Dreams of Reality

by Sylvia Hubbard

  Her dark lavender slanted eyes were extraordinarily expressive even when she could not say what was on her mind.

  The dream. She had a dream.

  For some people this seemed normal, but she had not dreamed since... since the rape. It was like something in her brain died and she thought a part of her had, until last night when she was standing in a strange office next to two other women. One lady was truly frightened and Skye comforted her telling her everything was okay, but she doubted these words even as she spoke them.

  A door opened and a heavyset man and another man in his early sixties walked in. The fat man seemed doubtful and whispered something to the other man. The other man coaxed him on, and she heard something like, “...won’t remember a thing.”

  Skye stepped forward as the two men approached them. The heavy set man looked her over like she was some sort of meat product.

  “Is there a problem?” she asked.

  The heavy set man looked over at the other man not sure if he should speak his mind.

  “Go ahead and speak. She is not aware, so speak sensibly.”

  The heavy set man met her eyes with beady black eyes of his own that chilled her to the bone. She didn’t like the vibes she received when she looked at him. His voice was decrepitly calm.

  This bothered her too. “No problem, Skye. Do you know why you’re here?”

  She shook her head suddenly not at all feeling well. “I don’t dream. I don’t dream. Is this a dream?”

  The older man came fourth and held her shoulders. “Close your eyes Skye and listen to my voice.”

  She started shaking and her heart rate increased. She didn’t want to be here. She wanted to wake up. “L-let me wake up,” she begged.

  “No, Skye, you can’t. You must stay. Please stay.”

  “M-make the bad man go, and I will stay,” she promised.

  “He’s gone,” the older gentleman said. “Now relax. Stay calm.”

  She calmed herself down appeased that the “bad man” had somehow disappeared, but this was a dream so that could happen. Controlling her panic attacks was becoming easier and easier.

  The older man helped her to a chair and comforted her more. She really didn’t need or want his attention, but allowed him to do so since comforting her seemed to relax him too. She knew she was somehow important to these men for some reason, but had never met them a day in her life. This was strange.

  No one dreamed of people they never met. Before she realized it she was sleeping in his arms.

  But at the same time that’s when she awoke in her bed. The man had been telling her something, but for the life of her she couldn’t remember. She knew his voice was still pounding in her ear when she awoke as if he had been standing by the bed speaking to her, but even that faded away once her eyes opened.

  The clock had read four in the morning and she had still been sleepy. Drawing the covers closer to her she surmised the experience must have been something she saw on television that she had not remembered.

  Skye cringed her nose deep in thought. ‘Something on television.’ This seemed reasonable to assume, yet the reasoning didn’t sit well with her. Still she was not going to dwell on this now. She had a busy day ahead of her.

  Little did she know this was the first step into a reality she would never forget.

  Chapter 4

  Dr. Roth Johnson came in the conference room with a superiority of his own. Thaddeus watched him closely as he sat down between Sergeant Nolan and Craig. The sergeant thanked the doctor for coming on such short notice.

  “We want to move fast on this,” Craig explained, “But we need an understanding of what exactly is going on. Mr. Newman is going to be the one dealing with the subject, and he wants to take precaution while helping us out.”

  “Indeed,” Dr. Johnson’s gruff voice said. He had dark skin, which contrasted severely with his thick rimmed, white glasses. “I was an intern of Dr. Porter’s about twenty years ago. He was just getting into mind controlling drugs for the government, but he found out he could make a lot more money doing research on his own with private investors. I went with him of course because I knew this was a genius that would eventually discover something great at the rate he was going. When GHB was discovered about ten years ago that is when I left the project. By this time Dr. Carter had come aboard and was also an expert at mind controlling substance yet only dealing with the female psyche. I believe with ingenuity they have managed to perfect a new drug that can be mixed with Depro-Vera and used to take the mind to a sublevel of consciousness unbeknown to the test subject. Subjects with high-level thyroids are perfect because they are able to compensate and have a longer time to become addicted. When used in patients with normal to low levels, hallucinations occur severely depending on the low level of thyroid. The perfect subject though will in time accept these as dreams if they are not too severe and mentally negative. The better they are taken care of during this time that the brain is ‘dreaming’, the better they fare when they awake. We believe Dr. Carter perfected the method of hypnotizing these women and making them do what he wanted them to do when he wanted them to do it. Dr. Porter stays on the project to make sure the well being of the subject is taken care of correctly when she is in the sub-level conscious state of mind.”

  “Why women?” Thaddeus asked.

  “Because they are more docile and would more or less take it. When given to men whether they had a high thyroid level or not, they immediately became violent in and out of the dreams.” Dr. Johnson continued, “When you interact with this individual make her experience with you pleasant. If she protests or becomes upset you must relax her and make her feel comfortable. Get her to take her mind off the fact that this is a dream that she can’t control and she can’t wake up from. It’s frightening for her and you need to do whatever it takes not to cause any mental strain on her so that she will enjoy the time you need her at these moments.”

