by P J Mann
“Well, at that point you might not need any psychotherapy at all,” Dr. Doyle replied amused.
“True, but now I need to go back home, or my wife will call the police to search for me. Personally, nowadays the farther I am from the Police, the better I feel,” Dr. Wright joked. “Let’s keep in touch and stay updated with each other’s results. We need to be able to start the process as soon as possible.”
“Of course, take care and tell Samantha hi for me.” Prof. Doyle replied, hanging up the conversation.
Dr. Doyle remained for a while sitting on his chair, trying to collect his thoughts and regain some calm. He closed his eyes and started one of the routines for self-hypnosis before returning home.
It was already late in the night, and like her new everyday reality, Laura was sleeping. However, she could not tell that she was having a restful sleep. Something was certainly going on with her dreams, and suddenly they were becoming more and more vivid and lifelike; they were just like memories.
She dreamt she was still at the hotel, and like flashbacks, she saw herself climbing down the stairs still in her pajamas. She knew she wasn’t properly dressed to hang around in the public spaces of the hotel, but just like in every dream, she didn’t care. To be honest, she found it quite natural.
As she turned her gaze to look around herself, she noticed that Sabina was also going in the same direction as her. She tried to call out to her, but neither she was able to produce any sound, or Sabina was able to see her.
Sabina was just walking like she was in a trance.
From that point on everything started to be confusing and it was like there was some commotion in one of the rooms she entered. It was like someone was struggling against her, but quite soon everything was quiet, and she walked back to her room.
However, as she was climbing the stairs up, she felt like her heartbeat started to increase; she felt agitated and scared. It was like there was something terrible that just happened downstairs, but she couldn’t focus on what it was about.
It was something that involved something extremely violent, yet there was no memory of that, except the commotion in one of the rooms.
She woke up finally, drenched in sweat and gasping for air.
Laura switched on the light of her room tried to understand where she was and what had happened. When she understood that she just had a dream, her heart started to calm down on its race.
Laura stood up and took a couple of deep breaths.
“What the hell is going on?” she said aloud, feeling comforted in hearing her own voice.
She walked to the kitchen to drink some water, hoping to be able to find back her sleep and forget about that stupid dream.
As she was walking back to her bedroom, she met her image reflected in one mirror and stopped. “Haven’t you learned yet that dreams are not something to be afraid of? They are just like ghosts, they are just a product of our imagination, and perhaps you shouldn’t have watched that horror movie just before going to sleep.”
She shook her head, smiling amused at her own sensitivity.
“Oh well, at least tomorrow is Saturday, and I can sleep all day if I want to,” she replied while she returned to her bed.
She switched off the lights and closed her eyes, trying not to think about that dream. She just tried not to think about anything at all, focusing her attention exclusively on her heartbeat, as she learned from the meditation session during the therapy.
She was sure she wouldn’t be able to fall asleep anymore, but surprisingly, she realized she’d fell asleep when the next morning she woke up at about ten o’clock.
“Had I known it before about these relaxation techniques or about this Dr. Wright, I could have saved myself from years of miserable living,” she yawned stretching her body still indulging in her bed.
The dream seemed to be forgotten, and she started to read a book she left on her bedside table.
She loved staying in bed till late on Saturday morning, reading and basking in the solitude and having all the time she wanted to take care of other things.
After about an hour, her telephone started to ring. She was not expecting anyone calling her, and she was surprised to notice Sabina’s telephone number.
After that nightmare it seems like a funny coincidence that she calls me, she thought.
“Good morning!” Laura greeted happily.
“At least for someone it is a good morning,” Sabina replied. “I had the most hectic night that I can remember in quite some time.”
“Really? That is strange because, although I cannot call my night hectic, I can say that I had very strange dreams, and you were there too!” replied Laura amused.
There was a long pause of silence when Sabina couldn’t even reply, “Could it be possible that we had the same dream?” Laura wondered out loud.
“What have you dreamt?” Sabina wondered.
“I have dreamt that I was walking in my pajamas, in the hotel, and you were there with me. I tried to call you, but you didn’t reply,” Laura replied trying to recall what else the dream was about.
Somehow, it was like many details were already forgotten, but she could still remember the feeling of walking in her pajamas down those corridors and the empty expression in Sabina’s eyes.
“Now that’s scary,” replied Sabina. “It seems like we had the exact same dream. It almost feels like we have been in each other’s dream. Do you believe it could be possible?”
“I don’t know what to say,” replied Laura. “I am not ready to believe that we have been in each other’s dream, like some kind of magic, but I do believe that we had the exact same dream; which is scary, to say the least.”
“Do you think it might be caused by the fact that we were following the same therapy? How about Gabriel?” Sabina wondered, as she suddenly realized that he was also following their same therapy.
Although I don’t remember having dreamed about him, she thought.
“What do you mean?” replied Laura almost surprised to hear his name spoke again. Since they left the hotel, he never contacted any of them.
