Insomniac Page 3

  “Thanks, I will do that.”

  “I will arrange a preliminary meeting with the other patients, and I will send you all an email with all the details. I will probably be able to fix it by the end of this week in the evening, so you might want to keep your evening schedule free.”

  “Of course. I will be waiting for your email; now I will go straight to my supervisor, and let’s hope he will not be upset by the sudden news,” she giggled.

  “Perfect, and welcome aboard. I am sure you will benefit from this therapy and remember, if your supervisor needs to have more information regarding the therapy, you can give him my telephone number. I will gladly explain him the required therapy.”

  “Thank you very much, I really appreciate your efforts. I will give him your telephone number, see you soon.”

  She stood up immediately and walked to the office of Mr. Lowell, the Director of the library.

  As she arrived in front of his door, she drew a deep breath, and without any further hesitations, she knocked on the door.

  “Come in,” He replied in his usual calm tone.

  “Mr. Lowell, are you busy?” She asked peeking from around the door.

  “Ms. Jefferson. No, I’m not busy, please come in,” he replied, “How can I help you?”

  She came in, but she had no idea how she would have told him about the therapy. “I do not even know where to start so it might get a bit long,” she started to explain, taking a seat. “You see, since I was a teenager, I’ve suffered from insomnia, which as time went by started to get worse and worse. A couple of weeks ago, a friend of mine suggested that I get in touch with a psychiatrist, who had helped him with a similar problem. I had an appointment last Thursday, and he proposed me to have group therapy for one month. The problem is that this is supposed to be a continuous treatment in a rented facility, where the patients can focus entirely on the problem that triggers their insomnia. For this reason, I will have to be away from my job for a month, and this will happen in a couple of months from now.” She spoke fast almost without taking any breath, leaving Mr. Lowell looking at her quizzically over his glasses, trying to decipher the message hidden in that breathless monologue. He continued looking at her trying to figure out whether he understood it right and she had to take sick leave for a month or something else that he wasn’t quite able to grasp from the conversation.

  Laura wasn’t sure she was able to explain her reason fully, but at least it was clear the fact that she had to be away from her job for one month.

  “Essentially, you are saying that you need a month off to get cured from a sort of chronic insomnia, am I right?” He asked, puzzled.

  “Y-yes, I need it and Dr. Wright, my psychiatrist, said that you should call him because he would like to explain to you the situation.”

  He took a deep breath, “there is no need to be so tense, of course, I will let you follow your prescribed therapy. I am not a monster, nor a tyrant. I want my workers to be happy and healthy, and insomnia is not something that I would wish on anyone. Of course, I would like to speak with this Dr. Wright, but this is not because I do not trust you, rather because I would like to understand something more about the therapy and whether he can give me a more precise idea of the timeframe you’ll be away.”

  She smiled and handed him the business card of Dr. Wright, “here is his telephone number. I truly appreciate your understanding; I hope that two months will be enough time for you to figure out a way to replace me for one month.”

  “Oh, c’mon don’t be so dramatic. We will be fine here, and when you are back your office will be waiting for you. I know how much you love this library, and how much it means to you, but you need to focus on your health now,” he replied smiling amusedly.

  “I know, I love this place, and perhaps it would be me who will be the one who will miss this place the most, but this is something I need to do, and when I come back, I will be able to enjoy my job even more.”

  “That’s the spirit! But now it is time for me to get out of here. I will call Dr. Wirght right away, and I’ll see you tomorrow,” he smiled cordially standing up from the chair to grab his coat, ready to leave.

  “See you tomorrow,” she replied as she started to walk towards her office.

  As she reached her desk, she remembered her promise to call Grant as soon as she had any news from Dr. Wright.

  “I almost forgot about it,” she said aloud grabbing the telephone.

  “Laura, my dear, tell me you have splendid news to give me,” said Grant with his usual chipper tone once he picked up the phone.

  “I will be part of the group!” she yelped, excitedly.

  “Oh my God, we need to celebrate. Let me call Scott, and he will prepare one of his famous fancy dinners, be ready for it, and be at our place at about 20:00.”

  She knew Scott could arrange something spectacular, he was working as a chef in a high-class restaurant, and she knew that he would come up with something out of this world.

  “I can’t wait, do I also need to dress up?”

  “No, darling, you will be perfect the way you are. It will be a casual dinner, except for the food, of course. I will call Scott immediately, or he won’t have time to prepare it. We’ll see you this evening!”

  She felt so excited and happy, it was like she could see the end of her sleepless nights, and the feeling was surreal. It felt like she could finally see the light at the end of the tunnel and it felt good.

  Laura looked at the clock; she still had two hours before she could call her day over, so she tried to focus on her duties, hoping that the time might pass faster in that way.

  She took her agenda and marked a reminder to keep the afternoons and evenings free, in that case, she would have had no problem in following whatever schedule Dr. Wright had for the preliminary meeting.

  After a couple of days, she received the email from Dr. Wright. The meeting was scheduled for Friday at 17:30 at his clinic. She looked at the recipients of the email, and she started to read all the names of the five other patients who will be sharing one month of therapy with her.

