Image Carriers. Genel Anthony
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so he did not ask her if she wanted to be involved in his new group.
Kim was a very anxious and nervous person and always expected the worse to happen. She used to report horrible visions to Adam about dead people just standing there watching her; they were always associated with chaos, upheaval and mayhem. She also spoke about the faceless Big Four. She never went into much detail about this topic, refusing to elaborate further. These visions scared Kim immensely, as her images repeatedly showed her the catastrophic outcome of what is still to come.
Since seeing Adam for counselling, she has calmed down a great deal, as she gained valuable strategies to manage her anxiety, confused visions and scary prophesied events.
Kim is a practical, middle-aged divorced fifty-something and a very hush-hush lady. She had recently decided to focus on herself and on achieving inner happiness. She has adult children and both are getting on with their lives. Kim calls a spade a spade and believes she has her feet planted firmly on the ground. Her motto in life is: what goes around comes around.
She also believes that her images are private and for no one to meddle with. Kim always made sure that her visits with Adam were about everyday issues, and that she stayed clear away from the topic of her images or other paranormal phenomena. Kim was currently heading back to the Ashram. She was staying there and doing voluntary work in their kitchen.
Adam sat back in his chair contemplating Kim’s stance on all of this and wondered if she was right. Perhaps these things should be left alone. The sound of his phone buzzing shook him out of his reveries. It was Carol.
“Adam, are you free?” She asked. “You are not going to believe this!” Carol came quickly into his office with her notepad.
“Three calls have come in already since your radio debut.” She continued, walking closer to his desk and looking frazzled. “These two are cranks, I think. They sounded like students, and I could hear laughing in the background, but I took their details anyway.” She moved closer to Adam. “Both phone numbers are just ringing out. I tried it already. But this one, well, it sounds legitimate…” She paused and looked at Adam for a reaction, before taking in a deep breath, and exhaling quite loudly.
“Did you ring the number?” Adam asked, feeling semi excited at the news and also concerned about Carol’s behaviour.
“Yes, I did,” Carol said, handing Adam the phone messages.
“And what happened?”
“Well, he answered. It was that weird old guy from before. That Garrett guy. He actually has the audacity to ring back, but this time I made him leave his phone number!” Carol said, looking more relaxed now. “And do you know what he said?” She waited for Adam to respond, but Adam just observed her, expecting that she was going to finish her sentence anyway. And she did. “He said that he needs to talk to you urgently and that you need to call him back ASAP.” Carol now looked puzzled. “Do you think he may be crazy,” she said, before standing back, breathing calmly again, looking at Adam.
Carol sometimes got like this, getting herself all worked up, then pulling herself back together. Adam was used to her little outbursts and so was she with Adam. Carol remembered one day when she brought in white lilies for the office and Adam lost his composure, causing Carol to rush out the office with lilies in hand.
Adam decided to ring Mr Garrett then and there and once again, get to the bottom of his calls. The phone rang. Adam listened in anticipation as the ringing clicked off, and a familiar male’s voice answered.
“Hello, may I speak with Thomas Garrett, please,” Adam asked.
“Thomas speaking,” the voice responded softly.
“Hello Thomas, this is Adam Green returning your call. You called earlier in regards to wanting to talk to me urgently?”
“Oh yes,” his voice sparkled into action. “Yes, yes, but call me Tom. Thank you for returning my call.” Tom spoke in a friendly manner. “Look, Adam, is it perhaps possible for us to meet, perhaps this time over a coffee or something?” But before Adam could respond, Tom continued. “And I want to apologise for our last visit. I think we may have gotten off on the wrong foot?” Adam heard him chuckle to himself.
“May I ask what this is all about?” Adam interceded.
“Oh yes, sorry. Don’t really like getting into these things on the phone, you know…”
There was a pause. Adam wasn’t sure if he was still continuing his conversation or if it was his turn to talk. Either way, Adam didn’t say anything. He waited for Tom to continue the conversation as he collected his thoughts, but there was silence on the other end. “Are you there?” Adam finally spoke.
“Should we say I come there or you are quite welcome to come to my place?” Tom continued, not really answering Adam’s question.
The phone rang out in reception so Carol had to leave Adam’s office as she stood listening to Adam’s call with Mr Garrett. She was expecting Adam to be firm with the man, but from the sounds of it, they were having a normal conversation. She returned after a short while with more details of people ringing through, leaving messages about the advertisement. They were reporting to Carol their personal experiences about their paranormal happenings and spoke about having spooky relatives that did spooky things. By the end of the day, Carol counted twenty-two people, excluding Tom, who had called in with various stories. Many were so-called doomsday prophets, and others reported that they were Cleopatra of ancient Egypt and other well-known personalities from the past. There were even people claiming to see dead people.
Adam’s radio debut not only advertised what he was trying to achieve, but also brought out many crazy and bizarre people, many of whom needed treatment. He also promised that he would give Carol a bonus at the end of the month, as she was now being bombarded with crank calls from radio stations and media outlets wanting to investigate Adam’s work.
Adam was going to take a well-deserved week off the following month, but because of all the activity and mayhem around his advertisement, he decided to take his leave earlier than expected, deciding to finish up at the end of the week.
Meanwhile, some disgruntled reporters remembered Adam from his NO People article from years back, and they were now looking for a quick scoop to further tarnish his reputation after hearing him on the radio. Moreover, Carol was happy to fight and go on protecting the office and its clients, but Adam thought it would be in her best interest to have some time off as well, and when she accepted, he gave the order to reschedule clients and prepare the office for a week’s closure.
Adam’s reputation and good name made him even more of a target and that is why he believed the media outlets targeted his practice. If he was just some nobody down the road, the media wouldn’t pay any attention to him. But a reputable consultant who also worked with high-profile people, politicians and celebrities was an attractive story just waiting to be exploited. Hence, any opportunity to ridicule Adam and his work.
Carol Sharp has worked for Adam for nearly five years. He was invited to her forty-ninth birthday party earlier in the year, celebrated at a local tavern. It was a small gathering consisting of her new male partner, who she says is only a friend, and her seventeen-year-old daughter and her new boyfriend. Carol was beaming and looked very happy and content at her birthday dinner. She then made an unexpected toast, saying that the most important people in her life were sitting around the table. Adam found the whole experience humbling, and he thought he had better go home when Carol started dancing, shaking her hips in a spasmodic way, while ordering even more alcohol.
Since going to her forty-ninth birthday party, Adam noticed that they had become closer in the office, with Carol seeming to take on more responsibility and a professionally protective role over him and the practice in general. It was like something happened, and her job was no longer just a job, but something more. It was like she was now involved in a family business.
That evening when Adam arrived home and told his young friend about his radio debut, Joey couldn’t resist and broke out into a loud laugh. He found the whole thing amusing. He wished he had