My Life Coaches are the Seven Deadly Sins

I sat down with the insurance binder. Medicare and Community… community looked easy… until there was a problem. Then I'd have to call with the patient to get any kind of confirmation. I sighed, looks like we also had to call if our provider wasn't their primary… but… how did we do that in the phone room?

I messaged myself on teams to ask Donna or Erika tomorrow. I had a lot of questions… most of which Erika had pointed out were all answered if I'd just read the binder. With a sigh, I started flipping through until I found calls with patients.

"Hey Max, so… I noticed you tensed up at work." Pride said nonchalantly as he sat on my coffee table. I glanced up, "Uh, yeah, not my best day."

"Don't take it too hard kid, you're still new. But since we were on the topic, I was thinking practicing with someone else would help you get some of those jitters out yeah?" Pride prompted glancing over the folder of scripts I'd been mostly ignoring since I wasn't on phones yet.

"Uhh, I mean, I'm still getting log ins… but yeah, okay." I added when the horse just kept staring at me.

"Let's start with some basics, you say uhh and umm when you're nervous. Let's just try and start removing those from your vocabulary. Something small yeah?" Pride asked.

I nodded, "Uh, I mean, yeah. Okay."

"Let's try a few different things, no one is the exact same, so this will be a learning curve. Relax Max, you're looking at me like I'm going to take a bite out of you." Pride added with a smile.

"Uh, okay, what do you, I mean, how do we start?" I asked kicking myself.

"Let's pull out the script to confirm appointments. Pretty short, only a few paragraphs. Instead of saying uh, let's you counting to three silently as you look for where you're supposed to be in script." Pride recommended hopping onto my shoulder. His Hooves didn't have a good grip so he slipped until he was just laying there trying not to fall.

"Okay," I agreed reading through the script once just to familiarize myself with it.

"I'll be the one you're calling, but change my name each time so you don't make my name part of your muscle memory." Pride added using his hoof to hold his head up.

"Ring ring?" I asked uncertainly when I was ready.

"Hello, who is this?" Pride asked playing along.

"Hello Mr… uh… Stevie. This is Max calling from the primary care clinic, I just uh, wanted to confirm you'd be here for your appointment with doctor Smith at 7:30." I rushed out trying not to cringe. Yeah, definitely needed to work on my scripts.

"I confirmed online yesterday, why am I still getting calls?" Pride asked as he looked over rebuttal pages. Dang, throwing me a curve ball from the get go!

"Uh, yes sir you did, but, uh, because you're first appointment of the day, we were just, calling to remind you." I immediately groaned.

"Boy, I'm 63, not senile. I confirmed online already, stop with all these calls. Hangs up." Pride said with irritation.

"I saw that too… don't use the word remind… stick to confirmation. I also said uh." I sighed taking a sip of water.

"Relax Max, learning curve is a thing. Let's go again." Pride prodded. We went through the script five times, then adjusted. I had accidently said a few of the numbers aloud, or mumbled them.

"Okay, instead of counting silently to three, let's try just pausing. So take a breath and hold it when you feel the uh or umm coming on. Remember, they can't see you, so if you need a moment to reorient yourself, close your eyes." Pride added.

It wasn't perfect, but I was getting through the scripts with less uhs, and no umms. Closing my eyes had also helped.

"Let's practice for… 15 minutes a night. A… different script… every other day." Ace called hugging my pillow. I glanced back. He was a full grown man again, yellow pajamas with sleeping bears. His hair was a wild mess.

"Uh, just… 15 minutes?" I asked, Pride knocked his hoof on my chest, oops.

"You… worked all day… shopping… it's good to… relax. Change of pace…" Ace said with a yawn so wide I could see his tonsils.

"Oh! Dinner! We should have dinner!" Tony added as he started darting around the coffee table legs. Now that he mentioned it, I was kind of hungry.

Reed gave a short cough, "We also still have to revise tomorrow's supply list."

I sighed, then nearly sent Pride flying as Reed changed into a young man. His features were sharp, black eyes behind frameless glasses, black hair, in a suit. He looked like he should be working in a bank.

I grinned, "Nice! That's great Reed!" I congratulated as he stood from sitting on the coffee table. He gave me a small smile, but I'd take it.

"Thank you Max. As a small encouragement, once we have enough merit, we won't need to use to the dolls as anchors. I think Ace will be the first to leave his behind." Reed added with a nod to Ace.

Mai came bounding over, "He's finally not the last one! Not going to lie Reed, I really thought you'd be first." Mai teased as I stood up to see our dinner options.

"Really? I thought Ace was the favorite." I asked glancing at Ace.

Ace waved, "I was… joking. Usually, Reed or Ire…"

I glanced at Ire, "Really? Why usually Ire?" I asked with genuine surprise.

Ire rubbed his nose as he stood up, "Well, no offense Max. But you're not exactly… intimidating. Around these parts? Yeah, fight or flight's a thing. But my reputation does proceed me. Still, gonna have to work on that."

I shuddered remembering how those guys asked if I knew Ire. "That makes sense, yeah, thanks Ire." I added. If… there was just no way I'd win a fight with… anyone. "Uhh… but… I'm not… exactly fighting material." I explained looking at myself. I wasn't fit like Robby or Stevie by any means, often referred to as a skinny fat…

Ire waved the thought away, "No worries, you're more a swimmer or runner from what I've seen. Don't be fooled by all that American TV Max. Not everyone is meant to be the hero of a story. It's not a bad thing, but we should probably talk about goals soon." Ire added as Mai glared at him ferociously.

Mai rolled her eyes, "What Ire means to say, is there are 365 walks of life Max, each one has their own master. Learning what yours is, well that's half the battle. Do you know what you want to do Max?" Mai asked leaping onto the counter.