Her Thirties Part 63
That evening we dined at the Park Hyatt in the Annona Room, named appropriately after the Roman goddess of the harvest.
Marilyn turned heads in her lovely gown. An older man, whom I recognized as a local entrepreneur, held the door open for her and as she walked past, he simply said, “exquisite.”
It summed up the way she looked and how I felt.
We dined, enjoying the intimate atmosphere, gazing out at stunning floor-to-ceiling views of fashionable Yorkville.
I refrained from talking, deliberately waiting for the right time and place. It was my naturally fetishistic nature, I suppose.
We took the elevator to the rooftop lounge and sat sipping Pinot Noire by the fireplace, surrounded by vast panoramas of the city skyline.
This was the setting I desired. I sat back with her, slowly sipping wine and enjoying the ambience.
“It’s lovely, but it’s changed so much from what I remember,” she sighed.
“But what exactly do you remember?” I asked.
I knew I was pressing in a bit too much, especially in view of what Doctor Lambert said—but I was curious and needed answers.
“I remember Toronto was so small—and dark at night—not like now.”
“Are you saying that’s your own personal memory—or, one of those flashes you get?”
“I have no idea—I just treat it like it’s my own. What else can I do?”
“Not much, I guess.”
She looked at me compassionately. “What’s troubling you, Joey? She blushed and corrected herself, “I mean, Scott.”
“I met with your therapist—Doctor Lambert.”
“Oh. Did he tell you not to see me?”
“No, nothing like that. But a funny thing happened when I was there.”
She looked alarmed.
“Don’t be frightened—it wasn’t horrible—just weird.”
She relaxed. “Okay, go on.”
“It was as if he became a mirage. You know how heat wavers in the air? Well, a disturbance like that came between us, and Laird transformed into someone else, and then suddenly changed back.”
Her eyes were huge and her lips parted. I had to look away; she was so irresistible.
“Nothing like that has ever happened to me,” she said.
“It’s happened before,” I confessed.
“When?”
“That day I caught you singing when you were cleaning your apartment.”
She laughed. “You mean the day you cleaned my apartment.”
“Whatever—that day, I saw another girl beneath your face—the girl from my dream.”
“Aren’t we one and the same?” She looked perplexed.
“I don’t think so. You look alike, but you’re different.”
“Oh?” Her forehead lined and her scowl told me she didn’t like the idea.
“I don’t think I’m Joey either—I’ve been getting flashes like you—but they’re not my memories—they’re his.”
“If that’s the case, why don’t I feel that?”
“I guess because you can’t remember your past—you’ve got nothing to compare—to judge whether these flashes are yours or somebody else’s.”
She grew very pale and started to tremble.
“What’s wrong—are you okay?”
“I’m fine. It’s just… I convinced myself the flashbacks were mine—my memories—but obviously, you’re better equipped to tell they’re not.”
I was kicking myself inwardly. I made a real mess of things—doing the very thing Lambert warned me not to do.
“I could be wrong,” I offered.
“Wrong about what—about you?”
“No, about you. Just because my flashbacks belong to someone else, doesn’t mean yours do too.”
“But you said yourself, you’ve got something to compare things to—I’ve got nothing.”
I felt totally helpless.
“Who am I anyway?” she wailed.
I reached across the table and squeezed her hand. “You’re somebody I love—and always have. Don’t ask me how, but I know it’s true.”
Her eyes shone, as if the sun broke through a passing shower.
“Do you think I’ll ever recover my memory, Scott—I mean my real memory?”
“Guess what Kid…” and I shook my head in wonder as I said it, “This is real—whether we understand it or not.”
I drove her home afterwards and wanted to stay, but she wisely knew where that would lead. She gave me one long kiss at the door, and that was enough.
A very interesting study of the psyche here. I knew someone who had a fractured personality and your Scott reminds me a lot of him. He wanted to live in dreams and insisted that others live up to his dream idea of them as well. Alas his dreams were many and often diametrically opposed. There was no pleasing him for long.
It appears both your protagonists are equally lost to the wanderings of their mind. I found myself sympathizing with Marilyn in this chapters. Everyone, including the fellow that opened the door for here, have a very clear and limited idea of who and what she is and should be. She is not truly admired for herself but for how easy she is to transpose upon.
This is a very succinct analysis - yes, men tend to idealize a beautiful female, some believing beauty to be the only thing worth having in a woman, but I think Scott has more depth than this - the cold dark kisses of his dream woman led him to become enthralled with Marilyn, but he's seeing a deeper soul tie, perhaps akin to Catherine and Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights - whatever their souls were made of, it was the same stuff
I hear you about your male acquaintance - he seems a narcissistic personality who would definitely impose his dreams upon someone else
As for where Scott and Marilyn are headed...as Albany says to Goneril, "How far your eyes may pierce I cannot tell." She answers, "Well, well; th' event." lol, yes, the outcome...
Yes ... I can see that Scott and Marilyn have a deeper connection ... they appear to be working themselves out on each other. To the fellow I mentioned ... yes some of him was a narcissist, that is for sure. He allowed a study in psyche like no other. I shall have material for decades:) LOL:):):)
Joey coming from Marilyn again. If they were connected in the past life definitely the old Scott was Joey.
Many things crossing my mind tonight, could it possible they re just new flesh that bear the soul of the past and now that connection then has brought them together.
I have an observation sometimes back, when something occurs either good or bad bad I always feel like I have seen that before. I get pictures of it but am always trying to but pieces together but I always have hard that I get really disturbed when it happens. At a time it stopped happening.
The suspense get deeper on, really want to see the end
Good points, Tomiwa - It's tantalizing for Scott - he seems so near, yet so far. Just when he thinks he understands, something causes him to doubt. There is some deep connection between them for sure, but just what that is is slowly beginning to become clear
You got a 2.31% upvote from @postpromoter courtesy of @johnjgeddes!
Want to promote your posts too? Check out the Steem Bot Tracker website for more info. If you would like to support the development of @postpromoter and the bot tracker please vote for @yabapmatt for witness!
That photo is stunning.
Who is the beautiful girl?