Dreams Ltd (6 page)

I didn’t see anybody on my way to the building nor as I stepped inside a cool and shady staircase. Standing in a sunlight coming through the window, I found my envelope and discovered that the number of my room is 314 - must be the third floor. After a few futile attempts to find a lift I headed up the stairs.

The corridor itself and stairs looked neat. There was even a carpet on the floor the colour of which could not be defined with one word. I was hoping there would be air-conditioning and a shower in my room. The sweat that was running down my back started to bother me.

Just remember this is not a hotel. Just be grateful there is at least a bed and stove.

A bed and stove were indeed in my room. There was also a little kitchen and a fridge separated from the living room by a partition; a wardrobe, two armchairs, one chair, small bathroom with a sink, toilet and a shower; and even a TV which was quite unexpected. The TV remote control was in a holder secured straight to the wall.

I squeaked in surprised - not bad at all for a start. I concluded that this room was fine to live in; of course this was not a five star hotel but not a Spartan cell either. I discovered the air con as well which gave me a sense of a relief. It was old and noisy but it was bringing some cool air into the room. There was no heating control on its remote but something was telling me that the citizens of Tally would never have such a need in this city.

After this quick inspection I felt satisfied with my room and feeling in a good mood I decided to open my bag. As I was half way through of unzipping my luggage I suddenly paused. No, the first task is to take a shower and then I see what’s inside my bag. Now I’ve got plenty of time - there is no need to go anywhere and therefore I can refresh myself before exploring the content of it.

After checking that the door is locked I headed for the bathroom.

The cool shower helped me to fight my tiredness. In the kitchen I found a glass, filled it up with cold tap water and stepped out on a little balcony which lurked behind some peach-coloured curtains. As soon as I opened the glass doors I went numb - the mountains. A real mountain range which consisted of red boulders, was covered in hot incandescent air and rising distantly on the horizon. I covered my eyes with the palms of my hands protecting them from the bright sun and whistled. How high should these mountains be if they look so impressive from this balcony? And the local sunsets must look incredible in this heavenly beautiful place.

Right... Don’t you dare to think you found a paradise. You wanna go and find something to do.

I went back in the room, put the glass on the table and headed towards my luggage bag. It is time to find out what the Corporation has provided me with. I checked that the door is locked once again, then sat on the bed and opened the bag.

Right on top there was a pile of summer clothes: a few t-shirts, pair of shorts, two tops and one blouse.

How about a cocktail dress? I murmured moving the clothes to a side.

Underneath the t-shirts there were a pack of knickers (with days of the week written on them), a few pairs of socks and a hairbrush.

Fabulous! Which one of you measured my size and when did you do that? I continued muttering as I picked one sock from the pile and tried to put it on. The sock fitted nicely. I guess it was safe to assume that the underwear would fit me as well. I moved the socks and knickers to one side and eventually discovered the parcel for Mr Laroche and a pile of bank notes.

Wow! I was staring at five bundles of the bank notes, tightly wrapped with a paper band. How much is in there?

I quickly counted the money and determined that I am now an owner of fifty thousand dollars. Is it much for this place? Possibly the Corporation decided that this amount is enough to cover expenses while I look for Laroche and cover my return trip home. Maybe if there is anything left I can keep it for my own needs? I still needed to clarify that.

Suddenly I heard a knock on the door and rushed to throw everything back into the bag.

Where can I hide it? Where?

Since I couldn’t find a better place for the bag I kicked it under the bed; straightened the bed cover and went to answer the door.

There was no peephole on the door. I plucked up all my courage and unlocked it. On the other side of the door there was a young girl - around twenty years old. She stood there intensively scratching the sides of her body. She had fair hair, and was wearing a scruffy t-shirt and a pair of grey shorts over her bandy legs.

“Hi!” she said and stopped scratching, her eyes glued to my face. “Are you new here? I saw you with your bag from my window.”

“Yes.” I confirmed not knowing what to expect from this visitor.

“These nasty gnats bite wherever they want.” the girl said angrily as she scratched her t-shirt with dirty finger nails. Then she stretched her hand and smiled openly. “I am Jennifer. Or Jenny. I’m your neighbour from room three hundred and twelve”

I shook her warm and moist hand.

“I’m Shereen.” and since I didn’t know what else to say, I added. “Welcome in.”

Jenny walked straight into my room slapping with her bare feet on the floor.

“Listen, you must have just moved in which means that your fridge is still full. May I borrow some jam from you? I am dying for something sweet.”

I closed my jaw that dropped to the floor from such a nerve but after a second I decided that relationship with my new neighbours might be more useful than food and waved my hand towards the kitchen

“Feel free to take it.”

Jenny immediately jumped to the fridge and began to rummage through the shelves.

“Mmmm... Here it is! My favourite! Thank you, err..”

“Shereen.” I reminded to her politely.

“Oh, yeah, right... Shereen. You can knock on my door any time you want to talk or anything.”

She waved “goodbye” with the jam jar in her hand and flew out of the door like a happy dragonfly.

Five minutes later I forgot all about Jenny and the jam and carried on sorting out the clothes in the wardrobe. I piled the knickers, socks and t-shirts neatly on the shelves. The money was hidden behind them - not the best place to keep it, but I couldn’t think of a better one. The TV was muttering on a background. I stopped sorting out my stuff and started listening to it. A pleasant female’s voice was informing the citizens about the latest news.