To be honest, Laura wasn’t really interested in keeping in touch with him. Most of the time she was feeling annoyed by his presence, and deep inside she hoped that he would have broken the promise of keeping in touch.
“I mean that I don’t remember having dreamt about him, but I am wondering whether he had the same sort of dream last night,” Sabina replied. “Perhaps I should give him a call and ask about it.”
“Do you still have his telephone number?” Laura asked.
“Yes, I must have it somewhere, I rarely throw away this sort of information. Would you like to have it?”
“No, I think I still have it somewhere,” replied Laura. She didn’t want to admit that she had no idea about where it was or whether it wasn’t thrown away a long time ago.
“I see,” Sabina replied with her usual allusive tone like she could read Laura’s thoughts about her willingness of forgetting about Gabriel once and for all. “Well, let’s do so, I will call him and let you know afterward whether he had the same dream or not, does it feel better?”
“I have to admit that it is quite strange, and it makes me curious to understand whether it is something connected to the therapy we had or not. Perhaps it would also be smart to call Dr. Wright and ask his opinion,” Laura proposed.
“You might be right,” considered Sabina. “Nevertheless, I am as well going to call Gabriel, I am quite curious to know whether it was only us to have the same dream or not.”
Laura nodded and remained silent for a moment. “Do you think we will all have to go through another session of psychotherapy?”
“I hope not, I have a couple of fairs this month, then starts the Christmas season, and my customers are generally getting quite kinky with their present choices,” Sabina giggled. “Would you like to come to the next fair? It will be fun, and I can send you a free ticket.”
“Hmmm… I am not sure i
f I will like it,” Laura replied.
“Oh, please! How do you know you might not like it if you haven’t ever been to one?” Sabina insisted.
“Because I am not into extreme sex, that’s why.”
“You do not need to have any sex, all people are doing is looking around the stands, having fun and watching some demonstrations. Come on! At least try.”
Laura sighed, and to be honest, she was a bit curious about what people found interesting in going to such happenings. Her hesitation was perhaps due to the embarrassment to be seen there. People might think that I am a sort of perverted sex-starved girl.
“Ok, you convinced me, but as soon as the situation starts to be too much for me, I will leave,” Laura replied.
“Fantastic, I can show you around, as we will have several people working at the stand, so as we are going to have fun, I will distribute the business cards and marketing material. We will have a blast, I can assure you!”
After she hung up the telephone, Laura hurried to have a shower and make something to eat. She didn’t want to think about the dream she had, nor about Gabriel or anything connected to the therapy.
So, we had the same dream, I do believe that this won’t even be the first time that something like this happens to people who have shared intense experiences like psychotherapy. We have spent an entire month trying to teach our brain to relax and fall asleep. We had drugs that helped us in that sense, but they were mostly experimental drugs, and in the beginning, all the dosing had to be recalibrated. So why do we consider it strange to have dreamt the same dream in the same night? Laura thought as she came out from the restroom and walked to the kitchen.
We had the same experiences, and our brains might react to the same inputs by giving us similar dreams; we are still all human beings. We might differ from one another, but our brains work in the same way.
She opened the fridge, and without even thinking, she took out some leftovers from the previous evening. She was focused entirely on her thoughts about what happened and about the strange telephone call she had with Sabina.
And then I agreed to go to one of those sex fairs… I really hope she knew what she was doing when she asked me to go, and I hope I know what I am doing since I accepted.
She could not believe how her life changed since she returned from that therapy, and she was not sure it was a bad thing. Until that day she lived her life always choosing the safest option, and perhaps now it was time to try something else. Maybe I just need to see whether there are other options I might be interested in. This might be the start of a new life, she thought as she started to eat.
Chapter 15.
Justin glanced at the clock and was almost surprised to notice that the day was almost over. He went to check a couple of addresses for the ongoing investigation and returned after lunch for the report. He didn’t realize the time was passing so quickly, and mostly because Jonas didn’t even call him to ask about the report, nor did he hear him shouting as usual when he was under pressure.
And he is constantly under pressure, Justin thought, shaking his head.
He took a deep breath and finished what he was doing, and as soon as the report was ready, he sent it to Jonas and printed a copy.
Better make sure that he receives it, or he might stage a break in once again, he thought, chuckling.
He knocked at the door of Jonas’ office, but he didn’t receive any answer; he looked around, and as he noticed Amanda, a Senior Police Officer, he called out to her.
“Have you seen Lieutenant Avaliani?” He asked briefly.
“He should be still in his office, have you knocked at his door?” She replied sarcastically.
“Yeah, I tried, guess if he replied?”
She simply shrugged and left.
Justin knocked one more time, but as he didn’t receive any answer, he cautiously opened the door very slowly, gingerly peeking inside.
Jonas was there at his desk, with his eyes closed and holding his head in his hands. He was immersed so deeply in his own thoughts he seemed to forget about everything around him. He didn’t hear Justin, he didn’t hear anything but the sound of the problems tormenting him.
