wonder.”
Michael closed his laptop, stood up, and walked around to the front of his desk, his butt leaning against the edge. “Technically, that would mean a ghost has merged with your consciousness and is controlling your mind, thoughts, and decision making ability. Does that sound about right?”
“Oh. Okay, maybe not.”
“What’s going on?”
“Well, where do I begin … I almost got killed by a UPS truck. I found a man on the ground I thought was dead, and I’ve had more than a few dreams about death. Everything is death related.”
“They’re just coincidences.”
“I don’t know about that.
“Do you die the same way in every dream?”
“No. It’s like a death buffet, a variety of ways of dying to choose from. No dessert.”
Michael laughed.
“At least I got a new doctor this time. The doctor in the dream before Ellie’s was a giant A-hole.”
“What was he like?”
Cedric pondered the question. “Okay … so if you went to a cloning factory and asked the lab technician to mix the cells of a male whore, a caveman, a donkey, and … a used-car salesman—with a dash of sun-dried rat feces—you’d be presented with an exact genetic copy of the doctor in my dreams.”
“He sounds sweet.”
“He also told me it would take major surgery to remove my head from my ass so I punched him. But since it was a dream, my fist went right through him and he laughed, pulled out a gun, and shot me in the balls.”
Michael chuckled. “Maybe you are possessed by demons.”
Cedric blinked.
“I’m kidding. Look, your girlfriend died and your mom died. These are huge events in your life and you just can’t make them go away. The only thing you can do is change the way you feel about those events. Acceptance is key.”
Yeah. Easier said than done.
The day Cedric’s girlfriend died was supposed to have been memorable for another reason. Cedric was going to pop the question. He had the ring, the proposal plan, everything ready. A car that ran a red light changed that.
It’s been very difficult to accept.
“And you need to get laid,” Michael continued.
“You sound like Tony.”
Cedric hadn’t had a date since Cindy died two years ago. That also meant he hadn’t had sex in two years and three days.
“Well, in this particular case, Tony’s right. It’s time. You need a woman in your life.”
Cedric stood and walked over to the bookshelf. He reached for Albert Einstein’s head and rubbed it. “What do you say, Einstein? You’re a smart guy. Should I let another woman in or is she going to just die like the others and rip my heart into a thousand pieces?”
“Living your life in fear is no way to live.”
Cedric nodded. “My heart believes you. But for some reason, my mind is not listening. My mom dying from cancer was bad enough, but then I got blindsided by Cindy’s death.”
Cindy was in San Francisco at the Macworld conference that day. During one of the breaks, she called Cedric and left a message saying she was enjoying the conference, she missed him, and was walking down the street to grab a quick lunch. Cedric calculated from the accident report she died about a minute after she’d left that voicemail message for him, hit and killed by a tourist who was driving while looking at a map.
“Did you hear me?”
“No.”
“I asked you if you think of women in an intimate way.”
“Of course. On the kitchen counter, the living room floor, in the shower. Wherever.”
“That’s good.”
“That’s not the issue, though. I’ve been tempted plenty of times. But a voice pops into my head that puts an end to everything before it begins. It tells me relationships equal pain. That’s what happened when I was talking with Ellie.”
“Who’s that?”
“A woman I met. We had some type of connection, I’m almost positive. But then I shut her down.”
Michael nodded. “This is more common than you think. You know, sometimes it helps to put your focus on
Michael closed his laptop, stood up, and walked around to the front of his desk, his butt leaning against the edge. “Technically, that would mean a ghost has merged with your consciousness and is controlling your mind, thoughts, and decision making ability. Does that sound about right?”
“Oh. Okay, maybe not.”
“What’s going on?”
“Well, where do I begin … I almost got killed by a UPS truck. I found a man on the ground I thought was dead, and I’ve had more than a few dreams about death. Everything is death related.”
“They’re just coincidences.”
“I don’t know about that.
“Do you die the same way in every dream?”
“No. It’s like a death buffet, a variety of ways of dying to choose from. No dessert.”
Michael laughed.
“At least I got a new doctor this time. The doctor in the dream before Ellie’s was a giant A-hole.”
“What was he like?”
Cedric pondered the question. “Okay … so if you went to a cloning factory and asked the lab technician to mix the cells of a male whore, a caveman, a donkey, and … a used-car salesman—with a dash of sun-dried rat feces—you’d be presented with an exact genetic copy of the doctor in my dreams.”
“He sounds sweet.”
“He also told me it would take major surgery to remove my head from my ass so I punched him. But since it was a dream, my fist went right through him and he laughed, pulled out a gun, and shot me in the balls.”
Michael chuckled. “Maybe you are possessed by demons.”
Cedric blinked.
“I’m kidding. Look, your girlfriend died and your mom died. These are huge events in your life and you just can’t make them go away. The only thing you can do is change the way you feel about those events. Acceptance is key.”
Yeah. Easier said than done.
The day Cedric’s girlfriend died was supposed to have been memorable for another reason. Cedric was going to pop the question. He had the ring, the proposal plan, everything ready. A car that ran a red light changed that.
It’s been very difficult to accept.
“And you need to get laid,” Michael continued.
“You sound like Tony.”
Cedric hadn’t had a date since Cindy died two years ago. That also meant he hadn’t had sex in two years and three days.
“Well, in this particular case, Tony’s right. It’s time. You need a woman in your life.”
Cedric stood and walked over to the bookshelf. He reached for Albert Einstein’s head and rubbed it. “What do you say, Einstein? You’re a smart guy. Should I let another woman in or is she going to just die like the others and rip my heart into a thousand pieces?”
“Living your life in fear is no way to live.”
Cedric nodded. “My heart believes you. But for some reason, my mind is not listening. My mom dying from cancer was bad enough, but then I got blindsided by Cindy’s death.”
Cindy was in San Francisco at the Macworld conference that day. During one of the breaks, she called Cedric and left a message saying she was enjoying the conference, she missed him, and was walking down the street to grab a quick lunch. Cedric calculated from the accident report she died about a minute after she’d left that voicemail message for him, hit and killed by a tourist who was driving while looking at a map.
“Did you hear me?”
“No.”
“I asked you if you think of women in an intimate way.”
“Of course. On the kitchen counter, the living room floor, in the shower. Wherever.”
“That’s good.”
“That’s not the issue, though. I’ve been tempted plenty of times. But a voice pops into my head that puts an end to everything before it begins. It tells me relationships equal pain. That’s what happened when I was talking with Ellie.”
“Who’s that?”
“A woman I met. We had some type of connection, I’m almost positive. But then I shut her down.”
Michael nodded. “This is more common than you think. You know, sometimes it helps to put your focus on
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