Bio: Author of Oenone
Agatha
Rae (Joanna Bogusławska) is an author and a college teacher from Poland. She
has published a book for the teachers of English “Teaching English Through
Culture, Teaching Culture Through English” (co-written with Agata Mioduszewska)
as well as an anthology of essays analyzing popular culture “Popkultura – pop
czy kultura?” (Eng. “Popular culture – pop or culture?”). Her articles written
both in English and Polish have been published in magazines “The Teacher”,
“Kino”, “Top Guitar” and “Perkusista”, she also collaborated with Simply Moyer
website, and published a dozen of film reviews and essays there. She is a PhD
student at the University of Gdańsk.
In her free time, she enjoys going to the cinema, listening to music (especially a Canadian band The Tea Party and classic rock) and reading. Among her favorite authors are Stephen King, Bill Bryson, Tennessee Williams, The Beat Generation and Charles Bukowski.
Social Links:
Although attracted to Evy, Jeff decides to limit their relationship to business-related issues only, as he is afraid of any commitment.Soon after coming back to the office in Boston, Jeff faces a sabotage plot against him triggered by one of the board members of the company they both work for. He is given a difficult task to accomplish and if he fails, he will lose his job.
Laura Levinson, Evy’s best friend, learns she suffers from breast cancer and, with the support of her loving husband Bruce, she undergoes traumatic chemotherapy. While weakened and discouraged by the lack of progress with her treatment, she meets Alyssa, a healer, who miraculously helps her recover completely from her illness.
Seven weeks had passed. Evy and Jeff were working very hard on his projects. Evy’s previous authors were given to the less experienced editors and she had edited four new authors for Jeff. She was swamped, but her mind was filled with work which was allowing her to have her thoughts occupied by something other than Laura’s treatment. Jeff was organizing the new academic publishing house, which he called OMNIBUS. All the paper work had already been done, he was waiting for few more confirmations and signatures, but it was only a matter of time before OMNIBUS would start functioning as WORDS’ official branch. He had hired two new editors, was in the middle of renegotiating new contracts with printing houses and was working on an advertising campaign.
Being entirely focused on the company’s issues, neither Jeff nor Evy had the time or will to discuss any non-professional topics. They had been eating lunches together, but during those moments she was mostly telling him about the authors she had been editing, and he was usually updating her on OMNIBUS stuff. They felt they had become a team and they both enjoyed it, but they were entirely focused on work and career. For Jeff it was all about surviving in WORDS, and for Evy it was the pleasant experience of creating something and it felt good that Jeff was consulting most of his decisions with her.
In the meantime Laura had undergone three chemotherapies. She was completely bald and most of the time she felt as if she was having a flu. Substantial problems with regulating her body’s temperature had appeared; she was either too cold or too hot. At night she either put an extra blanket on her quilt, or slept only in her underwear. She had an almost constant runny nose and by this point even her eyelashes had fallen off. Laura wore a wig whenever she was outside and at home she wore handkerchiefs on her head. Bruce kept telling her he didn’t mind her being bald, but Laura felt much more comfortable when she had her head covered. She stopped using perfumes as its scent would make her nauseous and used only cosmetics for babies now.
The smell of fumes drove her insane and she felt like vomiting every time she smelled them, so Laura stopped driving. She was very reluctant into going anywhere by car unless Bruce would promise to turn the A/C off and close all the windows so that no smells from the outside would appear in the car.
Because of her stomach being so touchy, Bruce stopped cooking and was trying to eat out as to not irritate her. The numbness in her fingers would come back from time to time and then she needed his help in doing such basic things as drinking from a mug or a bottle. She felt pretty bad about all this because her sickness did not revolve around her only, but interrupted his life as well; there, however, was nothing else they could do and he never complained.
Evy was now visiting her much less often since she was very busy with Jeff’s projects, although she would always come to Laura whenever she was back from the clinic and they had a regular phone contact. Laura was always waiting for those visits and calls because she was finding everything that was going on at work very curious and all the stories from there were truly entertaining.
Laura felt like a total mess. She underwent tests that showed the treatment hadn’t infected her tumor too much yet. Tessa kept telling her she was at the very beginning of the road to recovery, but Laura was miserable. She felt useless due to her inability to work. She wasn’t even able to work from home yet. She wasn’t able to recognize herself in the mirror and it was becoming unbearable to feel nauseous almost every time she smelled or tasted something. Laura was unable to imagine going through all this for next months and she felt that either something would finally help her really fast, or she would lose her spirit and determination, discouraged by the lack of results and control over her own body.
During one of the stays in the clinic she came across a brochure about natural methods of treatment. She never believed in such things like the healing power of herbs. Of course mint tea could calm a stormy stomach but, let’s not kid ourselves; a brewed combination of different kinds of grass could not cure cancer. She glanced at the leaflet, but never gave it a second thought until her third session at FEMINA. That was the first moment when she felt truly irritated and tired of her condition. Laura took one brochure from the table in the waiting room and when she felt a bit better after the chemo session, she took it out of a drawer near her bed and looked carefully through it.
It was about a woman named Alyssa. She described herself as a fortune-teller, an herbalist, a Shaman and a source of comfort, support and positive energy for everyone who needed it. It sounded tacky and the whole design of the brochure was corny with some ancient Greek symbols, but somehow, Laura was unable to explain it, the content of it felt oddly soothing. “Desperate times call for desperate measures,” she sighed and shook her head with disbelief. About three months ago, which felt like eternity ago, Laura would never believe that she would take such things seriously, that she would even consider searching for this kind of help. She was about to tear the brochure and throw it into the garbage can when she looked at her IV stand. Was this the way she wanted her life to look like for the next months? And who says she would defeat the cancer anyway? Perhaps that was the scenario of the rest of her life? However long it would be anyway. She was lying weak in bed, feeling pain all over her body, hairless, cold, and scared. Perhaps a month ago she would simply ignore the brochure, but the Laura who was diagnosed and the Laura who was there in the clinic were entirely different people. The new Laura decided not to throw away the brochure, but instead, she put it inside her handbag which she kept on a chair next to her bed. Who knows, it might become handy one day. After all, a little bit of hope and herbal tea wouldn’t hurt anyone, right? And besides, this was the only brochure that was distributed in the clinic, maybe it meant the doctors did not see Alyssa’s work as charlatanism, maybe she was indeed helping their patients? Perhaps the hospital approved her work?