“Sir…” Justin said, wondering whether he was even sleeping.
Without moving from his position, Jonas sighed, “Yes, Officer Sheen.”
“I have sent the report to your email, but I thought you also wanted to have a printed copy of it, so I brought it to you,” he replied.
Once again Jonas didn’t move, “thanks Officer Sheen, you can leave it on my desk, and take off. I suppose your day is over.”
His voice seemed calm, but a slight tremble in its tone revealed to an attentive ear like those of Justin that he was close to a breakdown. He wasn’t sure whether it had to do with the case of his relative in Georgia, or with something else at work or God only knows what else might have happened. What he knew was that he was suffering, and he wouldn’t have let anyone inside his misery.
Justin placed the report on his desk, and gently, almost imperceptibly, he caressed Jonas’ hand.
That slight touch defined the breaking point. Jonas started to sob desperately, but for the sake of their jobs, Justin couldn’t do any of the things he had in mind to console him.
“Sir, whenever you need me, you know where to find me, please just let me help you,” Justin whispered. It was such a feeble noise like a gust of the evening breeze, aimed to be heard only by the heart of a lover.
Without waiting for a reply, Justin left with a broken heart, hoping to see him coming to his apartment to talk and release his tension.
As soon as he was alone, Jonas raised his head, thank you, I will come to see you, he whispered.
It wasn’t more than an hour after Justin reached his apartment, that Jonas, hesitatingly rang the bell of his door.
“Good to see that sometimes you are even able to accept the help of someone else,” Justin said as he opened the door.
Jonas seemed to be in a better mood, and perhaps keener to talk about his problems and the reason why he broke down and cried at the office.
“May I get you something to drink?” Justin said, “I was starting to think about dinner, so perhaps we might think about going to eat somewhere…”
Jonas shook his head, “I just came briefly to talk to you. I promised to call Giorgi this evening. I am sorry if you got worried about me. The problem is that my whole family is pushing me to help Giorgi with his case, but I have already explained to them that I do not have the slightest idea about how to help him. Moreover, I wouldn’t like to spoil our holiday working on a hopeless case.”
Justin went to the kitchen and grabbed a couple of beers from the fridge, hoping they might help Jonas clear his mind to explain the situation to him. “So, let me understand this case a bit better. You have a cousin in Georgia who is working as a Detective at the Police Department. One year ago, he was investigating on a case of a prostitute murdered in a hotel, but since he wasn’t able to find the culprit, he got scolded by his supervisor…” Justin said trying to reconstruct something that could make sense, from the fragmentary information he got from Jonas. “Am I missing something?”
Jonas glanced at him puzzled, “I will never let you leave my Department; you could reconstruct the facts even with my lousy reconstruction.”
Justin smiled, but didn’t reply; he knew there was something more Jonas had to say, and he was focused on listening to everything very carefully. Something told him that there was more than just a case within the family.
“Anyway,” sighed Jonas, “the problem is that the case seems quite complex, as an American citizen was the main suspect for the murder. Giorgi explained briefly that everything seemed to tie this guy to the murder, but the lawyer hired by the American Embassy found some evidence that tore down the entire case, bringing Giorgi back to the starting point.”
“Have you ever talked to this lawyer?” Justin wondered.
“No, I have no idea who he or she m
ight be, that is a detail that I wanted to ask him about too. I wish I could just say -Hey, come on, shit happens, you didn’t solve the case; get over it! - But I cannot. The whole family is pushing me to help him find the murderer, even if it is going out of my jurisdiction. I tried to explain to them that I cannot just jump into that case, but they don’t want to listen!”
Justin smirked, “I guess your problem is not the case, but rather your family. Perhaps they see you as one of those heroes in the Hollywood movies. The best advice I can suggest is just to try to help him, and diplomatically admit that the case is not within your reach. Although, I have to admit, it is starting to be very interesting.”
They both remained for a moment in silence, sipping their beers, thinking about the case, even if from different perspectives.
Jonas sighed, “Thanks…”
“For what?” Justin wondered.
“For listening to my problems and trying to help.”
“That is the reason why we are together,” Justin replied. “Jonas, I love you madly, and I’d do anything just to see you happy.”
Jonas smiled, lowering his gaze, “I don’t deserve you, but I’m glad you are with me.”
He looked at his watch, “I need to go, I will let you know about the conversation I have with Giorgi, and let’s hope for the best.”
Jonas stood up and walked away, once again immersed in his own thoughts, but with a lighter feeling in his heart, as a big weight fell from it.
The day after, for the whole day, Justin didn’t have the chance to talk to Jonas; on the one hand, the case he was following brought him to be outside the office quite often, and during the evening, he was busy trying to put the pieces he’d collected, together.
It was like an invisible force was trying to keep them apart and to be honest, it succeeded for another couple of weeks. They barely could greet each other, let alone spend any time together after work.