  There were other two women and three men. She tried to figure out something by the names, and one name mainly stuck out from the crowd “Sabina LaMotte,” she said aloud. “That is such a fancy and intriguing name, I bet she is a top model or something like that.”

  Indeed that name caught her attention, and couldn’t think of the time she might have met her

  She smiled, “I think it will be a surprise for us all, and I can’t wait to meet them all.”

  ***

  Friday, she arrived early at the clinic where Dr. Wright had an office, and she realized she was perhaps too early, as the door was still closed. She looked at the clock, “Damn, almost an hour early. What am I supposed to do now?”

  “I guess we can entertain each other before the rest of the group arrives,” said a smooth low-tone voice from behind her shoulders.

  She felt a chill skate up her spine, and as she turned around, she saw a woman dressed as if she was coming from a vampire movie. To be honest, her first impression was to be in front of Morticia Addams.

  “Are you also attending the preliminary therapy session?” Asked Laura politely.

  “Yes, and my name is Sabina, Sabina LaMotte,” she winked flirtatiously reaching out her hand.

  “Pleased to meet you, my name is Laura Jefferson,” she replied shaking her hand - Well that is what I call matching your name perfectly with your personality – Laura thought.

  “So what are we going to do now, for about forty-five minutes?” Laura asked.

  “We can start introducing each other, I don’t think there will be anything wrong in doing that. Anyway, this is also the reason why we are all gathered here, aren’t we?” Sabina replied obviously.

  “I guess that’s a good idea, and I might start, but I warn you, my life is quite boring” Laura started shyly, and could not avoid comparing herself to Sabina. She was intrigued by her style, I bet she
has an amazing life, she thought.

  Sabina smirked, and almost as she could read her mind, she shook her head, “never judge anyone by the clothes, you might get disappointed. I don’t know whether my life can be considered interesting or not, I never think about what others might think. The only thing I know is that I would never change it with anything else. I own a fetish shop, and we are in most of the sex fairs, the last one was the Sextreme; have you ever participated in any of those?” She asked handing her a business card.

  “Lady Dom – Mistress of pain,” she read, “it doesn’t sound pleasurable.”

  “But it is, you should ask all the people who are coming regularly to those fairs, and the usual customers who frequent my shop. People in this world have all sort of fantasies, which are like drugs for them; I am simply the dealer for their addiction.”

  Laura let a slight laugh out, “well now it sounds fun.”

  “I love the way you laugh, are you married, boyfriend… girlfriend?” she asked allusively.

  “No, none of them, unfortunately. But in case, I would choose a man, I do not fancy girls, what about you?”

  “Girlfriend and boyfriend; I think one day I will have to decide who to keep and who to dump. The problem is that they both have something I love, and that makes the choice much more difficult. But for you, I would dump them all in a second without a second thought.”

  “Me? No, I told you I do not fancy girls, but I feel flattered by the compliment,” Laura replied blushing.

  “Well, if one day you change your mind, you know where to find me. By the way, what do you do in your life?”

  “As I told you, my life is quite boring, I work as a curator at the main library. I love books, my life would be nothing if they didn’t exist. I love to be transported to different worlds, realities, places. I feel like I can live a million lives, and be whoever I want.”

  “You can be whoever you want in real life too, you know?” Sabina replied.

  “I doubt I could ever be a werewolf,” Laura giggled.

  “Oh so you like those kind of books; we have something in common then, but besides werewolves, I also love vampires.”

  “You don’t say…” replied Laura sarcastically.

  Sabina laughed heartily, “yes that might be quite obvious, I know. However, it is good to have something in common. I feel a strong connection between us, we might become very good friends, even if we make for an odd couple.”

  “You might think it strange, but I also feel very connected to you, it feels good to have a friend as we start this journey to battle against our insomnia.”

  “Yes, even if my life happens mostly at night, the fact of not being able to sleep is killing me slowly,” said Sabina seriously.

  “Tell me about it,” Laura replied. “Every morning I feel so annoyed about all the beauty of this world I cannot enjoy because of my bad mood. Truth is that I am a very positive person, and I hate to be in a bad mood.”

  Sabina smiled, “what does a curator actually do in a library?”

  “I take care of the inventory and get contacts with many publishing companies to get new books for our collection. To be honest, many times this is just an excuse to get more books for my private collection as well,” she explained. “I am also very inclined to get as many books as possible from new writers, particularly those who self-publish. I have been reading many books by several self-published authors, and I do believe they all need the proper recognition.”

  “That doesn’t sound at all boring, in fact, it fascinates me. I also love reading, and you might help me in finding new authors who deserve my attention. I am always looking for new voices to be heard, or in this case, read.”

  Laura smiled broadly, and her eyes lit up, “of course, I have many authors who are writing vampire and werewolves stories; they are all amazing.”

  Laura felt like she finally found a person who shared the same feelings as she had about books. Sabina might have been an unconventional person, but she felt deeply connected with that strange looking woman since the very beginning.

  “Good afternoon, ladies,” said a voice behind them, “and, wow, who are you?” he asked considering Sabina from head to toes.

