Spoiler
This thing actually has a plot? I know, I'm shocked too. Please do enjoy!
It was about a week until Dan was to see his newest patient, and he found himself rereading her patient file daily to obtain a clear picture of her. Her name was Lindsay Roland and she was almost 26. She claimed to have a "troubled childhood" and that ever since her last breakup her life had become unbearable. Under the career section she had simply listed "writer", and a quick search of her name on a bookstore's catalog found Dan a novel titled The Tales of Tomorrow.
He had never heard of the novel before and could not find much on it besides its synopsis. Dan only thought to ask Elaine the morning he was to meet Lindsay. Recalling her to be fond of reading (especially fantasy novels) he questioned her as he was about to leave for his office. "Have you read Tales of Tomorrow?"
Dan hadn't been expecting an answer, yet Elaine's eyes lit up as if a child's on Christmas morning, and in her enchantment several graded papers escaped the stack she held to her chest. "The one about the elf?"
"Something like that. You've read it?"
"I loved it!"
"What's it about?"
"It's all about a strange world where an elf finds—"
"Can you start at the beginning? I need to know it start to finish."
"You don't want to read it?"
"I don't really have time. Do you remember that new patient I was talking about? She wrote it, so I'm trying to get the point of the thing—I think it'd help me better understand her."
"Oh no way! Lindsay Roland is your patient?"
Dan was surprised at how much Elaine could relay about Lindsay. She had lived in New York growing up and didn't find a passion for writing until her teens. She had yet to become especially well-known, and The Tales of Tomorrow was the only novel she had published. Supposedly she had more that were in their editing stages and she was "looking forward to their eventual publication".
Dan entered the kitchen, packing a quick lunch as Elaine rambled onward about the plot of the novel. He headed for his car with Elaine some ways behind him, tottering along as she continued to relay every twist and turn, page by page.
"—And then she was forced to go back to her hometown! She hated it there, remember?"
"Yeah. Did she find that orb thing she was looking for there?"
"Oh, not yet! You're getting ahead of the story!"
Dan lowered the window to better hear Elaine, who had continued to carry on regardless of the fact that Dan could barely make her out as he started the car.
"—And then she went with him, even though she despised him! And they fought on the way there, it was horrible. But then they had to team up because there was—"
"Elaine?"
"Oh, yes?"
"I think I've got to be going now; it's a long drive."
"Right, but what about the ending?"
"Can you tell me the rest later tonight?"
She smiled and said it would be best told with some hot cocoa. They kissed goodbye before Dan drove off, and he left his window down so that the cool morning breeze would meet the inside of his dreary car interior. The novel as well as his new patient was looming on the most conscious level of his mind, so much so that he didn't recognize the secretary greeting him as he entered. When he reached his office door, he could barely manage unlocking it.
Dan heard Weston call from behind, "Need some help with that?" and he moved aside immediately, allowing Weston access to the door. He didn't look back and thus only saw Weston's attire as he began to jiggle the key free from the lock. Weston wasn't in his usual suit and tie. He had dressed down and it made him look like nothing but a college student. He wore a pair of faded blue jeans and tattered sneakers that looked to have been pulled from the back of his closet, as well as a dark colored hoodie that dulled out the solid shade of green which engrossed the entirety of his t-shirt, leaving the word "legalize" quite obviously uncovered in large white lettering at the center of his shirt.
Weston unlocked the door, grinning as he held the key outward. "That was a stubborn little fucker wasn't it?"
"Uh, Weston?"
"Yeah?"
"What are you wearing?"
He chuckled. "You noticed I dressed casually today, did you?"
"How could I not?" Dan veered around Weston to enter his office. With work that needed to get done, the room felt much more welcoming than it did on other days. Weston followed Dan inside, watching him sit at his desk, responding "Oh, well, it's because I noticed you'd been dressing so sharply lately—y'know, I miss the first day we met when you were dressed so…casually!"
"You liked that, huh? Those psychiatrists across the street sure didn't…ha, look at me, talking as if I give a fuck what they think anymore…"
"Well honestly, the reason I always dressed up was because I was hoping to impress them…"
"Eh, don't bother."
"But it's my dream to work with them!"
"That's your dream? That of all things?"
"Can you help me out with it?"
Dan raised an eyebrow in suspicion. "How?"