  Thaddeus looked at Craig who seemed almost too delighted with this situation for Thaddeus. He didn’t realize that he had a frown on his face that was making the Sergeant and the doctor uncomfortably nervous about involving him on this project.

  “Are you sure you want to involve yourself on this case, Mr. Newman?” Dr. Johnson asked nervously not at all liking how grim the young man was looking. “I’m sure a more patient person for this project would be suitable.”

  “Oh no,” Craig said trying to keep his laughter from bubbling. “Thaddeus is a most patient man. Boundless if you ask me.”

  Dr. Johnson raised a brow in disbelief. “Then there should be no problem.” He looked at the Sergeant. “May I have a word with you privately?”

  When they were gone, Thaddeus looked viciously at Craig.

  “What the hell are you trying to pull?”

  “Nothing,” Craig said innocently. “I am just merely assuring them you would be perfect. I think you can handle a little gentleness.”

  “To a woman I’ve never met?”

  “You’ve got to remember Thaddeus she’s probably just a regular woman. Nothing out of the ordinary than what we would see everyday. I know that this will be difficult and you can pull out any time before we even start this.”

  “Oh yeah. What would Fats think when I don’t show up tomorrow?”

  “He’d think you just changed your mind. It would all be understandable. I would understand.”

  “Fine-”

  “Wait!” Craig stood up in protest.

  “Ah ha, didn’t think I’d call your bluff.” This time it was Thaddeus' turn to laugh, leaning back in the chair. Looking at his watch, he stood up. “I have to go, but I assure you, I wouldn’t pull out because unfortunately I love you too much and I know you’ve invested a lot of time and man hours to make this work out smoothly for me. But I also know you’ve got something up your sleeve Bro, which I haven’t figured out yet. I just hope you aren’t thinking I’m just going to see this broad and know I can do anything I want and take it. You know I�
�m not like that and just don’t sleep with anyone. What’s the use of a woman if her mind is not there? I have no idea what this woman is like and I know I won’t be attracted to her in the least bit so your plan to hook me up won’t work, Bro.”

  “What makes you think in any way I want you to do anything to this poor unsuspecting woman?” Craig asked innocently.

  “Because for the last two years you’ve tried to hook me up with every woman you thought was nice, but it turned out she had an ulterior motive and I saw right through her facade. Now if you’ll excuse me I have an appointment with some clients. I still have a business to run.”

  Craig was disgruntled as Thaddeus made his way out the office. It was his best friend’s intention to get Thaddeus to be unable to resist the woman and Craig was probably aggravated because Thaddeus had figured out his devious friend’s scheme so quickly.

  Good! upset!

  For the past couple of years, Craig felt Thaddeus' temperament was because he wasn’t getting enough sex, but Thaddeus wasn’t a man that had a very high sex drive and loved to devote more time in getting to know a woman rather than letting his dick make a decision for him on what he wanted.

  Sure it was good pussy out there, but in this day and age, Thaddeus had no time to play around and lay wherever the mood struck him.

  He was a serious man and he wanted to be with a serious woman.

  But it was becoming harder and harder to find her… except Skye Patterson had clearly become an interesting young lady.

  And he hadn’t found an interesting woman in a very long time.

  Chapter 5

  Another disappointing session with Dr. Carter left Skye still unsatisfied. He asked her in depth about her feelings for Thaddeus Newman when she confessed she was thinking about him after seeing him in the newspapers and the other day. She was confused about how she felt about him.

  “I guess you could call it a crush. I guess?” She was doubtful. “I don’t understand it. I like the way he was looking that day and in the newspaper. And he smelled . . .” She closed her eyes remembering him being so close and the more she thought about the more she remembered about him. The nice shape of his head, the strong nose, chiseled chin, thick neck, and of course the shoulders. Broad, bullock shoulders that made a woman want to rest her thighs on.

  “Excuse me?” Dr. Carter asked.

  She realized she was expressing her private thoughts out loud and blushed.

  “Don’t be embarrassed. I am glad you are taking some interest in men. That is a positive sign for you considering your hardship.”

  “My hardship?” She tried to sound as confident as possible not really wanting to admit there was a small fear of men she still harbored that she fought desperately every day to conquer. “I mean I understand that my rape wasn’t my fault and I don’t think I should allow myself to ruin my chances for an emotional relationship with a man. I accept the fact that it wasn’t my fault and I know it will forever be in the back of my mind, but I hope my panic attacks would go away eventually.”

  “Possibly. Yes, you maybe attracted to this man, but anything towards sex would probably make you turn against him. If you met him, and he regarded you with mutual interest, would you have sex with him?”

  Her eyes were doubtful, but interested. “I would like to, I guess,” she said doubtfully. “I’d have to know him personally. I can’t—”

  “If you were in a situation where there were no restrictions, no consequences, no repercussions would you?”

