Love, Loss and Living

Carrie Part 6

Carrie Nelson, an Ivory skinned redhead had only been in Toronto a year, but she was able establish her practice. She quickly became a respected member of the Psychologist community.  She had moved from New York and left her teaching position at Columbia in hopes of slowing down and focusing more on her practice and research.  Her field of study was trauma, and she had worked closely with the US Military treating PTSD in returning soldiers. Carrie wasn't happy in New York. The secondary trauma due to working with such complex trauma cases had finally caught up with her.  She took the advise of her close friend Holly King and went on sabbatical.  She was an amateur painter. She planned to use this time to travel around Europe and indulge this hobby while figuring out what she wanted to do next.  Carrie had been very successful in New York but the lack of work-life balance had brought her to this point.  She wanted a family but at this rate she would never meet anyone who would fulfill that void.  Holly had been living in Toronto for several years.  Carrie liked the area whenever she went to visit Holly and her family.  So when Holly said come, Carrie was at the perfect point in her life to pick up and relocate herself.  She had fallen into working on a new cable TV show.  She had done some consulting on a few films while in New York, but it was not something that she had a desire to make as a career.  Carrie's reputation had followed her regarding her ability to help writers dig deep in their characters and make more true to life dialogue.  She was in the writer's room describing what a character's trauma could look like and the types of choices that could be made when she met the Executive Producer Tina Kennard.

Tina Kennard was very hands on with the entire production, something that is not seen very often. Carrie had heard that this was her first big production.  The success or lack there of would make or break her career, but this was nothing new in the film/TV industry. Tina had shown herself to be a very competent professional and would often participate in the writer's room. Over time Carrie and Tina became friends. It was nice having someone as new to the area as she was to share weekend adventures exploring. She found out quickly, Tina was well versed in the Arts and loved going to museums and art galleries. Carrie had picked up that Tina was married and had a child.  Tina was a very private person and spoke little of her personal life.  Carrie was very surprised to learn that Tina's wife was Bette Porter, the renown art consultant that was known for finding new artists and giving them their first break. As an amateur artist, Carrie had become friends with many artists.  On several occasion she had been to the Gallery in New York that used to be co-owned by Bette Porter. Her friends would from time to time talk about trying to show their work to Bette Porter. Bette was said to be the talent behind the Gallery and made all decisions regarding the art. Wentworth, the other owner, was said to not be very knowledgeable about art and focused her attention on the parties and the glamor. Carrie's artist friends repeated a rumor that Wentworth and Porter had a falling out after Wentworth had spread false rumors about Porter to improve her standing in the New York Art Community. The gossip Carrie heard from several of her friends indicated that the rumors spread by Wentworth went so far as to insinuate that Porter had made aggressive overtures towards Wentworth. Soon after, the name Porter was removed from the gallery and the prestige went with it. When Carrie returned to New York, she had heard the Gallery had closed.

Carrie never asked many questions about Bette, but she was very curious about what she was like. Carrie learned that Tina and Bette were estranged.  Anything mentioned about Bette Porter would quickly result in Tina shutting down and often going home. An off limit subject to say the least, but Carrie new from experience that responses like Tina's indicted much more below the surface. As Tina became more comfortable with Carrie, she spoke more often of her daughter.  Tina and Angie had a standing call every night no matter what was going on or what they were doing.  Angie had spent a few months living with Tina when she initially moved to Toronto.  Tina's schedule and Angie's difficulties assimilating into her new environment lead to Angie eventually moving back to Los Angeles with her other mother.  Carrie respected the time Tina spent with Angie, she had thought it would be difficult to be so far away from your own child.