MAGNETIC REVERIE Page 2

  “Hey, can I get some privacy here?” I heard her voice, though it was not disappointed at the disturbance.

  If it were me, I was sure I would have freaked out seeing a stranger in my bathroom. But she seemed cool. So it was really strange that she didn’t seem to bother much, and she didn’t look at all surprised to see me. I tried not to look at her naked body, which by the way seemed really pretty. She had to be approximately my age. She smiled nicely, while wiping her hair and wished me good morning. I must have looked really surprised, because she stopped and looked at me. “Are you okay?”

  “Depends what you think okay is!” I said.

  “You probably had a really bad dream, but don’t worry dear, it was just a dream. I will finish soon, so I will give you some space in here. A refreshing morning shower will do you good. By the way, Lana, do you have any plans this afternoon? Or can we go see that movie we were talking about?”

  She knew my name! This couldn’t be true. What was going on with me?

  “Who are you?” I asked.

  “Are we playing that game again?” she asked me with a nice smile. “Lana, sorry to disappoint you, but I really am in a hurry, so I will have to take a rain check on this. We can play later this evening, if you don’t mind!”

  “What game? I really mean it, who are you and why am I here?” I must have looked like I had really freaked out, and for a moment, she looked at me seriously. But then, she gave me another nice smile and kissed me on my cheek and said “Really babe, as much as I appreciate your playful morning mood, I really don’t have time now. I have a big job interview today, remember?”

  I was really confused and couldn’t say a word anymore. She went out, and I listened to her advice. I undressed and entered the cabin. It was a cozy girlish shower and the water felt pleasant on my skin. I must have been there for a really long time, trying to figure out what was going on. It’s true that I had taken lots of different pills the other day. But I couldn’t be hallucinating this badly! Then, it came to my mind that this was a dream, so I started to pinch myself.

  Nothing… I was still in the shower.

  The water was getting cold, so I had to get out. I grabbed a towel. The soft material felt nice on my skin. Whoever had bought this towel really knew how to pick the right thing. I started to look around the bathroom. I found a range of girly stuff that one might need. Some of them were like the things I had in my own bathroom, even one of the perfumes that I used to wear. A day cream called Visionnaire from Lancôme was the same. This made me incredibly happy. It was the first thing I could recognize, so I started to get hope. I opened the jar and before taking some of the cream, I realized that there wasn’t much left inside. It couldn’t be possible, as I had bought the cream just a few days ago.

  What was going on?

  The only thing that gave me hope for a minute, brought in disappointment a few minutes later. Of course, I wasn’t thinking about who had used my cream, but I was brought back to reality: I woke up in an unknown place which seemed that I was sharing it with someone that knew me, but I didn’t know her. Finding products that were at my place as well didn’t mean anything. Suddenly, I heard the sound of a door opening and closing. I decided to get out of the bathroom. I would get to the bottom of this, I was sure. I had to.

  Outside the bathroom, there was a small lobby that got in one way to the bedroom and in the other way, to the living room. Of course, there was nothing I could recognize. On the right side of the living room, it was a small but modern kitchen with an island that was placed in between. Some nice bar chairs placed next to the kitchen island seemed inviting. Whoever decorated this apartment had really good taste. I might not have been the best at decorating, but I didn’t have a problem admitting it when I noticed good work.

  I could not believe myself. How could I lose time admiring furniture when I simply couldn’t figure out where I was?

  I needed coffee to wake me up fully. Just then, I spotted a coffee machine immediately. Great! At least I could have coffee first and then continued searching for explanations. There was no problem figuring out how to use the coffee device, so in a few minutes, I sat by the bar, enjoying my drink and looking around. I was hoping to get a sign, anything that could explain what was going on. I noticed a post-it on the fridge that said: “I didn’t want to disturb you in the bathroom, as I was in a hurry, so talk to you later babe!”

  Was this note for me? It seemed so. Okay, so this girl knew me. She knew my name. She was calling me babe, and she didn’t seem surprised at all that it was me who had showed up in the bathroom. Who was she? I couldn’t recall seeing her before this. As much as I managed to look at her, she seemed very attractive. She was not a classical beauty, but she had that something one couldn’t see in any other. Her blue eyes were so beautiful, familiar in a way as it seemed like I had seen them before, but didn’t have a clue.

  So were we roommates? Okay, she was going for a job interview and counted on us spending the evening together. But what would I do? I would definitely have to go to work. If I would wake up in the city I lived in, that is. As a first step, I decided to look around a little, maybe to get to know more about the woman I had met just an hour ago. I noticed a bookshelf where I could see many classics, fashion and beauty magazines and a few dictionaries. So far, this didn’t bring me anything as this could be quite typical for a girl’s apartment. I noticed a few photo frames on the wall. In one of them, I saw two cute little toddlers, a girl and a boy, but I didn’t know what I had to do with all this. None of them seemed familiar to me. In one photo, there was just a little girl. She seemed to look like my new roommate. But I wasn’t very sure. Some photos were just nice pictures of nature.

