A Betrayal of The MInd

It was never about the money. This was the secret John would never tell his family. Each day, as a new dawn arrived, John's first action was usually the same as his last action the night before. He would take one last look at his phone. The device lay silent on this particular morning. Not one text or call during the night. Not even one email. John had become so used to waking up with several texts or messages from the night before but now he knew something was different. "Well this stinks.." he muttered to himself. His wife was half awake and was bothered by John speaking out loud. "I'm sorry but I told you what that food does to me." He just shook his head and headed into the shower. "How can that woman eat that crap and then blame it on the food the next morning?" He was more worried than even he would let himself believe. It all started a week ago after the meeting with his media consultant. "What a load of crap! What does a media consultant even do?" These were the questions that were trickling in since that meeting. His company had been making a lot of mistakes since the buyout a year before. "How could they even afford a media consultant?" He was low on the totem pole as the old ethnically perverse saying goes. He had only been with the company for five years while some partners had been with the company longer than he'd been alive. So who was he to complain about having a media consultant. "I'm never even on tv." he thought. As he made his way downtown that morning that nagging feeling was still lingering around in the back of his head. "Obviously they feel I need some kind of management of my resources but a media consultant?" Somehow he felt there was more to this than even he was willing to believe. As he entered the office he noticed a few unfamiliar faces as he made his way back to his office. "Where's Terry this morning?" he asked Jenny. His receptionist looked around and shrugged her shoulders. Why he kept her as his receptionist was another one of those questions he was constantly asking himself. "John, do you have those quarterly reports Hempshaw was asking us for Friday?" His closest friend and partner, Tony, had just snuck up on him again and the question took him by surprise. He was in no mood for reports or even questions about reports on this morning. Spinning around and almost yelling, John began the tirade into his best friend. "A text? Couldn't you send me a text with such a question? Am I here for your convenience, Tony or do I have my own work to do?" This was not like John but this phone thing was really getting to him. "I did send you a text. In fact, I sent several last night but I thought you didn't want to be bothered so I just figured .." Now he was really getting worried. Tony had always sent him texts with questions about the quarterly's. In fact, Tony sent him texts about everything. "Hey John, just ate the best burger ever. Wish you would have done lunch." or "The sink's not working in the men's room again and we're out of hand soap in the break room. What should I do?" or "Terry's kinda sweet, don't you think?" In fact, Tony had a habit of texting at the most inconvenient moments. But that's what was really bothering him. Even though the messages were not important or of little substance he had gotten used to Tony's texts every ten minutes or so. And that's what he was noticing the most. "Have you been having problems with your phone lately?" he asked. "No John. I thought you might be having problems with yours 'cause you don't seem to answer me much." John could see the hurt in Tony's eyes but there was not much he could do about that right now. Jenny, who had been awake during the whole texting questioning, decided to chime in. "I've sent you texts too John but I never get a reply. I just thought the same as Tony. I just didn't think you wanted to be bothered." "This is crazy.", John muttered to himself and closed his door as he went into his office. So, it was his phone. At least that was one question answered. His first call this morning would be to this new wonder boy, the media consultant. He sat down and dialed the number from memory. "Hello, Lance here." John hated that name. "Yeah, Lance, this is John at Studio 12. Do you know why my phone's been acting haywire these past few days?" "Well, we did switch companies. Have you activated your new phone?" "What freakin' new phone?" John was already exhausted and it wasn't even 10 o'clock yet. "The new phone sitting on your desk. I left it there for you a couple of days ago with a note to activate it. Didn't you see the note?" Silence was all John could give Lance as an answer. As he looked up he noticed the new phone sitting on the desk in the office next to his. And he noticed the unfamiliar pictures hanging on the walls. It was around this time that Jim had walked in and was just staring at him. As John's eyes locked with Jim's he knew that he was in the wrong office. Again. And this had happened a few times last week as well. "Sorry, Jim" was the most he could muster at the moment. "Go to hell" was the quick response Jim gave back. "Well, I guess I deserved that one." John thought to himself. "What's going on with me? Am I going crazy?" Jenny looked at John as he was standing in front of her desk. "I really can't answer that for you sir.", Jenny answered. Now a wave of hysteria was engulfing him as he thought of his mother and the years he spent watching her mind slowly lose touch with reality. "This can't be happening to me." John thought. As Tony looked up from his desk he looked surprised to hear John and even more surprised to see him standing in front of him. "What's happening to you John?" How John even got into Tony's office was another question John couldn't afford to answer. An uncomfortable silence fell between the two. As John was grasping for reality he asked the one question he knew which might resolve some of the other questions. "What do you think of this new media consultant? Why do we even need a media consultant?" Tony had watched John through the years as he struggled with his mother's issues and now felt uneasy about John's erratic behavior during the past week. "What consultant John? I'm not sure who you're talking about?" John was getting upset with Tony but he felt ashamed for even feeling that way. "The freakin' consultant Jacob felt we all needed for 'enhancement of our job performance'?" John was screaming now but he really knew it was more from fear than anything. "Just calm down John. Can I call this consultant and have him come down? Maybe he can solve this mystery." Now John was screaming inside but afraid to let Tony know. "Yeah. Here's his number." John quickly scribbled it out on a piece of paper. Tony, with a feeling of trepidation, put the phone on speaker mode and called the number. The line rang for a few rings and an older man answered. "Hello? Can I help you?" Tony looked at John then asked the man on the phone "Who am I speaking with please?" "This is Doctor Nelson. Who do I have the pleasure of speaking with?" John couldn't stand anymore and he quietly sat down in the chair across from Tony. "This is Tony Simmons. I'm a friend of John's. He was telling me about the consulting you were doing for us." "Oh, yes. I'm quite excited to be in contact again with John. I was worried for the longest time and then I got a call from him a couple of weeks ago. He was afraid of some things that he had been noticing about himself but I'm really not at liberty to discuss them with anyone. Did you have some concerns about him?" "No Doctor. I apologize for bothering you. There was just a little confusion of my part and John was just assuring me that he was getting help. Like I said, it's no big deal. Nothing to worry about." For a moment, Tony just looked at John and a wave of compassion swept over him. "Well, if you have any questions or see any signs that worry you don't hesitate to call. I can't guarantee I'll discuss everything but I will do my best." "Yes, thank you Doctor. I will." As Tony hung up the phone he wasn't really sure what to say to John. And John wasn't really sure what to say to Tony. But one thing both men knew. This was only the beginning. My name is Rueuhy and I approve this blog.