One day when Bruce was out, she made herself some chamomile tea, took out Alyssa’s brochure and sat by the computer. She hesitated for a minute and Googled “Alyssa Sadler, Shaman”. She clicked search and, in a blink of an eye, she saw dozens of pages related to Alyssa. The woman seemed quite popular, there were many forums where people posted about her, and there was also her official webpage. First, Laura decided to check the boards, because, obviously, Alyssa’s website wouldn’t say anything negative about her. She was shocked. Everyone praised the woman. It seemed that Alyssa had helped many people. There were patients cured of cancers of all kinds, Parkinson diseases, Alzheimer, Tourette syndrome, cerebral palsy, disabilities, and migraines. There was a user named Oliver_73 who swore that Alyssa’s single touch released him from the horror of headaches which he had been experiencing two—three times a week and which had turned his life into hell. Kinky_Sense_of_Humor was assuring everyone that drinking Alyssa’s teas and her therapy cured him of alcoholism, that he had never drank a single drop of liquor since he met her eight years ago. Among many other people there seemed to have been people of all different ages and problems. One lady claimed she was 76 and she had had an advanced Alzheimer and, again, Alyssa’s touch cured her. Laura looked through about seventeen different websites, read more or less 70 pages of posts overall and was really confused. Of course, one could say placebo, perhaps hypnosis, could help, sure. But so many people? Could it be possible that all of them were lying for some kind of profit just to help Alyssa gain patients? Laura was fighting with her in-born skepticism. She found it extremely hard to believe all those people, but the part of her that desperately wanted her life to be normal again, the part that hated herself whenever she looked into the mirror, that part pushed her to enter Alyssa’s website.
Laura clicked on the link and it was pure magic. The website was glamorous. Emerald background, delicate, chill-out music, it was all soothing and relaxing. The green color brought an immediate association with peace and calm. Alyssa’s picture was nowhere to be found; there was however an ‘about me’ bookmark, which Laura, clicked. The note was very pared-down.
THERE IS ONLY ONE REASON WHY YOU ARE HERE: YOU ARE SUFFERING AND SEEKING COMFORT. ALLOW ME TO SOOTH YOU; ALLOW ME TO USE MY GIFT, MY POWER, TO HELP YOU. ALLOW ME TO HEAL YOUR SPIRIT, TO BRING PEACE TO YOUR MIND. MY NAME IS ALYSSA, I HAVE THE POWER THAT CAN MAKE ALL YOUR PAIN GO AWAY, THAT CAN HELP YOU MAKE YOUR DREAMS COME TRUE. OPEN YOUR EYES, MIND AND SOUL AND ALLOW ME TO CHANGE YOUR LIFE.
It all sounded fabulous, but Laura couldn’t tell if she was convinced or not. It all sounded too good to be true. She had always been a skeptical person, she had never been religious and her illness had not made her change those views. So far at least. Alyssa’s website seemed very tempting, but Laura felt deep down that the sensible part of her soul had not been convinced. She added the website to her favorites and went to the kitchen to prepare herself another portion of tea.
Laura passed a big mirror in the hallway, the one she used to use to see if the shoes fit the dress and the one in front of which Bruce and she had made love many times, turned back and looked at herself carefully. She gently took the scarf off from her head and for the first time faced herself in day light. It was high time to confront the reality. She put the mug on the floor and undressed. She looked really bad; pale, skinny, hairless, with grey shadows around her eyes. No eye brows caused the lack of any facial expressiveness. The lower part of her body, with no pubic hair and such thin legs that the outline of her knees was visible, looked as if it belonged to a little girl rather than a grown-up woman. The upper part, on the other hand, seemed to have belonged to an elderly person with sunken stomach and breasts and colorless skin. She turned around and saw her shoulder blades and spine horrifyingly outlined on her back. Disgusting. In complete silence, Laura dressed up again, went to the kitchen and put the kettle on. When her tea was ready, she came back to the study, this time avoiding the slightest glance at the mirror, and clicked on Alyssa’s website. She searched for the contact information and found the phone number. Laura took her cell phone and hesitated for a minute. What was she doing? Some months ago she would knock herself on the head at the very thought of seeking supernatural help to solve her problems. Right now she saw nothing crazy about it. After all, it could not get any worse, right?
She dialed the number on the website and a woman answered.
“Good morning, Laura, it’s Alyssa Sadler speaking, how can I help you?”
Laura was totally surprised she actually got through so quickly and, apparently, it was the Alyssa speaking to her, not some assistant, or a secretary. And how, for the love of God, did that woman know who was calling?!
“Um, yes, hello. My name is Laura Levinson, I am calling—”
“You need help, I can tell.”
Laura was totally taken aback.
“Well, yes, I mean I wouldn’t be calling if I didn’t.” She smiled nervously.
“Of course, how can I help you, Laura?”
“I found your brochure at the FEMINA clinic and I’ve looked through your website.”
“I’m glad you’ve reached me.”
“Me, too,” she answered and she meant it. It was very awkward, very surprising; but somehow, she felt that Alyssa was a very good and helpful person. Laura had no idea how she was able to feel it after a few seconds of the telephone conversation, but deep down, something inside her was thrilled that she was talking to Alyssa. Her voice seemed calm and very soothing and all of Laura’s doubts had vanished. She actually felt agog at meeting her.
“I was wondering if perhaps you have a moment to see me and, hopefully, help me.”
“Of course, I have time for everyone who is in trouble.”
When making the appointment, Laura made sure to check Bruce’s schedule to know when he would be away from home. She did not want to tell him about her idea; it still seemed pretty dumb for her. She decided not to let him know about it until she knew whether it helped or not. Looking at his planner, she realized he had a dentist appointment the following day. It turned out Alyssa was available at the same time and they had arranged a meeting at 4:00 p.m. When Laura hung up, she was beaming. Deep down she knew it was irrational to put her trust into someone who claimed she could heal people’s spirits, but for the first time since the diagnosis, she felt as if life was returning to her veins. She was thrilled.
In her free time, she enjoys going to the cinema, listening to music (especially a Canadian band The Tea Party and classic rock) and reading. Among her favorite authors are Stephen King, Bill Bryson, Tennessee Williams, The Beat Generation and Charles Bukowski.
Social Links:
Some Fun Facts about her:
I collect CDs
(I have over 440 of them) and love Canadian band The Tea Party.
My favorite
TV personalities are Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert.
I'm addicted
to sushi, "The Office" and popular culture.
My favorite
authors and books are
Bill Bryson's "Notes from a Big
Country", "In a Sunburned Country", "Neither Here Nor
There", Tennessee Williams' dramas, (almost) everything by Stephen King,
Jack Kerouac's "On The Road", Richard Yates' "Revolutionary
Road", Charles Bukowski's "Hollywood", "Pulp" and
"Factotum", JD Salinger's "Catcher In The Rye", Jerome K.
Jerome's "Three Men In A Boat". Cornelia Funke's Inkheart trilogy,
Marisa Bowe's "GiG - Americans Talk About Their Jobs", David Foster
Wallace - "Brief Interviews With Hideous Men", Philip Roth's
"Everyman", "Human Stain", "Dying Animal",
Michael Chabon's "Wonder Boys" .
I can't play
any music instruments, but if I could chose, I'd like to try to learn to play
the drums.
