Idiot Wind, Part III (RRH Therapy Sessions)
"Idiot wind, blowing every time you move your mouth
Blowing down the backroads headin’ south
Idiot wind, blowing every time you move your teeth
You’re an idiot, babe
It’s a wonder that you still know how to breathe"
- "Idiot Wind," Bob Dylan
Getting older is like getting on a boat and leaving the harbor. As you get older you can still see the harbor behind you, and you're like 'Cool I see where I am, cool, I know where I am. I was there and now I'm here'. But at a certain age it's just all water everywhere 'cause you haven't reached your destination and you're still so far away where you left. It's like being stranded at sea, at a point where you're not young enough to have meaningless flings, but not old enough to settle down with a wife and kids.
"Don't you think when you want more love you can be like, 'I had a bad dream that you were sleeping around, it's really irrational, but just love me a little extra today.' Why can't we just say that to the person we love? 'Just love me a extra today'," he told his therapist, keeping his gaze on his cell phone which he placed on the coffee table in front of him before he sat down. The news that he had received that morning was still ringing in his head. It wasn't three o'clock in the afternoon and he was already having a god awful day. Ryan went to his throat doctor for a routine check up, something that he always did before he had to head off on the road to tour. To his surprise though, after they had a scope of his vocal chords, it showed that he had granuloma. The doctor explained to him that he had it right where his vocal chords hit in sync.
In short, Ryan had to make a choice. Either he could have canceled this coming tour immediately without requiring surgery to remove it, and have an extended period of time off the stage to give it time to heal through intensive treatment. The other option which is the one Ryan was choosing, involved him performing on the coming tour, but to follow doctors orders there after and not perform live until, at the very least, early 2013. Option two also involved him having the granuloma surgically removed, yet still needing the intensive treatment so it doesn't grow back afterwards.
"When are you going to tell her?" she asked him, Ryan let out a long sigh, finally dragging his eyes to look up at her. "In Cabo," he began, "We're going over there tomorrow, for over two weeks we'll in Cabo. I have plenty of time to tell her about this." She thought about what he said for a minute, he wasn't going to hide this from his girlfriend as well? She had known him long enough to capture the fact that he was the kind of a man who preferred to keep things to himself before becoming what he thought would be a burden to others. Which tempted her to blurt it straight out, "You know Ryan, you don't have to hide this from her. There's no reason for her not to know about this."
Ryan slowly nodded his head in agreement. "I'm not gonna hide it from her. She's probably gonna make it a big deal about it and I'm not gonna have to explain the whole process to her so she doesn't run off from her tour," he let out a small laugh, a weak one at that. He wasn't tired physically, but just a few hours into his day, he was emotionally drained already. "But ugh... It's good that she's not gonna be around when I have the surgery," he paused, biting down on his bottom lip. "I don't want her or anybody for that matter to see me that way, to see me weak and scared. I fucking hate it." His voice got weaker as that sentence went along. "And that day I'm gonna be scared. Hell, even at this moment I'm not holding up very well."
He cleared his throat, looking back down at the floor. "What are you scared of?" She asked him, leaning in with her on her chin, interested to hear his response. "Losing this. Losing it all. I'm scared of losing my spot, losing my career. It's easy to lose it too, you know. Once you become a waste of space, they bring another one similar to you right in," he was speaking quickly, almost in a bitter tone, "I need this. If at the end of the day I'm not a singer-songwriter, a musician, I'm a waste of space. Yeah, I have this acting bullshit, which I'm not even good at! And I own a fucking record label, which I don't know where the fuck in my brain that was a good idea." He finally took a pause to take a breath, before speaking again in a much more relaxed tone. "I'm nothing without it. I need to be able to sing, and write, and play guitar. I'm not very good at being anyone else. I need to be a musician. Nothing is more important than this career."
"Even Nadia?" She asked him quickly following up his last sentence. Ryan finally brought himself to look up at her, replying with certainty, "Yeah, even Nadia." He sad firmly, not moving the eye contact they were sharing. "Without my career as musician, I would have never met Nads. Our paths would have never crossed. You see, this beautiful life that I've been able to experience the last decade, I owe it all for having a little bit of talent in what I do. I worked my ass off to get here. And I'll be damned if some young fuck comes in and takes my place. Nadia knows how much I need this career to be able to function, to be happy with myself." Ryan leaned back on the couch, finally getting more comfortable since for the last half hour he's been there, he had been sitting at the edge of it. "I have the best doctors in the world. They all told me that they've never seen anyone have their career end because of this granuloma, pain in the ass it is, but that doesn't calm. That doesn't subside my fears one bit. Anything can happen."