  Just the thought of it made Skye’s heart race. “I think I would.” It felt weird hearing her say that to someone else, but just saying it made her feel energized. “I think I’d tell myself that my panic attacks weren’t there. It’s just excitement and I could believe it for just one night or two if I knew I’d never have to wake up and see that it wasn’t real. That he didn’t have any real sexual feelings for me, but I could just accept him, physically and mentally.” Crinkling her nose, it sounded confusing even to her. “I don’t think reality likes me, so if I knew it wasn’t real I could handle him.”

  Dr. Carter seemed pleased with her answer. This bothered her to know he felt comfortable with what she said, because what she said had not made her comfortable. To know to only deal reasonably with Thaddeus Newman in dreams was not a very healthy thought. She wanted to be able to deal with him at all times. That was appropriate. What she wanted was not healthy in her mind, but decided not to express this to Dr. Carter.

  “But I don’t dream when I sleep, so I know it will never happen.” She added with great disappointed, but retracted this when she remembered just the other day she had dreamed. “Although I did dream the other day.”

  “You did?” he seemed genuinely interested. “About what?”

  She related the dream to him and how she had felt afterwards. “I let it passed because I figured with all the changes going on in my life, it must be a positive sign.”

  He looked proud. “This could be symbolized as a big step in your life. The new free spirited Skye could be emerging, the one that’s not afraid of changes and new experiences.”

  She shrugged still feeling depressed, but glad her hour was up.

  Leaving the Women’s clinic, Skye got in her car and drove to her appointment at Newman Steel. Trisha Galvin had called a couple of days after Skye’s meeting Thaddeus Newman, leaving a message on her answering machine. She was intrigued with the business wanting to know more about what Newman Steel did and why her services would be beneficial to them.

  And why after her awkward meeting with Thaddeus Newman was she getting this appointment. Curiosity killed the cat, Skye, she told herself.

  ‘Yeah, but satisfaction brought it back,’ her mind argued and she chuckled to herself while she was in the elevator that took her to the administration office of Newman Steel.

  When she arrived to meet Trisha she was surprised to see the woman was as old as Skye at twenty-two and looking friendly with her large features. “I’m Trisha Galvin, Mr. Newman’s assistant. It’s nice to meet you, Ms. Patterson. I’ve spoken to your references you gave and they are pleased with your work. I’m delighted to say we’ve accepted your contract terms and willing to work with you.”

  Trisha led her to a huge richly decorated executive conference room that looked about as big as her.

  “Have a seat please,” Trish said pointing to a chair near the end of the table.

  The conference room seated about twenty-five nicely with the most comfortable chairs Skye had ever sat in.

  Skye tried not to sound nervous when she asked, “Mr. Newman will be present?”

  “He’s not scheduled.”

  “Can I ask how you heard of my service? I usually pass my card out and solicit mainly to the medical fields and such.”

  “I received your card from a friend.” Trish didn’t say the friend was Thaddeus, but the woman was too sincere not to sound tricky. The assistant continued, “Mr. Newman has large contracts and I am usually in charge of typing them.” She sat across from Skye with a general look of curiosity on her face.

  Skye knew she would like working with Trisha. She was nice and honest when she spoke.

  “With more and more contracts proposed to Mr. Newman it is becoming tedious for me to keep up with my typing duties and still be his assistant. Your services would be appreciated in this area. What I need to know from you is if you had any experience with contractual work?”

  “Mostly on a medical basis and I know how government contracts are. I’m sure with normals and samples I can adjust. I’d like to do an example for practice and just so you can see if I do understand.”

  “That can be arranged,” Trisha. “I have templates of many of them on my computer and I can give you several examples. Mr. Newman’s wordings are simple to pick up and most times he transcribes on micro cassette.”

  “So is contract work all I will be required to type?”

  “Maybe letters and proposals. This and that. I will make su
re there aren’t any surprises.”

  Skye looked relieved. “I am just honored you chose me. Mr. Newman’s company is successful and I do find something different a challenge.”

  Trish sat back with a very serious look. “Now I would like to discuss prices.”

  Skye reached in her brief and pulled out her price sheet she used regularly for customers. Just as she was about to pass it to Trisha, the double doors to the conference room opened and Skye felt she couldn’t breathe. He walked in looking just as sexy in a dark gray Versace suit as he did the other day. Good Lord, he wasn’t scheduled! Control yourself, Skye, she ordered herself.

  “Mr. Newman,” Trisha said looking surprised. “I thought you wouldn’t be here?”

  “I was finished with Mr. Blake and decided to work during lunch at the office. Lyn told me you were still meeting with Ms Patterson.” He looked at her now and outstretched his hand. “How do you do, Ms Patterson?”

  She stood up and shook his hand. If she just put on professional heirs she would be able to handle herself and not vomit.

  “Hello.” Her tone was stiff and monotonous.

  “We’ve met before, haven’t we?” He leaned forward so she was forced to meet his eyes.

  “Yes. We have.” She stepped back on purpose not wanting to be in his proximity for long. Deliberately avoiding his eyes was hard without being outright rude. She put on her reading glasses to give him the allure she actually needed them to see, therefore giving her the opportunity to get away from him, and not make complete eye contact.