Two Dreams

***

David woke up that morning interrupting a powerful dream. He was disappointed and lay in bed imagining how he wanted it to end. Had the girl in his dream really been Shasta? If he thought falling asleep again would allow him the reality of finishing the dream he would have rolled right over and taken any consequence for being late for work.

***

Shasta also awoke interrupting a dream. The dream was so real, and she quickly rose from her bed to shake off the dream. She didn’t want to dwell on it in case dwelling on it would keep it in her mind. Despite her quick movements in the shower the fear returned and she saw the faces in the dream. It wasn’t just one face but one body and the faces changed through out the dream, and the only face she recognized was David’s. She had been scared by the other faces, she was running from them, but then the same being was beside her with David’s face. Was it really David?

***

David arrived at work and saw Shasta before she saw him. He shook his head as he watched her with new eyes. The images of his dream filled his mind and he again saw Shasta on his lap, and felt the weight of her pushing against him. Shasta checked her message box while his eyes were glued to her as he imagined what she had done next. He almost groaned when he remembered her turning so she was now facing him but still on his lap. In real life he would have reciprocated and either taken her body fully in his hands or questioned what she was doing. But in the dream he did neither. Instead he let her move as she wanted, neither helping nor hindering.

Just like in the dream he was entranced by her now and she wasn’t even wearing tight clothes or drawing attention like he was sure she could. He remembered the kiss when she put the pen in her lips thinking of what to write. The kiss was so real he lifted his hands to his lips wanting the pressure to be real. He looked at her viewing her now for other possibilities instead of just as his coworker. In the dream she had kissed him so deeply and started on the buttons on his shirt, even reached down to rub outside his pants. It was just a taste of what being with her would be like, but then she had stood up. He still didn’t move as she walked backwards away from him with a look of longing in her eyes.

Shasta was now finishing up her work at the front office and as she had walked away from him in the dream, she now walked towards him in real life. He realized that his pulse had risen in reliving the dream and was feeling his body longing for her, or at least longing for what he imagined her to be. He sighed, indeed it was only a dream.

***

She had received a larger pile of mail than usual and almost sighed with relief that work would provide the distraction she needed. She certainly didn’t want to sit at home filled with the lonely feelings that waking up from a confusing dream always brought to her. She was lost in thought about the urgent memo from her boss. In her team room she’d be able to sit and think about the problem, and later in the day with her teammates, come up with a solution. She smiled to herself and had momentarily forgotten the dream when she looked up and saw David standing across the office. Was he watching her or did it just happen that they looked at each other at the same moment?

Her smile vanished as the memories of her dream flashes through her mind clearly. Shasta stopped at a red light in her car, the road in front of her turned into a jungle path and she couldn’t drive when the light turned green so she got out and was going to walk home, but a man was behind her. She looked at him and instinctively knew she should run from him. She ran straight ahead, then a different face on the same body was in front of her and she again knew she should run. It was so real, even now that she had to remind herself that it wasn’t. David was now walking towards her. She felt she couldn’t talk to him for fear it would reinforce the vivid dream in her memory. She pretended she had forgotten something at the table, turned and picked up a form she didn’t need and kept walking the other way.

In her dream she had also turned the other way, off the path into the darkness, not seeing but sensing where to go. Knowing there was trees everywhere scared her but she never ran into one. She walked quickly through the jungle, and felt herself pick up her speed, as she walked down the hall thinking only that she couldn’t talk to David. She had come to a stream which turned into a river in front of her, she felt fear from being caught by her pursuers. She jumped as a body appeared across the river from her. It was the same body, with David’s face this time and she hadn’t been afraid, trusting him implicitly as he silently rowed a raft with her on it across the river without a word. He pointed the way to her left and she followed the trail without turning around or thanking him.

One moment she felt safe, the next she felt pursued again and saw the same body with a different face. It was a face that she was sure meant her harm and she was running again. Her pulse was racing in real life now as she chose the stairwell instead of the elevator, taking the steps three at a time. She had followed the path David had pointed out and she saw a light ahead and it was a wooden house with a wide porch that lifted off the ground. After she stood on it and she knew she was safe. She forced herself to stop as she reached for the door that entered her floor. She needed to control herself. It was only a dream.

***

David was surprised that Shasta hadn’t given her usual casual greeting. Had she sensed his stare? He didn’t think so. Why had she turned away? It was probably better since he might do something he’d regret later when the spell of the dream wore off. He checked his mail and consciously picked the same pen she had used, to write his own notes. He received a confusing note from his boss. It would take some thought to know how to handle this new problem. He needed a clear mind for the task and forced his thoughts and body to cool down.

***

She had a desk in their large team room. Her desk was covered with family photos but she knew it was different from many other desks because the pictures were obviously her parents and brothers and sisters not her own children and husband. She thought of the moment of feeling of safety that she had felt with David in her dream and thought of the safety she felt with family. It was time for a phone call to Mom and brothers and sister and nephews and nieces again to remind herself of the safety. Thinking of David she turned and wasn’t surprised to see that he wasn’t at his desk across the room yet. Maybe she could be involved in work before he came in and would be able to put thought of the dream and David aside.

