Tuesday
For the first time in a while, I looked forward to my session with Florence. Maybe it's because we're going under her dream and I don't have to worry about mine until Thursday. From now on, I'm going under her dream with a different mindset. Not only will I be training her, I'll be looking for clues for why she's so adamant about going under my dreams. This was slightly reminiscent of Bondy's dream manipulation project where he didn't tell us what he was going to change. Florence won't tell me the reason; I'll have to look for it.
I was on the phone with Paul, our friend who makes anesthesia for us. We've been going through it a lot faster. We used to order one canister every two months but now we order it once a month. Paul makes this in his free time in addition to his normal job and I wanted to see if we could put a standing order now that we have an idea of how much we're consuming, assuming Florence and Roman will stay on the study for months. It would make things easier not having to remember to call him.
"Hi Van, how are you doing?" Paul asked.
"I'm good, mate," I replied. I didn't have much time to chat as Florence will be here in fifteen minutes so I quickly got to the point. "It looks like we consume one canister a month now. Can we put in a standing order so we don't have to call you every time?"
"Yeah, that works. When do you want them delivered? I can deliver two canisters every two months or one canister a month."
"How stable is nitrous oxide? Is there a significant difference if you deliver it once every two months or once a month?"
"It's pretty stable if kept at room temperature and pressurized. Just keep it in a well-ventilated area and don't expose it to extreme heat."
"Well then, I'll leave it up to you. It doesn't affect us as long as we have some on hand."
"I prefer to make a big batch once every two months so I'll do that. When should I start this standing order?"
"Why don't we start on the first of February and then refill every two months?" I suggested.
"Sounds good. Since you're doubling your consumption, I must double the price. I'll send you the invoice when I deliver the first batch."
"Sounds good. Thanks."
I hung up and pulled up our excel spreadsheet which keeps track of all our expenses. Our sponsor doesn't mind as this doesn't change how much he gives us. We always have some overage so this extra cost is covered by it. We do have to inform him of any changes so when the invoice comes, I'll have to explain the increase of price and how our consumption has doubled expanding our study to two additional participants. That should be easy to explain but it's an extra document I have to submit.
I doubled the volume of nitrous oxide and the cost in the spreadsheet and told Bondy and Larry about the change I made, telling them I'll submit the change request to the sponsor as soon as the invoice comes in. Bondy thanked me for taking care of that and then I heard a knock on the door. I got up, straightening my shirt and walked towards the door. When I opened it, Florence was smiling. A part of me was relieved she was wearing more modest clothing. The image of her black bra under her sheer top is still on my mind.
Florence walked in, hanging her coat on the coat rack along with her purse. She stepped further into the room saying hello to everyone. At the beginning, she would only talk to me but now she makes it a habit to make small talk with Bondy and Larry.
"Did you have a good weekend?" Larry asked.
"Oh yeah!" she replied sarcastically. "You can ask Van all about it. Isn't that right, Van?"
She shot me a look, grinning. I could see Bondy and Larry in the back trying to hide their amusement wondering what on earth happened. Perhaps they thought we ran into each other by accident. They both know she doesn't live too far from me. I'd actually prefer that they thought that because something much worse happened and I didn't want to tell the story.
"Erm...yeah," I replied awkwardly, suddenly aware of everyone's gaze on me. "I was sleeping and got a phone call in the early hours of Saturday. It was Florence. She was drunk and asked for a ride home from the club. She thought she called her friend but called me instead." Larry raised his eyebrow. There was a hint of a smile on his lips knowing that he was going to enjoy this story.
"I called her back to tell her she got the wrong number but she didn't pick up. I was concerned for her safety because she said this creep wouldn't leave her alone so I drove to the club to look for her," I continued.
"I totally forgot about that creep..." Florence trailed off. "I was sitting outside and this man was trying to get me in his car saying he was my Uber driver. I didn't request an Uber so I told him to fuck off and told security. He quickly ran off. I don't want to think about what would've happened if I didn't sober up."
"That's terrifying," Bondy added. "I hope they catch that fucker."
"The club reviewed the security footage and submitted it to the police. I hope they find him. But anyways, carry on with the story."
"I drove to the club and stepped out to find her. She was expecting to see her friend so when she saw me, she got upset. I tried to explain to her she called the wrong number but that I'd still take her home. After some back and forth, she finally agreed to go home with me. And when I dropped her home, she didn't have the house key on her. She left it at the club and had no way of getting in," I continued. "The club had since closed and she had nowhere to stay for the night so I told her she could stay at my place." At this point, I had Bondy and Larry's full attention.
"He let me sleep in his bed," Florence added, not realizing the meaning behind her words so I quickly elaborated.
"And I slept on the couch." Florence laughed, seeing that I wanted to make it clear nothing happened between us.
"You see—most people would be happy to have me in bed but then you have Van who is terrified of me," she teased, winking. I narrowed my eyes at her so she could see I wasn't happy she was making jokes at my expense.
"We should get going," I reminded her, walking back to the computer.
"Why the rush? Eager to go under my dream, huh?"
