Dawn of Eve - MJ Howson (read full novel .txt) 📗

sighed as Luna ran her head beneath her chin. “Sounds to me like she’s hiding something.”

“Perhaps. But she needs to be the one to share it when she’s ready.”

“You’re a saint, Winston. I wouldn’t have that kind of patience. I would have searched her family’s history and everything by now.”

Dr. Cole laughed. He asked, “What are you thinking for lunch? Should we take a walk?”

“Oh, it’s way too cold to go out. I swear, Florida can’t get here soon enough. Besides, there’s no time. You’ve got a one o’clock.”

“I do?” Dr. Cole frowned and shook his head.

“I already called in an order to our favorite deli.”

“You’re the best.”

“I know.” Flo smiled and winked at her husband. Her smile soon faded. “Winston, I know it’s none of my business, but shouldn’t she be over her postpartum by now?”

“This . . . this isn’t postpartum.”

“Oh.”

“I’m glad I decided to record these sessions. Dawn’s case may headline my book.” Dr. Cole glanced at the notes on his desk and sighed. “I need some time to get organized.”

“I’ll let you know when lunch is here.” Flo smiled and left the office, closing the door behind her.

As Dr. Cole began to sort through his notes, the pen on his desk began to vibrate. He opened his top drawer and stared at the two phones. Dr. Cole picked up the blue one. The lock screen image was a picture of him and Flo, taken at an awards ceremony two years ago. The New York Psychiatric Association had recognized a paper he’d published on schizophrenic affective disorder. As he recalled that day, he let his eyes drift to the SAM notification on the red-cased phone.

Shawn: I saw you checking out my profile. Older men are the best.

Dr. Cole looked back and forth between the red and blue phones. His wife of thirty-three years was his best friend. He’d remained faithful to her despite endless curiosities and temptations. He slowly placed the blue phone down.

After unlocking the red phone, Dr. Cole opened SAM and immediately went to Shawn’s profile. The private pictures initially appeared tasteful. He particularly liked one of the outfits. As the doctor scrolled through the images, the photos became more shocking and rather vulgar. Dr. Cole deleted the message, sighed, and said, “That’s a bit much.”

Out of curiosity, Dr. Cole opened the app’s search function. The screen gave him a wealth of options to pick from. He glanced at his office door, well aware he was pressed for time. He knew he should be documenting his findings from Dawn’s session, but Shawn’s disappointing profile frustrated him. Dr. Cole had been on this app for months but had yet to make any sort of connection. He closed his eyes and tried to imagine the perfect fantasy. Dr. Cole shook his head and began to fill in his criteria.

Once he entered what he considered to be the ultimate match, he ran the search. This wasn’t the first time he’d run a search like this, but he’d never been this specific in his requirements. A list of fifty profiles appeared. The first on the list was Taylor, flagged as being online with a 95% match rate. Taylor’s profile picture was from the neck down. Dr. Cole read the profile and smiled. Everything sounded too good to be true. He sent a Wave–a harmless way to see if the other party was interested. As he scrolled to the next profile, Taylor replied with a message.

Unlocking.

Dr. Cole’s heart raced as he went back to Taylor’s profile. Unlike Shawn’s gallery, Taylor’s private pictures were tasteful–erotic but not trashy. When he reached the end of the photos, Dr. Cole realized there were no face shots. He wrote back.

Face?

Taylor replied.

Says the guy with no pictures on his profile. ;-)

Dr. Cole frowned and lowered his phone. Of course he had no pictures on his profile. How could he? It wasn’t worth the risk. This wasn’t the first time he’d been called out for having so little information on his SAM profile. Before he could close the app, Taylor sent another message.

You get my face in person. Happy to meet and talk. No expectations.

Dr. Cole’s heart was now pounding in his chest. Sweat formed on his brow, and a knot formed in his stomach. He raised the blue-cased phone and looked at his smiling wife. He flipped the phone face down and responded to Taylor.

I’d like that.

He immediately got a reply.

Name?

Dr. Cole chuckled. He’d never gotten this far into a conversation on SAM before. He looked around his office, and his eyes settled on the Trust plaque from his brother-in-law.

Daniel.

Taylor wrote back.

Nice to meet you, Daniel. Name the time and place to meet. Taylor.

Twenty Nine

Hugo

Dawn frowned as she stared at her pale reflection in the bathroom mirror. Her straight hair looked bizarre, with three-and-a-half inches of her natural black abruptly changing to white. She opened the top drawer in her vanity and retrieved a pair of scissors. Eve sat to the left of the sink, leaning back against the mirror, her arms resting by her side. Jacob’s sapphire pendant hung from a nearby cabinet pull. Dawn’s three prescription pill bottles encircled a nearby glass of merlot. She bit her upper lip as she waved the scissors at Eve.

“What do you think?” Dawn asked Eve. “Is it time?”

“Don’t cut it,” Eve replied.

“No?” Dawn pulled her hair back into a ponytail behind her head. She studied herself in the mirror, trying to imagine what she’d look like without white hair. Dawn sighed as she released her grip, allowing her hair to fall past her shoulders. She looked at Eve and said, “I guess I can wait.”

Dawn grabbed her glass of wine and took a large gulp. Bits of merlot dripped from her lips, staining the white satin piping of her pink silk robe. The short-cropped garment came from her mother’s 1988 Women of the Night collection.

“I’m still upset from today’s session,” Dawn said, waving her arms. A bit of wine sloshed from