Ryan stared out his office window surmising what he had learned.
I
guess
it’s
not
really
important
that
the
perfume
smells
differently
on
me
than
it
did
on
Angel
…
or
anyone
else
.
What
is
important
is
how
the
two
different
smells
affected
my
brain’s
limbic
system
,
emotions
,
and
behavior
while
dreaming
.
One
set
of
dreams
was
positive
and
the
other
negative
—
one
offered
me
the
opportunity
for
new
life
;
the
other
warned
me
of
impending
death
.
The research was interesting, but what he had experienced in his last dream was a long way from interesting—it was freaky.
He shut down his computer and sat thinking.
If
I
can
find
Angel
,
she
can
lead
me
into
another
positive
dream
experience
.
It
worked
twice
before
with
her
,
and
there
is
no
reason
to
believe
it
wouldn’t
work
again
.
The problem would be finding her.
The
changes
that
resulted
from
the
choices
I
made
in
the
dream
regression
with
Rex
in
Del
Mar
put
me
in
a
different
time
and
place
.
When
I
met
Angel
at
the
Starbucks
in
Buckhead
,
I
was
living
in
Georgia
in
2004
.
I’m
now
living
in
California
,
and
it
is
2003
.
Even if the woman was still living in Georgia, what were the chances she frequented the same Starbucks?
She
said
she
had
been
using
the
Angel
perfume
since
it
came
out
—
almost
ten
years
.
A bigger problem was convincing Keri he needed to go to Buckhead, Georgia, to find a woman he’d met one year in the future? If he didn’t want to lie to her, his only option was to try one last time to make her believe the entire ordeal—everything: what the perfume did to him, the four dreams, and the woman named Angel.
If his last two dreams had been premonitions or warnings of what might happen in the future, then Keri needed to know how serious it was that he locates Angel. The crash had occurred in his
other
life on May 29, 2003. Time was running out.
CHAPTER 13
Southern
California
Sunday
afternoon
—
April
2003
Ryan had three hours alone with Keri to untangle his conundrum while the twins were at the movie with friends.
Keri cleared the table, passing dishes and glasses to him at the sink. He rinsed, then stacked them in the dishwasher. The stream of warm water flowing over his hands helped relax his mind as he organized his thoughts.
Keri had no recollection of any
other
life. The only life she knew was the present. She had no knowledge of the mysterious powers found in the fragrance named
Angel
, and she knew nothing of the woman, Angel, from the Starbucks in Buckhead.
Although his last two dreams had not zapped him into another time and place, the events in those dreams appeared real and threatening. The report of the crash he saw on TV involving Rex Dean had occurred in 2002. But there had not been a crash in 2002. Rex and Emily were both still alive.
Why
did
I
dream
it
if
it
did
not
happen
?
The thought of the other dream made him nauseous. Keri, David, and Martha were being held hostage by a deranged lunatic. The freak had threatened to kill them if Ryan didn’t fly his jet into the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco at exactly midnight on May 29, 2003.
That’s
next
month
!
After clearing the final dishes from the table, Keri eased up behind him and slipped her hands around his waist. “Just me and you on a beautiful Sunday afternoon in Paradisea. We’ve got it all to ourselves. What would you like to do? You name it.”
He closed the dishwasher door and turned to face her. He pulled her close, swirling his hands across her back. “Anything?”
“Anything,” she said.
He kissed her on the neck. “Well… I can think of a thousand things we
could
do, but I really need to talk to you about something that’s bothering me.”
She stepped back, still holding his arms. “Okay. Where would you like to talk?”
“It’s such a beautiful day, let’s sit on the patio.”
“Great idea.” She took his hand and led him to the double glass doors and onto the patio. The air was fresh and clean with a hint of ocean. Purple bougainvillea, bird-of-paradise, and hibiscus bordered the manicured lawn.
He set the glider in motion with a rhythmic push from his foot.
Start
with
what
she
knows
,
and
then
tiptoe
carefully
across
the
minefield
of
the
unknown
.
“So what’s troubling you?” she said.
“Do you remember when you said dreams can only originate from actual experiences in our past?”
“It’s something I remembered from a psychology class in college. I believe it was a book written by Sigmund Freud…something like:
Dream
Psychology
for
Beginners
.”
“Sounds interesting.”
“I hate to admit it, but of all the classes I took in college, I probably remember more from that class than I do any of the others.”
“So…Freud didn’t believe dreams could be about future events?”
“Well…he said there is always a connection between parts of every dream and some detail of the dreamer’s life. It doesn’t necessarily have to be an actual event. It might be something you thought about during the day.”
He kept the glider in motion as he gazed out at the ocean in the distance. “Does that mean if I had watched a Rambo movie, I might be Rambo in my dream?”
“It includes whatever is in the dreamer’s mind. My professor used the
Wizard
of
Oz
as a great visual example. The key characters in Dorothy’s journey to Oz, which was actually a dream, were cast from people in her real life in Kansas.”
He stopped the glider’s motion and turned and looked at her. “That’s right! The Wicked Witch was that mean ‘ol lady on the bike who came and took Toto because he had bitten her.”
“Her name was Miss Gulch. And the farm hands, Hickory, Zeke, and Hunk, played the Tin Man, the Scarecrow, and the Cowardly Lion.”
