Dr. Bachrach’s office looked like any other therapist’s office, not that Anna had ever been to a therapist, she certainly had read enough author’s descriptions in way too many murder mysteries that she could have furnished this one herself. The moment she opened the door, she felt silly. Having to admit to a complete stranger that she was worried weird dreams, saying it out loud sounded as crazy as sitting in a plush chair in a therapist’s office made her feel.Anna hoped that Dr. Bachrach’s techniques were more successful that other hypnotists had been, which weren’t successful at all. She had gone to parties, and seen entertainment hypnotist shows in Atlantic City, and while everyone else had succumbed easily to the main event, nothing had ever worked with her. Some people just couldn’t be hypnotized, she was told, if a subject didn’t want to be, or was too strong minded, but she was hoping if the subject was willing and she w

After she washed her face to rid herself of the last remnants of the dream, Anna phoned Elaine and gave her a rundown of the details of her dream, including how she knew how to ride a horse.            “I know how much you hate horses, even though I’ve invited you to our ranch in Thousand Oaks many times,” Elaine said. “This is really incredible. You’re sure you’ve never seen the man who was looking for directions in your real life before?”                       “Absolutely. He’s not someone I’d forget. I’ll say that for sure. Of course there are tons of photographs that cross my desk of authors’ head shots with their bio and the back jacket of their book covers, but no artist drawing or publicity shot came even close to this Darius g

As soon as she opened her door, Anna’s cell phone buzzed. She didn’t have to look at the caller ID to know it was Elaine wanting to hear all the details about her going to Nate’s presentation. Elaine was disappointed that Anna didn’t have that much to tell her since she had only spoken to Nate for a few minutes and that was only to set up the meeting in her office to discuss his book.“You didn’t tell him anything about your dreams, or that sketch you drew, or that you’re suddenly speaking and reading a foreign language?”“No, he would have thought I was a nutcase. I will say that after hearing his presentation on Vashti, I might really be interested in his book. That’s what I plan to discuss with him tomorrow and nothing else. We’re meeting at eleven.” Elaine sounded disappointed. “That sounds boring. Try to get a good night’s sleep.”“I doubt I’ll

              Walking on their way back to the office, Anna was so deeply involved with her own thoughts, she could just barely engage in the continuing conversation with Nate. What he had told her at lunch about his experience in Iran was, on its surface, completely unbelievable, but then again, so was her ordering an item off the menu that wasn’t there and her seeing a waitress momentarily transform into a different person.Then there was the author himself. From the moment she met him at the basketball game, Anna’s body had reacted with alarmingly familiarly. Anna definitely knew the reality of lust at first sight, having taken advantage of that instant attraction on numerous occasions, but she was never convinced there was such a thing as love at first sight. No, that kind of deep, emotional connection was only what she read about in the hundreds of romance novel submissions. Unti

The editors and assistants at Steine and Steine respectfully focused their eyes away from their boss when Anna arrived at corporate headquarters two hours late. Without greeting anyone, Anna walked swiftly from the elevator to her office and closed the door. A few moments later, Janet entered carrying a stack of phone messages in one hand and a large cup of espresso in the other, which she carefully put on Anna’s desk.“I know an all-nighter when I see one,” her assisted whispered. “Dare I ask, work or play?” “All work all night. I finally finished reading Dr. Braverman’s manuscript.”“And?”“And it’s well written for academia. I’m just not sure how well it’s going to sell, which is, of course, the true determination. But, I’ve already offered him a contract based on specs. He should be meeting with Arty any minute, then they’ll come up here for final con