I stopped walking, wanting to turn around and say something back but I ignored her and continued onto the computer, setting it up. Now Florence was completely ignoring me and chatting away with Bondy and Larry. My focus was split on setting up and trying to listen in on their conversation. Startup was complete so I opened the program, created a new experiment, and added Florence and I as users. I set Florence as the dreamer and calculated how much anesthesia was needed to fall asleep for half an hour.
"Do you wanna hear the voicemail he sent me? It's hilarious." Florence went to put the voicemail on speaker and held it out. Bondy and Larry leant forward to hear it better and I could hear myself. Bondy and Larry immediately laughed.
"Classic Van behavior," Larry commented. "You ought to keep that."
I rolled my eyes and brought out the dream kit and anesthesia, bringing them to the computer. I put in our dose, double-checking it against the computer and plugged in the probes, uncoiling them and placing them on their respective chairs. Once I was done, I went back to the computer to make sure I got everything right before calling her over.
"So this one goes to her chair..." I murmured, placing my hands on the wire and making sure it went to her chair. I did the same with my wire making sure it went to my chair. Florence's dose was less than mine which sounds about right.
"Have you guys seen his place?" Florence asked and they both nodded their head. I could've ended their conversation right then and there but I was curious what she'd say.
"We've been to his place a few times," Bondy replied. "He'd hold parties back in the day until his neighbor complained. He's an older gentleman. Van calls him Scrooge."
"Van held parties? I don't believe you. He's such a grouch I find it hard to believe he knows how to have fun." She turned around making sure I heard her.
"Only certain people have the pleasure of seeing that side of me. Now if you're done talking, I'm ready to start."
"Yes sir."
Florence walked over and took a seat at her usual chair, putting on her mask and probes. I set the delay for five minutes since she knows the procedure by now and joined her, putting on my mask.
-
The rain had just stopped. You could tell by the fresh puddles on the ground. Rain was dripping from rooftops and trees to the ground. It was dark out and slightly muggy. It wasn't clear where I was but I was in the city. You could hear cars in the distance and the chatter of people out on the streets. I made my way out of the alley onto the street.
I wasn't sure where I was headed but my feet seemed to know the way. It's that magnetism you feel when under someone else's dream. You're drawn towards something but can't explain it. There was a group of three people taking up the entire pavement. I thought they'd step aside to let me pass but they didn't and one of the men shouldered me. I stopped walking to glare at him.
"Watch where you're goin', eh?" he said loudly.
It was clear that he was drunk as he was wobbling but he carried on anyway, laughing at whatever his friends were talking about in their stupor. My mind was telling me to walk away and leave it but my gut was telling me to follow them. They were up to no good. I could sense it. They crossed the street at the four way stop and I figured that put enough distance between us to start following them.
They were causing a lot of ruckus. Laughing loudly and kicking trash onto the streets. They felt invincible as if the night was theirs and that they ruled the streets. In reality, they were just a bunch of rowdy drunks that had one too many. At least they weren't behind the wheel, I'll give them that. Of course I knew I was dreaming. When I passed the men, they didn't have faces to them which made them more eerie.
We managed to walk three blocks before there was sign of another person. I could see a woman by herself making her way home. She was walking with determination, her hand placed over her bag protectively, and her boots clacked against the pavement. Her messy blonde hair was matted down by the recent downpour. She heard the ruckus behind her and quickened her pace. That must be Florence.
She was wearing a short blue dress and a black leather jacket. Even from afar, you could see she was wearing fishnets which brought attention to her legs. Perhaps she was out partying and trying to make it home safely. It was obvious what was going to happen next. One of the men spotted her and wolf-whistled. He tapped his friend's shoulder and pointed at her.
"Where are you off to so late at night?" he called to her. "Would you like some company?" Florence turned around seeing that they crossed the street to follow her.
"Fuck off, I'm not interested!" she shouted, flipping them off.
The group of men laughed, teasing her boldness. That only interested them more. They do like a good chase. Florence looked over her shoulder to see they were still following her so she began sprinting to try to lose them. Unfortunately for her, all the shops and restaurants were closed and there were no other people out at night to help her.
"C'mon Florence...you know you're dreaming," I mumbled to myself.
My hope was that she'd know she's dreaming and change the course of this dream realizing that she's not really in danger but the dream continued on. Sometimes fear prevents you from thinking properly. It's human nature to flee from danger first. She continued on, adjusting her speed. When the men picked up pace, so did she. If they slowed down, she slowed down as well but was ready to run at a moment's notice.
"If you don't leave me alone, I'm gonna call the police!" she yelled, patting her jacket for her phone but not finding it.
She unzipped her purse and blindly reached inside for her phone. She was having trouble finding it. You could tell when she had to slow down and look inside to make sure she wasn't crazy. I've taught her how to will something to appear but it's hard to concentrate when you're too busy running away. They managed to close in on her when she was looking through her bag and the realization caused her to run away in panic and they ran as well. Now it was a full on chase.
"Oh, shit!" she shouted. "Someone help me! HELP!" She was too busy looking behind her to see that she was about to run into someone up ahead. Luckily she saw and managed to stop in time. "Oh my God, thank God you're here! Please help me! I'm being chased!"
She was holding onto dream me.