Unraveling by Micalea Smeltzer Page A

phone.
    Jared had turned my stomach to knots.
    Rollo whistled. “Jare-bear is calling to make sure you’re home safe? Phew,” he fanned himself. “I really hope he has a sexy gay brother because I think I’m in love.”
    “Rollo!” I laughed.
    Quietly , Rollo said, “You really like him, don’t you?”
    I sighed, and looked out the back window. “I think I do. There’s something different about him. He doesn’t expect anything from me. I don’t feel pressured when I’m around him. I feel… free.”
    “Baby cakes,” Rollo said, “It’s about damn time.”
    I smiled. “Yeah, it is.”
    ~***~
    I settled into the chair in Sharon’s office, as she looked me up and down.
    “How have you been since our last session?” she asked, crossing her legs.
    “Better, a lot better,” I smiled.
    A smile spread across her face. “I’m so happy to hear that. I take it, there haven’t been any more… breakdowns, for lack of a better word?”
    “No, no breakdowns. For the first time in two years, I’m finally starting to feel like my old self. Don’t get me wrong, there’s a long way to go, but I’m finally starting to feel normal again.”
    “You have no idea how happy I am to hear that, Katy,” she scribbled something down on her notepad. “You’re making progress.”
    “I’m trying,” I mumbled.
    “I can see that,” she said. “You look… alive. For so long, you’ve just been this vacant shell, now you have color in your cheeks and you smile more. This is great progress for someone that has been in the emotional state you’ve been in.”
    “Yeah,” I rubbed my hands together. “I just wish the nightmares would go away.”
    “Nightmares?” Sharon questioned. “You’ve never mentioned having nightmares to me.”
    Crap!
    “Oh… uhm… I haven’t said anything to you about them?” I looked anywhere but at her.
    I heard her drop her notepad onto her mahogany desk.
    “Katy, I will never be able to fully help you if you keep things from me,” she leaned closer to me.
    “They’re just nightmares. Everybody has nightmares,” I replied.
    Sharon took a deep breath. “Maybe so… but your nightmares are tied to what happened to you. You need to be more open, Katy. You have to stop internalizing everything.”
    “I just want them to go away and they don’t. Every night, I close my eyes and relive that night. Over and over again,” I spat, tears threatened to burst from my eyes. “Nothing I do, makes it go away.”
    “Tell me about the dreams,” she prompted.
    I took a deep breath . Sharon was really beginning to get on my nerves.
    “Speaking them aloud, only gives them the power to hurt me more,” my voice shook.
    “No,” Sharon raised a pale brow, “it gives you the power to heal.”
    A knock sounded at the door and she held up her finger for me to wait.
    “Yes?” she prompted and the door swung open.
    The receptionist stood there, awkwardly . She shook her head and said, “Mr. Johnson is here. He says it’s an emergency and he needs to see you, now.”
    Sharon sighed.
    “I’m sorry, Katy. We’ll have to pick this up next Tuesday. I need to see him.”
    “Not a problem,” I said, grabbing my purse and slinging it over my shoulder. I was so happy to get out of there and not have to talk about my nightmares. Halfway out the door, I called over my shoulder, “I’ll see you next week!”
    I got in my car and checked my phone.
    I had a missed call from Jared. I rang him back but he didn’t answer. I left him a quick message and then called Rollo.
    “Rollo.” He answered.
    I rolled my eyes. “Want to go get some pizza? I’m in major need of cheese and grease.”
    “Sure,” he said, “Can you pick me up?”
    “Of course. I’ll be there in ten minutes.”
    ~***~
    “This is so delicious,” I moaned. “Seriously, the best pizza I have ever had.”
    Rollo laughed. “Slow down, baby cakes. This isn’t an eating contest.”
    “I’m starving ,” I replied, around a