You can listen to The Tea Party,favorite band of the author !! https://play.spotify.com/user/martu7/playlist/0CYgIIXI7KDvdsZAR6vYi8
You can listen to The Tea Party,favorite band of the author !! https://play.spotify.com/user/martu7/playlist/0CYgIIXI7KDvdsZAR6vYi8
Oenone:
Book: Oenone
Genre: Romance With Supernatural/Paranormal Elements
Publication date: May 23rd,2013
By: Firefly & Wisp Books
Synopsis:
Evelyn Dax is in love with
her new boss, Jeff Richards. She does not want to reveal her feelings because of their professional relationship, however when Jeff asks her to accompany him during a business trip, the two spend a passionate night together.
Although attracted to Evy, Jeff decides to limit their relationship to business-related issues only, as he is afraid of any commitment.Soon after coming back to the office in Boston, Jeff faces a sabotage plot against him triggered by one of the board members of the company they both work for. He is given a difficult task to accomplish and if he fails, he will lose his job.
Laura Levinson, Evy’s best friend, learns she suffers from breast cancer and, with the support of her loving husband Bruce, she undergoes traumatic chemotherapy. While weakened and discouraged by the lack of progress with her treatment, she meets Alyssa, a healer, who miraculously helps her recover completely from her illness.
Encouraged by Alyssa’s magic, Evelyn decides to seek her help regarding Jeff’s lack of attention. Soon the healer’s intervention is visible; Evy spends a passionate night with
what appears to be an imagined entity introducing itself as Jeff.At the same time, the real Jeff’s feelings towards Evelyn begin to change drastically and the more often the intimate distractions, first pleasant, later on disturbing, happen to Evy, the more Jeff resents her.
Shortly after Laura’s recovery, Bruce is diagnosed with lung cancer. All of these
what appears to be an imagined entity introducing itself as Jeff.At the same time, the real Jeff’s feelings towards Evelyn begin to change drastically and the more often the intimate distractions, first pleasant, later on disturbing, happen to Evy, the more Jeff resents her.
Shortly after Laura’s recovery, Bruce is diagnosed with lung cancer. All of these
strange events cause Evy to begin wondering who
Alyssa really is...
My Review:
Oenone is for the
readers who wish to spice things up in their library..So if you want o read
something a bit different, a Sex&The City meet Supernatural kind of book,
then this is the book for you!
Oenone is the debut
novel of Agatha Rae and it shows that she has some serious potential..
Ok Then..Let’s Take A
Look at the book and the characters..
>>Evy is the one
female lead, who is in love with her boss Jeff. She has been pining for him for
months, never going beyond the occasional flirts. But at some point they have a
sexy night together, which ends badly the next morning.
And the pining
continues..And then she goes to Alyssa for help. Help her to fall out of love
with him? Get him to fall for her? The whole thing was a bit ludicrous, but
funny as hell…
>>Jeff is the
relating male lead, who is pretty indecisive..It never ceases to amaze me how
determined ambitious successful men turn to indecisive insecure blind
boys..Well the poor guy suffered from the side-effects of Alyssa’s doings and
never had a clue about any of it. So I should cut him some slack..However, some
opinions of his were ludicrous, as well. They barely slept together and he was
panicking for the future and marriage..I was laughing so hard in that moment..Priceless!
I have to say that the
men were much more sensible than the ladies in the book..Hard to believe but
true..
>>Laura is the
other female lead and best friend of Evy and wife of Bruce. Laura is a very
funny woman and I enjoyed her very much. She was a good friend and gave solid
advice..She is strong despite what happened to her and despite what happened
after what happened to her…
>>Bruce is Laura’s
husband and stood by her every second of her suffering. He always said the
right things to her and helped her maintain any sanity she had left and any
piece of her that threatened to fade away. He is the hero of the book, in my
opinion.
So….The million dollar
question is what I thought of the book…
I liked it..I always
like different ideas and I enjoy seeing authors take some risks..Oenone was a
bit of a risk but I think it payed off..
It’s a book that it’s
fun to read, despite the fact cancer makes an appearance in it..The characters
are quite a bit loony but they’re intriguing and funny as hell..The story was
solid..
In conclusion, You want
something entirely different from your repertoire? Something you can laugh at
and with? But you also want your paranormal? The Get Oenone!
Book Links:
Exclusive Excerpts:
#1
e39f
Jeff was home. He
lived in Back Bay, on the fifth floor in one of Boston’s classic brownstones.
He had a spacious, one-bedroom apartment. The interior was pretty dark with
heavy wooden floors and green walls, which looked more like a pub. The place was
decorated with muted light, and the brightest place was the kitchen, which was
modern and minimalistic.
The living room was full of CD stands and his walls
were decorated with framed posters of his favorite movies. A huge, 52 inch TV
graced one of the walls, and among the furniture there were a leather sofa, an
armchair in the middle of the room and a small party fridge for refreshments
and beer in the corner. There was no balcony, only a big window with a very
wide sill where he was sitting now sipping whiskey from a glass. He was very
angry, and he needed some time in a complete silence to clear his thoughts.
He had set his phone to vibrate, left it on the sofa
and was now leaning against the window. He was given six months. Six months! In
order to get that many books published in such short time, they would need to work on each of them
simultaneously. He would need to have the books out in approximately three
months so that they would start earning money to prove his new vision of WORDS
would work. It meant that all five editors working at the publishing house
would need to sit down as soon as possible, by the end of the week preferably,
and begin working on the new books.
However, one of his best editors was currently fighting cancer and who
knew when or if she was going to return to work. His second best editor was
actively involved in Laura’s illness and probably did not want to have anything
to do with him, and his other three were swamped to say the least. What was
even worse was that some of his writers hadn’t finished their books yet.
Peachy. Just fucking peachy.
Oh, and somehow he had to start the new publishing
house! It did not matter that it would be a smaller, niche, what mattered was
that he would need to focus on advertising and getting new clients. Dean told
him just after the meeting that in order to get it all started, he had to
create a business plan which had to be accepted by the board if he wanted to
get WORDS’ money.
Accepted by the board.
Fantastic.
He had about two weeks to do it if he wanted to meet
the deadline. He was sure the ultimatum was Ted’s and Jake’s idea, but he knew
he lost David’s trust when he had made the decision to narrow the scope by
himself. He expected he would be in trouble, but hoped he could talk the board
into it. Now there he was sitting on a window sill, drinking a second whiskey
and trying to think of any ways of making the next six months bearable. He
needed a plan and at this point his mind was blank.
What made him even angrier, was that he couldn’t stop
thinking of Evy. He had a nasty feeling that he’d made a serious mistake on
Sunday morning and it kept haunting him. Jeff felt he wanted to repeat that
night they had spent together, but he knew it was unlikely a possibility. He
was wondering why Evy hadn’t simply slapped him when he was telling her all
that nonsense about his not-getting-engaged attitude. That was something for
one-night stands to hear. Evy was different. He knew so much about her, things
he couldn’t care less to know about his previous lovers. And the sex was
entirely different. It wasn’t just lust, it wasn’t mechanical, it was
emotional, and he felt connected with
her, he cared for her comfort and satisfaction. Jeff valued her, felt good in
her company, and yet he had decided to lump her into that nonsense.
