Hidden in Dreams by Davis Bunn Read Free Book Online Page B

side as he asked, “Would you care to freshen up?”
    “No, thank you. Let’s get started.”
    “What about a coffee? Or tea, perhaps. I could arrange sandwiches, a light lunch?”
    “Later, perhaps.” She pointed at the chair beside her. “Sit. Please.”
    He launched into his apology before planting himself in the seat. “I can’t tell you how sorry I am for what I said at our debate. In light of present events, I feel like such a total fool.”
    “I appreciate your comments, Dr. Rawlings—”
    “Please, call me Jacob.”
    “But words are cheap.” Elena had spent the entire journey up deciding upon what she was about to say. “I was publicly flayed by your hand. Your scorn still burns.”
    Their antagonism had not started with the unexpected debate. Jacob Rawlings had been one of her book’s most vociferous critics. He had written a scathing review carried by two keyjournals, one in the US and the other in England. He had then publicly lambasted her at a professional conference, one that she thankfully had not attended. She only learned about it following the Emory debate. She had made a point of not paying attention to such things, especially since Vicki had sheltered her from most negative publicity. Then had come the Emory debacle. Elena considered it her own fault for not having been better prepared, as Jacob certainly had been. Even so, the memories still burned.
    Elena went on, “I want three things. First, you will write a letter to be published in the next issue of Psychology Today, expressing your deep regret for your previous stand. And that in light of new evidence, you have decided to retract your statements and come fully around to my perspective on dream analysis.”
    Jacob Rawlings took this in. The retraction would be a major event among her professional colleagues. That spring he had been appointed to the journal’s editorial board. Even so, he slowly nodded. “Agreed.”
    “Second, you will arrange a public forum, preferably at Emory but another major assembly will do. You will renounce your former position. You will apologize to me publicly. And then we will engage not in a debate but in a dialogue. On where dream analysis should go next, and how it can be fit into the mainstream of psychological study.”
    She saw the subtle shudder, saw him repress it. And found herself reluctantly admiring the inner resolve this represented. Jacob nodded again. “And third?”
    “You will come up with something on your own. A gesture of your own making.”
    She almost regretted this third idea. It sounded almost petty as she spoke the words. She was about to tell him to forget it, when he said thoughtfully, “I was invited to speak at the national convocation of behaviorists. I had decided to turn it down. I willaccept, and I will use the platform to discuss your concepts in a positive light.”
    It was Elena’s turn to feel pushed back into her chair. Behaviorists were the most rigid of all psychologists. Jacob had started his career, done his initial studies, at a university dedicated to behaviorism and the determination to make psychology a science. Which meant stripping down everything about the mental process into tightly measurable phenomena. There were a multitude of problems with this. Behaviorists shunned anything to do with emotions. One of their principal tenets held that virtually all human behavior was based upon genetic makeup and measurable physical and environmental factors. Past traumatic experiences or emotional states were considered both superficial and subject to change, and so should be discounted. Dreams were an anathema to behaviorists. For one of their own, risen to the ranks of national stardom, to discuss dream analysis at their national gathering would have the impact of a hydrogen bomb.
    Elena said softly, “Thank you, Jacob.”
    His smile carried genuine relief. “Does this mean we can now move on?”
    “Yes.” She wished she had the ability just then to return