MAGNETIC REVERIE Read online

  Notion Press

  Old No. 38, New No. 6

  McNichols Road, Chetpet

  Chennai - 600 031

  First Published by Notion Press 2017

  Copyright © Nico J. Genes 2017

  All Rights Reserved.

  ISBN 978-1-946641-73-1

  This book has been published with all reasonable efforts taken to make the material error-free after the consent of the author. No part of this book shall be used, reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  The Author of this book is solely responsible and liable for its content including but not limited to the views, representations, descriptions, statements, information, opinions and references [“Content”]. The Content of this book shall not constitute or be construed or deemed to reflect the opinion or expression of the Publisher or Editor. Neither the Publisher nor Editor endorse or approve the Content of this book or guarantee the reliability, accuracy or completeness of the Content published herein and do not make any representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, including but not limited to the implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose. The Publisher and Editor shall not be liable whatsoever for any errors, omissions, whether such errors or omissions result from negligence, accident, or any other cause or claims for loss or damages of any kind, including without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage arising out of use, inability to use, or about the reliability, accuracy or sufficiency of the information contained in this book.

  DEDICATION

  If I have more than one life, I would definitely dedicate this one entirely to you.

  CONTENTS

  Prologue

  1. Full Moon

  2. Anniversary

  3. Claire

  4. Love

  5. The Kiss

  6. Dreams, Where Are You?

  7. The Return

  8. Crazy Love

  9. The Child

  10. Is This the End?

  PROLOGUE

  It was 10:25 AM and I was ready. Although I used a bit more time than I intended in preparing, losing fifteen minutes on making cute, gentle curls in my hair, I was still on time. Most girls want to look good and pretty. I had a very long trip ahead of me. Chances that I would look messy at the end were the same even if I looked arranged now or not, but it was a good feeling to start the trip looking good. I wore my favorite light blue jeans and semi-elegant but cozy navy blue shirt that matched very well my hair color; I put on my All Star and felt ready to go. The taxi was to be here any minute. I would most probably be at the airport too early, but this was me. Better to wait a bit instead of facing the stress of wondering if I will make it on time. Looking in the mirror, I saw a joyful face. And this happy girl was just about to go on a trip, with a one way ticket in her bag. Life was a never ending journey.

  Although this was an important trip for me, I didn’t want anyone to come along to the airport. I already said goodbye last night to my dear friends and parents, shared tears together with them as we wouldn’t be able to see each other for a long time, so I couldn’t stand the idea of saying goodbye again. I just loved hellos but I was too sentimental for goodbyes. I could never say goodbye without tears in my eyes to someone dear to me that I knew I wouldn’t see for a long period of time. So the face in the mirror was happy and ready to make another step in her life, a very important one.

  Not just that I was moving to another country, I was going to get married soon and start a new life almost from scratch. Of course, I had millions of questions in my head: will we be happy till the end of time, will we be able to keep the love we feel for each other, will I adapt to the new country, will I manage without my family and friends from here, will I make new friends there, will I be able to get a job, will I get homesick, will I feel like home there…?

  It will take me like more than half a day to see my sweetheart and the countdown was making me really happy. I found it quite romantic that I would have to cross an ocean to get there. I had so many reasons to be joyful for this trip and I was so impatient to reach the destination and feel his arms around me. It had been more than three months since we had last seen each other, so I really missed him. Skype was a good substitution to keep in touch, but nothing could replace physical contact, even if it was just a short kiss or a touch of the hand.

  At 1:00 PM, I was already at the Vienna Airport waiting for my connecting flight. As I had almost four hours in between, I decided it would be the best to have a proper lunch and some good coffee and maybe even buy some souvenirs. I always liked Austria and being in Vienna, even if just in the airport, gave me a pleasant feeling.

  Approaching a nice restaurant from the Shop & Eat area, which always had excellent service and great food, looking around, to my regret, I noticed that all tables were full. Still, I didn’t want to let anything disturb my plan so I noticed one table where there was just one person sitting. “Excuse me, all tables are taken, do you mind if I sit here?” I asked the girl sitting at the table politely. “Not at all, please feel free to take a seat!” she answered nicely and I didn’t feel awkward at all that I had invaded her privacy in a way.

  The waiter took my order and while waiting for the food I was checking my Facebook, planning to update my status as soon I would settle in my new country. The girl whose table I occupied was reading a book but I couldn’t help but notice that all this time, she was secretly watching me.

  “You are beautiful.”

  I took my eyes off my phone and I saw the girl talking to me. I was embarrassed and didn’t know what to say or how to react. She must have noticed that, so she continued talking without waiting any longer for a reaction from my side.

  “I hope you don’t mind I told you that and also I really love your hair. You don’t see girls with red hair so often and it suits you so well. It matches your skin tone and your warm brown eyes.”

  “Oh, thank you so much! You are so kind!” I was used to receiving compliments but not just out of the blue from strangers and especially not from girls, so she could probably have noticed that. But in order to give the impression that I was in control of the situation, I decided to continue in a confident way. “I don’t want to seem arrogant, but it happens often that people notice my hair. I like your hair as well! Ha ha! Such a typical conversation for two girls! Next topic will be make-up, then shoes and then, who knows, we can even go shopping together!” I said, laughing.