Now he needed her help and was worried she might
refuse to put his problem on the top of her list. She had other authors to
edit, and she would need to work twice as much, if not more, to take care of
them and Jeff’s new writers. Why would
she? Of course, he was the manager, he could just tell her do it, but then
at the very least he’d probably put himself right in the middle of a sexual
harassment lawsuit and the worst would be having to say goodbye to any chance
of them ever getting closer again. See
Jeff? This is exactly why you shouldn’t have mixed life and work. Damn it.
He took another sip of whiskey and felt the burning
taste as it moved down his throat. Suddenly his cell phone started vibrating.
He looked at his watch and realized it was pretty late for any phone
conversations, as it was 11:15 p.m. He got off the sill , looked at the display
of his phone and was shocked to see it was Evy calling.
“Hello?” he answered.
“Hi, Jeff, got a minute?”
“Yeah, what’s happening?”
“Are you home?”
“I am.”
“Are you alone?”
“Yes—” He could tell by the tone of her voice that she
was tensed. He knew it must have had something to do with Laura.
“Ok, see you in a minute.”
“What? Um. Okay.” Immediately there was a loud buzz of
an entry phone. Jeff put the phone away,
walked toward the door and pushed the entry-access button. He glanced at his
living room; it was fairly clean. Next he looked at his bedroom—decent. There
was a knock on the door. He opened it and saw Evy standing in the hallway.
“Hi,” he said stunned.
“Hi, Jeff. Look, I know I’m probably the last person
you’d expect to see, but I need to talk to someone.”
He looked at her and smiled warmly. He opened the door
wide and made a welcoming gesture.
“Please, come in, Evy. May I make you some tea?”
“Yeah, that would be great, you know I love tea,” Evy
replied, smiled and walked inside. She took off her shoes and followed Jeff to
the kitchen. Discreetly, she looked around the apartment and her impression was
that it was cozy and elegant, although a bit too dark for her taste. Jeff put
the kettle on and took two cups from the cupboard. He put them down and turned
around to look at Evy. She was sitting behind the table with her legs curved
under her chin, looking at him, a bit amused and a bit shy at the same time.
“Nice apartment,” she said.
“It’s all right. I’ve been living here for half a year
and certain things have not been finished yet, but I like it a lot. Nice hair.”
“Oh, thank you.” She laughed and combed it with her
fingers. She kept forgetting her hair was much shorter now. “I haven’t had such
short hair since I was a kid.”
“It suits you,” Jeff said nicely and he meant it.
The water had boiled and Jeff poured it into mugs.
“Come on, let’s go to the living room.”
“How about tea bags?” asked Evy.
“Oh yeah, sorry.” He laughed and put the bags into the
mugs.
He handed her a mug and they left the kitchen.
She was following him, gliding slightly on an elegant
parquet floor. They both sat on the sofa in front of a heavy, wooden coffee
table, Evy curled her legs, she felt relaxed and calm.
“Wow, you’ve got quite a collection,” she said looking
at his CD stands.
“Six hundred and forty five.”
“No way!” She walked towards the stands and skimmed
them.
He smiled. “Evy, I’ve been thinking about what
happened yesterday—”
“Jeff, I’m really not here to try to convince you to
anything,” she said firmly and came back to the sofa.
“I know. But I-I feel awful after what I had said to
you.”
“And you should,” she admitted entirely seriously.
“Look, you were honest with me, there’s no need to go back there.” She waved
her hand in “let’s not go there” gesture.
“Yeah…” He drank some tea. “How’s Laura?”
She looked at him a bit surprised (He knows it’s her.) and put her mug on
the coffee table.
“She’s scared. But she’s determined to fight.” She
looked at him. “I’m sorry, Jeff, for coming here at this hour, unannounced—”
“Well, you did call.” He smiled.
“Yeah, I did, I’m not that bad… The thing is… that I
am quite bad at making friends. My world, maybe it’s my work, maybe it’s other
circumstances, has always been quite empty when it comes to people. I’ve always
been satisfied having one or two close friends; I’ve never had the desire to be
the most social person in the area. And as much as I like it, in moments like
this I feel it has certain drawbacks.”
He was listening to her attentively and suddenly he
felt even closer to her, it was hard to describe.
“Since I moved to Boston it has always been Laura and
my boyfriends, mostly Pete because my relationship with him was the longest one
I’ve ever had. I’ve never needed anyone else. But now I am single, and my dear
Laura is struggling with a really nasty and devious disease and while she’s in
a clinic having needles attached to her body, I find myself all alone and craving
somebody to talk to. And I know you’re my boss, I know we’ve spent a quite
awkward weekend together, but I got to know you better during last days, and it
turns out you’re the only person I can come and comfortably share my thoughts
with. And I really need that.”
He was touched. He had never heard anyone telling him
he was needed to comfort someone, nor had anyone ever confessed to having a
special, intimate connection with him that would help to pass traumatic moments. Who was she? What was going on
here? It all felt warm, it felt good, but he was a stranger in a strange land
in this situation. What was he supposed to do now? Hold her hand? Hug her? Ask
her if she wanted some more tea?
“So, what’s Laura’s prognosis?” he finally asked.
“She has breast cancer stage two, which is not the
worst case scenario. There are four stages. But she needs to undergo treatment
and she might lose her breast, or at least a part of it.”
“How are you coping with it?”
“I’m scared for her, but I’m going to support her no
matter what happens.”
“Great, it’s great to have such friends.”
They were sitting in silence and drinking their teas.
“I told David about the Westville strategy.”
“Oh! You did! What did he say?”
“I met with the whole board today, actually.”
Jeff told Evy what happened during the meeting, about
the ultimatum he was given and how enraged and utterly terrified he was that he
might not fulfill his plan and lose his job. She was listening to him
attentively. When he finished, she put her hand on his shoulder and looked at
him very seriously.
“Jeff, I will help you.”
He looked at her surprised. “I thought you might not
want to do that because of what happened two days ago.”
“First of all, three days ago, it’s ten past
midnight.” She smiled. “Secondly, Jeff, don’t worry about that weekend. We’re
both grown-ups and it’s not like you broke my heart. I admit, I was hoping for
something more, but I understand where you’re coming from.”
She was being sincere. Laura’s problems made her
redefine her thoughts, focus on entirely different things and all her problems
circulating around Jeff had, at least for now, vanished.
“I want to help you because I want us to remain
friends, and since you’re in trouble then I will gladly help you. You can start
sending me your new authors’ manuscripts on Wednesday, ok?”
“Ok. You have no idea how glad I am—”
“Did you expect me to be vengeful? Oh please. Besides,
you’re my boss. Technically, I have to do what you say, but I’d rather do it as
your friend. And if it helps you keep your job, which I strongly believe you’re
great at, I’m happy to do it.”
“Thank you, Evy,” he said with deep appreciation in
his voice.
