The Dream That Was

Fall - 1995

Dagny was walking back to Villeneuve's headquarters in downtown Toronto after a meeting. As she passed by a storefront of an electronics store, she paused. In the window were televisions that were set to the NEWS channel. In bold lettering across the bottom of the screen she read something that made her shudder.

ONE OF CANADA'S LARGEST HOMEBUILDERS, LANDFORD HOMES, IS BANKRUPT.

"Shit," she said under her breath.

Yet another one of the big real estate companies in the country had fallen to its knees. This was bad news, very bad news. Landford was one of her closest allies, and she thought that they too would be able to weather the storm of the recession. While she had seen so many companies close their doors, she at least expected Landford to survive. How could this have happened? Would Villeneuve be able to stay afloat?

Dagny started quickly walking back to Villeneuve's office tower at the corner of Queen Street East and Yonge Street. She passed by parking lots with signs for future development. She knew that these had all been put on hold. The cranes building many new office towers had stopped too. The real estate industry was fast becoming stagnant.

Her high heels clicked along the sidewalk as she made her way northward.

"No...no...this can't be happening," she mumbled.

Her mind was racing.

Then her shoe caught on something on the ground. Suddenly Dagny was falling forward. It seemed like it was all in slow motion. She experienced complete vertigo. It appeared as if the ground had dropped out from under her, sending her plummeting from the height of the CN Tower moving at a great speed through space and time to finally hit the hard sidewalk. Her knees scraped the ground which simultaneously ripped open her nylons and her skin. She responded with a loud shriek.

A man in a brown suit ran up to help her.

"Are you all right?" he asked.

Dagny was dazed.

"Yes. I am fine," she finally mouthed.

Then she got back up. She looked past the man who had wanted to help her, and continued on her way. She did not look down at her bleeding knee, but she felt the stinging. She felt like a skeleton walking along the busy streets of the city. It was as if everyone could see right through her. The fall had somehow affected her, but she could not place her finger on it.

This was a bad day indeed. The meeting in the morning had been a harbinger of bad news. She would have to sell some of Villeneuve's shopping centres in an attempt to avert bankruptcy. The most expensive mall that they owned was Urbia City Centre. How could she give up their flagship mall? That was where it all had started, in Urbia. She fought both tooth and nail to save the City Centre. But the sale of it was inevitable.

She kept up her fast-paced walk until she reached the Villeneuve building. When she rode the elevator up to the top floor she experienced the sensation of hardly moving. Dagny travelled surreptitiously past her employees directly to her office. She locked the door and sat down in her leather lounge chair. Her office had always calmed her. It was her place of solitude.

Suddenly the phone rang but she had no desire to answer it. She did not want to be bothered at this precise moment. As Dagny reached over her desk to unplug the phone cord, she noticed a large envelope in front of her. On the outside it read: WHO WILL SAVE YOUR SOUL?

She thought about how strange the words sounded. Then she realised that it was done in Reginald's handwriting. What had he sent her, she wondered. Were they divorce papers? Not that she really cared, but then she decided to open the envelope anyway.

Inside she discovered copies of the contamination reports for Proctor Lake and the Richmond Hill site. On the top was a stick-it-note that read: I SENT THE MEDIA COPIES OF THESE. YOU WILL HAVE TO PAY FOR YOUR SINS.

Dagny let out a high pitched screech. How could this be happening, she thought. This indeed was a bad day. She angrily threw the report across the room.

Dagny searched the office with her eyes. She wanted to see if she had a picture of Reginald around. Her only thought was to destroy it. Why was there no picture of him? Most wives had pictures of their spouses on their desks. She did not. All she had in her office were abstract paintings and stark furniture.

She realised how cold and barren her office was. It was fitting, nonetheless, for the cold and barren woman that she had become.

That evening all of the media in the country was abuzz with the news that Dagny Cohen, the most powerful woman in the country, had a scandalous secret. It was this very secret that had caused many people, including children, to become ill. Since she had inside knowledge of these facts she would be charged and put into jail.