Dream Job (The Dreamwalker Chronicles Book 1)

by Pettit, Gregory

  ***Julian***

  I didn’t have huge amounts of work to do to finish the recommendation because I’d already done most of the drafting last night, before I’d been interrupted by Nick’s call. Needing to run the output past him was just Janice’s way of creating further bureaucracy while also forcing me to get approval from someone who was both unqualified to review the document and technically junior to me in the company. I picked up my Nokia and gave Nick a call.

  The phone rang three times before it was answered. “Nick here.”

  I was a bit annoyed that he still hadn’t added me to his phone contacts. “Nick, it’s Julian. I’ve been talking to Janice this morning, and she’s telling me that we’re recommending OMG?” I proffered tentatively. It was worth letting him at least offer an explanation for why he hadn’t sent the mail out confirming his vote in the matter.

  “What?” Nick replied, sounding honestly puzzled. “I sent that message an hour after you called. Haven’t you checked your mail yet?”

  I realized then that I’d been doubly caught out in making assumptions. Not only had I assumed that Janice and Nick had pulled a fast one on me, but I’d also assumed that he hadn’t sent a mail, even though I hadn’t gotten my laptop booted up yet.

  “Oh, I’m having some laptop trouble this morning,” I fabricated smoothly to cover my gaffe. It didn’t make any sense for Nick to have actually sent the promised note going against the OMG team if he was planning something with Janice.

  “I’m going to give Janice a call to find out what the hell’s going on. I need to set up for an exec results meeting this afternoon, so I don’t have time to waste on this crap.” With these eloquent closing words, Nick hung up the phone.

  My laptop finally finished booting up, so I could get to work. A minute later, I saw Janice answer her phone and head to one of the breakout rooms to take the call.

  I was nearly done with the rewrite to recommend OMG when I got a call from Nick. “I’ve been talking to Janice for an hour, and she didn’t make a bit of sense,” he said. “She kept talking about how that woman had provided a real vision. Frankly that’s a 180-degree change from what she was saying last night before I called you. On top of that, Phil was acting really strangely this morning. He must have called me ten times to talk about how great looking the redhead that presented to you was—”

  “She was pretty good, Nick,” I interrupted with a laugh. I’m married, not dead.

  “Yeah, well anyhow, he said again and again how he could absolutely envision everything she’d promised, right down to having dreamt about it last night. He’s always been a damn good worker, but I didn’t think Phil had enough imagination to dream up what to have for lunch. I don’t know what’s going on, but I think that we’re going to have to get Richard in Accounting involved.”

  Normally, I would have had to work hard to stifle a groan at the idea of getting Richard involved, but my attention was squarely focused on the mention of Phil seeing things in his dream. Given my unique perspective, I was always interested in any mention of dreams, but this occurrence thrust the bizarre, pain-laced nightmare from the night before, which I’d already half discounted, back into the forefront of my mind.

  “If you give Richard a call, I’ll try to find Phil. I think he mentioned yesterday that he’d be back in Paddington again today,” I suggested, rubbing my eyes in an attempt to massage away the stress that had already built up…and it wasn’t even noon.

  “Sounds like a plan,” Nick replied and hung up the phone.

  I quickly wrote a note to Janice, attached the recommendation she’d requested, and highlighted that it still needed formal sign-off by the rest of the core team. I then hurried off to find Phil. I strode out of the procurement team’s area, feeling exasperated by the continuous stream of crap this morning, and managed to trip and bang my knee on the way out of the room. I swore. It seemed unfair that my muscle memory had never absorbed any of the countless hours of nocturnal combat that I’d accumulated. I’d actually spent several years practicing Greco-Roman wrestling as a teenager, but all of that had been years ago, and I’d never even made the varsity squad.

  I was in the kind of mood where finding Phil in the first place that I looked for him, in the kitchen making tea, only served to make me suspicious about what was coming next. When I walked up to Phil, I knew that my cynical nature hadn’t been wrong, as he turned a strangely vacant gaze toward me.

  “Julian, good to see you. Have you accepted OMG’s bid yet? I’d really like to meet Kelly for a follow-up,” Phil fired out in a rush as he strode toward me, recognition flashing in his eyes at last. I took another few ticks to look him over and was surprised to see that he seemed to be wearing the same stained, off-white shirt, brown trousers, and checked tie that he wore yesterday.