“So, let’s take a closer look at what you listen to,
Mr. Richards.” She walked toward the CD stands again.
“The usual stuff. New Kids on the Block, David Guetta,
Lady Gaga. Nothing fancy,” he answered and Evy burst out laughing. They spent
about half an hour going through his collection. He felt great knowing she was
so impressed by it.
“Well, I need to go, it’s super late. Sorry for coming
here like that, but it helped me a lot.”
“Please, come by whenever you feel you want to,” he
said genuinely.
“Tempting idea, I won’t lie.” She put the mug on the table and walked
toward the doors. She was putting her shoes when he cleared his throat.
“Will I see you at work tomorrow?”
“No, I’m coming in on Wednesday.”
“Ok, I’ll see you then.”
“Jeff? Can we forget about what happened? It will make
me feel much more comfortable around you. I think it would be good for—for both
of us.”
He looked at her for a minute. He knew what she meant;
however deep down it kind of hurt his feelings. What was he expecting after
what he had told her, though? He blew it. He couldn’t expect anything else from
her right now.
“Sure, I - I
understand.”
“Thanks. See you!”
He closed the door behind her and leaned on it. No, he
did not want to forget about what happened. When Evy was speaking to him he
realized that Rachel had never needed his comfort, nor had she ever resisted
the temptation to judge him when he made mistakes. Jeff was pretty sure she
would have told him that if he was foolish enough to make such decision without
anyone’s permission, then it was only his problem and was he expecting now? A
shoulder to cry on?. Evy did not criticize him, but offered her help instantly
and told him he was good at what he was doing. No, he did not want to forget
about their night. He had a plan to only to think about it regularly but to
cherish it as well. As much as it scared him, he realized he was falling in
love. And he managed to screw it all before it even started. But if she needed
the space now, if she felt too hurt, or perhaps too offended by his earlier
attitude, he would stand by her as a friend and co-worker and hope that perhaps
one day she might allow him to get closer to her again.
Lying in her bed, Evy was thinking about her little
tea party with Jeff and felt two tears falling down her cheeks. She turned on
the right side and nestled her face in the pillow. The sense of guilt and a
bitter feeling of loss were intertwining within her heart. She felt like the
worst friend in the world because her Laura was suffering in a clinic at that
moment and all she was able to think of was Jeff and how badly she wanted and
needed him. She never wanted to forget the night they had spent together, but
Sunday morning was so painful and humiliating to her she had promised herself
not to allow Jeff to ever touch her again. However, Evy did not want to lose
him either, so in her head being friends and good co-workers was the best
solution she could think of.
Tired, she closed her eyes and fell asleep.
#2
e72f
Evy was trying to
call Laura, but her friend’s phone was turned off. Apparently they were having
a great time in Canada and did not want to be disturbed. She turned on the TV
and discovered that apart from few pretty bad comedy series there was absolutely
nothing to watch. Evy turned it off and looked at her desk. Another book was
there waiting to be edited, but she couldn’t force herself to even touch it.
Being full of energy and having no idea what to do with herself, she figured
she would go to the gym. The treadmill seemed to be a good idea. Laura and Evy
liked calling it “dreadmill” or “threadmill”. She smiled when she thought of
it. It felt like ages since they had both been to the gym.
Evy took out her gym bag, put a towel, a shampoo and a
bottle of water into it. She checked her mp3 player to see if it was charged
and left her home.
Fifteen minutes later, she parked Bob in front of the
fitness center and walked inside. It was Sunday, almost 9 p.m., so there was
hardly anyone there, but the fitness center was open until midnight, so Evy
still had some time to work out.
***
At the same time Bruce and Laura were on a plane
flying home. Bruce looked much better, he was dozing with his head leaned on a
pillow and she was sitting next to him, holding his hand. It occurred to her
she had not let him go for a second since they got on the plane.
The flight was to take about five hours. Bruce had
been sleeping for over an hour. There was some dumb comedy on the screen, but
Laura was unable to focus on the plot. From time to time she would
unintentionally glance at the monitor in front of her when she heard people
laughing, but she was completely absent-minded.
Laura was thinking about what had been happening in
her life for the past few months. The cancer was completely unexpected, but all
the trouble she was in because of it, she had to admit it, was at least partly
due to her own neglect. Would she have avoided the trouble if she took care of
herself? Hard to say, but maybe her condition would have been less serious. It
was over now, but she had to keep on reminding herself that she was now safe
and sound; it was all so fresh and seemed fragile. As much as she could
comprehend and rationalize her cancer, she was unable to understand how it was
possible that five minutes after her problems were gone, Bruce was apparently
becoming seriously sick. The lack of strength, paleness, weakness. She was
suspecting heart. Perhaps a heart attack was getting near. Of course he might
have simply been weak due to everything they both had been through, but a voice
inside her head kept telling her the problem was much worse.
She gripped his hand more tightly. Whatever was about
to happen, she would not let him go.
e73f
The workout was
fantastic. Evy loved those moments in the gym when she could simply indulge in
her thoughts, focus on her plans and loosen her muscles. It was like a
purifying ritual which she was always looking forward to. Having headphones in
her ears, she was running on a treadmill and going through everything that had
happened. She was thinking about Jeff’s problems and how she had magnified
them, about Laura’s miraculous healing, which was simply amazing, and, of
course, about the two wild evenings in her apartment. Despite having problems
figuring out what in fact had happened, she had to admit it, she was hoping for
more of such blissful moments. Evy was preparing her plan of work for the next
couple of days when her treadmill started beeping, informing her the workout
was over. She slowed down and was marching for few more minutes, drinking water
and drying her head and neck with a towel. Finally she finished and went to the
changing room to undress and get ready for the sauna. Evy put her clothes into
a bag, wrapped a towel around her body and slipped flip-flops on her feet. She
entered the sauna chamber and realized there was nobody inside. Evy sat on a
wooden shelf, turned an hourglass on the wall and laid down.
After about thirty minutes, she walked out of the
sauna, sweaty and exhausted and headed toward the showers. The area was dark,
only with some city lights illuminating the bathroom from the outside and dim
lamps hanging from the ceiling, she walked to the shower stall, put shampoo and
gel on a top shelf on the wall and poured the water. Tepid drops were wetting
her sticky hair and cooling her body. The feeling of single drops penetrating
all the curves of her body and teasing her skin felt very pleasant. Evy closed
her eyes and bent her head down allowing the water to caress her neck. It felt
wonderful and relaxing.
Jasmine. She could smell it again.
She reached up for the gel and suddenly a man’s hand
outdistanced her and took the plastic bottle first. Shocked, Evy wanted to
scream at, but his right hand covered her mouth and she heard him whispering to
her ear.
“It’s okay, Evy, it’s me, don’t be scared,” Jeff said
directly to her ear. He was kissing her neck, her ear’s petal and breathing in
the smell of her wet hair. Evy closed her eyes and allowed him to distribute
the gel all over her body. She felt the smoothness of his hands and the silky
touch of foam, shamelessly covering her entirely. Evy leaned her neck back and
put her head on his shoulder. When he reached to her hips she turned around and
touched the wall with her back. He lifted her up and when she embraced him with
her legs, he leaned her against it. The city lights were coquettishly dancing
on the stall’s curtain and Evy felt she was simply losing her mind.