"I just really need that new patient of yours. I figure if I can do well with her I'll impress those psychiatrists over there—she was once a patient of Dr. Simmons right?"
"…Not happening, Weston, no way. She gave this patient to me, remember? I've already put a lot of time into her file and her first session is today."
"Today? I thought it was next week!"
"I even had Elaine detail me the novel she wrote so I'm pretty certain I've got a good grasp of what this Lindsay Roland is like."
"…She's published a book?"
"Yeah, though she didn't put that bit directly into her answers—she just put she was a writer. I kinda had to stumble around to fill in the rest."
Weston grew quiet, drawing back as if his lack of knowledge had lashed him severely. He edged towards the bookshelf slowly, eyeing the titles of the books before he walked back towards Dan's desk to apologize for asking something so unreasonable. Dan said it "wasn't an unreasonable request in the least," which warranted a small nod from Weston before he left the room.
Dan shrugged off the incident quickly, dwelling back into Lindsay's file to give it one last read over before his regular clients began to enter. The worst part to Dan had to be the wait; he was eager to meet his new patient. His patient before lunch didn't show up, leaving Dan with another hour of free time, to his irritation. Out of boredom and curiosity, he left his own office to peak into Weston's, but Weston wasn't there. Dan asked the secretary, assuming it possible that Weston decided to have lunch without Dan that day; however the secretary didn't know of his whereabouts, either.
By the time Dan heard Weston making his return, he was halfway through his own lunch. He heard the sound of the hall door open and Weston's footsteps, pattering lightly with each step. Dan put down his sandwich and opened the door, peeking out into the hall to see that Weston was halfway down it. His black hair looked a mess, as if he had run a marathon on an especially windy day.
"Hey Weston, where'd you run off to? Searching for another girl to swoon?"
"Actually…"
"What's that?" Dan pointed to the plastic bag Weston held down by his side. Weston glanced down with an "Oh, this?", and brought the bag to his chest as he revealed its contents. It was a hardcover book with wildly colorful illustrations across the cover as well as the title in fanciful text that read The Tales of Tomorrow.
"I'm so proud!" Weston was smiling widely. "I had to scrounge through four different bookstores until I found it!"
"Wow, all that just for me?" He snatched the book teasingly, hoping that Weston would argue back for it, but he didn't. He looked a little indifferent at first, and then said "Well I was hoping to give it a read—but how about you take it for today? You know, look it over before your first session?"
Dan frowned. "I was kidding, you know. Elaine's told me plenty, trust me. Here, take it."
"Oh no, I'm sure it'll help you. Just give it back at the end of the day if you will?"
Dan could deny the offer no more; Weston had agreed to their terms with a wave goodbye as he entered his own office, shutting the door behind him. It was difficult for Dan not to recognize Weston's cold attitude towards him that day; he was normally off the walls when it came to receiving even a minute of Dan's attention. Had it really all been because Dan denied him the patient he wanted?
So be it, Weston. I'll give you the damned patient.
Naturally, Dan couldn't simply transfer her then and there although he had made the decision to. He had to ask Lindsay Roland personally if she'd agree to the transfer, and it would have to be after their first session. Because Dan had opted on giving Lindsay Roland to Weston, he hadn't even bothered to open the novel that Weston had so graciously lent him.
As the clock was close to hitting 4pm, Dan bid farewell to his 3'oclock patient, leading him out to the lobby. His patient meandered to the secretary to make his payment, and it was then that Dan saw the woman that was sure to be Lindsay Roland. She was sitting at the far end of the room with a novel covering her face. Dan watched her for a few moments before calling out to her "Lindsay Roland?"
She almost dropped the book as she heard her name, looking up to give Dan several swift nods. Dan held the hallway door open for her, catching a good glimpse of her appearance as she passed him by. She had pale skin that almost seemed sickly, blond hair that sat straight and limp past her shoulders with long bangs that occasionally fell in front of her face. She wore a baggy sweater with a pair of jeans more worn than Weston's had been.
Dan led her to his room, glancing as he usually did to Weston's door; it was shut, as it had been almost all day. He watched as Lindsay Roland took her seat on the couch within Dan's room, nervously fiddling with her fingers in her lap. He grabbed her file as well as a pen and sat down across from her, greeting her with a handshake. "Daniel Phillips, pleasure. And you're Lindsay Roland, correct?"