  “That’s just was I was hoping to talk to you about, Phil. But before we get to that, how are you doing? You look like you might not have slept very well,” I offered, fishing for information.

  “I’m great, Julian. I’d be even better, though, if you could tell me that you’re going to be recommending Kelly’s firm. I think that they had a great pitch yesterday; I can really see their vision for the new office,” Phil geysered out again, at least twice as fast as he normally would have spoken.

  “Well, Phil, I’ve had some conflicting reports. I know you seemed pretty positive on OMG after yesterday’s meeting, and I have to admit that I was too. However, I think that Janice wasn’t. Moreover, Nick gave me a call and said that he’d spoken to you, and you’d both agreed to stick with our usual provider.” Almost before I had finished uttering the final syllable, Phil took a step toward me, and his face flushed red. I wasn’t a small guy, but I hadn’t realized previously quite how large a man Phil was.

  I could feel his stale smoker’s breath washing over my face when he said, “That asshole Nick. He always does this shit. I have to go to aaaaallll the boring meetings and theeeennn, when it’s time to make a decision, he wants to be the one in charge. Well, not this time. I spoke to Janice this morning, and we’re on the same page. I’ll go have another conversation with that asshole Nick and then I’ll sort him out, and me ‘n’ Janice’ll be able to get the decision ’cross to the suppliers today. Nick’s not ruining my dream!” Phil then turned and charged off in the other direction, arms pumping and legs punishing the floor.

  I stood still, shocked for nearly fifteen seconds at the response, before I picked up my phone and dialed Nick. It was strange to be working with Nick after the issues I’d had, but a few rings later, I was breaking the news of my strange conversation with his team member. “I don’t know what’s gotten into Phil today, but he’s acting different than I’ve ever seen him. He just about burst a blood vessel when I told him we were looking into the contract still. Something is definitely going on, and I’d stay out of his way if I were you.” I knew that the statement fell short of describing the full weirdness of the situation.

  I had been surprised by Phil’s behavior, but my heart couldn’t stop hammering as I thought of his use of the word “dream.” Was it really possible that the odd behavior I was seeing today was somehow linked to the excruciating dream that I’d experienced last night? I couldn’t stop wondering at the possibilities as I continued my description of the confrontation, going into detail about Phil’s threats. While I finished explaining the situation to Nick, I felt my back break out in a sweat as I considered whether or not I could still trust my own reactions after being affected by whatever had woken me in agony.

  Nick sounded worried as he answered, “That doesn’t sound like Phil at all, but I’ll keep an eye out for him.” The department head paused for a moment, seemingly to gather his thoughts, before he carried on: “I spoke to Richard in Finance, and he agreed that we couldn’t give any recommendation on a downselect of either supplier until we were satisfied of the reasoning behind the sudden change of heart from Janice. I’ll try to call Phil and calm him down, figure out why he’s so upset; you ta
ke Janice.”

  I was beginning to suspect that there was more than a strictly mundane explanation for Phil’s attitude, but I still couldn’t help mentally groaning as I realized that there was no way that I could avoid talking to Janice before the end of the day.

  “Okay, I’ll also put in a call to both bidders to update them on the delay. Shall we talk in a couple of hours?”

  “Yup—I’ll give you a call when I’ve had a chance to calm Phil down,” Nick replied, and then I heard the phone click off. I paused for a few moments to collect myself and couldn’t help wondering how the strange actions of my coworkers all fit together as I returned to my desk to place the call to the conference center bidders, before my eventual rendezvous with Janice.

  CHAPTER 7 1400–1500, Wednesday, July 29, 2015

  ***Kelly***

  “Kelly, I regret to inform you…”

  The American’s voice sounded from the phone, making Kelly’s stomach drop. She’d noticed the general coolness from the other partners the past twenty-four hours, and she’d come to the conclusion that they viewed this assignment as some kind of test. Seeing the act of passing such tests as a way to prove that she wasn’t just Daddy’s little princess, Kelly embraced them. It had been a long time, though, since she’d been challenged like this by one of the partners, and it hurt her in a way that she couldn’t quite define. She didn’t know when she’d started thinking of Ena and Tara as business partners first and friends second. There were times nowadays when it was hard to even be sure what had brought the three young women together initially, but she suspected that the reason for her uncertainty was related to the very issue that was driving them apart.