***
Evy’s cell phone was vibrating in her backpack in the
locker. Laura was waiting for her to pick up.
***
She opened her eyes and she was lying on one of
deckchairs outside the sauna, covered with her towel. Evy looked around and
realized she was dry and clean. Apparently she took a shower. And apparently
Jeff was gone again. It amazed her how powerful those fantasies had become and
it made her realize that someone might have seen her. Alarmed she looked around
the area, but there was nobody there. Evy stood up and walked toward her locker
stunned, confused and worried that all those things that she had been
experiencing were possible outside her apartment. Since she had no control over
it and was unable to predict them, it seemed a quite unsettling discovery.
e74f
Jeff woke up on
Monday morning just before 5 a.m. He lazily looked at the clock on his bedside
table. He did not sleep well. He felt cold again and he kept thinking about
Jake and all the mess that was happening with MODENA and OMNIBUS. He went to
bed around 11 pm and then he started having the shivers again. He was getting
really tired of that. It was already the third time. . He was more and more
convinced it was some peculiar reaction for the business-related troubles he
had been facing lately.
He walked to his kitchen, and put the radio on;
“Morning Edition” was on air. Jeff switched on a coffee machine. He poured the
hot, aromatic coffee into a mug, sat by the table, rubbed his tired and
unshaved face and one more time thought of his plan for that day. He felt very
tired, but it was obvious he would not sleep a minute longer; his thoughts were
running through his head in a wild speed, not allowing him to rest. The morning
was quite cool; it was the beginning of September, and the far less pleasant aura
than in the previous months was announcing fall getting closer. The sun was
just rising and so the air had not been warmed yet, Jeff got up off his chair
and opened the window. Chilly air hit his face, but it felt good; he hoped that
the strong coffee and the refreshing blow of air on his skin might be just what
he needed to wake up effectively.
First of all, he needed to meet with David. He wanted
to tell him about his suspicions, the forum and the whole MODENA situation.
David needed to know what was going on, because if there was one thing Richards
would want to avoid was letting the chairman down. Garbinsky had always stood
beside him and supported him, so he had to know that Jeff’s unexpected
situation was a result of some nasty intrigues and not his incompetence.
David would appear in WORDS quite seldom. It was his
privilege as a chairman that he wouldn’t come to work unless a situation called
for it. It would be for example a board meeting or some paramount announcement
for the staff. One of the things that Jeff admired his boss for was that he
would always show up in a conference room and deliver the news, no matter if it
were good or bad, directly to his employees. He never allowed anybody else to
do it for him. It built the sense of respect toward him, people knew he was one
of them and that he considered himself to be a member of the staff.
Since David did not have any meetings scheduled for
that day, as Jeff had checked in the office on Saturday, he decided to go to
Garbinsky’s home and tell him everything that had been bothering him about
Jake. For a second, Jeff hesitated and started wondering if it would not look
as if he was seeking a shelter after
having his ass kicked by Pinett, but the need of letting David know what was
happening in the company he brought to life was stronger. He was going to call
him about 10 am and ask him for a meeting.
Richards was also glad that Neil had time to see him.
It had been quite long since they talked and it seemed that Jackson was willing
to help him. His experience could be priceless, not to mention that Jeff was
simply happy he would see his good friend again.
He checked the clock. It was 6.30 a.m. and Jeff rubbed
his face again. His eyes felt irritated as if there was sand in them. He needed
to sleep some more; it was out of question. Jeff closed the window, took his
mug, poured the coffee down the sink and came back to the bedroom. He laid down
and tried to rest properly.
***
Evy woke up around 9 o’clock, with a smile on her
face, stretched and sat on her bed. After yesterday evening she had a great
sleep and it was pretty obvious that the treadmill was not the only reason for
that. She pulled up the blinds; it looked like it was going to be a rather
cloudy day.
Evy went to the kitchen and opened the fridge.
“I need to go shopping,” she said to herself, looking
inside and taking the very last raspberry yogurt out. She took a spoon from the
drawer and put the kettle on to make herself some coffee. While waiting for the
water to boil, Evy took a newspaper from her doormat and sat by the kitchen
table. The moment she opened the lid, the telephone rang. Surprised at who
could be calling her at this time of the day, she walked toward the bedroom
where the telephone was.
On her way there, Evy hesitated and stopped for a
second, because she felt something very weird growing inside her body. At the
same time the familiar scent of jasmine appeared around her. It felt very distracting. Deep down in her guts,
she felt a very peculiar warmth, a warmth that was growing, becoming stronger
and which was now filling up almost her entire body. Confused, Evy sat on the
floor, unable to move. The telephone ringing sounded as if it was coming from
another apartment, muffled, vague, all she could hear was her heart pounding
and the blood thumping in her veins. Suddenly, the warmth she was experiencing,
changed into bliss. She was no longer worried, instead she felt a wave of
sexual pleasure appearing in her body, growing, becoming stronger. It was
taking her senses into possession and finally, when Evy thought she would no
longer stand the insane heart-beat, the tension changed into a gigantic orgasm.
The spasm of delight shook her body from head to toe and she moaned with bliss.
At that moment, everything stopped. Evy was lying on
the floor for few more minutes, breathing heavily, trying to comprehend what
had just happened. She felt the drops of sweat on her forehead, and her pulse
slowly coming back to normal.. The impression was insanely real and intense.
She was feeling dizzy.
A few minutes
later, Evy got up and after unsuccessfully trying to recall why was she in the
hallway in the first place, she returned to the kitchen. Whatever it was that
happened to her was incredible, but also disturbing.
***
Laura and Bruce got home on Sunday, late in the
evening. Early morning on Monday, Bruce was admitted in emergency room and had
tests performed. Laura was in a waiting room, nervously pressing a tissue in
one hand and calling Evy. She was terrified and she needed to tell her friend
what was happening. Unfortunately, Evy was not answering.
Laura was becoming fed up with frustration. It was not
even a month yet since she was a patient, and the smell of the hospital was
making her nauseous. All those doctors wearing scrubs, people with uncertainty
and fear in their eyes waiting for test results or a diagnosis, pregnant women
in labor, groanings of pain, needles, bottles, pills, stethoscopes. She saw a
victim of a car accident being brought to the ER, the woman had blood all over
her face and t-shirt. For a second Laura thought she would throw up. She was so
convinced all those things were now behind her and yet, there she was again,
not as a patient this time, but if there was anything wrong with Bruce, and
something was wrong, she knew it,
then she was about to spend another part of her life in hospital surroundings.