“ ... the rebellion on a ranch to the south of Tally was supressed today by its owner – Hulk Conrad. The allegedly unfairly treated people rose up against the owner who, according to the rebels, was paying them very low wages. Mr Conrad claimed that nobody was injured but each rebel will be fined fifty to one hundred points”

What a stupid system with these points! I snorted taking the hairbrush to the bathroom.

As I finished sorting things and sat on the bed thinking if it’s a good idea to have some rest, I noticed a paper bag in the corner.

I completely forgot about it.

There was a static point counter in the bag and now as I finished with other things I really wanted to have a closer look at it.

The counter looked like a normal black alarm clock but with no buttons. The surface was made of plastic, the dark screen had a bright blue zero in the middle of it. I carefully tapped the screen with the tip of my index finger but nothing changed.

What does this zero mean? What do I have to do to change it to a different number and my main question is: what is it for? Some answers could possibly be found in the book I got at the border, but I had no desire to read it now. More than anything I just wanted to sleep.

I put the paper bag to a side, found the TV remote and muted the sound. I then closed the curtains and got into bed. My head was buzzing from exhaustion. All the answers can wait for a couple of hours as well as Mr Laroche with his parcel. Nothing will happen to them while I am asleep.

But something definitely will happen to me if I don’t get any rest.

For a while I was staring at the bright zero on the counter’s screen and eventually I drifted off.

In my dream I saw Alex at the time when nothing bad had happened yet and the shadow of misery had not touched our house with its pestilential wings; when we still believed that our new family will become a hearth and home to two loving people with roast turkey and cakes for special occasions; and a woolly blanket for two during the cold winter days.

My dream was so vivid and felt almost real. I wanted to stretch out my arm into this colourful fantasy so I could touch Alex’s face with my fingers and he would hold my hand and kiss it as he did many times before.

“I don’t want to let you go.” his voice was so close yet so far. “We’ll live together and you will be mine forever. Tomorrow we’ll move your things to my apartment. Do you mind?”

He is sitting in a café in front of me. After a fast drive in his favourite sports car his dark hair is dishevelled and his hazel eyes are twinkling with love and wickedness.

“Do you mind?”

“No, I don’t mind.” I whisper and wipe away a lonely tear in the corner of my eye.

“No, I don’t mind...” I whispered again half asleep, touched my wet cheek with my finger and then I wake up in shivers.

The image was fading away so quickly that it made me want to cry with desperation.

“No, don’t go please! Alex, don’t go!” I said to a dark room but my beautiful fantasy has already disappeared leaving me with a bitter taste of reality and the memories of what had happened after that. I pressed my face into pillow and started to cry uncontrollably.

Why is that that my happy future turned into my miserable present? After few minutes of desperate crying I calmed down, turned on my back and since I got tired of fighting with my memories, I let them run through my mind once again.

Back then I was studying at university learning the basics of business and had a dream about running my own company. I wasn’t thinking about a boutique specifically but I did have some thoughts about that in my airy head. One day I will be running my own business! I will hire employees, I will have new responsibilities, I will have money and new ideas. I will be able to create something from scratch and it will be my own. My dreams gave me the wings to fly happily to the lectures as though I was paid for each one of them three times more than I actually paid for my studies.

Alex and I met not long before my graduation. That night the rain was pouring down heavily and I stood on the bus stop covering my papers from the raindrops and cursing my friend who promised to pick me up after the last lecture as she usually did. But instead of coming to get me she ran off to meet her new boyfriend who was “so cool that she couldn’t breathe and had a constant desire to get drunk”. I was just sniffing at such descriptions - perhaps love makes people experience different emotions - such as “to get pissed from happiness”. Either way her car was now parked at the University car park and it was completely useless to me.

I was freezing and chattering my teeth; rain was pouring over my face and I was shifting from one foot to another as I was hoping that the bus would appear soon. But instead of a bus I saw a blue convertible Chevrolet stop by the curb. Its roof was up and I remember how the rain drops were bouncing off the taught material.

As one of the doors opened, I took a step back. The risk of catching a cold was more appealing to me than a chance to suffer at the hands of some maniac.

But the “maniac” appeared to be a very attractive man. One of those people you instantly feel comfortable with.

“Hi! Please, don’t be scared. I can fix my hands to the steering wheel with some handcuffs if that will make you feel safer. It is cold outside and it’s warm inside, so get in.”

My face stretched into a smile when I thought about the driver being handcuffed to a steering wheel.

“Do you have handcuffs?”

“Yes!” his smiled openly and a real pair handcuffs flashed in his hand. “Here they are. But please don’t forget to return the key when we arrive. I don’t want to live in the car.”

“Deal!” I giggled, shaking from a cold and got into a warm and comfortable car.

I didn’t feel the need to handcuff the guy to the steering wheel – something was telling me he was not dangerous. The conversation was flowing smoothly - the man introduced himself as Alex. He joked and laughed a lot and when he learnt that I was studying business he showed such sincere interest and even gave me some useful advice. Throughout our trip he was giving me a few curious looks and his serious eyes made me feel shy.