I stood up and took a step towards the woman, who was not tall, wearing a white doctors’ coat and a red hat, under which incredibly beautiful black hair cascaded down.  She looked to be about forty years old. I extended my hand, doubting right away whether I did the right thing; can a strange man who is not Jewish shake hands with an orthodox Jewish woman? The handshake, however, did take place; her little hand dove into my palm and instantly slipped out.

“Jennifer is a psychotherapist with many years under her belt. I don’t doubt that you will work well with her and gain valuable experience,” The director added.

“Of course we will work well together, right Adam? Please, come to my office tomorrow at nine or, rather, ten o’clock. And you can call me simply ‘Jenn.’”

***

If I were a professional writer, then I would thus start to describe the events which played a truly fateful role in my life. But, alas, my literary abilities are very ordinary.

I have major in Business Administration, and after graduation from the college I worked in several companies. But I never liked business and administrative jobs, regardless of salary and the benefits I got. This was probably one of the reasons I started spending too much time in bars and eventually began abusing alcohol.

In contrast to me, my wife was successful in her career as a computer programmer, quickly being promoted to the position of manager for the IT department. She wanted to start a family, but something inside of me resisted this.

I often got laid off or left yet another job myself. Because of all this, family life suffered. Nicky and I had more and more conflicts, which arose easily from any trifle. We began to cheat on each other and eventually it all ended in divorce.

The day after my divorce I was gripped by a strange anger at myself and entire world. I got drunk and went to wander around the city asking myself the same questions: Who am I? Will I ever find my calling? What to do next?

I don’t remember how I found myself near NYU. The white marble board hanging on the side of the building had the course names written in large gold letters: Law, Theology, Psychotherapy.