Journey to Her Dreams

by Iris Blobel

  ****

  “Hollie!” Sam shouted.

  Hollie, who was about to step onto the bus, turned around, obviously surprised to see her.

  “Is that your name?” asked Sam, struggling for breath.

  “Yes. Yes it is.”

  “Okay, I have no idea what the devil is going on here, but you have to admit it all sounded rather weird,” she said, still trying to breathe steadily.

  The bus driver became impatient. “Young lady, what’s it going to be? In or out?” Hollie turned to the driver before she looked back at Sam.

  “Where are you off to?” Sam asked.

  “Cork.”

  She was surprised. “Cork?”

  “Yes! I’m supposed to meet my friend there.”

  Sam shrugged her shoulders. “Okay, Cork it is then. I’ll give you a lift,” she heard herself saying.

  “Are you sure?” Hollie asked with surprise.

  After a long pause she replied, “Hundred percent sure.”

  Stepping off the bus, Hollie apologised to the driver. Sam noticed her hesitation and forced her lips to part in a stiff smile.

  As they were walking towards the exit of the bus station, Hollie asked, “How do you know my name?”

  Sam stopped, stared at Hollie, and shook her head. “Weirdest thing. I have no idea. I needed to get your attention and then I heard myself calling out this name.” She boldly met Hollie’s eyes. “I sound like a complete lunatic. I was drinking a cup of tea…actually, I was doing something else, but never mind. All of a sudden I had this picture in my head of a person in complete sadness. Next thing, I’m sitting in the car racing over here and calling out for you.”

  Hollie averted her gaze from Sam and smiled.

  Sam stared at her with hands on her hips. “Don’t push my moment of lunacy.” She gave Hollie an unfriendly stare and asked more abruptly than she’d intended to, “Now, Cork you said, didn’t you?”

  Hollie nodded. “Yes.”

  Sam opened her bag and grabbed her car keys. “What are you going to do in Cork?”

  “My friend who came with me to Ireland is there for some surfing. I thought I might join him before heading home soon,” Hollie replied.

  “Let’s go to the car then and get you to Cork. Mighty cold there, though, at this time of year.”

  “Excuse me,” Hollie said hesitantly. “You know my name, but I only vaguely remember the girl in the beauty salon saying your name is Samantha.”

  Sam shook her head. “So let me get this straight. You know my house. You know my intimate details. You know about teddy. But you don’t have a clue about my name?”

  “That about sums it up. Yep.”

  “Sam. My name is Sam, but nobody calls me Sammy. Never has and hopefully never will.”

  Hollie touched Sam’s arm. “Sam? Why are you here?”

  Sam slowly removed Hollie’s hand from her arm. “Don’t know. Something told me to come here. And honestly, it freaks me out in more than just one way.”

  “Just like that?”

  Sam nodded. “Just like that!”

  The two women stared at each other, but Sam smiled first. A small smile, yet a start.

  “Get in. It’s a long drive.”

  ****

  Hollie enjoyed the drive to the coast. She was in awe of the scenery in front of her with the most beautiful colours.

  “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” said Sam.

  “It is indeed. So similar to Tasmania and yet so different.”

  A smile twitched at the corner of Sam’s mouth. “Strange, when I think of Australia I think of hot sun, beach, surfers, grand tan, and the outback, but not necessarily green fields.”

  The silence between them lengthened as both were drawn to their own thoughts for a while. Hollie was grateful for the lift, but apprehensive about the conversation—or the current lack of it. She would have preferred a place where she could have just walked off when she wanted to, but all things considered, she was happy to be given another chance—and this time it seemed Sam was ready to listen.

  “So, Hollie, why do you know all this stuff about me?” Sam asked suddenly.

  Hollie began fiddling with her fingers in her lap. Even though she was relieved to finally have Sam’s attention, at the same time she felt sorry for bringing up these emotions in her.

  “I dream about it,” she said matter-of-factly. “Look, I do not want anything from you. I just want these dreams to go away, and it seems you’re the one causing them.”