  “I must disappoint you, but I am not the usual girl, so typical girlish subjects are not my favorites, to tell you the truth I might be really boring. But if you feel like it, I don’t mind. I just couldn’t keep to myself what I thought when I looked at you. I have more than three hours to spend at this airport and you seem to be more interesting than my book!” she said with a pleasant smile, a really nice one, almost seemed like she was flirting with me.

  “I have also more than three hours too, so it will be my pleasure,” I answered.

  We talked and we talked in all the time that we had left, but time passed so fast. She came with me till the gate and hugged me. I was sorry to say goodbye but I had to, as my flight was already boarding.

  She was such a pleasant person, a very good listener; she had a really nice smile and beautiful blue eyes. Her bright blue eyes sparkled each time she smiled at me. These three hours that I spent with her made me feel that I was lost in the moment. For a while, I had even forgotten where I was headed. As departure neared, I was sorry that she wasn’t sitting next to me on the plane; for sure the flight would have been far more enjoyable!

  Funny, but we didn’t tell each other our names. I even didn’t know wher
e she was flying to. Actually, I realized that she was listening to me more and just commenting and asking questions, saying very little about herself. It’s not like I was self-centric; but somehow, she managed to make me talk most of the time.

  Still, I was so much under the influence of her hypnotizing eyes, her perfect smile. I was kept in place just looking at her, like I was under a spell. Ironically, all the time till my destination, where I was about to see my future husband, I couldn’t stop thinking about HER. And SHE was the first and only reason why I felt sorry to go, despite the fact that from the beginning I was very sure that it was the right thing to do. But, for a moment, I even wondered if I had to stop my plans and go back home. There was something so pleasant in her company. I had never met someone that impressed me so much that really touched my heart in such a special way. I know it was strange, as I just knew her for a bit more than three hours, but it was something about her that intrigued and enchanted me at the same time, something very hard to describe. Most probably I wasn’t going to see her again, so she would just remain my sweet secret, a pleasant memory that I should better forget about. I had to leave this behind and bury it deep, really deep, to not retain or recall any information about her as I wanted no regrets for the step I was about to make.

  At 6:00 PM in Washington DC, Greg and the beginning of a new chapter in my life…

  Chapter 1

  FULL MOON

  Moon frequencies have the capacity to transverse the frequencies of one’s thought from the impressions in our subconscious to the conscious mind. Once in the conscious mind we become aware of them. Thus, on full moon, one will be influenced as per the predominant impressions in one’s mind.

  Daylight was slowly giving up to the darkness of the warm summer night. Finally, the night had arrived.

  I thought it would never come. It was the end of a heavy day. All day long, I had to take pills and vitamins constantly to be able to function at least at some average level. No matter how many painkillers I took during the day, the headache just didn’t go. I might have mixed them all up, which was not a very smart thing to do, but it was more reason to wish for a good night’s sleep and wake up painless.

  My energy was very low, I couldn’t even remove my make-up, the only thing that I never skipped no matter how tired I was, but this evening I just couldn’t deal with it. Dressed in my pajamas, I went to the bed, turned off the lights and slowly put my head on the pillow.

  A strange feeling got into me: it was like my head was going really deep into the pillow, deeper and deeper. It was similar to when you have had too much alcohol, but actually, I hadn’t had any the whole day. I don’t really remember when I had alcohol last. Actually, I couldn’t think very clearly about anything. Turning around and trying to get rid of the strange feeling, wasn’t offering a solution. The sound of music from the other room, which in other circumstances would have been pleasant, was now disturbing. After a few more minutes of trying to fall asleep, I had to stand up as I felt nauseous.

  Oh my God! It seemed that the much expected night wasn’t offering me any help yet. I went to the bathroom and took a pill for my sickness, hoping it would help so I could finally fall asleep. Looking in the mirror, I didn’t like what I was seeing. My hair was fine, but the expression in my eyes was really strange.

  Something wasn’t right and it felt really scary. “It must be because of all the pills I took today!” I told myself. I decided to stop staring at the mirror and dragged myself back to the bedroom. Lying in bed, I was trying to picture a pleasant image of my last holiday destination, waiting for the pill to work. Otherwise, my night would include at least a few more visits to the bathroom.

  At one moment I noticed that the bedroom was very light and realized the light was coming from outside. I stood up, went to the window and concluded that the reason was the moon. The moon was really beautiful. I looked at it with admiration for a while and then it stroked my mind: Full moon! Of course! This was the main reason why I couldn’t sleep. Despite the moon’s beauty, I pulled the curtains together so they wouldn’t allow the light into the room. Here I was, at the third attempt of trying to fall asleep.

