Chapter 5: Jessica's blow up

Jessica was a very uptight woman who had lived in Dixon for her whole life. Standing a tall 5’11, she was a constant nervous wreck, and of course had chosen the worst profession for a woman with anxiety, air traffic control. Constantly in the tower, she had no time to prepare food or even take breaks, as the city of Dixon barely had enough people to staff the local airport. Jessica constantly stuffed her face with fast food, and yet through sheer anxiety and young metabolism, she seemingly kept her weight under control.

On the surface, Jessica was a fairly in shape and seemed to be well adjusted and organized. But underneath, she was a constant wreck of trying to fulfill every aspect of life, from relationships, to health, to hobbies, to work, to dating, etc, and she could never commit enough time to really excel in any of them. She’d do a half-assed workout, then rush over to the bar to hang out with her friends, then try to play video games with her online boyfriend Charlie, (if that was his real name, they haven’t met in person yet). Her morning routine was a mess, many times sprinting out of her house 10 minutes before her shift started, putting on her make up in the car, and shoving a donut and 3 energy drinks in her mouth before arriving to work a jittery mess.

One day as she bolted into her office in her usual halfhazard way, she stopped abruptly as she saw her boss at her desk and a stranger in her seat. “Jessica, I’d like to talk to you in my office please.” Said Suzanne, a gaunt, rail thin woman who weight 105 pounds after eating a whole turkey.

“Jessica, the staff here at Dixon Airport are concerned with your health and the way that it impacts your job. Being in such a high stress position, we need our air traffic controllers to be in full control of their emotional and physical well being, and we think that you need to seek help.” Suzanne directed, staring a hole through Jessica’s forehead.

“Stress? You think I can’t handle a high stress job?” Screamed Jessica, dropping her purse and starting to walk towards Suzanne. “I handle dozens of flights per day and have single-handedly stopped multiple in-air collisions and I am the one of only two people who consistently show up to my shifts to do this job. I go out with friends every night, and I haven’t even felt the touch of a man in over a year, yet you want to try to replace me because I show up late a couple of times?? HOW DARE YOU!” bellowed a visibly shaken Jessica, as she continued to stomp towards Suzanne, who was now backpedaling trying to stay safe. As Jessica stepped towards Suzanne, her toe slid onto a lipstick container that had dropped from Jessica’s purse as she had sprinted in. Falling forward out of control, Jessica grabbed onto Suzanne’s frail body to brace herself, taking both of them to the ground, and breaking Suzanne’s hip in the process.

“Oh, my God, I am so sorry” mumbled Jessica as she tried to collect herself, horrified at the result of her rampage.

“That’s it! If you don’t go seek help, then you are fired, and I am pressing charges for assault!” shrieked Suzanne, who writhed on the floor in pain.

As Jessica scuttled out of the office, she found an ad for Dr. John Psychotherapy, and copied down the information.