  Neither of them said anything, each leaving the other one to her thoughts. Hollie noticed Sam’s stare from the corner of her eye, and a knot formed in her stomach. It seemed Sam still had problems believing the bizarre story. Not to mention, the story was being told by a girl from the other side of the world. When Sam shook her head, Hollie feared she would have to make her own travel arrangements after all, but Sam got her phone out of her bag and dialled a number.

  “Phee, yes, it’s me. Cancel all appointments for the next few days. I’m taking the week off…. Yes, I’m all right…. No, nothing to worry about…. For goodness sake, Phee, just do it,” Sam angrily whispered into the phone and hung up.

  Not a person of many pleasantries, Hollie thought and glanced away.

  Sam rubbed her temples with her fingers. “How about a coffee at the next place? I haven’t had anything to eat since this morning.”

  “Sounds okay to me.”

  Hollie and Sam stopped halfway down the road to Cork at a little eatery for a small afternoon snack and something to drink.

  Hollie sat down and watched Sam order two coffees.

  “Actually, I’d prefer tea, please,” Hollie said, ignoring Sam’s disapproving glare.

  “Don’t you drink coffee in the land down under?” Sam asked sarcastically.

  Hollie wasn’t sure how to take her, but she had no intention of backing down. “Are you embarrassed to share a table with a tea drinker?”

  “So tell me about where you come from,” Sam said, disregarding Hollie’s comment.

  “I come from Launceston, a small town in Tasmania.”

  “And where is that Tasmania country? I thought you said Australia.”

  “Tasmania is the most southern state in Australia.”

  “Launceston, eh? How big is the place?”

  “Not sure. About a hundred thousand.”

  “A hundred thousand. And you’re dreaming about me? Of all the people in the world, it just had to be me.”

  Even though Hollie was pleased about this second chance, she wasn’t getting anywhere.

  “Look, Sam.” Hollie wrapped her hands around her cup and slowly glanced up. “I have no idea what this is. I dream when your partner is rather, well, you know, rather rough with you. For some odd reason I knew you lived in Dublin. That’s it. I don’t have this with anybody else. I was always worried I dreamed about me. I don’t want anything from you, but for you to get your private life sorted, so I can have a good sleep again. It’s kind of exhausting.”

  Sam stared at her. “That is a lot to take in. All these details, all this information just doesn’t compute in my head. You must be aware there’s no logical explanation to this. If it is true!” She frowned as she sipped at her coffee. “May I ask you a personal question?”

  Hollie choked back a chuckle. Here she was pouring out the most intimate details a person could have of someone, a stranger nonetheless, and Sam came up with this question. Was her abruptness only a front?

  “My apologies. I shouldn’t laugh. It just seems odd you should ask. You seem to usually just take.”

  “I know. It’s a survival instinct,” Sam said dismissively. “As you know, life’s not the easiest at the moment,” Sam said gazing right past Hollie.

  “Anyway, your question?”

  “Sorry. It’s nothing. Forget about it.”

  Hollie wasn’t sure how to take that reply. Sam had finally eased up a bit, but something must have triggered her to close up again.


  “Sam. You probably will never see me again. Go ahead, ask me.”

  Sam fiddled with the menu. “It just seems an odd question.”

  “Excuse me. Can there be anything weirder than me sitting here and telling you I dream of you?”

  Their eyes met. “Point taken.” Sam hesitated. “Do you have a boyfriend?”

  Surprised, she blinked a couple of times. “Well, kind of.”

  Sam laughed. “What does that mean?”

  “It means I have met a beautiful man whom I like and who takes me just the way I am. The thing is, though, these dreams are freaking me out and getting to me. So we’re working on it.”

  “Hollie, just before Christmas last year I had this unusual dream of a girl being driven home in this rather dashing car, with leather seats and an impressive console, by a more than handsome man.”

  Hollie smiled. The fact that Sam remembered more of the car and the man than anything else seemed to fit her character.

  “Anyway, this man leaned over to kiss her and he must’ve been a bit too pushy. She freaked out, shoved him away, and fortunately got out.”