“Wow! You must have taken notes when you were a kid.”
“Not exactly. I studied the story and used it in a paper I had to write on Freud’s book. The names just happened to stick in my head.”
He put the glider back in motion with a slight push and focused on the ocean. “I remember when I was a little boy, back before VCRs, I would never miss
The
Wizard
of
Oz
. It came on every year.”
“I researched that, too. From 1959 to 1991, it was an annual tradition and was always presented as a special program.”
“Those were some fun times.” His mind drifted. His mom would call him in from playing to get his bath, eat supper, and put on his pajamas in time to watch the
Wizard
of
Oz
. The entire day was coordinated so he wouldn’t miss a single minute.
“Anyway, that’s why I encouraged you this morning to try and think of something fun and happy before you went to sleep. I didn’t want you repeating the nightmare you had on Saturday morning. Obviously, based on this morning, you never found that happy place.”
Releasing his thoughts of childhood memories, he snapped back into the present. “I was exhausted. My mind was unwilling to search for a happy place,” he said.
“That brings up a question. Freud said that in every dream, the dreamer attempts to gratify a wish or desire. So what was it in those two nightmares that had anything to do with a wishful gratification?”
He contemplated her question.
No
better
time
than
now
to
launch
into
the
unknown
.
He turned toward Keri. His heart raced. “You’re not going to understand what I’m about to say, but I really need you to believe me.”
“What makes you think I won’t believe you?”
Just
tell
her
.
“We aren’t supposed to be in California.”
“What makes you say that? I mean…is there somewhere else we should be…are you thinking about moving?”
“This is going to sound weird, but I know what caused the allergic reactions. It was a perfume called
Angel
.”
“Perfume? Even if it was a perfume, how did you know the name of it?”
“I
bought
it.”
“What! Why would you buy perfume unless it was for me?”
“This is really going to sound strange, so brace yourself.”
“I’m ready.” She held tight to the glider.
“Not only did the perfume cause me to have an allergic reaction, it also had a certain quality that affected my dreams.”
“What kind of ‘quality’?”
“I’ve had four very unusual dreams as a result of that perfume.”
“Are you talking about those two nightmares you had yesterday and today?”
“Yes, but there were two more.”
“I don’t remember you saying anything about any other dreams.”
“Well…I tried to tell you…that’s what’s bothering me.”
“I’m not sure I understand.”
He stopped the glider. “This is the part where you will think I’m going crazy. During the other two dreams, I was able to make decisions that have altered our present life…”
She turned sharply and stared, pausing briefly. She chuckled. “What exactly do you mean by ‘altered our present life’?”
“Keri, I’m not kidding. The life we are living now has changed. I really need you to believe me.”
Her face took on a worried look.
“Ryan, you are scaring me. Is this a joke?”
“You don’t remember, but last weekend on Saturday
and
Sunday morning, I had two more dreams. I had just returned from Starbucks and I was having an allergic attack.”
“Where was I?”
“You were there.”
“If I was there, then why don’t I remember?”
“Technically, ‘there’ is not here.” He waved his hands around encompassing their current surroundings. “You…we…were actually in Georgia last weekend.” He looked away, thinking. “Not literally last weekend, but a weekend very similar to it…one year in the future, in 2004.”
She locked eyes with him in a deep stare, then broke into laughter. “Ryan Mitchell, you are too funny.”
He remained serious. “I know it sounds crazy, but it’s the truth. It’s because of the perfume.”
“Ryan, do you know how crazy you sound? Why are you acting so serious?”
“Keri, I know this all sounds ridiculous to you. It even sounds crazy listening to myself tell the story. But it really happened. The only reason we are still in California is because of the woman that started all this.”
Keri’s eyebrows lifted. “A woman?”
Ryan took her hand, “It’s all about the perfume this woman was wearing. While we—you and me—were living in Georgia, I bumped into a woman in a Starbucks in Buckhead wearing
Angel
perfume. You don’t remember it, but that was when I had my first allergic reaction. I went home that morning and slept…same as I’ve done the last…” He had to think. “…two mornings.”
“I’m confused. Are you talking about what you did in your dream?”
“No! This actually happened!”
“Then why don’t I remember it?”
“That’s what I’m trying to explain!”
“Okay. Stay calm. I’m listening.”
“In the first dream, I was in New York on a layover. You were there too. I was married to Emily…”
Keri interrupted. “Wait! Emily…as in Rex’s wife, Emily? You were married to Emily Dean?”
“Yes, but stranger than that, you were engaged to marry Rex, the next week.”
She laughed. “Wow! Ryan, you really should put this on paper. It would make great reading.”
“I told you it would sound crazy.”
“Ahhh…yeah…just a little.”
“Hear me out.”
She held a smile. “I’m sorry, please continue.”
“Here comes the hard part.”
She gripped the glider. “I’m ready.”
Ignoring her playful disbelief, he continued. “During that dream, while I was in New York, I was presented with a choice. You asked me to go with you to your dad’s Upper East Side condo. I knew that if I went, we would do things that we would regret for the rest of our lives. It was weird, but I
knew
what would happen in that condo.”
“How did you know?”
“That’s what’s so freaky about the first two dreams.”