Laura was sitting outside the room where Bruce was
undergoing tests and she was fighting the tears appearing in her eyes. She felt
hopeless, a feeling she had learned to detest when she was battling for her
health. It had been two hours since they were admitted. All Laura was able to
think about was that she had to be strong and support Bruce, just as he had
supported her; unconditionally. The problem was that she was now a woman with a
burden and the perspective of going through the similar fight again in such a
short term seemed to be beyond her strength. What was she going to do?
The doors of the room opened and a young doctor asked
her to come in. Laura got up, threw the tissue away, took a deep breath and
walked inside.
#3
e63f
Evy was sitting
in her living room and reading a book, this time for pleasure, not for
professional reasons. She had a glass of Porto on her coffee table, and was
comfortably sitting on a folding armchair, focusing on the book she was
reading, relishing the mellow taste of wine in her mouth. It was Thomas Mann’s
first novel, The Budenbrooks. A
two-volume German story that would take its readers to the fascinating era of
the turn of the 19th and 20th century. She was totally
absorbed with it. There was peace and quiet around her; no music, no radio, and
complete silence. There was a sound of thunder heard tearing the sky somewhere
in the distance, but Evy barely paid attention to it.
She reached for the glass and, to her amazement, it
was gone. Unwillingly, she looked on the floor, convinced she must have knocked
it over, but there was no broken glass nor spilled wine on the carpet. She put
the book aside and looked around the room. She felt her heart pounding. She
wasn’t alone, it suddenly became obvious; however she couldn’t see anyone. Despite the bizarre
situation, Evy, quite unexpectedly, realized she wasn’t scared, nor disturbed.
To tell the truth she was waiting for that visit; hoping it would happen. And
jasmine. She felt it again. Out of nowhere, intense. Overwhelming.
“Jeff?” she whispered. Nobody answered. It was
something unexplainable, but in spite of feeling uneasy, she was becoming
aroused. Yes, she was waiting for him, and yes she loved the other night, and
was hoping for another feast of senses. But where was he? Suddenly, she felt a
drop of wine falling gently down her neck. It was falling lazily, caressing
first the area behind her ear, then a curve around her cartoid, and timidly
flowing down her cleavage. It was as if the drop was teasing her. It was very
gentle, but it set her body on fire. This was it, he was here. Another drop
followed, it was a bit tingling, but truly electrifying. It was also on its way
down to her cleavage, but it was intercepted by lips. Jeff gently licked it from
Evy’s neck, his tongue went up, and he was now caressing her ear. He was kneeling behind her armchair.
“Did you miss me?” he whispered and she knew he was
smiling while saying that. His voice was harsh and low-pitched. Evy watered her
lips to say something, but could not find any words, so she simply exposed her
neck and looked at him. She felt another drop, lurking down her neck to her
cleavage. He followed this one as well. This time he caught it much lower. Jeff
started unbuttoning her shirt and took it off her shoulders, exposing her black
bra. He put his fingers under its straps and touched her skin.
“How did you get in here?” she murmured.
“It does not matter, Evy,” he whispered.
She licked her lips and leaned her head backwards.
Jeff was now scenting her skin and kissing her neck.
“Nothing matters now, only you and me.”
#4
42Seven weeks had passed. Evy and Jeff were working very hard on his projects. Evy’s previous authors were given to the less experienced editors and she had edited four new authors for Jeff. She was swamped, but her mind was filled with work which was allowing her to have her thoughts occupied by something other than Laura’s treatment. Jeff was organizing the new academic publishing house, which he called OMNIBUS. All the paper work had already been done, he was waiting for few more confirmations and signatures, but it was only a matter of time before OMNIBUS would start functioning as WORDS’ official branch. He had hired two new editors, was in the middle of renegotiating new contracts with printing houses and was working on an advertising campaign.
Being entirely focused on the company’s issues, neither Jeff nor Evy had the time or will to discuss any non-professional topics. They had been eating lunches together, but during those moments she was mostly telling him about the authors she had been editing, and he was usually updating her on OMNIBUS stuff. They felt they had become a team and they both enjoyed it, but they were entirely focused on work and career. For Jeff it was all about surviving in WORDS, and for Evy it was the pleasant experience of creating something and it felt good that Jeff was consulting most of his decisions with her.
In the meantime Laura had undergone three chemotherapies. She was completely bald and most of the time she felt as if she was having a flu. Substantial problems with regulating her body’s temperature had appeared; she was either too cold or too hot. At night she either put an extra blanket on her quilt, or slept only in her underwear. She had an almost constant runny nose and by this point even her eyelashes had fallen off. Laura wore a wig whenever she was outside and at home she wore handkerchiefs on her head. Bruce kept telling her he didn’t mind her being bald, but Laura felt much more comfortable when she had her head covered. She stopped using perfumes as its scent would make her nauseous and used only cosmetics for babies now.
The smell of fumes drove her insane and she felt like vomiting every time she smelled them, so Laura stopped driving. She was very reluctant into going anywhere by car unless Bruce would promise to turn the A/C off and close all the windows so that no smells from the outside would appear in the car.
Because of her stomach being so touchy, Bruce stopped cooking and was trying to eat out as to not irritate her. The numbness in her fingers would come back from time to time and then she needed his help in doing such basic things as drinking from a mug or a bottle. She felt pretty bad about all this because her sickness did not revolve around her only, but interrupted his life as well; there, however, was nothing else they could do and he never complained.
Evy was now visiting her much less often since she was very busy with Jeff’s projects, although she would always come to Laura whenever she was back from the clinic and they had a regular phone contact. Laura was always waiting for those visits and calls because she was finding everything that was going on at work very curious and all the stories from there were truly entertaining.
Laura felt like a total mess. She underwent tests that showed the treatment hadn’t infected her tumor too much yet. Tessa kept telling her she was at the very beginning of the road to recovery, but Laura was miserable. She felt useless due to her inability to work. She wasn’t even able to work from home yet. She wasn’t able to recognize herself in the mirror and it was becoming unbearable to feel nauseous almost every time she smelled or tasted something. Laura was unable to imagine going through all this for next months and she felt that either something would finally help her really fast, or she would lose her spirit and determination, discouraged by the lack of results and control over her own body.
During one of the stays in the clinic she came across a brochure about natural methods of treatment. She never believed in such things like the healing power of herbs. Of course mint tea could calm a stormy stomach but, let’s not kid ourselves; a brewed combination of different kinds of grass could not cure cancer. She glanced at the leaflet, but never gave it a second thought until her third session at FEMINA. That was the first moment when she felt truly irritated and tired of her condition. Laura took one brochure from the table in the waiting room and when she felt a bit better after the chemo session, she took it out of a drawer near her bed and looked carefully through it.
