If Florence was previously late for work, she was even more late now but feeling quite satisfied. She couldn't help but smile every time she looked at me thinking about what happened moments before. Initially, I thought our first time would be more romantic but it ended up being a cheeky morning fuck. Now I was in the kitchen getting the kettle going and Florence gave me one last drawn out kiss before leaving for work saying that she'd see me at work later today. The thrill of seeing her again excited me.
I'd barely caught my usual bus on time as I was caught up in my thoughts so when I arrived at work, I was a bit thrown off. I went to the kitchen to make a second brew and jumped when I heard the door open. Bondy walked past me and said good morning.
"Morning, Van. D'ya mind making me one as well?" he asked politely, shrugging off his coat.
"Sure," I replied, pulling out a second mug.
As I waited for the water to boil, I placed my hands on the counter and tapped my fingers, wondering how I'd tell Bondy and Larry about the letter. I spent the first part of the night thinking about how I'd tell them the news. I'd rather tell them first, see how it goes, and then tell Florence. The water finished boiling and I poured hot water in, letting it steep.
"Florence is coming today," I stated casually. It felt strange calling her Florence but saying that my girlfriend was coming was even stranger.
"She's still doing the study?" Bondy asked.
He's just as surprised as I am that she's still in the study. Well, she never said she wanted to stop but I wondered what was in it for her. We're together now and I've got the answers I wanted so I guess that goes back to the dreams being about her again. And that's the thing. I feel like I know her but do I really?
"Yeah. I assume we'll talk about it though."
I've thought about opening the study again to find a few more participants but wasn't sure how Bondy and Larry would feel about it. They're already swamped with work but they're curious about where this could lead. All we're doing is documenting our findings but we don't know what to do with it yet. We don't have someone analyzing the data. Bondy made some effort to but he's just one person.
"How's the apartment hunting going?"
"It's—"
The door opened and Larry walked in which caused me to drop the conversation completely. It wasn't that I didn't want to talk about it but there were more important things to discuss. I walked over to Bondy's desk to give him his tea and walked back to my desk, pulling Clara's letter out of my bag.
"Can I have the both of you read something?" I asked all of a sudden. Bondy and Larry looked at each other and then at the envelope in my hands.
"Sure," Larry replied, clueless as to why I was being serious all of a sudden.
"Why don't you come over to Bondy's desk?" I suggested and he obliged.
I took the letter out and placed it flat on the table so they could both read it. Their heads nearly hit each other as they both huddled over the letter. At first, they didn't know what they were reading but as they read on, they knew it was about Clara. They both looked up when they finished reading. I've not talked to Bondy or Larry extensively about Clara but they do know about her.
"For 8 years, I thought she was dead but she's alive," I told them.
"That's a good thing, right?" Bondy asked.
"Yes but it's not right."
It's not that I didn't want her to be alive but the circumstances surrounding it are unfortunate. Clara's parents are under the belief their daughter is dead and the parents of the woman that is actually dead don't know she's dead. Clara must be happy but for fuck's sake, she can't do this and should know better.
"We don't know much about her. How is it not right?" Larry asked.
I'd forgotten how much they don't know so I told them the story. I left out a lot of details but still spent half an hour telling them about her and it wasn't until I was done that they finally understood why I felt the way I did.
"Have you reached out to her?" Larry continued and I shook my head.
"I read the letter too late. The house with green tiles is literally across the street from the house she lived in with her parents. If I'd known, I would've talked to her but now I'm back in Seattle," I replied. "However, I do have her address."
I'm not able to reach out to her physically at the moment but I can write to her. The thought was strange; it was always her writing to me and never the other way around. What would she think? Would she write back to me? And that was just the beginning of my worries. Would my letter even make it to Portugal? What if Rafael sees it and intercepts the letter?
"Well then...it looks like you gotta write to her and hope she responds," Larry continued.
"What would I even say?" I wondered out loud. How can I possibly fit everything I want to say in one letter?
"It's been 8 years. I'm sure you have plenty to say."
-
It was nearing the time Florence would arrive and I was getting nervous. It wasn't that I didn't want her to come but it would be our first time going under as a couple. I wondered if the nature of her dreams would change. Will she think differently of me?
My mind went back to the last few dreams we had. They felt like so long ago and so much has changed since. There was a fuzzy feeling in the pit of my stomach at the dream that revealed her feelings for me. She was desperate to know who she was in love with and when she kissed the frog, I appeared. Even though it wasn't the most romantic kiss, it stayed with me because that was when I realized I had feelings for her as well.
Florence couldn't stand to face me after that but it didn't last long since we lived together. She agreed to going under once again and I got jealous which caused me to kiss her on a whim. I'm so glad I did because we wouldn't be where we are today. And now she's my girlfriend.
The door opened and I jumped in my seat. I wasn't expecting Florence to come so soon; she was actually early. Florence walked into the room and made herself at home, saying hello to everyone. She was still in an unusually good mood and I wondered if Bondy and Larry would pick up on it. Bondy asked how she was doing and they chatted for a few minutes before she turned to me.
With her back to Bondy and Larry, she gave me a seductive look that said she wasn't done with me yet and I immediately lost my train of thought. She knows the effect she has on me and is using it to her advantage. I could feel my cheeks warm so I looked down at my paper.
"You're early today," I said, getting up. She was fifteen minutes early so I was totally unprepared. I made my way over to the computer to turn it on and she joined me, finding the dream kit and taking it out. "Thought you weren't gonna come until later because you were late this morning."
"My manager doesn't care what time we come in. As long as the job is done," she answered.
"So he didn't mind? Did you tell him why you were late?" I was being a jerk talking about this so openly and she elbowed me.
"You know why," she replied, smirking, and then she lowered her voice. "What do you think about us going under your dream today?"
"My dream?" I was caught off guard by her request and she leant in, her breath hot against my ear.
"I'm scared I'm gonna dream about you." She pulled away and stared at me.
"What's wrong with that?" I asked.
"You don't want to know what I'm thinking about." One look and I knew what she was getting at. I've never sat in on a sex dream before and have no intention to, even if it's with Florence but it felt nice to be desired.
"Erm, yeah, that's fine," I replied, trying to concentrate on entering the settings in. It was difficult to when I could feel Florence's eyes burning into the side of my head. Luckily, she left me alone to open the kit and take out the probes.
Everything was set and I asked Larry to double-check my settings. Bondy brought up the possibility of manipulating Florence's dream today but I said no and that we were going under my dream. I'd rather talk about it first and make sure she's okay with it before doing it. I don't think she'll mind but I don't like the thought of us trying it out while it's still relatively new. We haven't worked out all the kinks yet but I can tell Bondy's getting bored of it just being him and Larry. Larry said I was good to go.
"Are you ready?" I asked Florence.
She nodded her head and took a seat. It's been a while since I went under my dream. I stopped a while back when Florence said we could stop after feeling terrible about the trauma it caused me. But now that I know Clara is alive, what will I dream about? Will my dreams pick up where I left off?
The possibility of dreaming about Clara again excited me. There was a huge gap in my dreams and I hoped to get insight on what life was like for her after she was presumed dead. I set the delay for five minutes and made my way over. Florence already put her mask and probes on. She eyed the timer as it counted down to zero. At ten seconds left, she turned to me and then leant her head back, closing her eyes.