I shrug, folding my arms.

“I don’t know. Just…” I rub the back of my neck. “Sometimes, I’m lying on her lap and she has her hands in my hair. Other times, it’s …it’s a…” I clear my throat. “A sex dream.”

“Hmm. So does that mean no nightmares still?”

“Yeah.”

“Jason, it seems that your nightmares have disappeared. Can you remember the last time you had them?”

I started having nightmares in boarding school. At first, they were mild, but as I got older, they became more bizarre. Many nights, I was unable to sleep unless I was thoroughly exhausted. And when I did sleep, the nightmares made sure it wasn’t for long. In my teens, I often woke up crying, but as I grew, I accepted that I’d probably deal with it for life and adjusted to it. It didn’t make them any less gruesome. I just found a way to shut it out with work, sex, or working out like a beast. I’ll never forget how the nightmares started. I clench my fists as the senior high student’s pale face forms in my mind.

“I can’t remember.”

“Well, let’s see.” He flips his notebook, tracing the pages with his fingers. “You told me about your last nightmare almost four months ago. It was about falling down a pit and almost dying in there. Do you remember that?”

“Oh. Right. I think I remember. I had a meeting the following day with Mr. Davidson.”

He places his pen on his lips, his nose wrinkled. His elbows lean on the table to support his weight on the glossy mahogany table covered in several papers.

“Can you give a short rundown of what the next day looked like?”

I tilt my head to the side, rubbing my chin. It’s a bit hazy, but the more I think about it, the more the details come to me.

“I didn’t sleep a wink that night because the dreams were especially disturbing. I stayed up working all night, and left for work in the morning. Later that day, I went to see Mr. Davidson. It was a grueling conversation. After that, I think I went home for dinner, but my mom wouldn’t shut up about marriage and kids. She kept saying I couldn’t marry Eva because marriage should be for love. I got pissed and left to go to Ruthless. Took a few drinks, had sex with a woman from Ruthless, and went home the next morning.”

Sean lifts a finger, motioning for me to pause. Then he rotates his fingers as if telling me to repeat something. I scrunch my face up, confused.

“You said you had sex with a woman. Was it Fiona? You mentioned before that you met Fiona at Ruthless, right? You’ve never had sex with a woman from Ruthless.”

I blink. He’s right. That was the night I met Fiona at Ruthless. A picture of her white dress comes again, followed by the sex at the motel.

“Yes. It was Fiona.”

He snaps his fingers and offers a wide smile.

“I think there’s something going on here. So, let’s be clear. Since Fiona, the nightmares have suddenly stopped. And now she’s the one you’re dreaming about.”

At this point, I’m too stunned to speak. The faint buzz of the AC above the window fills the room, drowning out the silence. Sean is watching me with a grin on his face.

“W…what are you trying to say?”

“I’m saying you should consider that she might be helping. Does this make any sense to you?”

I stay silent. Fiona is helping ease the nightmares? Wait, does that mean having her around is good for me?

I scoff.

“Why do you think that is?” He asks.

“To be honest, I don’t know.”

“Is it more that you don’t know or that you can’t see it yet? Do you think it might be a coincidence?”

I inhale. I want to believe that Sean is making some sense but it’s difficult to see it. I think it’s only a coincidence that my nightmares have stopped. I definitely don’t think she has anything to do with that.

“I think that’s a coincidence.”

“That’s okay. Has anything changed about you since the nightmares stopped?”