  After many minutes that could have well been hours, I decided to use the old method of counting sheep. It was funny to me, as I had never used this method before. I was sure it couldn’t help. My opinion was that one counting sheep would have to concentrate on the counting, not really falling asleep like this. I couldn’t remember how many sheep I had managed to count when I decided it was ridiculous and not helpful at all. I remembered that I read somewhere that if you don’t manage to fall asleep fifteen minutes after going to bed, you better stand up, as it’s getting really worse otherwise.

  I was trying to fall asleep for more than fifteen minutes with no results, so here I was, standing up again. The nausea had gone, thank God!

  I went to the bathroom again, trying to figure out what I could do to finally fall asleep. It was already past midnight, so I had proof that I was trying unsuccessfully for more than two hours to fall asleep. I couldn’t think of anything else, except taking another pill, this time one to sleep. I couldn’t remember how many different pills I had taken during the day, so this really didn’t seem the smartest thing to do. The headache was coming back but I was sure that I should not take another painkiller, as it couldn’t be of any help anymore.

  I wanted to sleep, I so wanted to sleep! I felt desperate. I remembered that after Michael Jackson died, I saw a documentary about his death and there was also mention of his conversation with the doctor saying that he just wanted to sleep, at least for a while. At this moment, I could confirm that it was bad enough if one couldn’t fall asleep for one night. I couldn’t imagine for this to continue for many nights in a row. I was a huge Michael Jackson fan and I was so sorry that he died. I read that prior to his death, he couldn’t fall sleep properly for sixty days in a row. Oh, this made me additionally sad. In order to improve my mood, I tried to think of the time I went to his concert and this helped for a while. My mood improved a bit, but I was still awake.

  At this moment, I was glad I didn’t have kids. Despite my strong wish for at least one child, I started to doubt my capacity of being a parent if I had to face lack of sleep often. I would be devastated. In the given circumstances, I was really kind of negative towards anything, so I threw away the thought of not wanting children. “Okay,” I decided. “Another sleeping pill! My last pill for today!” I immediately made a pact with myself to stop taking pills at least for a month or so, to let my body clean a bit from all the chemicals. I took the pill and hoped there would be no side effects. On the box it was written that it should work in thirty minutes and before that, I had to be relaxed. It didn’t work after the first one; hopefully there would be more luck with the second one.

  So I went back to bed, I turned on the lamp from the night closet and took the magazine that was there and started reading, without much interest. Lots of pages with beautiful people and ads for different kind of products and services. Of course, all women were pretty, with perfect bodies, men as well. What kind of message was this for young people? No doubt this was a reason why so many people were troubled with anemia or bulimia or tried anything from diets to operations in order to look like the people in the magazines.

  I tried to stay calm and kept looking at the picture of a man who was really handsome. Somehow, I was sure there was no Photo Shop involved, no plastic operations, no make-up. At least this was what I wanted to believe. Despite everything, his face had something really attractive, and out of the ordinary. I wasn’t really sure if the pill had started to work or looking at him brought me such relaxation. I really felt less worried and somehow, my eyes were slowly closing, but I still wanted to look at him. He seemed to be confident and comfortable in his skin and I was curious to find out more about his personality. Such a beautiful body, such a nice face, such nice expressions, nice hands and an elegant posture! What attracted me the most, though, were his beauti
ful eyes, crystal blue, warm in a way but hypnotizing like hell. Somehow, the expression in his eyes seemed familiar to me. Who was he?

  The alarm rang and I woke up, feeling perfect. The room was still dark and silent. I was alone in bed. Okay, I didn’t have the feeling that I had slept for too long, but at least I felt good and my head seemed good as well. This was what I wanted most of all. So I stood up, despite the light dizziness, but when I managed to open my eyes properly, I realized that I didn’t recognize the room. This wasn’t my bedroom. How did this happen? I didn’t wake up in my bedroom. It felt really strange. Looking around, I was trying to figure out what was going on. The décor was nice and cozy, but I was so confused as this really wasn’t my bedroom.

  What was going on?

  I kept looking around and I went to the window. To my surprise it wasn’t the usual sight, although it felt known. It was dawn, but the street lights were still on, so I could see a lot of trees, a river and some bicycles parked next to a terrace of what seemed to be a restaurant. Few people were walking, most probably heading to work, although it seemed far too early for this. But bothering about it was the last thing on my mind. It seemed very much like my home city, but I couldn’t think clearly so I wasn’t sure about anything. I was confused and scared at the same time. I sat back in bed trying to think about what was going on. I tried to relax, telling myself that for sure it would be an explanation, which I would soon find.

  I went out of the room and to my left I heard the sound of shower, so somebody was in the apartment. The sound was very clear, so it had to be very near. Out of the bedroom was the anteroom, which didn’t look familiar, either. I stopped in front of the bathroom door. I hesitated for a moment, but then I got the courage and knocked, as I had to know what was happening. There was no answer, but I couldn’t wait anymore, so I decided to go inside. I knocked again and entered without waiting for permission. I had to figure out why I woke up in another bed rather than in the one I had fallen asleep in, so I didn’t care if my action might have seemed intrusive. The water stopped running, the shower cabin’s door opened and somebody got out. It was a young woman.