  Kelly snapped back to the present as she realized that Julian was still speaking. “And anyhow, as I was saying, we can’t award the bid until the full steering team can break the deadlock on the recommendation.”

  “I’m sorry, Mr. Adler, I don’t quite understand,” Kelly offered in her politest puzzled tone. “How can the recommendation be deadlocked if there were three of you in the meeting yesterday?”

  “Well, Kelly, as it happens, the larger gent that you met yesterday—”

  “Phil,” Kelly interjected, demonstrating the keen memory that had served her so well through the years.

  “Yes, Phil. Phil was umm…filling in for his boss who was double-booked, and our fourth team member was on vacation. I’m afraid that Phil’s boss, Nick, needs to look into Phil’s report in a bit more detail. Additionally, Richard, our fourth member and the department’s lead accountant, is concerned with some of the numbers. So until we clear this up, they won’t be ready to allow release of our recommendation to the sign-off board,” the man finished with a clear tone of embarrassment in his voice. Unfortunately, his embarrassment wouldn’t help Kelly explain the situation to the others.

  Kelly hit the mute button on her phone and muttered a sharp, “Shit!” Then, taking a deep breath, she flipped the phone off mute and put on her most refined business voice, “I understand, Mr. Adler, and while I’m disappointed that it wasn’t made clear to me that yesterday’s participants didn’t have final decision authority, I’d be happy to come back in and present directly to the other team members.”

  “Kelly, I’m sorry, but until we clarify some of the issues a bit more, we won’t be ready to proceed with either a recommendation or a request for additional information. In any event, your competition would need to have the same clarification opportunity that we give you, and their representative is off on annual leave until next Monday,” Julian said.

  Kelly felt her stomach clenching again in worry as she composed herself and ended the call by saying: “I understand, Mr. Adler, and I’m committed to making myself available whenever your firm needs. You have my contact details, but if my secretary answers, just tell her that Kelly set this project to ‘code green,’ and she’ll find a way to get through to me.”

  “Thank you, Kelly. I’ve got to give the other team a call, and then I’ll get to work on clearing this up.”

  The phone call ended, and Kelly thought ruefully about the price that she’d paid just the night before in the hope of closing this deal and reaffirming her commitment to the other partners. She reflected for perhaps the hundredth time that her eidetic memory made the cost feel even higher than it would for someone else. A moment later, she put that out of her mind and focused with laser-like precision on the upcoming confrontation that was awaiting her back in the office on Old Street.

  Considering how the call had gone, Kelly was very glad that she’d taken it while she was out to lunch. She used the rest of her break to compose her thoughts and figure out how she’d explain the situation to Ena and Tara. It was clear that she’d been out of practice when she’d visited the office in Paddington yesterday. Just a few years ago, as a matter of course, she would have confirmed the decision-making process before leaving the meeting; she would have realized that marking just two of the people in the room wouldn’t be sufficient. If she would have simply left the meeting and reported back that the right people hadn’t been in the room, it wouldn’t have impressed, but she didn’t think there would have been any seriously hurt feelings in the office. However, after reporting success to the other partners and having carried out the steps to bring their bid-winning guarantee into place, the other two women would not be ready to just shrug their shoulders and move on.

  Kelly made her way back to the office, passing the Bogayo restaurant, where she couldn’t avoid sneaking an appreciative glance at one of the cute guys from Finance downing a quick lunchtime pint. That wasn’t strictly within the rules, but with an ass like that, she could let it go—just this once. She almost immediately chided herself for losing focus and concentrated on how to talk her way out of any repercussions for the botched sales pitch.

  She thought for a moment about turning around and heading home to buy more time, but she knew that trying to delay or dodge the issue would only weaken her negotiating position with Ena and Tara. One thing that the three women had always had in common was a hatred of procrastination. With sweat running down the small of her back, Kelly strode out of the elevator with a level stride, her head held high, exuding as much confidence as she could muster while simultaneously performing a furious mental search for a way in which she could spin her failure into an opportunity. She hesitated just outside of the partners’ office, hand pausing in its motion toward the door handle as a plan came together. It all hinged on a single detail from the night before, but Kelly was pretty sure that she could talk her way out of this.

