I jotted down the last notes from my first appointment and smiled as the second entered. it was an attractive woman in her mid fifties I would have guessed. "Hello, I am Doctor Mahoney." I said as I extended my hand and stood to round the desk in greeting.
My hand was taken and a familiar smile greeted me. I know I had never met this person before but they seemed oddly familiar to me. "Doctor Mahoney, I am pleased to meet you."
"How can I help you today Miss..." I hesitated as I glanced at the chart, "My secretary seems to have forgotten to get your name on here..."
"I did not give her one."
"Oh...may I ask why?"
"You may ask but I am not willing to answer...yet."
"Very well...how can I help you Miss?" Strange. Normally such a rude comment would have taken me aback but not now. And I could not say why. I was intrigued and engaged on a level I had never been before and i wanted to know why.
"You cannot help me in the way you normally help your patients here," she assured me, "That is not why I am here."
"Then why are you here?"
"To help you."
"To help me?" I asked with a bit of annoyance in my voice. Didn't she realize who she was talking to? I have a waiting list two years long for new patients because my treatments are so effective.
"I can see you are already insulted, but that cannot be avoided. I anticipated as much and prepared myself for it."
"You are a fellow counselor perhaps? I hear the jargon...and the thought process behind it loud and clear." Now I was wondering who I was dealing with exactly. Had one of my competitors decided to come and see what my sessions consisted of? Were they trying to steal my methods to use as their own? "If you think I am going to hand over my personal treatment methods, you might as well leave right now..."
"Melanie...stop."
My eyes rose and met hers, "How do you know that name?" It was my given name but I went by Grace my middle name thinking it sounded more professional. Even my books used the name Grace.
"You know how."
I looked at her closely then and blinked as I jumped up out of my chair, "That is NOT possible."
"At this time, no it is not."
"When are you from then?"
"Ahh..you start to believe. I am from 2045. Twenty five years from now."
"Time travel will be possible in only twenty five years?"
"Not for all."
I sat back down and looked at her again, "Then why are you here?"
"You must not stay here."
"Why?"
"If you stay here, you will met a man. A man that will convince you that you are madly in love. He will destroy everything you have built and leave you penniless."
"If you are me...you know I don't even believe in love."
"Not today. But soon you will...and Melanie...love is real and good. But this man is evil. You are wrong about love, but I am right about this man. You must leave. Go somewhere new, start a new branch and invest yourself in a new place and find true love."
"I don't need love."
"Oh but you do Melanie, you do. I do. But you will not find it here."
I saw the brokenness and pain in the eyes that looked at me, and the compassion and concern. How odd it was to hear your future self tell you in direct unwavering terms that you will or will not experience something. Obviously she knows more than I, but do i want to know the things I see in her eyes? I think not. "I will go. I will try to find what you need. If I fail, visit me again."