  Frozen, Hollie stared into the distance. This was not how it was supposed to be. She had come here to find Sam, to get to talk to Sam, to possibly help her and go back home and enjoy peaceful sleeps. This seemed wrong.

  “Hollie? Are you all right?”

  “That was me,” Hollie whispered.

  “Are you all right?” Sam repeated, as she placed her hand onto Hollie’s.

  “I’m fine. That was Jeremy, my boyfriend,” she said, with a hesitant smile as she removed her hands from Sam’s. “I suppose it’s that…sorry, but I just realised how you must’ve felt when I bombarded you with all that private information. Yes, that seems to have been me. That was Jeremy—but we’re good now. Apparently, his previous girlfriends were only too happy to jump into bed with him straightaway. Money and appearance count more than character to some.”

  “And you’re not like that?” Sam threw her head back in surprise and with a tinge of cynicism in her voice. Hollie shook her head in disbelief and sipped the last drop of her tea.

  “Okay, I get the point,” Sam said. “But he somehow did win you over, didn’t he?”

  With a smile, Hollie remembered all the effort Jeremy had gone through to bring along the beautiful food that afternoon.

  “Yes, he did,” she said, with a tint of sadness remembering how their last conversation had ended.

  “Hollie?”

  “Yes?”

  Sam hesitated.

  “Don’t tell me you had any more dreams?” Hollie asked.

  “No. But I did feel an uncomfortable sadness this afternoon.”

  Hollie slowly placed the teacup back onto the table.

  “That Jeremy of yours is one hot man if I may say so. I hope he’s treating you well.” Sam smiled. “Hollie?”

  “Yes?”

  “Were you born in Sydney by any chance?”

  “No. I was born at home on the farm. Why?”

  “I was born in Sydney.”

  “In Sydney? You’re kidding! I thought you were Irish?”

  “I am. Mum and Dad went to Australia, had me, but Mum was too homesick, so they moved back to Ireland.” Sam gazed outside for a moment before she met Hollie’s eyes again. “We are some weird cookies, aren’t we? Dreaming about each other.” She choked back a smile. “If that’d be on telly I’d switch it off straightaway.”

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  It was late in the afternoon when they finally arrived at their destination. Sam parked the car near the information centre, before getting out.

  “Welcome to Cork. It seems to be the usual windy day here.”

  “It’s beautiful.” Hollie gazed at the scenery. “What do you mean, usual windy day?”

  “It’s always windy down here at the coast.”

  Hollie gazed over at Sam over the roof of the car. “And you know that because?”

  “My mum and dad live just about ten minutes from here,” she replied as she slammed the car door.

  “Oh good. So I don’t have to worry about you having to drive all the way back to Dublin.”

  Sam choked a smile. “No, not at all. Though I’m not sure whether they’re home this week. But I will probably stay a few days, so I can squeeze a bit more information out of you. There’s just got to be a reason for all that.”

  Hollie sighed, but then saw Davo. “There’s my friend.” She excitedly pointed across the road.

  Sam’s gaze followed the direction of her finger, and she frowned. “Don’t tell me you’re pointing at the chubby lad over there?”

  Hollie shot her a look. “What?”

  Sam turned away; her hands clenched stiffly at her sides, and with her usual arrogance, she said, “Grand! Why doesn’t it surprise me that the big teddy bear is your friend?”

  “That’s Davo.” Hollie waved across the road at Davo again. He pushed the sleeves of his green sweater up to the elbows and came over.

  “He sure could do with a good diet,” Sam commented.

  “He did go on a diet a few years ago, but got so grumpy we all chipped in and bought him an annual supply of doughnuts,” Hollie said dryly.

  Mouth wide open, Sam stared at her, speechless.

  Hollie rolled her eyes, slightly offended that Sam apparently had believed her. “I’m kidding. For goodness sake, Sam. That’s Davo. What’s wrong with him? He’s a great guy. One of the best friends you could ever have.”

  “Hi,” Hollie said as she gave Davo a hug—though with an unusual distance between them, which made them both back off straightaway.

  Hollie quickly found her composure again. “Davo, may I introduce you? This is Sam. I’d like to say the woman of my dreams, but that would sound ridiculous.”