  CHAPTER 8 1150, Tuesday, July 28–0005, Wednesday, July 29, 2015

  ***Kelly***

  Kelly felt her nipples harden as a cool breeze blew through the open window of the hidden room—a wooden-floored square fifteen feet on a side with unplastered brick walls and a single, unshaded electric light bulb hanging down—in which the ritual was going to be conducted. Butterflies filled Kelly’s stomach as she stepped into the circle, just like every time that she got ready to perform the coming sacrifice.

  “Hir yw pob ymaros,”[1] intoned Kelly in a clear and ringing voice as she bent forward and poured cream into a large bowl on the floor in the center of the circle of light. Keeping her head down, she crawled backward on hands and knees. Her stomach tensed as she watched the familiar but always unsettling spectacle of the perfectly intact bowl beginning to empty, the cream draining away like water out of a bath when the plug is pulled. Kelly tried to stay focused, as her part in the ceremony wasn’t over; however, she couldn’t help but speculate on exactly what the price would be for tonight’s assistance.

  “A fo ben, bid bont,”[2] sounded out with a thick brogue from Kelly’s left as Tara moved into the stark pool of light, her brown hair hanging down in front of her chest in a way that might have preserved a modicum of modesty if her bottom half hadn’t been uncovered and completely shaved. Tara stepped up to the bowl and dropped in a handful of grass, clover, and flowers while going down on on
e knee and bowing her head down so low that her hair trailed on floor.

  ***Tara***

  The shadows seemed to solidify around Tara, and the scent of strangely stale and lifeless air filled the room. Tara knew without looking up that the handful of plant material had withered away to a few shriveled twigs, but she had seen this spectacle so many times that she was hardly even thinking about what was going on. Instead, she was much more interested in trying to keep tabs on Kelly’s face while not violating the proscriptions laid out in the ancient text from which they had learned this rite. At the moment, Kelly’s face displayed commitment and focus, but Tara noticed the sheen of nervous sweat forming on her brow. Kelly always had been the timidest of their group, and Tara was reminded of all of the times that she’d stood in Kelly’s spot, leading the ritual, and paying the greatest price—yet splitting the proceeds equally. Time for Kelly to step up or step out, Tara thought with vitriolic anger as she continued to stare at the floor.

  ***Ena***

  “Gorau adnabod, d’adnabod dy hun,”[3] rang in lilting tones out of the darkness as Ena strode purposefully toward the bowl in the center of the room, taking a path that would put her precisely opposite Tara. She had a short length of silver chain stretched between her hands, which caused her muscles to tremble with the effort of holding it at arm’s length. Ena too was naked, as the instructions required, and her coppery hair, a shade darker than Kelly’s, hung down to her shoulders. Her large, pendulous breasts bounced heavily as she came to an abrupt stop and flung the chain down hard into the porcelain bowl. She hadn’t performed this role in years, and she was pleased to see that the bowl had survived having the chain dropped in, providing further proof, beyond the evil scents that filled the room, that the offerings so far had been accepted. Ena lowered herself slowly onto the opposite knee to that which Tara had taken, but she was barely able to bite back a grunt of “shite” as she had to put down a steadying hand, which brushed the chain momentarily. Ena flushed in embarrassment at the slip, her whole body going red as she silently cursed the lack of exercise responsible for the weight that had caused her to lose her balance. She bent her head to the ground in imitation of Tara, thinking only of how fat and pathetic her mother had gotten. She shivered from more than just the cold as she remembered how the mantelpiece pictures of her mother had documented her physical deterioration. She had started out after uni looking startlingly like Ena, but by thirty, too many client dinners had made her pleasantly plump; at forty, she was referred to as “big Jenny,” and by fifty, she was using a cane to support her bad back and had to have bras specially made. Ena swore to herself that tomorrow she’d be out for a jog before sunup, thinking bitterly of the long nights that she had pulled wining and dining clients while Kelly stayed back in the office, fiddling with her computers.