She took his hand and nodded, shrinking away some afterwards as Dan flipped around for a new page within his notes.
"How do these things work?"
"Never been to see a therapist before?"
"Nothing as fancy as all this."
"It's really nothing special; just tell me what's on your mind."
"Then you'll be able to fix me, right?"
"It's not quite as easy as that. What about you needs fixing, Lindsay? You seem perfectly fine to me,"
Lindsay silenced, her thin lips creasing downward to form a dispirited frown. Dan waited calmly, and soon Lindsay questioned whether or not he was able to interpret dreams. She said she was constantly terrorized by a particular nightmare and it hadn't been bothering her since she first scheduled for therapy, but for some reason the night previous it decided to show itself again in her slumber.
According to Lindsay it was always the same dream. She was running and her vision was unclear. She never knew what she was running from. She would always stop running at the sound of a sudden bang that sounded like a gunshot piercing the nothingness. She would awaken with a feeling of helplessness, or so that's how she described it.
Helplessness, guilt, stressors…simple.
Dan did not look up from his note-taking for some moments before questioning Lindsay bluntly. "You don't know the reason you have this dream?"
"Not really, no."
"When did it start?"
"I'm not sure…it feels like forever ago."
Dan flipped backwards several pages. "Is that so? What about your breakup? You said that things hadn't been the greatest since then."
"They haven't, I suppose…I miss him."
"What was his name?"
"Shane."
"Tell me something about you and Shane."
From what Dan could gather, Shane was important to her. Although they met as children, they never got to be close friends until they were in high school. The two were dating before their high school career ended and lived together during their college years. Some time had passed since they had been together and Lindsay seldom found anyone who even qualified to take Shane's place. Dan asked why Shane broke it off, but Lindsay didn't know why herself.
"Had you been fighting a lot recently?"
"Not particularly…"
So you miss him and you haven't got a clue why he broke it off. Wouldn't you do better if you had some kind of closure?
Dan scratched his head, ruffling through dark-blonde tufts of hair to reach his scalp. No matter who, the answer always became clear to Dan as long as that person was sitting across from him on that unsightly red couch. After scribbling more notes onto another page he suggested she find a way to speak with him again to ask him the reason he ended it. Lindsay looked very uneasy towards this suggestion, nodding her agreement regardless as she fiddled with one of the buttons on the sleeve of her sweater.
Dan edged away from the topic of her ex-boyfriend and began to dwell in her childhood memories. While topics previous had not resulted in much response from Lindsay, this topic had her speaking without any hesitance. She said she wouldn't be speaking much of the troubling parts of her childhood, and Dan replied that she was welcome to discuss any parts of it, whether they be good or bad. It had been long since Dan had been reminded of the upside of his job; listening to Lindsay's fondest of memories was as soothing to hear as they were for her to speak of. It all fell from her mind and off her tongue like melted butter, but the saddening part was that even some of these memories contained her beloved Shane.
The session drew to its close, and with it Dan had scraped away more than half the worries Lindsay Roland walked in with. She finally looked at ease, having let herself sink into the couch towards the end of the session, and she was determined in her attempt to appear anything but overcome by the questionnaires that Dan was handing to her.
"—As well as this one, but that's just safe measure," He was practically talking to himself as he handed the packets her way. "I think that'll do. You'll fill these out and hand them back next week, right?"
"I'll do my best…"
"Will you try to get in contact with Shane?"
"Oh, well…" She paused. "I don't know what I'd do if I saw him again…is it stupid of me to say that I think he's the one? As in…the one? The love of my life?"
Dan himself wasn't one to side with ideas such as fate or destiny, even if many of his patients felt passionately towards such occurrences and encounters. There was a part of him that knew if fate existed, it was out to make him suffer, and Dan didn't want to accept such a fate. He would much rather accept it as entirely nonexistent. Regardless, he was not one to push his own beliefs onto his patients, especially when these subjects made his patients feel elated.
"I don't think it's stupid at all. You should still talk to him though; you deserve to know why he ended it the way he did."
Lindsay seemed more understanding of the idea the second time hearing it, as if it suddenly improved since Dan mentioned it during their session. She followed Dan to the door, carefully fixing the stack of questionnaires in her hands. Dan grabbed The Tales of Tomorrow from his desk before reaching the door, and when Lindsay saw what it was Dan had snatched up, she looked startled.
