REM // Van McCann

42. Wrong Number

Bondy and Florence checked their pockets and came up empty-handed. You must be wondering why I didn't produce Japanese yen and get it over with in the first place. For starters, you must be able to visualize what you want but how can I when I don't know what Japanese yen looks like? And where the hell are we? Definitely not Seattle nor the UK because our beaches aren't this nice but I handed him a fiver. Left Shark looked at the note clearly expecting Japanese yen.

"Mate, that's the best I can do. Take it or leave it," I told him.

He seemed to accept it because the same thing that happened to Maeve happened to Left Shark. After his task was complete, the program didn't know how to continue so he stood there, frozen, and we had no choice but to abort the dream.

-

When I woke up, I took off my mask and probes and immediately made my way towards Larry which startled him. He was still on the phone with the restaurant no doubt surprised we finished earlier than expected. I lightly smacked him on the back of his head.

"Ow, what was that for?" he cried out. He immediately composed himself. "Sorry—yeah, I'm still here. Thank you." Larry hung up and glared at me.

"That's for sending Left Shark after me," I told him, ruffling his hair. Larry went to fix it, grinning.

"So it worked then?"

"Yeah and he made me pay for the fare I didn't pay for in Japan. I gave him a fiver to fuck off." I sighed and made my way back to clean up. Bondy was awake, coiling the wires around his hand.

"So you added Left Shark?" Bondy questioned, raising his eyebrow.

"Yeah. I put 'Left Shark makes Van pay up.'" Larry was obviously pleased with himself and I just rolled my eyes. They both enjoy taking the piss out of me.

"I'm gonna need your help describing some things. Do you have time to talk?"

Bondy and Larry spent the rest of the day going back and forth about the things they felt when their dream was manipulated. Despite having sat in on both their dreams, I was left out of the conversation but I didn't mind because it allowed me to catch up on the things I neglected. I've since fallen behind on writing reports for Florence and Roman's dreams, though I did save time by not doing mine.

My dream analysis is in my dream journal. I've since allocated a second journal that stays permanently at work so I can think about the meaning of my dreams. It stays locked in my drawer and I carry the key with me at all times. It was silly of me to be this secretive but I've no doubt Bondy and Larry are curious how things are going but they're too polite to ask. The only way they can get answers is if they rummage around my desk or ask Florence and I about it. Though we never discussed the policy revolving around my dreams, it seems like Florence respects my privacy.

It was the end of the work day and I was satisfied at having finished Roman's first report. I was surprised at how much I had written as his report is longer than Florence's but his dreams are deeper than hers. I'm not saying her dreams aren't as significant. Roman's dreams are more complicated in nature with the emotions and dynamics.

"Roman's report is complete if you'd like to take a look," I told the other two, getting up to stretch my arms over my head. It's been a long week and I was happy it was Friday. I exited out of my email and closed all the applications I had open and shut down my laptop.

"I'll take a look next week. Thanks for finishing that," Bondy replied, packing up his things as well. "Do yous have any plans this weekend?"

"Tomorrow, I'm helping my friend move house and then I'm having dinner with Maeve. Sunday, I'm just sleeping in," Larry answered. He was still typing away on his laptop. Bondy wished Larry a good time and turned to me.

"It's my first free weekend in ages and I look forward to doing nowt," I replied which was the truth. This week has exhausted me and I wanted nothing more than to recover from it. "What about you?"

"My girlfriend and I are going to the art museum. One of her favorite artists has an exhibit so we're gonna check it out. We'll probably also swing by IKEA to buy a new desk. Her study is getting cramped so we'll look at the options they have."

"That sounds nice."

I couldn't help the bit of jealousy I felt at Bondy and Larry having someone. Bondy and his girlfriend have been together for ages. Reckon he's getting close to proposing to her. Larry and Maeve are getting to know one another and here I am spending my weekend alone. I unplugged my laptop and packed it away. Larry had half an hour more of work to do and then he'd be off so Bondy and I made our way down without him.

Not in the mood to cook, I ordered a pizza on the bus home and picked it up before making my way home. The box was still warm as I carried it home, the aroma no doubt clinging to my clothes. I unlocked the door and pushed it open, kicking off my boots and closing the door. I placed the pizza on the counter and changed into more comfortable clothes before going back to the kitchen to pour myself a glass of wine. I grabbed a plate and a slice and turned on the telly, trying not to get grease on the remote.

The evening news was on. They were talking about a woman who went missing and I had to quickly turn it off because I was thinking about Clara again. If there were fliers posted all around town, I'm sure they talked about her on the news. All of Lagos heard about the body that washed up on the shore. They also knew about the woman who went missing days before and wondered if it was her. It was her, wasn't it?

-

My phone was ringing and vibrating which woke me up. I sucked in a sharp breath from being rudely awoken and looked at my phone to see who called. My vision was still blurry but I could see Florence calling. Why is she calling? What time is it? What I hated most was being disturbed when stoned. I answered my phone and opened my mouth to speak but she beat me to it.

"Oh, thank God you answered!" Her loud voice was enough to make me pull my phone away from my ear. Must she talk so loud? I'm not deaf. "Can you take me home, Steve? I'm at Club Sapphire and there's this creep that won't leave me alone."

"You've got the wrong number. I'm not—" She hung up on me. "Hello? Are you still there? I'm not Steve!" I sat up in bed and called her back but it went straight to voicemail. "Fucking hell," I groaned and then hung up. I'm pretty sure I left that as a voicemail but I didn't give a shit.

I could care less about her but it worried me that she could be in danger. Now that I've blinked the sleep from my eyes, I could see it was past 2 AM. She was probably out clubbing after work. I've got two choices. Ignore her or go after her. I'm sure you know what I chose.