***

He walked into their team room quickly scanning it as usual, this time adding another target. He knew where her desk was and was surprised to see her already there standing at her desk getting ready for work. How had she gotten there so quickly? He remembered seeing a picture on her desk once when talking to the coworker at the desk next to hers and assumed it was her family together when she was a child, and that the cute girl in pigtails was her. Maybe he could go over and talk to her now and ask her about the picture. He watched her survey the room and seem grateful for the quiet morning time, and decided against it, he also needed the quiet time.

***

Her day was for research except for the regularly scheduled team meeting at 12:30 p.m. She had the morning to do research on her angle of the problem and use her creativity to come up with as many solutions as possible to present at the meeting. The problem was unusual and she was wondering how their clients could afford them.

***

On his desk his picture of his parents was in a silver frame. His piles on his desk that he had hurriedly left on his desk before leaving on his last assignment seemed to take forever to organize It was late by the time he sorted his daily mail. He left the letter from his boss for last. The problem was new and interesting, and he didn’t know where to begin. They were allowed to talk to other team members as long as they kept open minds and didn’t come to a decision about the correct choice of action before the team meeting. The more he thought about it he realized didn’t have much time to get any new information and his knowledge on the subject was limited. His leads were limited and didn’t get him far.

***

By the time lunch came he was frustrated. He knew he wasn’t going to get any farther and decided a lunch break would be what he needed and almost instantaneously remembered his dream and the object of his desire. He turned pretending to stretch and looked around for Shasta. He wasn’t disappointed and saw her happily at work talking on the phone with a big grin on her face. He longed to go see what she was happy about.

***

Her morning hadn’t proved to be the disaster she’s thought it would be after the startling dream. Each of her phone calls had lead to more information. Her desk was starting to get messy with her piles of papers and her trips to the fax machine, and printer. It was getting close to lunch and she wondered what other team members were assigned the same project as she was. She hung up the phone and was going to check if her e-mail had been answered when her thoughts turned to David and she smiled and hoped he would be on the team.

She thought about her dream and was now able to filter the scary unreality out of the reality of her day. For the first time she wondered why David had been in her dream and why it was with him she had felt safe. Maybe it was time for lunch and time to think about this logically. She stood and stretched, turning around. She was almost surprised to see the room full and bustling instead of empty as it had been when she started work. Her eyes scanned to David’s seat and she saw his desk was empty.

She was about to turn around when she saw he had just been reaching down for his wallet that had fallen on the floor. He picked his wallet up and stood up and looked straight at her desk and their eyes meet. She smiled, grateful this time she hadn’t met his eyes with the scared look that must have greeted him this morning, and looked away.

***

He was trying to decide if he could invite Shasta out to lunch and how to do it when he fumbled with his wallet and it fell on the floor. He had decided not to approach her today but when he stood up and looked for her again he was surprised to see her looking at him. He smiled, and instead of the morning’s frightened look she smiled and he immediately changed his mind.

***

Someone was walking by her desk so she took that opportunity to look away from David so he wouldn’t think she was staring, which she had been. She turned to her desk deciding what to do for lunch when she noticed she had a new e-mail. The e-mail provided more information and she quickly dismissed the idea of a long, relaxing lunch. She couldn’t resist turning once more to sneak a peak at David as he walked across the room talking to Mitchell another team member. She turned back to her desk with the same safe feeling she had in her dream.

***

David walked to Shasta’s desk noticing right away the picture he wanted to ask her about. Her desk was in her usual disarray as the papers and books seemed incoherently tossed into piles. Shasta didn’t hear him approach as he asking his friend to lunch so he could casually invite Shasta too without her feeling pressure. He knew she felt comfortable with Mitchell and approached her desk hoping to appear casual. She seemed surprised when he called her name and kept her finger on her spot where she was reading. They both greeted each other casually.

"We were wondering if you’d like to join us for lunch?" asked David wishing he hadn’t talked so fast. Shasta was surprised but responded honestly that she thought she’d just eat and work at her desk to finish her ideas. Neither Mitchell nor David were surprised to hear her discuss her ideas as she always had many creative ideas.

David was disappointed but quickly asked if they could pick her up something, to which she agreed. She surprised him again by asking for his favorite sandwich from a sandwich shop they were going to frequent for lunch. By the time he returned from lunch he was highly distracted again by thoughts of her and was scheming ways to talk to her.

***

Shasta’s curiosity grew as she thought about her dream and how it seemed to correspond with several intimate moments with him in the same day. Had he watched her like that before and she just hadn’t noticed, she didn’t think so. She wished now that she had agreed to lunch, and spent the time half reading and half thinking how to draw him into a conversation and even more into her life.

