Yes, something tells me their background checks wouldn’t include culinary skills. Despite my little spat with York, I’m feeling happy with myself. I helped Abigail when she needed it, and everyone seems pleased with dinner. The guys all thank me as they leave the table.
“Good morning, Savannah.” Dr. Roberts catches me in the entryway on my way down to his office for our eight o’clock session. “I was thinking maybe we could have today’s session outside?”
“Sure.” I follow him across the lawn and down to a covered chair swing. He sits next to me, which feels odd—normally he watches me face on.
We sit in silence, watching an eight-man war canoe race effortlessly across the lake. I wonder who is on it. Mark, Logan, or maybe even York? The morning sun feels warm, but the clouds wrapping themselves around the mountains tell me it won’t last long. Perfect weather for Halloween, I guess. I let out an unexpected yawn, and the doctor shifts. I know the silence is about to end.
“How have you been sleeping?”
“Fine,” I lie.
He glances over at me and waits.
“Soon as I fall asleep, I’m right back in my prison.”
“What happens when you’re there?”
I shiver and close my eyes. “I’m alone again. I’m cold. I’m in a dirty, white nightgown and a brown sweater that’s way too big for me. I smell mold and rotting food. It’s making my stomach turn.” I rub my stomach. “Sometimes I wake up vomiting, sometimes I can’t wake up at all, but if I do, I feel restless and can’t go back to sleep.”
“Is it the same dream every night, or does it change?”
“It was the same up until last night. The fat man?”
“Jose Jorge?” he asks, trying to follow me.
“Yes, Jose. He shows up with my tray of food.” I pause, pushing my tongue to the roof of my mouth. I want to curse and scream, but I hold back, something I’m used to doing. “He liked the power he had over me. He was a real bully, for lack of a better word.”
“Hmm.” He shakes his head.
“What?”
“Do you think the change in your dream was because of the situation with York at the dinner table last night?”
I look up at him, confused. How did he know about that?
He shrugs with a chuckle. “You made quite the impression with the guys. They like you.”
I look back out over the water. That’s kind of nice to hear.
“Perhaps,” I agree.
“I can give you something—”
“No, thank you,” I cut him off. I don’t want anything to alter my newfound feeling of freedom.
“Well, tell me if you change your mind.”
The doctor doesn’t ask too many more questions about my prison, and I don’t offer up any more information. It is quite painful reliving it.
“Tell me about your father, Savannah. What’s he like?”
I pull my knees up to my chest, feeling the loss of a parent’s comfort. Things weren’t always great between us, and I have a lot of mental scars thanks to him, but he is still my dad.
“We’re close enough.” I swallow past the lump. “We did the typical things together that a working parent could do. When I was younger, we fished and hiked. We didn’t get together much when he got deeper into the political world because he became a lot busier and stressed out. I didn’t help his stress level back then either.”
“What do you mean?”
“I wasn’t used to the publicity I had as the mayor’s daughter. I hated it. I still do. I was never a party person or a troublemaker, but it seemed whenever I’d go out, somehow the paparazzi found me and would catch me in some compromising pose and spin an embarrassing story. I’d make the front page of some magazine, and my father would have to deal with the repercussions. It happened so often that I stopped going out at all. One time, I tripped over a drunk guy at a pub, and the story read that I was a drunk and needed AA. It nearly killed me when my father started to believe the lies. I just stopped trying to have a life of my own.” I stop talking and swallow again. “It was a year since I went to any kind of pub or bar, but one afternoon my friends from work insisted I join them to celebrate landing a new client. I did and had a wonderful time. It felt so good to be out. The next day, the day I was—” I stop, finding it hard to say the word.