  And yes, somehow, I was afraid of this. But there it was, a picture of two of us together, smiling and happy, with some kind of a bridge and the sea behind us. Yes, we seemed really happy in that picture. When was it taken? I looked pretty much as I did now, so it must have been taken only a short while ago. What was going on?

  I looked again at the window. I was all the more convinced that it was my hometown. If my parents were not abroad, I could have had the chance to pay them a visit. I started to feel stupid about getting this idea as none of this was real. Just as the possibility of visiting my parents was not real.

  I was dreaming, for sure.

  So if this was a dream, why didn’t I let myself go with the flow and stop wondering? But if it really was a dream, why was I wondering as much if it’s a dream? Usually, we might perceive a dream as reality, and when we wake up, we realize we were dreaming. Now, it was different. Still, as I had no other explanation, I had to tell myself that it was just an unusual dream. And moreover, if this was a dream, it meant that I didn’t have to bother where I was, whom I was living with and how I landed up there. I could just enjoy it and see where it would take me until the time I woke up.

  I noticed a CD player and pressed play. A CD was already inside and the music seemed to be pleasant. I made myself another coffee and started to read the magazines. On one page, my attention was taken by a nice-looking young man. His face seemed familiar. Exactly! It was the same picture I had seen in the magazine that I was reading last night before I fell asleep. I started to kiss the picture and then jumped around like a little girl. This was proof to me that it was just a dream. As I said, the guy really attracted my attention. So, this was why I found a way to find him in my dream, too. I could continue enjoying now.

  I continued reading the magazine I found on the shelf while drinking coffee. Music was nice. It felt cozy and everything seemed fine. I started to feel hungry and although I wasn’t in the mood to prepare anything, I had to look around to see what I could eat. I opened the fridge and found some orange juice and thought that it would do for the moment. I went back to the living area, lying on the couch, and despite the two coffees, I fell asleep.

  Chapter 2

  ANNIVERSARY

  Our special day is here again. There is nothing on this plane
t that can be so sweet and precious as the love you’ve given me.

  The nice sounds from my alarm clock woke me up. I was so happy that I managed to find a ring tone that was a pleasure to wake up to every morning. I looked around and saw that everything was familiar. I was in my bedroom. Everything from before was just a dream! All the confusion went away and my mind was peaceful again.

  I was so happy that all the uncertainty had gone as all the details from my dream seemed so real. I actually didn’t remember ever dreaming so intensely, so thoroughly. So, I stayed in bed for a little while, going through what was actually a dream. At the end, I had to stand up. I went to the bathroom and prepared to go to work. It felt so good not to have the feelings that I had in the dream. After I finished my morning ritual in the bathroom, I went to the kitchen.

  “Good morning, honey!” said my husband. “Good morning!” I answered in a cheerful tone. “Yummy! It looks great! I am sure it’s tasty as usual. I told you, that you might have missed the career, but at least I have the honor of tasting your cooking!” I kissed him, and he gave me a nice smile while arranging the last details of our breakfast. I got off bed a little late that morning. I had to eat fast and decided to drink some coffee at work. I was a coffee lover, but espresso was my poison, it is just that I was very picky when it came to flavors, and it was rare that I could find something that satisfied my taste completely. But I can try to survive one day with Starbucks coffee.

  Being late, I didn’t want to start telling him about my dream, as I usually would. I thought I would tell him about it in the evening if I would still remember it as I had the habit and needed to talk to him about everything.

  We went to the parking lot together, and got into the car, Greg’s Hyundai Genesis Coupe, that my husband was so proud of. We drove in silence till we reached my workplace. Well, it wasn’t complete silence as the radio was on. But this morning, I was so preoccupied with my thoughts, that I hadn’t even realized when we had reached the place that I worked at.

  We kissed each other goodbye and wished each other a good day. I walked out of the car and went into the building. It was the first time that I hadn’t turned and waved Greg goodbye, but I realized this just when I was in the elevator. Okay, this wasn’t such a big deal, but I was somehow used to our little rituals, gestures of affection and this bothered me a bit. Hopefully, he hadn’t noticed it.

  I hadn’t liked my job too much, lately. It was my first job. In the beginning, I was happy to have it, to be employed and to earn my own money and contribute to our family budget. As I came from Slovenia, with no work experience at all, I considered that getting a job soon after my arrival was a huge success. At that specific point I just wanted to have a job, no particular aspirations. I was prepared to learn and do anything, just to prove myself, but with time, things had changed. I was an analytical type of person, so when things weren’t logical, nothing made sense to me. I had even studied mathematics, and being hard to find a job as a teacher at the same time, doubting my capability to be authoritative enough over pupils, I searched for something outside the teaching field. I didn’t dislike my job entirely, but somehow, my boss started to be really annoying, most of the time coming up with absurd wishes and ideas. Well, I was aware it wasn’t a perfect world. Most probably, it was just me adjusting to my work in a team, facing a boss, and I was sure it could be the same everywhere. It was also my first job so it might be that I didn’t have a clear picture about it. I was an eternal optimist, nevertheless, hoping to find a better opportunity. I was a Sales Analyst, and due to my background, this was actually something appropriate, dealing with figures, but it felt like I was stagnating. I didn’t see much of a future for myself in this company. So, I started to think more and more about getting another job, following available openings regularly. Until I could make the change, I made a pact with myself to control my dissatisfaction, to keep calm and not let that influence the results of my work or the quality of my life. Usually, time flew, as there was always so much to do and such short deadlines were a constant source of pressure. Sometimes, I was forced to skip lunch.

