Phase I.II- Settling In

"Well, that seems to be all the time we have."

The young brunette in the flowery sundress, ribbon tie hat, and gloves got up and shook Kat's hand.

"Thank you so much for the talk, Mrs. Morgan."

Kat smiled, but sighed eternally "It's Dr. And you're very welcome! Remember what we talked about."

"I will!" The young lady, Jennelle, sauntered away, as Kat sighed from fatigue.

This entire week, she had a slew of new patients, and they all seemed to come from a different century, and not just in terms of their immaculate clothing. They were all housewives (or at least subservient to men in some way), and they were all deeply ingrained in patriarchal ways. Their problems seemed to extend to how to better please the men in their lives, and how to better wives to their partners. They didn't even seem to respect her as a doctor, calling her Mrs. constantly despite her refutations.

No matter what rhetoric she tried, no matter what scholars she cited, no matter how many times she quoted the Feminine Mystique or Judith Butler, she couldn't dissuade them. Nothing she said seemed to get through to them. Worst yet, some of them talked briefly about having jobs in the past, but when she tried to probe deeper, they all uniformly stated they were happier and they weren't any good at their jobs, much to Kat's astonishment. Surely, they couldn't all have been that bad.

She'd be more infuriated about it, but she's been having a strange brainfog come over her since she got to Stepford. She had a ton of brainfog during her depressive state, but nothing like this. It was... subtler. Like she wasn't as vigorous as she would've been, and she just struggled to keep up sometimes.

Maybe it was anxiety developing. She still felt a ping of jealousy that these women looked as good as they did and their mastery of their vintage fashion. She knew it irrational, but as anxiety is, it just festers. She might try to get some medication for that, but for now, she finished her notes. She made a note to order a bunch of feminist textbooks, but decided to see if these women actually followed her advice before following through.

"I don't know, Darryl, I can't seem to help these women."

Darryl had come back from school, and Kat made some steak and potatoes for him. She wore the white undershirt she had on in the morning and the black pants, but not the jacket. Darryl did some homework, typing as his mother continued:

"They don't seem to listen to me about how to better empower themselves!" Kat sat down, hand on forehead (damn, brainfog!)

Darryl listened as she continued: "They're all little Donna Reeds! Tammy Wynette would be appalled by this!" (Darryl knew Donna Reed from the reruns on the Stepford Channel, but not Tammy Wynette)

"I just don't know how to get to them." Kat put her head in her arms on the kitchen island. "Maybe it was a bad idea to move here."

"Hey, it's just the first week." Darryl put his shoulder on his mother. "You just need to adapt. You can't do things here the way you did them in Texas."

"I guess you're right, but how can I get through to them?"

"Well... just for a first suggestion, maybe try out something different to wear?"

"What?"

"Well, if I were to hazard a guess about part of the problem, these women feel a sense of **** with you. You're dressed professionally, respectably, and very plainly. They feel intimidated by your whole demeanor, and especially your clothes. You need to find something that still conveys what your normal clothes do, but that feels more relatable to your patients. Something they could latch onto."

"You're not suggesting..."

"Well, you have some clothes already that do the job. I don't think we need anything new at the moment."

Kat mulled it over. I suppose it couldn't hurt to wear my skirt and dress, if it makes my patients feel safer.

"Also, maybe focus more on their internal problems. I know you're concerned that they aren't reaching their full potential, but try to focus on the problems they're talking to you about."

"But, it's absurd, a lot of their problems do stem from..."

"And that's great, and you should focus on it in abstract terms, but for them to really listen to you, you need to cut back and focus on solving their immediate problems, before delving into their larger problems."

"I suppose that's fair." Kat saw the immediate hole in this, but felt... softer and more **** to argue.

"How about this? Darryl moved closer to his mother. "I need some more experience 'in the field.' To help remind you of this, maybe I could sit in on your sessions."

Kat was surprised. "I don't know if..."

"I will respect patient-doctor confidentiality. Plus, with me there, you don't have to take notes or move. You can focus on the patient, and I could help guide things along."

Kat was so tired and confused, she decided to accept. "Alright, but only to help out your research."

Darryl hugged his mom, who reciprocated. The hug lingered, as Kat looked at her son for the first time in a while. He was... lean. Muscular. She began feeling her son's back and feeling his strong torso on her face. Kat felt... good doing this. No, more than good... slightly romantic. She could just feel her fog fade with this interaction.

Darryl smiled, as he tightened the hug and kissed her head.

Kat took one last look at her outfit for tomorrow's sessions. Grey jacket, buttoned up; white undershirt, and a grey knee length pencil skirt. She posed a bit in this ensemble.

Kat was satisfied. She rarely wore this, but she was comfortable moving around in it and certainly sitting in it.

Still, there was still... She took off the suit, and pulled out her one evening dress. She wore this a lot during her marriage. It was a black sleveless evening dress, with a lace top and skirt, which went down to the calves.

She put on the dress, and posed in front of the mirror. She twirled, went close-up, and even high-kicked. She had forgotten how good she looked in this dress.

She looked again. Maybe she could wear this tomorrow, and alternate between the two. This dress is closer to what these women wear. She smiled. And I get to pose a little. She giggled.

As she continued to marvel at the black dress, Darryl watched her just outside the door. He smiled, as he clutched a green package.