***

He returned with her sandwich and a selection of drinks to choose from. She wanted to ask David and Mitchell to join her but how could she justify that as it defeated the reason for a working lunch, so she didn’t. But she did try to make clear eye contact with him as she thanked him and she paid him back. David surprised her by looking past the mess that was on her desk that people usually criticized, and noticed her family picture. The one when she was a child, her parents without gray hair, her twin brother and sister still babies. The one that made her wish she was still as beautiful as her childhood self. He guessed correctly that it was her family and she smiled largely when he commented that she was terribly cute in the picture. He even asked to pick it up and asked who the other in the picture were. She was flattered and surprised, and her curiosity grew.

***

David walked away from her desk after giving Shasta her food. He had made her smile, not because of a joke but because of the obvious way she lit up when he asked about her family and the cute girl in the picture. He had noticed the way she pulled her hair behind her ear, the way she smelled her sandwich savoring the smell, the way she crossed her legs, the way she touched her lip while listening to him. Those same lips that had kissed him in his dream. He had a big smile and had to consciously remember that he had had lunch with Mitchell and should include him in the conversation.

***

Shasta hoped she wouldn’t be distracted by thoughts of David at the meeting. He probably wasn’t even in the same discussion group. She ate her delicious sandwich that seemed to taste better today than usual, and worked on her list of ideas for the project. She was ready for her meeting, she grabbed her notes and stopped in the ladies room to lift her skirt a bit higher and touch up her lip gloss just in case he was there.

***

David grabbed his folder of papers, but without much information to go on he put extra unrelated papers into his folder to give the appearance of readiness. He looked around and saw that Shasta was gone. She must not be in the same group as he’d been hoping. He was the first to arrive at the large round table in the center of the large room. The table was on a raised platform and had an overhead projector, white board, large easel with white paper, tape recorder, and enough pens and markers and colors to help with note taking. The platform had short walls around it to keep a degree of privacy if required. David chose his seat strategically so he could sit and watch Shasta’s desk and hopefully Shasta.

***

When Shasta arrived at the conference table, a group was gathered and she could choose between two seats. Before, she probably would have chosen a seat away from the easel to not be chosen first, but now she chose that seat because it was next to David. She knew it was the wrong choice and was sure she would be distracted when her hand brushed David’s while reaching for what she assumed was her water bottle. It was actually David’s. She needed to focus.

***

David’s couldn’t believe so much could change in a day. Yesterday, his loneliness was making him wonder why he broke up with his last girlfriend, even though he could list the hundred reasons. Today he was making a list of qualities he was seeing with new eyes in his friend Shasta. Even now she was walking towards him, even sitting next to him. Their hands brushed reaching for the water bottle and he was immediately reminded of how she felt sitting on his lap. He needed to focus.

***

Everyone was anxious for the boss to explain more details about their job and how the strange project had come about. Kristal explained without interruption, "While you are normally a team of qualified mentors using your talents to help companies in trouble, this project is unusual. I will tell you up front although you will get paid, there will not be any extra bonus at the end, even if the job is successful. There is another project starting up any day. If you would like to consider that project and be released from this one it is your choice. I will only expect a skeletal staff and am willing to put in the extra hours myself to see that it works. You have been chosen because of your different talents and I’m hoping at least some of you will stay to see this succeed. I only discovered this through a personal friend and have even offered our services to the Daytolla Elementary School for free. The company is covering any costs that need to be handled but don’t expect any extras.

We would like the whole group here for today's brainstorming session but Bill will explain some details of the other project and if that seems more appealing to you after today's meeting we will have you transferred to that team." Shasta was renewed in her interest for the program now that she understood this. It fit her more than other projects had although she had enjoyed them and she only half listened to Bill explain the other project.

***

David listened to Bill hoping that it wouldn’t be something Shasta would choose. David wanted to stay with the project and thought Shasta would too after watching her enthusiasm that very morning. After just sitting next to Shasta and feeling her touch he knew if she switched he would be very tempted to also. Kristal took a show of hands for those that would switch, and David sighed out loud when he saw the Shasta didn’t raise her hand. David now wondered when the team realized his lack of expertise and ideas whether they would even want him on the team.

***

Shasta saw the hands go up and she saw Kristal’s face give away her discouragement as she realized the group would be small and thus require more hours for her. Her reaction was the opposite as she saw that David did not raise his hand, and she turned and smiled at him. She enjoyed the smaller teams, and was ready to jump in.

***

Kristal explained the scenario that had only been sketched for them in their morning memos. There was a school in their city with a bad reputation and poor leadership. The list was the same as you hear for most inner city schools: high turn over of teachers, low attendance, high rate of behavior problems, low scores on standardized tests.

She went on to explain, "This Daytolla Elementary School is more unusual though and we are being called in because of a recent fire in the school, burning both their library, computer lab and some classrooms. “

“The result is high financial loss as well as the cutting of important everyday school functions. The company is donating money to cover costs for purchasing everything that is needed. But your job is to spend the money as wisely as possible, see that it is put into place and can function without your help. As always you are to justify all expenditures."

***

David understood his role better now, and saw that he had been pulled in for his expertise in computers and networking. That angle would be easy for him. Making them child-centered would be a new challenge.