Every other day I would visit my friend Matt after work. Neither of us really had friends past each other, and it was difficult finding new ones. So we tried to see each other fairly often, and then the other days we could spend doing whatever. I imagine he might spend it as I do: some nice alone time. I'm not partial to making new friends honestly, so I was fine with just Matt. Besides, he was even newer to the city than I was, so he needed me more than ever.
I'm still not sure why he decided Seattle was the right move for him. I guess its good for his job market, but damn is it expensive to live here. And well, he and I weren't exactly the closest in our friends group before he came. We've gotten a bit closer since we started this every other day tradition of ours about 2 weeks ago, but still.
Tonight it was at my apartment, my turn to cook and his turn to choose a movie. I went with a simple baked chicken and green beans recipe I'd learned from a recipe book, nothing that was difficult or took too long. He stayed on the couch during it, and seemed almost kind of on edge about something. If it wasn't the movie he picked out, I don't know what else it could be.
The food had just come out the oven, and I walked over to let him know it was ready. "Hey, food's just about ready. Gotta let it cool and stuff first.... hey, is something wrong?"
Matt looked up at me with that a slightly surprised look. "Oh me? No, not at all. Really, I'm just fine. I've just been thinking, is all."
I raised my eyebrow, crossed my arms and leaned against the wall. "About what?" I said.
Ge smiled and turned towards me from where he sat. "Well.. about you. You just seem a little.. stressed, nowadays. And I was wondering if I could help with that."
I chuckled and let go of my intensity. "Yeah? I look stressed to you? I mean who isn't, man? But really, I don't think it's any worse than usual."
Matt shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe its nothing. But I was thinking maybe I could show you a way to relax and feel less stressed in general."
I rolled my eyes as I got up off the wall and let my arms hang down. "Fine, I'll bite. But wait til after dinner. I'm starving, dude."
We ate and discussed what kind of movie to watch. Near the end of the meal, he began to talk about how I looked stressed again. I got almost a little aggravated this time as he mentioned it. "Okay look man, I really don't feel any worse off than I usually am. But if I do whatever the thing is you're asking about, will you stop talking about it? You're gonna get on my nerves."
He nodded and smiled. "Sounds like a deal to me. Let's head to the couch." We entered into the living room and sat down on my couch, facing each other. "I just need you to take a deep breath and relax." Matt pulled out a pocket watch from his pocket, untangling the chain in his hands.
I looked at it questioningly. "Hypnosis? Gonna make me cluck like a chicken or something?"
He giggled a bit. "Not quite. Just trust me on this one. It'll be a real game changer for you." I nodded and took a deep breath. He smiled and brought his right hand up, dangling the watch down in front of me. "Follow the pocket watch with your eyes, please." He began to swing it from side to side.
Well this was some classic stuff right here. I sometimes forget that he was a psychology major, so it makes sense he knows about stuff like this. Why I apparently needed to experience it? Couldn't tell you. And it was tiring to just keep watching it move. My eyes were getting tired. Is that really all there is to it? Just my eyes getting tired of moving? This stuff is so silly.
