Chapter 2- A Dream So Familiar

After Natalie has another dream with the same guy as the one before, things get even weirder when something from the dream becomes real

            The glass door opened before me, the small bell connected to the door signaling that we had walked through the door. A smiling waitress greeted us and then whisked us away into another room to our table.

            She came to a stop in front of a booth. Not waiting for anyone else, I slid in the booth and I felt someone slide in next to me. I didn’t even have to look over at him before the butterflies started to float around again. His piercing blue eyes met mine for a brief moment, a tiny glimmer in them before he turned to face forward.

            Across from us a guy and girl about my age sat down. The girl was blonde with blue eyes, but for some reason even though I’ve never met them, she stuck out like I’ve seen her from some place before. She gave me a knowing smile before she turned to face the guy who was sitting next to her.

            They stared into each other’s eyes for a moment before they looked away, her placing her hand on the table and then he covered it with his own. Looking at them I could just tell that they were meant to be. It’s obvious that anyone as happy as them are meant to be together.

            “Yeah, I’ve been trying to get her to go on a date with me for ages. I guess I just finally wore down her defenses,” the guy from my other dream laughed as he put an arm around me.

            I had no clue what was going on or what he was referring to, but that all quickly disappeared from my mind as the weight of his arm on my shoulders sank in. It was so comforting that I wanted to just close my eyes and snuggle right up against him, but since we were in a restaurant it would be quite weird to do that. So instead, I just turned my back a little towards him while scooting closer to get in a better position.

            He must have caught on to what I was trying to do, because he just chuckled before placing a soft kiss on my temple. The blonde was trying to ask me a question, but I couldn’t hear her since my cell phone started to ring.

            I took it out of my purse, trying to silence it but it wouldn’t stop ringing. Instead, the ringtone kept going and as it did it only got louder.

            When I finally was able to shut the ringer off on my phone, my eyes blinked in shock as I wasn’t at the restaurant. I was lying in my bed, holding onto my phone just as I had in the dream while I was trying to turn the alarm on my phone off. I didn’t want to buy an alarm clock so I just used the one that was on my phone.

            Sighing, I sat up in bed while rubbing my eyes. That was the second night in a row I could actually remember my dreams, and what I found even more weird was the fact that the guy was in both of them. Shaking off the fact that it was probably just some weird dream and the fact that he was in it again was purely coincidental.

            As I got out of bed and rubbed the back of my neck to try and relieve it from the stiffness, I jumped when I felt a weird sensation on my back. It was almost as if the guy from my dreams was right there with me, his arm draped around my shoulders like in the dream. I could actually feel the exact spot where his arm had been, and that creeped me out. You shouldn’t be able to feel the effects of something that happens in your dreams.

            “You’re lucky that you can’t read,” I told Munchie as I patted her on the head before she followed me out of my bedroom, “that way you don’t get weird ideas into your head that make you have wacked out dreams.”

            She walked past me, rubbing against my leg before she bounded into the kitchen waiting on me to feed her breakfast. When I walked into the kitchen, I couldn’t help but laugh at her sitting in front of her bowl, her head cocked as she looked at me with pleading eyes. Laughing, I poured her food in her dish before fixing myself some breakfast. I had a doggie door installed in the back of the house so she could come and go as she pleased, and the back yard was fenced in so that she couldn’t run away.

            That’s why I loved living out in the country. I didn’t live too far away from an actual city, but I had enough room in my yard that I could have a fence up to stop her from running away, and then the yard was still pretty big. There was just something about being out in the open that I just couldn’t get enough of.

            When I remembered that party that Ashley was going to take me to tonight, I couldn’t suppress my groan. It was strange, because for some reason I was actually looking forward to going to the party. For some reason I felt as if today was going to be a really strange day.

 

            While I was at work, it seemed as if the time couldn’t pass fast enough. I was currently glancing at my watch every ten minutes.

            “If you don’t stop looking at your watch, I’m going to cut your hand off,” Ashley growled as she walked past me, making her rounds of the store.

            “Sorry Ash, I’m just actually excited about tonight. I want time to go faster so we can get out of here already,” I said with a sigh.

            “You’re actually excited about tonight?” she asked in disbelief, her jaw hanging open as she stopped in her tracks.

            “I know, you’d never expect that from me, would you?” I said while giving a small laugh as she walked up to the counter, her eyes wide as she was still in shock. “I can hardly believe it myself that I’m excited. It’s just… I don’t know, I feel different today as if something important is going to happen.”

