Julianne tips up her cup, drinking the last mouthful of coffee, then scoops froth in figure-of-eight-movements from around the sides with her teaspoon, making it worth the five dollars fifty she’d paid for her large mocha. She stares into her empty cup. ‘This cup is the same size as a medium-sized cup at the other café, and it’s only four dollars fifty. I could’ve saved myself a dollar if we’d gone there.’
Kate gapes at her friend, incredulous. ‘You’re on a six-figure salary and you’re worried about a dollar?’
Julianne puts on a wounded face. ‘Saving up for a house.’
‘I’ll buy you a house if you shout me coffees for the rest of my life.’
‘You’re on. Wait. You’re only on a five-figure salary. How’re you going to pay for it?’
‘Sleep with the real estate agent. And the previous owner. And the lawyer,’ Kate says with a grin, and raises her eyebrows at Julianne.
Julianne fires back. ‘Even if they’re all shes?’
Kate pretends to consider this. ‘Depends on the house.’
Julianne scrunches up her serviette and tosses it, aiming at Kate’s face. ‘You’re supposed to be telling me all about your ventures.’
Kate sits back in her chair and crosses her arms in a playful manner. ‘I don’t know if I want to tell you about my ventures.’
‘Why not?’
‘Because you won’t believe what I tell you. You’ll just pooh-pooh it.’
‘No I won’t.’
‘Yes, you will.’
‘Try me.’ Julianne beckons the waiter over for another round of coffee. ‘On me,’ she says.
‘Wow, another coffee? You’re pushing the boat out,’ Kate teases.
She gives a brief summary of her three-ancient lifetimes, skipping the bits she intends to keep to herself, like being forced to set fire to a shack full of people. The boy’s face flashes before her, which gives her a start. Julianne is distracted by a text and misses seeing her flinch.
Kate takes a deep breath and relaxes. She toys with her teaspoon, turning over the creamy froth as though she is carefully folding egg mixture into a bowl of dry ingredients. ‘I’m learning a lot about myself.’
‘Damn,’ Julianne interrupts, picking up her purse. ‘My secretary’s just reminded me I have an appointment with a property developer in fifteen minutes. Sorry hon, I’m absolutely fascinated by what you’re telling me, I am. Same time here next week?’
‘Sure.’ Kate returns Julianne’s wave as she rushes off, and finishes her coffee. She is quietly pleased. At first she couldn’t wait to tell Julianne everything, but after her last regression Kate has been feeling overwhelmed. She is finding it a lot to take on board let alone having to go over every detail with someone, even if it is with her best friend. She is learning a lot about herself, but is still confused about the whole life and reincarnation thing.
◊.◊.◊
The cursor hovers over the ‘BOOK NOW’ button for the meditation and past life hypnotherapy retreat package. At nearly a thousand dollars for the weekend escape it is an outrageous expense, and Kate is appalled at herself for thinking about being so self-indulgent that she would actually attend one of these events.
Without hesitation, she clicks the button and enters her credit card details.
◊.◊.◊
The psychotherapist, who has a voice like velvet, sits in a chair and holds a microphone. ‘At first, focus on your breathing, your breath, let it be nice and deep and even, relaxed yoga breathing. This is the way within. With each breath, let yourself go deeper and deeper and deeper into a relaxed, serene, tranquil state.’ Kate has already fallen into a deep trance, ahead of most of the other attendees.
While the therapist leads everyone into a beautiful garden, his voice is interrupted by Kate’s Russian Italian gentleman friend slash discarnate entity slash grandfatherly teacher. Kate jumps as he comes through in a loud and clear, almost booming voice.
‘You are all part of one supreme, primary-energy gestalt. All human beings, all creatures, all plant and sea life comprise atoms and molecules, each with their own structure and consciousness. Everything is derived from one psychic, primary-energy gestalt.’
God, Kate thinks knowingly. Obviously.
‘Upon your demise, your physical matter dies, but you will learn that your consciousness lives on. You will possess an expanded consciousness. You will discover that you have lived in the past and will live again, and when you have lived out your succession of physical lives, you will carry on living in other dimensions.’
Something she didn’t know.
‘When you have lived out your succession of physical lives, you will remain in spiritual form in a dimension where time does not exist. This does not mean you are limited to one plane. There are many, many other systems of reality that you will discover.
‘Everything physical and everything non-physical, is part of one all-powerful, psychic, primary-energy gestalt.’
◊.◊.◊
The grandfatherly voice who has just made clear the meaning of life and that God is actually an all-powerful, psychic, primary-energy gestalt, falls quiet and Kate opens her eyes. Everyone else, she observes, is still out to it. She feels special because the unique connection she has with her Italian Russian man only belongs to her.
Then why did I just fork out a thousand dollars? Kate muses. Why do I keep making these expensive and rash decisions? A second later she justifies that it is because she doesn’t have anyone else to spend her money on.
And why shouldn’t I?
The therapist has noticed her and beckons. With his microphone turned off and his voice lowered, he says, ‘I can see by your face that you have connected with a higher being. Would you like to share your experience with the audience at the end of the session?’
A sudden heat sets fire to her face. ‘What?! Oh, no thank you, I’m okay.’
‘Are you sure? This could be a fantastic opportunity for you to overcome your fears, and sharing your experience will be greatly beneficial to others.’
Kate pretends she is considering his suggestion. ‘Let me think on it, please.’
‘Of course,’ the therapist replies, smiling warmly at her.
Kate offers him a half smile and returns to her seat, adamant she is not going to share her Russian Italian man with anyone.
She sneaks out and leaves the retreat that night.
◊.◊.◊
Julianne cancels their arranged coffee date, so Kate has a lie-in, happily ensconced in her thoughts. The flat is still quiet; she is not even sure if Melody is in her room or whether she slept over at her boyfriend’s place again.
After a quick trip to the bathroom, Kate climbs back into bed. She puts on her headphones and plays the meditation audio. Within a minute, she slips into her reverie, and finds herself in Ireland in the year 1147. She is an eight-year-old Irish girl.