Dream World

by T. G. Haynes

  ‘Good morning,’ she said.

  ‘Morning,’ he replied. ‘I take it that you approve.’

  ‘Nine and half.’

  ‘So, getting better, but still room for improvement.’

  ‘Not much.’ She went to kiss him, only he pulled away from her. She didn’t understand.

  ‘Er...’ he tapped his lips with his left forefinger. ‘You know, I’ve just...’

  ‘C’mere,’ she said. ‘D’you really think I’m bothered about that after one of the sexiest nights of my life?’

  Reluctantly he gave in and they kissed affectionately. She was just about suggest a spot of breakfast when there came a knock at the front door.

  ‘Must be a parcel,’ she said, hopping off the bed. ‘Wait here I’ll be back in a second.’

  As he lay down and pulled the duvet back around him, she shrugged her silk dressing gown on and skipped down the stairs. Opening the front door she received something of a shock. Alan was standing on the doorstep. He smiled, lopsidedly.

  ‘Morning stranger,’ he said.

  ‘What are you doing here?’ she blurted out.

  ‘That’s not very civil. I was hoping for a quick cuppa and a chat.’

  Picturing the naked man she had just left upstairs, Kate’s mind raced. ‘I can’t, not now. I’ve got work to go to, remember?’

  ‘Two minutes, that’s all I’m asking.’

  ‘No,’ she said sticking to her guns.

  ‘Alright, then I’ll just have to say what I want to right here then.’

  ‘Go ahead.’

  He gulped. ‘Are you sure I can’t come in?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘OK.’ He licked his lips, nervously. ‘Look, I’ve been a complete idiot, I realise that, but I really miss you and I’d do anything to get you back.’

  He reached out to take her by the hand. She pulled away from him.

  ‘We were really good together, weren’t we?’ he persisted.

  She shrugged.

  ‘Don’t be like this. Please give me a second chance,’ he begged.

  She was just about to respond when they heard a faint noise from upstairs. Alan pounced on the sound. ‘What was that?’

  ‘Nothing,’ she replied.

  ‘Yes it was. Don’t deny it. You heard it to.’

  ‘It was probably just...’ she floundered.

  ‘Hah. So it’s like that is it? I haven’t been gone five minutes and you’ve already moved your new lover in.’

  ‘Alan.’ She reached out towards him. He shrugged her off.

  ‘Don’t touch me,’ he said.

  ‘Please, listen to me, you’ve got it all wrong.’

  ‘Have I really.’ Turning his back on her he stormed off down the drive and got back into his car.

  Kate stood on the doorstep and watched him speed away. Closing the door she leant back against it and counted to ten. Of all the rotten timing. She told herself that she had no need to be sorry for her ex, but that didn’t stop her feeling slightly guilty at him effectively having caught her in the arms of another man. A man, she told herself, who was a much better person than Alan Johnson would ever be. A man who was waiting for her upstairs right that very minute. A man she was going to make a surprise breakfast for.

  Ten minutes later Kate re-entered the bedroom with a tray laden with two cups of coffee and croissants.

  ‘Ta-da,’ she said, with a flourish.

  ‘I was just about to send out the search party,’ Dexter replied.

  Flicking the bedroom door shut with an impressive backheel, she placed the tray down on the bedside cabinet, then leapt onto the bed and stole a kiss from her lover.

  Breaking away, he asked, ‘Who was at the door?’

  ‘My ex,’ she sighed.

  ‘John?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Phil?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Cathcart-Danforth the third.’

  ‘No,’ she giggled, hysterically. ‘What on earth’s gotten into you?’

  ‘I was just trying to put your mind at ease and show you that I can’t read it.’

  ‘Ah, but you could be double bluffing.’

  ‘That’s true,’ he said. ‘But if I was, my next guess wouldn’t be Alex.’

  ‘Close, but no cigar.’

  ‘OK, I give up.’

  ‘Alan.’

  ‘Damn. I knew it was a short, punchy name.’

