Page 40 of Forever Love-Reimagined

“It was over because I lied and said I had a work emergency. But I’m telling you, if she calls again, I don’t care what you have to do, but it’s a hard no.” I didn’t want to take it out on him, but he needed to understand the seriousness.

“You got it. I will start making a list of plausible lies to throw her way.” He seemed genuinely sorry that I had to go through this today, and if my blood wasn’t still boiling, I probably would have hugged him. “Do you want to talk about what happened? Was she pissed about your makeup, your weight, or your choice of lovers?”

“Strikeout. She was on about my hair and my need for Botox. We didn’t have time to get into anything else, but I’m sure any or all of those topics would have come up. I think she’ll be calling to schedule me for an appointment with her doctor and hairstylist, even though I told her no. If she does, appease her and say you’ll do it, but there’s no chance I’m going. I don’t have the energy to argue.”

“All right, chica. Tell me if I can help with anything.”

“I’ll be fine. I’m going to keep my head down and continue working. Since Steph moved out, I’ve been able to get a lot done, and the other partners are taking notice. Tom stopped by my office the other day to tell me, ‘Keep it up.’”

“Girl, everyone has noticed. You’ve been like the Energizer Bunny up in here. Do you spend any time at home?”

“You mean besides when I’m dreaming the most perfect partners into existence?”

“You, hoochie. Are you holding out on me? We haven’t really talked since the office party, which has been way too long. Tell me more.” He propped his elbows up on his desk and put his chin in his hands like he was getting ready to hear the juiciest gossip of his life.

“There isn’t much to tell that you don’t already know. Except now, the dreams are almost every night; they’re lasting much longer and are more graphic.” His eyes widened, and I shook my head. “Not sexually graphic. I meant detailed. The places I’ve seen in my dreams are so vivid and beautiful. The lives I’m living with her evoke too much emotion in me not to have happened. Nothing about this makes any sense, but what David said about our souls somehow being connected seems true. Wherever or whoever I am, she finds me and, as corny as it sounds, completes me. I always thought I understood what happiness was. But until her, it was like I was living my life under a dark cloud, and then she came along and was the sunshine that finally allowed me to see. Ty, I’m officially losing it.” I shook my head in disbelief at my cheesemo description.

“Blake, as much as I want to make fun of you, and believe me, I really really do, I can’t because I totally understand. The situation is a little different for us because I’ve met my person in this life, but the way you describe this woman is how I feel about David. I’m nauseated at how sappy we are, but I’d rather be like this than have a constant parade of meaningless flings.”

“I haven’t done one-nighters in a while either, but I get it. The thing that scares me the most is what if I never find her in this life? What if my dreams are all I get?”

“Oh, hon. We’ll figure it out. Do you want to try the hypnotherapist again since you’ve dreamed of her more? It might work better now.”

The first time under hypnosis turned out to be a total bust. I didn’t learn anything about her or myself. “I’m remembering and reliving what appears to be a multitude of lives. It always starts with me as me, but then I go through a progression of different places and bodies, but my emotions never waver.”

“If dream you finds her, then you’ll find her in this life, too. When two souls are destined to be together, it would take a force of nature to keep them apart.”

“I’m not going to hold my breath, but I’ll continue to enjoy my nights, and hopefully, one of those dreams will give me a clue on how to find her.” I was very wistful, but I tried to force a believable smile, not sure if it was for Ty’s benefit or mine. If only real life were a fairy tale, and she’d left some breadcrumbs for me to find my way to her, but nothing was that easy.

Ty gave me a sympathetic slug in the arm as if to say, “You got this,” but I wasn’t sure he believed it, either. It was exhausting to ponder over the impossible situation I found myself in, so I chose to set it aside. I was ready to put my nose back down to the grindstone and get some more work finished.

I went to my office and sat down in front of my computer. I quickly scrolled through my emails because that took the least amount of brainpower for me, but it was something that had to be done.

As I was reading the subject lines, I saw one that caught my eye: Just a reminder of your appointment tomorrow. I didn’t have anything on my calendar, and I had never heard of the sender [email protected]. But my curiosity won out, and I opened it to see what it was.

Dear Ms. Flynn,

This is a friendly reminder of your appointment at Full Exposure tomorrow, Friday the 25th, at 2:00 p.m. We look forward to seeing you and your partner. Please give us a call or respond to this email to confirm or reschedule. We hope to see you soon.

Sincerely,

Haley

Full Exposure? What the hell was that? I never made an appointment with anyone. I did a quick Google search to find out that it was a photography studio specializing in “Making your fantasies a reality.” Oh my God. This was probably the shoot Ty scheduled for Steph and me.

I needed to cancel because there wasn’t any reason for me to keep the appointment, but I found it intriguing at the same time. Maybe it would be fun to act out a fantasy. Who was I kidding? That wasn’t me. But I also didn’t want to cancel because they’d be out money and probably couldn’t fill the spot on such short notice. I should go to at least pay them.

Since that was settled, I replied with my confirmation and prepared to work late again so I wouldn’t feel bad about leaving early tomorrow. Even if I didn’t do a complete photoshoot, I thought maybe I’d piddle around downtown after paying for the session. I’d been working so hard that a long weekend seemed like a just reward.

But my mind kept wondering what it would be like to do a role-play session with the girl in my dreams—the things I’d do to her. My God, I needed to get this out of my head ASAP if I was planning on getting any work accomplished at all.

It was so weird to think how someone I didn’t even know could consume my thoughts at any time. Maybe I should start dating? That idea made me physically sick to think about, so I pushed it away and focused on work until I could get home and submerse myself in her.

One more reason I was horrible at relationships—I’d rather be with someone in my mind than in real life. I was utterly hopeless.

Chapter Twenty

Leia - Thursday

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