  But not today.

  Today, I couldn’t wait for lunch, so I could tell my best friend about my dream. It was still vivid in my head. I really felt the need to share it with her.

  I had known Erica for almost three years. We had met in the gym shortly after I arrived at the US and we became very good friends. Together, we always had so much to laugh. We were always there for each other also when serious things were happening. Few months ago, she changed her job. Now, she worked in the same building as I did. This was really great. So, when we didn’t have time to meet outside of work hours, at least we got the chance to chat during lunch. Well, this of course, was when she was not traveling. She was an interior designer and often, she was away from the office building. As my luck would have it, she was in office today.

  Like a Swiss watch, the moment it was lunch time, I went out of my cabin and headed to the cafeteria. I noticed Erica from a distance and waved at her. I was happy she wasn’t late this time. Aside of her, I didn’t have many friends of my own in the US. Not that I wasn’t social, but my husband had a rather prominent and important place in my life. I enjoyed spending time with him a lot and hung out mostly with his friends. When I wanted some girl talk, Erica was always the first choice. In her company, I felt really good all the time. She had two children, so her private time was limited. Nevertheless, I couldn’t find anyone as similar to her among my other friends.

  I was so happy when Erica told me that her company was shifting its office into the building that I worked in. Yes, it was quite a coincidence and a really pleasant one at that – it gave us the chance to see each other often, even if for a limited time. I couldn’t stand fake and mediocre people and the moment somebody was failing me, it was hard to forgive and forget. So, most times, I moved on and stopped all contact with that person. It didn’t bother me. I know I was exclusive but I chose quality over quantity as I didn’t want to use my energy on people that didn’t deserve it.

  Thank God I had Erica! I couldn’t say all this to my husband or any of my other friends. I could tell her anything, and I think she felt the same. We didn’t have secrets. At the same time, we were not judgmental towards each other. She knew I would support her in everything, unless it was immoral or was something that could put her life or health in danger. I think she appreciated that.

  I took a seat in front of her at our usual table and placed my tray with lunch. Perhaps the expression on my face made her think I had something special to tell her.

  “Hello Lana! I am glad to see you so happy to see me! But I think the reason is that you can’t wait to share something really interesting with me!” I couldn’t help but keep my smile as it was.

  She knew me very well. There was no reason for me to hide anything from her. There was no way I could, either. “Yes dear, you know I am always happy to see you, but I also need to share what happened to me!”

  “You must do that. Fast! I am curious already!”

  I was trying to choose my words and make my dream short enough to fit in the lunch time.

  “Are you pregnant? Tell me, tell me, and don’t keep me so much in suspense. You know that I cannot wait for time to come when our kids can play together!” She looked at me with a very happy face. Suddenly, I felt sad and saw that she was sorry for it, especially as we had agreed that for a while, we weren’t going to talk about this subject.

  “No! I wish it was that! Actually, it is something very silly, I wanted to tell you about a dream I had last night.”

  “Go ahead, dear! Nothing you have to say is going to be boring for me. I am sure you had quite a dream. I am all ears!” Seeing her taking the listening position, I started to tell her about the details from my dream, which I could still remember very well, including the guy from the magazine.

  “Wow, what a dream you had! I am sure there is a good explanation for everything. Here is what I think. You w
ant to have a more girlish bathroom and you should solve this immediately with Greg. He loves you, and he will listen to you, I am sure. You would like to be a student again and live with a roommate, although I don’t know why I wasn’t in your dream!” She put up an expression of fake disappointment, which made me laugh. “But for sure you can count on me if you decide to redecorate your bathroom, even if this means that Greg won’t like me anymore!” She was really serious about it. “And you miss your hometown and probably your parents too and you have forgotten how hot your husband is. You started looking at other men, shame on you!”

  This made us laugh. “But I can’t explain the meaning of the girl. I have known you for almost three years. Despite the fact that I thought you told me everything from your past, there seems to be some girl that you have fancied, and now she has appeared in your dreams.”

  “Well, Dr. Freud, thank you for your opinion! I wasn’t thinking so far about the meaning of all the details, but now, it became clearer to me. And no, as far as I can remember, I have never fancied any girl. This part confuses me, too. But still, I see things clearly now, with your help. Next time I dream of something similar, I will call you the moment I wake up or better still, I will call you while I am dreaming, so that I can stop wondering what is going on!”

  “You do that!” We smiled. By then, lunch had ended. I felt that my dream wasn’t such a big deal, after all.

  It was just a dream, like many other dreams. And it probably didn’t have any meaning. It would be forgotten by tomorrow. I felt a bit silly. I used it as a subject for our lunch break. I didn’t get to find out anything new about Erica. I told myself that I would surely make tomorrow’s lunch break just about her. She deserved it.