  ‘Short or not, he’s no longer my concern.’

  ‘Really, why’s that?’ he asked.

  ‘Because I’ve moved on.’

  ‘I’m very glad to hear it,’ he said, stealing a kiss between sips of coffee.

  ‘Now all we’ve got to do is figure out how we’re going to get those documents of yours back,’ she said.

  ‘We,’ he replied, raising an eyebrow.

  ‘Well, I can’t have you running around out there alone. You need someone to look after you.’

  ‘And you’re prepared to sign up for the task?’

  ‘Why not.’

  ‘Any particular reason?’

  She snuggled in and kissed him, chewing his lower lip in her teeth. When she let go, she said, ‘Because of the perks of the job.’

  He grinned.

  ‘Actually, talking of work,’ she said. ‘I better go and get ready or else I’m going to be late.’

  ‘Knock the day off,’ he suggested.

  ‘I can’t do that! I haven’t thrown a sickie in three years.’

  ‘All the more reason to take one now.’

  He kissed her and ran his fingers down her back. She tried to pull away from him, but it was no use.

  ‘OK,’ she said, ‘I give in. I’ll make the call.’

  Not wishing him to listen, she popped downstairs in order to do the dirty deed. After ringing in, Kate made a pot of fresh coffee before returning to the bedroom. Upon doing so she asked Dexter if he had any plans, given that his latest one had been scuppered. He hesitated to respond.

  ‘C’mon, tell me,’ she insisted. ‘What’s the matter, don’t you trust me?’

  ‘It’s not that,’ he said. ‘It’s just...’

  ‘What?’

  ‘The only alternative I can think of is a high risk gambit, which, if it came off, would mean I’d get everything back.’

  ‘But if it didn’t?’

  ‘Richard would win.’

  The pair lapsed into silence as they considered this horrible eventuality. Trying to stay positive Kate said, ‘You’ve fought too long and too hard to let that happen.’

  ‘I know, but there’s an element of chance in my idea of challenging him to a game that’s impossible to control.’

  ‘Game? Hang on, let me get this right. You’d risk everything on some silly game?’

  ‘It’s the only way I can see of getting at him,’ he explained. ‘Richard’s a games nut, thinks he’s the best in the world at them and has never been able to resist taking up the gauntlet if anyone challenges him. The only thing is, I reckon he’d stipulate which game we played and, knowing him, he’d pick Temptation.’

  ‘Temptation?’ Kate frowned. ‘I’m not sure I know that.’

  ‘It’s simple enough. We both enter a dream scenario and have to face a tempting situation. Whichever of us manages to resist and not give in is the winner.’

  ‘Surely that’s easy enough,’ she said.

  ‘You don’t know Richard. You ought to see some of the situations he conjures up.’

  ‘I’m not sure I want to.’

  ‘Precisely.’

  ‘So, how can I help in all of this?’

  ‘Well, if I turn up at Dream World unannounced, chances are he’
ll just set his security goons on me. So...’ here Dexter hesitated again.

  She finished the sentence for him. ‘So you want me to act as go between and put the proposal to him?’

  ‘Would you mind? I know it’s asking a lot.’

  ‘Of course I don’t mind,’ she said, wrapping her arms around his neck as she did so. ‘On one condition.’

  ‘What’s that?’

  ‘A kiss,’ she said.

  ‘Just the one?’

  ‘I was hoping for a few more than that,’ she admitted.

  As they sank back down on the bed, Dexter was happy to agree to all of her demands.

  Temptation

  ‘Let me get this straight,’ Richard said. ‘Dexter is challenging me to a game of temptation?’

  ‘Yes,’ Kate replied.

  ‘And he sent you around to make this challenge?’

  ‘No, I’ve just popped in to pass the time of day.’

  ‘Sarcasm doesn’t become you,’ he said.

  ‘Funny, because being a bastard suits you down to the ground,’ she retorted.