  “Sabina LaMotte,” she replied. “Are you sure you are old enough to talk to me?”

  Laura giggled.

  The young man smiled and bowed, “Gabriel Garcia-Mendez, at your service.”

  “We shall see about that,” Sabina replied. “At the moment I am already busy if you know what I mean.”

  He smiled with a insolent expression, “I am not jealous…”

  He turned his gaze to Laura, “But what kind of delicate, beautiful flower we have here. What is your name?”

  Laura was already dying by trying to contain the laughter that threatened to break free. “Oh, be some other name! What’s in a name? That which we call a rose. By any other word would smell as sweet. So Romeo would, were he not Romeo called, Retain that dear perfection which he owes without that title. Romeo, doff thy name.”

  “Oh, Shakespeare!” he exclaimed. “If I’m going to be your Romeo, then you’d surely be my Juliet,” he replied holding her hand.

  “I’m not so sure about that,” Laura replied smiling. “But I appreciate that you recognized immediately the reference to ‘Romeo and Juliet’ by the Bard himself.

  “Cool down your hormones, boy. We are here to fight insomnia, not to find a date,” Sabina warned.

  Slowly all the people invited to that meeting arrived, together with Dr. Wright who seemed to be the last to arrive.

  “Good afternoon, I hope I wasn’t too late,” He greeted, opening the door of the office.

  “Here we are, please take a seat,” Dr. Wright added, gesturing to the chairs positioned to form a circle.

  Nobody said a word, although Dr. Wright’s tone of voice was calm and soothing as usual, his movements seemed to be rushed, like he was in a hurry, or nervous.

  Nevertheless, they took a seat choosing randomly the person seated next to each other.

  Dr. Wright took a deep breath, “First of all, welcome to this preliminary meeting. The goal for today is only and exclusively that of getting to know a bit about each other, so to start our therapy in a familiar environment.

  “I presume you started already to introduce yourselves with each other as you were waiting for me, so whoever wants to start and share something about himself/herself, please don’t hesitate and stand up.”

  After a short pause of silence, where everybody looked at each other, trying to guess who would have stood up first, a middle-aged woman stood up, looking slightly daunted by being in the spotlight.

  “I guess I should be the one to talk first if nobody seems to have the guts to speak a word,” she commenced. “My name is Carolina, Carolina Lynn; I work as IT-administrator, and the problem I have with falling asleep is slowly taking its toll on my job. The worst part is that it is also beginning to affect my private life and my mood. It is not easy to be kind and smiley when you cannot find proper sleep for many nights in a row,” she said.

  “Tell us a bit more about your life, Carolina,” said Sabina.

  “I don’t know what to say,” Carolina said looking around, as if to find some answers to that question, so complex in its simplicity. “I am married, or rather widowed. I have never considered the death of my husband as something that could divide us. We were supposed to be together forever, even after death, and sometimes, it is like I can still feel his presence.

  “We do not have any children, but this was our choice, as we focused our lives on the pet rescue center he was running. They all were our children, and the biggest joy was when we could find them a forever home with people ready to give them a second chance at happiness.”

  “What happened to the pet rescue center, now that he is dead?” Laura asked.

  “Many people are helping me on a voluntary basis. I cannot take care of it by myself; I have my job, which is the main source of income,” Caroli
na explained, nodding slightly.

  She remained silent for a second, and shook her head, “I don’t know what else should I say, but perhaps we will have more time to get to know each other during the therapy.”

  “Thank you,” said Dr. Wright, “any other volunteers?”

  A young man stood up with a confident smile on his face. “Hello, everybody, my name is Jonathan Abbey. I am 20 years old, and I am a med student. My aim is that of specializing in general surgery and being able to complete my studies.

  Insomnia has always been a problem for me since a very young age. My parents always found it difficult to put me to sleep,” he said with a chuckle. “Although student life is generally happening at night, particularly at the campus, I would just like to find the way to fall asleep, at least during the day. I wouldn’t like to fail the following exams just because I couldn’t rest my brain enough to focus.”

  “Yeah, the life of a student sucks,” commented Carolina sarcastically.

  “Insomnia made you grumpy, but don’t you worry, I completely understand,” Jonathan replied in the same sarcastic tone, while he sat down.

  “Hey, cool down, there is no need to be so hostile towards each other,” replied a man, standing up to take his turn. “My name is Maximilian Blake Jr.,” he replied with a shy tone like he was afraid of sharing his name. Every time he pronounced it, he felt like he was trying to be stuck up.

  In reality, although he never thought of changing his name and take away that Jr. at the end of it, he wanted to make it feel like something that carried no importance whatsoever.

  Not everybody seemed to notice that little nuance of embarrassment, but everybody heard that little word that felt a bit annoying.

  Nevertheless, none of them said a word.

  He looked around, and since he couldn’t spot any negative reaction, he felt like he could be safe from any mocking.

  “I am a biologist, and I work as a researcher at the University,” he started to say.

  “And do you always use that Jr. every time you introduce yourself?” asked Carolina with a bit of malice in her voice.