can.”
“Hi Andrea, it’s Deborah Kinsman. Thank you for the call, sorry I missed it. I have a meeting in the next hour of so, I’ll call you then. Thanks again.”
Ending the call, Kinsman looks out from the cab window as she nears Forty Sixth street. It’s about the job interview, thinking to herself as the cab stops at Seven West, paying the cab driver, she opens the door stepping out onto the street, looking up at the Art Decor building in front of her, lifting her briefcase she walks towards the entrance of the building.

“Do you know when it began?” Psychotherapist Meredith Jamel asks.
Closing her eyes, tilting her head upward, Kinsman exhales gently. She then looks at the woman in front of her.
“Two years ago, after my marriage finished…”
The therapist sits quietly, looking at Kinsman in an attentive way.
“...I was never really like that, at all. Just normal urges, my sex life with the marriage after Three years, pretty much ceased to exist. But, that in my opinion, was not the reason, couples split up. You know, it’s like, the thrill does go after awhile. The marriage ended, because…” Kinsman looks away, staring briefly at a vase with flowers arranged on a table near the door of the therapist’s office. “...They just end, we did have therapy year before the marriage finished. But, the initial spark wasn't there, the love wasn’t there.”
“Deborah, did you have any biological examinations in the last two years. Like a blood test?” Jamel asks, looking down briefly at her client notes.
“Yes, a year ago. Usual pap smear and I did have blood test, unrelated to this issue. I was feeling tired, a little rundown. All that showed up was a low white cell blood count, nothing else.”

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Reading: "Sibyl of Doom" from RITUALS of the ANTITHETICAL (A.Glass 2023)