It was about a woman named Alyssa. She described herself as a fortune-teller, an herbalist, a Shaman and a source of comfort, support and positive energy for everyone who needed it. It sounded tacky and the whole design of the brochure was corny with some ancient Greek symbols, but somehow, Laura was unable to explain it, the content of it felt oddly soothing. “Desperate times call for desperate measures,” she sighed and shook her head with disbelief. About three months ago, which felt like eternity ago, Laura would never believe that she would take such things seriously, that she would even consider searching for this kind of help. She was about to tear the brochure and throw it into the garbage can when she looked at her IV stand. Was this the way she wanted her life to look like for the next months? And who says she would defeat the cancer anyway? Perhaps that was the scenario of the rest of her life? However long it would be anyway. She was lying weak in bed, feeling pain all over her body, hairless, cold, and scared. Perhaps a month ago she would simply ignore the brochure, but the Laura who was diagnosed and the Laura who was there in the clinic were entirely different people. The new Laura decided not to throw away the brochure, but instead, she put it inside her handbag which she kept on a chair next to her bed. Who knows, it might become handy one day. After all, a little bit of hope and herbal tea wouldn’t hurt anyone, right? And besides, this was the only brochure that was distributed in the clinic, maybe it meant the doctors did not see Alyssa’s work as charlatanism, maybe she was indeed helping their patients? Perhaps the hospital approved her work?
One day when Bruce was out, she made herself some chamomile tea, took out Alyssa’s brochure and sat by the computer. She hesitated for a minute and Googled “Alyssa Sadler, Shaman”. She clicked search and, in a blink of an eye, she saw dozens of pages related to Alyssa. The woman seemed quite popular, there were many forums where people posted about her, and there was also her official webpage. First, Laura decided to check the boards, because, obviously, Alyssa’s website wouldn’t say anything negative about her. She was shocked. Everyone praised the woman. It seemed that Alyssa had helped many people. There were patients cured of cancers of all kinds, Parkinson diseases, Alzheimer, Tourette syndrome, cerebral palsy, disabilities, and migraines. There was a user named Oliver_73 who swore that Alyssa’s single touch released him from the horror of headaches which he had been experiencing two—three times a week and which had turned his life into hell. Kinky_Sense_of_Humor was assuring everyone that drinking Alyssa’s teas and her therapy cured him of alcoholism, that he had never drank a single drop of liquor since he met her eight years ago. Among many other people there seemed to have been people of all different ages and problems. One lady claimed she was 76 and she had had an advanced Alzheimer and, again, Alyssa’s touch cured her. Laura looked through about seventeen different websites, read more or less 70 pages of posts overall and was really confused. Of course, one could say placebo, perhaps hypnosis, could help, sure. But so many people? Could it be possible that all of them were lying for some kind of profit just to help Alyssa gain patients? Laura was fighting with her in-born skepticism. She found it extremely hard to believe all those people, but the part of her that desperately wanted her life to be normal again, the part that hated herself whenever she looked into the mirror, that part pushed her to enter Alyssa’s website.
Laura clicked on the link and it was pure magic. The website was glamorous. Emerald background, delicate, chill-out music, it was all soothing and relaxing. The green color brought an immediate association with peace and calm. Alyssa’s picture was nowhere to be found; there was however an ‘about me’ bookmark, which Laura, clicked. The note was very pared-down.
THERE IS ONLY ONE REASON WHY YOU ARE HERE: YOU ARE SUFFERING AND SEEKING COMFORT. ALLOW ME TO SOOTH YOU; ALLOW ME TO USE MY GIFT, MY POWER, TO HELP YOU. ALLOW ME TO HEAL YOUR SPIRIT, TO BRING PEACE TO YOUR MIND. MY NAME IS ALYSSA, I HAVE THE POWER THAT CAN MAKE ALL YOUR PAIN GO AWAY, THAT CAN HELP YOU MAKE YOUR DREAMS COME TRUE. OPEN YOUR EYES, MIND AND SOUL AND ALLOW ME TO CHANGE YOUR LIFE.
It all sounded fabulous, but Laura couldn’t tell if she was convinced or not. It all sounded too good to be true. She had always been a skeptical person, she had never been religious and her illness had not made her change those views. So far at least. Alyssa’s website seemed very tempting, but Laura felt deep down that the sensible part of her soul had not been convinced. She added the website to her favorites and went to the kitchen to prepare herself another portion of tea.
Laura passed a big mirror in the hallway, the one she used to use to see if the shoes fit the dress and the one in front of which Bruce and she had made love many times, turned back and looked at herself carefully. She gently took the scarf off from her head and for the first time faced herself in day light. It was high time to confront the reality. She put the mug on the floor and undressed. She looked really bad; pale, skinny, hairless, with grey shadows around her eyes. No eye brows caused the lack of any facial expressiveness. The lower part of her body, with no pubic hair and such thin legs that the outline of her knees was visible, looked as if it belonged to a little girl rather than a grown-up woman. The upper part, on the other hand, seemed to have belonged to an elderly person with sunken stomach and breasts and colorless skin. She turned around and saw her shoulder blades and spine horrifyingly outlined on her back. Disgusting. In complete silence, Laura dressed up again, went to the kitchen and put the kettle on. When her tea was ready, she came back to the study, this time avoiding the slightest glance at the mirror, and clicked on Alyssa’s website. She searched for the contact information and found the phone number. Laura took her cell phone and hesitated for a minute. What was she doing? Some months ago she would knock herself on the head at the very thought of seeking supernatural help to solve her problems. Right now she saw nothing crazy about it. After all, it could not get any worse, right?
She dialed the number on the website and a woman answered.
“Good morning, Laura, it’s Alyssa Sadler speaking, how can I help you?”
Laura was totally surprised she actually got through so quickly and, apparently, it was the Alyssa speaking to her, not some assistant, or a secretary. And how, for the love of God, did that woman know who was calling?!
“Um, yes, hello. My name is Laura Levinson, I am calling—”
“You need help, I can tell.”
Laura was totally taken aback.
“Well, yes, I mean I wouldn’t be calling if I didn’t.” She smiled nervously.
“Of course, how can I help you, Laura?”
“I found your brochure at the FEMINA clinic and I’ve looked through your website.”
“I’m glad you’ve reached me.”
“Me, too,” she answered and she meant it. It was very awkward, very surprising; but somehow, she felt that Alyssa was a very good and helpful person. Laura had no idea how she was able to feel it after a few seconds of the telephone conversation, but deep down, something inside her was thrilled that she was talking to Alyssa. Her voice seemed calm and very soothing and all of Laura’s doubts had vanished. She actually felt agog at meeting her.
“I was wondering if perhaps you have a moment to see me and, hopefully, help me.”
“Of course, I have time for everyone who is in trouble.”
When making the appointment, Laura made sure to check Bruce’s schedule to know when he would be away from home. She did not want to tell him about her idea; it still seemed pretty dumb for her. She decided not to let him know about it until she knew whether it helped or not. Looking at his planner, she realized he had a dentist appointment the following day. It turned out Alyssa was available at the same time and they had arranged a meeting at 4:00 p.m. When Laura hung up, she was beaming. Deep down she knew it was irrational to put her trust into someone who claimed she could heal people’s spirits, but for the first time since the diagnosis, she felt as if life was returning to her veins. She was thrilled.
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