            “Aw, my little Nat is growing up!” she exclaimed while wiping a fake tear form her eye.

            “There you are!” exclaimed a perky voice from somewhere off in the store.

            As I turned to see who said that, my expression mirrored the one Ashley had on her face just moments before. Those blue eyes and blonde hair made my jaw drop as walking towards us was the same pretty blonde girl from my dream this morning. It was suffice to say that I was freaked out from seeing her right before my eyes.

            “Hey! Glad to see you found this place today,” Ashley said as she walked over and greeted her. “Natalie, this is Gina, Gina this is Natalie. Gina just moved into my apartment building a couple days ago, so I invited her to come shopping and hang out with us, and then she’s coming to the party too, that way she can meet some new people around here.”

            “Nice to meet you Gina,” I said, still dumbstruck as I stuck out my hand. “You’re so pretty,” I stated, but immediately covered my mouth when I realized I said it out loud.

            She laughed, her eyes wrinkling up as she did so as she flipped the hair out of her face to look at me. “Oh, you’re such a doll. You are just too cute.”

            “Um, thanks,” I stammered, blushing from embarrassment as I busied myself with reorganizing the counter top.

            “You should see her brother Nat, he’s such a looker,” Ashley chimed in, resting her elbow on the counter while flashing me a wink.

            “Actually, I think that you’d get along with Colin quite well,” Gina stated as she crossed her arms, her eyes drifting away as she started to get lost in thought. “Just by meeting you I can tell that you’re a shy person, and Colin is quite the same way. I can’t wait for you two to meet.”

            I just nodded my head, not knowing what to reply to that. It’s not every day when someone tries to hook you up with someone. Even though I have no experience whatsoever in the dating world, I know enough to tell that Gina is already trying to match me up with Colin.

            “So, where did you move here from?” I asked, trying to keep conversation.

            “We actually came from Ireland,” she stated, and I just looked at her with a blank expression. “You’re probably wondering where my accent is,” she said and I just nodded my head, “well we actually lived here in the states a few years until I was about 5 and then we moved to Ireland. Since we came back every couple of months to visit our grandparents, we never fully picked up the accent. But it comes out every now and then when we’re tired.”

            “Are the landscapes as beautiful as people say they are?” I asked wistfully.

            “I’m guessing you’re one who likes to read, eh?” Gina asked knowingly.

            “Oh, she can’t get enough of them! In fact, a lot of times I even catch her day dreaming while on the job,” Ashley laughed.

            “No need to be embarrassed about reading,” Gina said as I turned even deeper red from Ashley spilling all my secrets. “Of all the books I’ve read, there are only a few authors who can come close to describing their beauty. It’s one of things that you just have to see and experience for yourself.”

            “With my luck, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to go and experience its beauty,” I let out a sigh.

            “Ah, don’t count your chickens just yet,” she winked and I was dazzled as a speck of her brogue slipped into her way of talking.

            Suddenly I felt a chill run down my spine and instantly turned towards the front of the store. It felt as if someone was watching me from afar, but there was no one there. I was brought back to where I was when I heard a phone going off.

            “Oh, that was Colin. Ash, is it alright if I ride with you guys to the mall? Colin was going to take me but he remembered that he had to do something so he won’t be able to give me a ride,” Gina said as she looked at the screen of her phone.

            “It’s fine!” Ashley said waving it off. “The more the merrier! Right Nat?”

            “Of course,” I said putting on a fake smile. “I think that you’d better look busy,” I whispered through my teeth to Ashley while nodding towards the back of the store where our manager stood watching us like a hawk.

            “Why don’t I just show you our selection, hmm? I’m sure that we have the very best and you can find exactly what you need for that dazzling date tonight,” Ashley said aloud as she led Gina away so that our manager wouldn’t become suspicious. Standing around and just talking was a big no no when she was around.

            Shaking my head I laughed at Ashley’s quick plan to cover up our chatter. Luckily there were only about 15 minutes left on our shift before we were allowed to leave so I wouldn’t have to stand around for much longer. Even though the day was a Friday, it was definitely slow.

            My thoughts drifted back to Gina. It was still just so peculiar that right after I had the dream I would see her in person. It made no sense whatsoever. What occurs in your dreams are supposed to stay there, not become part of your reality. Seeing Gina there in the flesh made me wonder if since my dream this morning had her in it if in the future I might end up meeting more people that appear in my dreams.