"Shit, no offense, but how did you find that?"
"My co-worker picked it up for me. He was pretty interested after hearing you were a writer. Honestly I was thinking you could do your therapy with him instead; he's around your age so it should be a lot easier to talk to him."
Lindsay held the papers to her chest as she peaked around the corner into the halls from the door Dan held open for her. She looked as if a flock of people would be standing in the hallway waiting to eyeball her.
"Right, I see…I'm not sure though…" She said slowly. "I liked this session, so…"
A nervous habit of yours? Or are you afraid of people to some extent?
He led her through the halls while discussing the aspect of switching therapists, uncertain if she was taking to the idea or not. She was staring ahead, nibbling at the cuff of her sleeve. As the two entered the lobby, Dan became taken aback by what he saw.
Weston was at the end of the room near the door, standing with a taller man that Dan recognized well. He was Colin Quinn, a psychiatrist from across the street. It was a fact that Colin and Dan did not get along; Dan knew Colin to be condescending and close-minded, and stayed his distance when he could.
Weston looked pathetic. He had his arms crossed, and his head turned to the side. He was going out of his way to avoid meeting eyes with Colin. Dan was certain Weston had been picked apart for his attire; he felt grateful that he had gone to wearing suits, or else he would have been harassed as well.
As soon as Colin noticed the two he emitted an arrogant "Dan!" and began towards them. Lindsay backed away as if it was a wolf approaching them. "Long time no see, Daniel! Really, truly long. How's your wife holding up?"
"Just fine." Dan answered stiffly.
"Looks like you're finally doing better too, huh? Dressed up all nice like this, it's a shocker! I suppose you read that book on coping I recommended?"
"What can I help you with?"
"I heard you got a new patient from our department...that's her, right?" He pointed to Lindsay who was some steps behind Dan then. "Can I get a word with her?"
"She's my patient, Colin." Dan snapped.
"Hey there, relax. I just want to talk to her. It's strictly business—particularly medication wise."
They glared one another down for some moments until Dan turned to ask Lindsay if she had the time to speak with Colin. She nodded and followed him out, waving shortly to Dan before leaving.
Weston edged Dan's way after witnessing their departure, his shoulders relaxing from the tense posture he had held in Colin's presence. "Oh God," he mumbled. "Screw him. Went off on me for my outfit and said all this about how I was taking after you."
"Just avoid him as much as you can. I should have warned you before. He shows up a lot for no real reason."
"Sounds like he's jealous of you, doesn't it?"
"Or he just needs a worthy victim. Here, by the way," He handed Weston Lindsay's novel. "I spoke with her about switching, seems like she might."
Weston took the book from him, clearing his throat awkwardly before asking "How did it go?"
"It went well..."
"Annnd..."
"...What?"
"Oh come on! She mentioned me didn't she? Please say she mentioned me!"
"Why would she?"
"We dated for the longest time!"
"You dated her? You've got to be kidding." Dan laughed. "And to think I assumed you only went after the women who look like models."
"I mean it! We got together in high school."
"Did you really now? Funny though, the last person she claims to have been with was some guy from her high school named Shane."
Weston pouted. "That's my middle name! Weston Shane Moore! Oh that sneaky—"
"Okay Weston, joke's over."
"I'm not joking! Did you see the way she was looking at me? I think she wants me back!" Weston grinned as if their wedding date had been decided, opening The Tales of Tomorrow in delight. "And she published a book, I can't believe it! I'm so happy for her!" Weston was carefully turning the pages as he opened it, eyeing each for much too long seeing as he had yet to reach any actual writing. Dan winced as he noticed Weston was even looking at the backsides of the pages, afraid to miss a single trace of ink. "I didn't think I'd ever see her again after she broke it off, you know? I got pretty worn down and she never even told me why she wanted to end it. I guess I was depressed for a while there...but how could I not have been? She's most definitely the love of my life!"
Dan didn't want to believe it, but the logic within him refused to deny it as false. It explained why Weston had tried fighting for her as a patient, only afterwards to claim his actions were "unreasonable". It also explained why Weston had searched four bookstores to find Lindsay's novel.
Weston stopped his ramble as he arrived to the dedication page, failing to notice that Dan had curiously peered over himself, letting his eyes linger on the italicized text.
To Wes,
For supporting me through it all until the very end.