  Richard drummed his fingers on the surface of his desk. As she waited for his reply Kate glanced around his lavish office. Clearly no expense had been spared. The décor looked as if it had come straight out of the megalomaniac’s anonymous catalogue.

  ‘And he’s prepared to give up all his claims to Dream World, spurious though they are, if I agree to take up the challenge and defeat him?’ Richard eventually asked.

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘I’d want the terms drawn up by my legal team. He’d have to be prepared to sign the documentation.’

  ‘As long as you will too,’ she said.

  He toyed with a paper clip as he tried to spot a catch in the proposal.

  Sensing that he might not agree, Kate decided it was time to provoke him. ‘What’s the matter, scared?’

  He scowled and threw the paper clip into the waste paper bin. ‘Don’t be ridiculous.’

  ‘I had you down as many things, Richard Hampton, but I never thought you were a coward.’

  His right fist clenched involuntarily. ‘Very well, I accept.’

  Kate smiled. ‘Excellent. Drop me a text or give me a call as soon as your legal gang have drawn up the papers.’

  ‘Hang on a minute,’ he said. ‘I haven’t finished yet.’

  ‘What more is there to say?’

  ‘I have one condition.’

  ‘Which is?’ she asked.

  He paused, momentarily. ‘You take the challenge on Dexter’s behalf.’

  ‘What!’ she exclaimed, unprepared for this turn of events.

  ‘That way,’ he continued. ‘Dexter has something to lose as well.’

  ‘And if I’m not prepared to agree?’

  Richard shrugged. ‘Then no deal.’

  ‘Give me twenty four hours to think about it.’

  He shook his head.

  ‘Alright,’ she bargained, ‘Half an hour.’

  ‘No. I want your answer right now.’

  ‘That’s not fair.’

  ‘Tough.’

  ‘Five minutes,’ she said.

  He grinned, nastily. ‘Who’s chicken now?’

  ‘Alright, you’re on.’

  ‘Excellent, you’ll be hearing from me shortly.’

  ‘I’ll look forward to it.’

  ‘No you won’t,’ he said. ‘I promise you that.’

  Before leaving the office Kate lay down one final stipulation. ‘Just you and me. I don’t want to have to battle any of your nasty little internal programmes like Comrade Nadia.’

  ‘Very well, just you and me.’ He crossed over to a drinks cabinet, poured two glasses of finest malt and offered one to her.

  ‘No thanks,’ she said. ‘Knowing you, it’s probably poisoned.’

  Sipping his drink, he mused, ‘I must confess, I can’t wait to see what temptation you think up for me.’

  ‘Likewise,’ she countered, before leaving his office.

  ‘I doubt that,’ Richard said to himself between sips of scotch. ‘I doubt that very much.’

  ‘No way,’ Dexter said.

  ‘But it’s the only way he’d agree,’ Kate explained.

  ‘It’s far too risky.’

  ‘What’s the matter, don’t you trust me?’

  ‘Don’t be silly, it’s not that at all, it’s just...’

  ‘Just what?’ she snapped.

  ‘I don’t think you realise what a devious, skunk Richard Hampton is,’ he said.

  ‘Don’t worry, I’d figured that out a long time ago.’

  ‘Besides,’ he said. ‘I’d worry about you.’

  Her mood softened and she stretched out her hand across the table in the beer garden where they were sitting discussing the proposal. He took it and gave it a kiss.

  ‘After all,’ she said. ‘I’ll only be dreaming, you’re the one who’s really running the risk.

  ‘I suppose so, only...’

  ‘Only what?’

  ‘I haven’t had access to all of the most recent stuff that Richard has developed. What if he’s concocted some nasty new virus that can effect the way you behave inside your dreams?’

  ‘He’s not that good, is he?’

  ‘Probably not. I don’t know. Look, none of this matters, you’re not doing it and that’s final,’ he said, putting his foot down.

  ‘Don’t I get a say in this?’ she responded.

  ‘No.’

  ‘How come?’

