I usually opted for a ponytail, but today I needed to look professional, so I did my best to smooth it down and tucked it behind my ears. Getting the long, unruly strands to cooperate was a daily challenge. I balanced my mug of coffee on the edge of the pedestal sink, and finger-combed my hair. I reviewed the file Clancy had emailed over and prepared myself for my first meeting with John Doe. “Of course.” Even if I’d had plans, I would cancel them to meet the amnesia subject. I wanted to write about something fresh and cutting edge, not just regurgitate the articles already published in tired old journals. “That sounds promising.” We’d been kicking around the idea of studying the effects of amnesia and its psychological impacts, but the access to subjects was limited. Have they discovered anything else about him?” I asked, anxious to learn all I could. I just wanted to warn you and make sure you understood what you’d be getting into.” “Yeah… You might want to rethink this, Ash.” “He was arrested at the scene of a murder, standing over a man who’d been beaten so badly he had to be identified through dental records.” I picked at my nails and waited for him to continue. “He’s under arrest for a murder he has no recollection of committing.” If that didn’t prove that I’d made something of myself, then nothing ever would. I could already see it – my name and an amnesia study printed in a medical journal. That’s perfect!” I knew this assignment was meant for me. I realized Professor Clancy was still speaking and I listened as he described the man who’d been brought in to Northwestern Memorial Hospital several days before without a single memory. Sometimes I fantasized about what it would be like to have amnesia, to forget all the painful memories from growing up. Ever since I was a girl, I’d been fascinated by amnesia. We’d been brainstorming thesis ideas that would also secure me a grant and allow me to work on getting a paper published in behavioral psychology, which was my field of study. “And based on a patient he’s seeing, I might have a lead on a test subject for your amnesia thesis.” His calls always began this way-no hello, how are you-just straight to the point. Professor Clancy was a legend on campus and in academic circles, and I was lucky to have him as my adviser. I closed my laptop and dialed Professor Clancy’s office number since he could be counted on to be there practically at all hours. Call you tonight.” I hung up without waiting for her response, but could hear her laughter through the line as I ended the call. I needed a connection before I’d get naked and share my body with someone. I just didn’t have time for a relationship and casual sex had never interested me. It was the only action I’d had in two years. I pulled the phone from my ear, cutting off Liz’s rant to read the professionally worded message, inwardly cringing that I’d just been discussing vibrators. It was from Professor Clancy, titled Possible Thesis Topic? The simple satisfactions of working my way through grad school one crappy lecture at a time and an occasional fling with my vibrator kept me content…for the most part, anyway.Ī new email in my inbox caught my attention. ![]() If you asked me, Liz’s sexual needs were off the charts. “I’ll be sure to buy stock in Energizer then,” I teased her back. ![]() It was good to know what she really thought of me. I roughly swallowed my mouthful of coffee. Battery operated boyfriends never let you down, right, Ashlyn?” She chuckled. Despite being a serious graduate student by day, her social life rivaled one of those girls-gone-wild reality shows come night. I wasn’t about to waste my breath explaining this to her for the umpteenth time. “Sure, Liz.” She’d yet to understand that taking a guy home from the bar at two in the morning wouldn’t result in an actual relationship. I choked on my latte, nearly spitting the lukewarm liquid on my computer screen. “I’m done with men,” she declared through the phone. I listened as my best friend, Liz, droned on about her latest fling gone wrong and his deplorable behavior.
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