She nodded her head, she knew that this was a painful subject for him. It had only been maybe two hours since he had received this diagnoses, and it killed him inside. "How about we talk about Nadia instead? Let's forget about that other matter for now." Ryan gave her a simple nod, but his eyes almost said thank you for him. "How are things with you two right now?" She asked, as she too settled in her chair as well. "We're good. We're perfect, actually," he paused knowing that there was a better way to answer her question. "A point that you seem to forget about a lot doc, is that when Nads and I are in a room together, we're great. We don't fight, we're playful, we just click when we're together. We have so much sex, doc. So much mind-blowing sex. I can't even begin to explain it to you. In the last four months the meaning of a sore dick has taken a whole new meaning for me."
His therapist couldn't help let a smirk appear at the corner of her lips, there was the Ryan she was waiting for. With the bluntness talk of sex in a matter that you never knew was candor or sarcasm. "Well what are you gonna do after Cabo? After you guys return, she's gonna have to go to Asia and Australasia to tour for four months, you were telling me last time." He thought of her question, which was very much valid, and it picked at him because of it. He wasn't sure what to do. He thought back to what he had just told her, which was true, when him and his girlfriend were in the same place everything was perfect for them. It was just when distance came between them that problems began to rise, even during simple calls or video chats. "I don't know, doc. I just don't know."
"Well wasn't it you who told me that you were gonna break up with her before the tour came around because you couldn't further commitment to her?" Ryan recalled when he had told her that, this woman had an incredible memory or she recorded all his visits to her. Not once has he ever seen her pick up a pen and paper to write any notes during their sessions. "I did say that, once. I don't know if I can go through it anymore, breaking up with her," he paused. "I don't think I can. She's just gotten so deep into me. I'm madly in love with her. She's... she's perfect." She covered her mouth with her hand, covering a smile that had come across her face. She felt that maybe this news about the surgery he needed on his vocal chords that was going to sideline him for a year, made him realize that Nadia is the one for him. "So what are you going to do Ryan?" She asked him.
He sighed, taking off his hat and covering his face with it for a few seconds, before placing back on his head when he spoke up. "I'll be honest with her. After the incredible four months that we've shared, she deserves that. For me to be completely open with her. Tell her everything. My fears, my missteps. I'll tell her about this, like you suggested a few months ago. I'll tell her that I come to therapy. I'm just gonna be honest with her and myself most of all. Some of the things that I tell her are gonna hurt her, I know they are. But I need to tell them. If I don't, I'll end up in a fucking asylum by the time she comes back."
She nodded her head along as he spoke, proud of him for finally realizing that he needed to be open with the woman he loved. "That's good Ryan, I'm glad to hear that. Be honest with her and see where it takes you. Because at least if you do that, no matter what the outcome is, you're showing some fight for her. She's gonna see that. Women always see those kind of things." He mustered up a smirk for the first time in the session, knowing that she was right. She's been right all along. "Let's hope she does," he sighed, "I can't afford to lose her right now."
Ryan reached for his phone and slipped it into his pocket, adjusting his hat again. "So you're ready to commit?" He chucked at her question, rubbing the palm of his hand over his eyes. "I said I didn't want to lose her. I never said I wanted to be signing a paper for irreconcilable differences in eight months," he said with another chuckle following it. "Classic Ryan," she said with a pause, shaking her head. "A wedding, kids, a white-picket fence. You're not gonna give her that. You're not grown up enough to give her or any other women any of those things that they dream of." She was speaking with such calmness and ease, that you wouldn't think she was taking such jabs at him. "Sure, you can give them romantic dinners, and trips around the world, and all the material things they desire. And hell, maybe you are fantastic in bed! But at the end of the day, to women that doesn't add up to anything if you can't show them any further commitment," she paused with her eyes still locked on him, "If you want to see women like Nadia, you're gonna have to grow up. If you decide that it's just incapable of you to commit, go back to seeing twenty-one year old girls who's last thing on their mind is marriage and kids."
He was taken aback by how bluntly honest she was of her opinion, usually, in most sessions she just gave him advice. But he knew he wasn't the easiest client around. "You're right, you're so fucking right," he told her with a sly smile. Ryan stood up from the couch, passing his hands over the wrinkles on his buttoned up long-sleeved shirt. "I haven't grown up yet to a point where marriage or having kids actually seems like something in my lifeline. How I see it? It's up to her. I'll leave it to her to decide if she wants to continue trying with me, or if she wants to meet other people. Hell, she might turn into a lesbian! Her and Katie screwing each other with a fucking strap-on. Which is an even more disturbing image than picturing her with another guy."
He took a pause, clearing his throat, before speaking again in a softer tone, looking down at her. "Contrary to popular belief, I'm not out there trying to hurt anyone," he expressed in a sorrowful tone, before exiting her office.
Edited by user 19 March 2012 10:37:27(UTC)
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