  ‘Because I care too much for you,’ he said.

  She didn’t answer immediately. After stirring the ice cubes in her drink she said, ‘If you care for me, then you must trust me.’

  ‘Of course I do.’

  ‘Well then, if you trust me, you should trust my judgement too.’

  He sighed in a resigned fashion. ‘Are you always this stubborn?’

  ‘It’s one of my best qualities,’ she quipped.

  ‘Now that, I definitely disagree with,’ he said.

  ‘So what would you say my best qualities are?’

  He leant across the table and whispered in her ear. She giggled delightedly, then ended up spilling some of her drink as she leant across the table in order to smack him playfully. He dodged the blow by ducking, then took her by surprise by wriggling under the table and popping up at her side, which drew one or two disapproving looks from others in the beer garden. Neither of them cared. Kate and Dexter kissed. As they parted, she could tell that he still wasn’t happy about matters.

  ‘C’mon,’ she said. ‘Positive thinking and all that.’

  He tried his best to put a brave face on it. ‘I just hope that we’re still laughing when all this is over.’

  ‘We will be.’

  ‘Promise?’

  ‘Promise,’ she said and kissed him again.

  They didn’t hear from Richard for three days. When they finally did so they wished they hadn’t. An enormous fifty page legal document landed on Kate’s doorstep the following Wednesday morning, which took Dexter all day to trawl through.

  When Kate returned home from work he ran her through the pertinent points of the contract. She highlighted them with a yellow marker pen and re-read them over and over until she could take no more. As she went to sleep that night, legal clauses and phrases haunted her dreams. Dexter did his best to take her mind off things with a sensual massage which, though it helped to a degree, didn’t work entirely as she continued to try and second guess what temptation Richard was cooking up for her.

  Back in Richard’s office, Alan reclined in a luxurious leather chair and allowed his host to refill his glass. He could quite easily get used to this, he t
hought.

  Richard sat down at his desk, opened the box of cigars and offered Alan one. ‘Monte Christo?’

  ‘Don’t mind if I do,’ Alan replied. Popping the cigar into his mouth, he patted his pockets in search of a light.

  Richard obligingly provided one with a crested gold lighter. Sensing Alan’s eyes linger on the object, Richard presented it to him. ‘Think of it as a gift, for the information that you’re about to provide.’

  ‘Thank you,’ Alan said. As he exhaled smoke he asked, ‘Where would you like me start?’

  Richard leant forwards on his desk, cupped his hands, rested his chin on them and stared hard at his guest. ‘I want to know everything.’

  Alan grinned, malevolently. ‘My pleasure.’

  ‘No,’ Richard contradicted him. ‘I think the pleasure will be mine.’

  The pair toasted one another, then Alan began to divulge every last little secret he knew about his ex-girlfriend.

  Venice

  That Thursday evening, Kate and Dexter went over the contract yet again. Dexter knew that there would be some kind of devious clause or caveat in there yet, in spite of poring over the legal jargon for hours, he was unable to find it. Kate did her best to put his mind at rest, then they spent the remainder of the evening trying to create a scenario that would tempt Richard.

  After a restless night’s sleep they rose early, showered, then set off for Dream World. Although Kate pleaded with Dexter not to come with her, he insisted. No matter what she said she was unable to dissuade him.

  As they drove to the centre Dexter asked her, ‘How honest were you on the form you filled in when you first visited Dream World?’

  ‘The questionnaire that asked me about my likes, dislikes, fantasies and desires?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Very.’

  ‘Damn.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘Because that hands Richard the advantage. He’ll use that information against you.’

  ‘Don’t worry,’ she told him, ‘I can control my desires.’

  ‘That’s not what you said the other night,’ he observed.

  His comment brought a smile to her lips. ‘Ah, but then that’s because I was with you.’

  As she pulled up at a set of traffic lights he kissed her. ‘You, Miss Phillips, say the loveliest things.’

  ‘And you, Mr Norris, are too irresistible by half. C’mere.’