sneered, and flashed her an image of the vodka
bottle by the bed. She rang the bell.
Dr Lee ushered her into a simple unpretentious office and
sat her on a hardback chair. He twisted the card
she had passed over between his short fingers and
raised it to the side of nose as if he would diagnose
her problem through some arcane olfactory
perception.
"I deal solely with issues of addiction and by referral only.
So, let us begin with that assumption."
Sarah shook her head, "Not in my case, I'm only here
because of work."
Dr Lee smiled, "You would be surprised how many people
call on me who have no problem. Their wives,
sons, friends - they all think there is a problem, but
my clients so often have a clearer idea. I must be a
very charismatic person that so many strangers
arrive here for no good reason. What is this
problem that someone else thinks you have?
Cocaine seems to be in vogue again. I always think
of it as such a wonderfully Victorian proclivity,
like laudanum."
The word 'alcohol' refused to exit Sarah's mouth.
"I suppose a teetotaller might say I drink quite a lot."
34