  The fact that Sam rolled her eyes didn’t go past Hollie.

  “Great, you finally found her, and you’ve obviously made an impression on her already and talked her into giving you a lift. That’s a girl!” he said with a big grin.

  Sam didn’t seem impressed at all, but Davo’s grin must’ve had its usual effect on her as well, and she returned the smile.

  Davo extended his hand to Sam. She hesitated, looked at his hand, and then shook it.

  “Nice to meet you again, Sam,” Davo said politely.

  Hollie placed her hands on Davo’s arms. “What do you mean again?”

  He shrugged nonchalantly. “We more or less ran into each other last week.”

  “Did you know?” Sam asked.

  His left eyebrow rose a fraction. “Know what?”

  “Did you know Hollie was looking for me?”

  He shook his head. “Nope, I had no idea. The only reason I was staring at you is you two seem to have a resemblance, but I can’t put my finger on it.”

  There was an awkward silence between all three of them.

  Davo rubbed his jaw. “Okay, Hollie. How about I take you to the cabin?”

  “Good idea.”

  Hollie glanced over at Sam.

  “I’ll head over to Mum and Dad’s. How about dinner tonight? There’s a pizzeria just down the street.”

  “Di Angelo’s?” Davo asked.

  Sam nodded. “I think that’s the one.”

  “Yes, my surfing buddies and I went there the other day. Uhh, good food there!” he said with eyes wide open.

  Sam shook her head. “Deal then. How about seven o’clock?”

  Davo gave her the thumbs-up sign. “We’ll be there.”

  Hollie just stood by as the two arranged her evening. She wasn’t sure what to think of it. On the one hand, she needed to talk to Davo about what had happened the previous week, as well as her phone call to Jeremy.

  Jeremy! Her hands grew damp with sudden sweat and her stomach churned.

  Then again, on the other hand, she needed to talk much more with Sam. There was obviously a connection between the two of them. She sighed.

  Please, can anyb
ody get me out of this mess?

  She moved her head towards Sam, who looked back at her. “I’m sure we’ll get it sorted,” she whispered.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  “I never get this right. Is it eleven hours ahead or behind?” Hollie counted her fingers.

  “What?”

  She rolled her eyes. “Australia.”

  Davo’s face broke into a smile. “They’re eleven hours ahead. But you’ll be all right. Jeremy never sleeps.”

  With the weight of all the world’s trouble, she slouched down on her bed. “I hung up on him the other day,” she said quietly, misery filling her voice.

  “What?” he said again.

  She lifted her pain-filled eyes to his. “I hung up on him. I just…he just…” she mumbled, but wasn’t able to finish the sentence.

  Davo sat opposite to her on his bed, and she appreciated his effort to keep a comfortable distance between them.

  She took one of the pillows and wrapped her arms around it in an embrace. “I hate this place,” she said. “It is a nightmare of all nightmares.”

  He avoided her gaze.

  “It’ll never be the same, will it?”

  Shaking his head, he stared down at his hands.

  Leaning over, Hollie grabbed some tissues to wipe her tears.

  “What happened with Jeremy?” he asked, still focused on his hands.

  She stood up and threw the pillow back on the bed. “Crap. It’s all crap. This whole journey. I can’t believe the mess I’m in. Yes, I found Sam, but look at me—”

  “What happened with Jeremy?” he asked again.

  With a strained tone of voice, she said, “He told me about Linda.”

  Davo’s expression turned somber as his gaze wandered to the window.

  Moving her hands through her hair, she said, “You knew, didn’t you?”

  Nodding, he drew in his lips thoughtfully. “I’m sorry I made the remark about me being here instead of Jeremy. Yes I knew, but it’s none of my business what he did years ago. I didn’t want to upset you, because you seemed to have enough on your plate as it is.” His mouth curved with tenderness. “I know he’s head over heels in love with you. I just thought it should’ve been him here instead of me. I reckon he should have been man enough to face Stephen or find a different accommodation.” He stood up. “I swear, sugar, I didn’t mean for this to happen.”