Cathedral of Dreams (4 page)

He pulled away so that he could see her face. It glowed with a sense of happiness or satisfaction. He couldn't decide which it was. “I bet it is,” Keith said. He relaxed and found that he smiled with her. He reached toward her. She was not an undercover policewoman after all. He had nothing to be concerned about. He touched her cheek with is palm and drew her near. “Maybe we should go into the bedroom,” he said.

He knew that she allowed him to lead her into the bedroom, but it didn't matter at the moment. He liked her confidence, and very much liked the way she smelled. There was something wild about it, free. He imagined her working outside amongst the non-chipped laborers, their emotions unchecked and un-monitored. Perhaps that was why she was so fit.

He watched as she removed her blouse and bra and got excited seeing her firm shoulders and breasts. It made him self-conscious as he slipped from his clothes and ducked under the sheets.

Nellie turned away – ah, the shyness revealed – as she finished undressing. Her body had a sheen to it that appeared to ripple and flow like water as she moved. She was not awkward at all; every movement appeared to be controlled. Even her hair appeared to do what she wanted, slipping over her cheeks as she bent to pull back the sheet, sliding slowly over her bare shoulder. On her forearm was her only blemish, a tiny scar he had not noticed before.

She reached for him a few moments after she entered the bed. That was the first awkward movement she had made, as though her shyness caused her to hesitate, like she had not fully decided to be with him. A certain sense of reluctance fell over the situation and he asked her outright, “Are you sure?”

He knew that if she felt coerced at all, if she felt afraid that he might hurt her if she didn't go along with his request, her chip would set off an alarm and the police would be there in a moment. His precognitive feelings returned. He waited for her to answer.

“I'm not used to this,” she said.

“You don't have to.”

“It's okay. I'm fine. Just, could we turn off the lights?”

“You can't turn them off,” he said.

“I forgot. Then can you lower them?”

Keith requested that the lights lower, and the room became darker.

She lay down and nuzzled close to him. She threw one arm over him and pressed her breasts to his chest. She brought a leg up between his, slowly moving her thigh along his until she made the slightest contact.

Keith stopped thinking so much and fell into the senses of the body, the pleasures of their closeness.

When they finished, Nellie held onto him instead of rising to clean up and get dressed as usually happened when he had a companion over. In fact, she placed her head on his chest, pinning him down from rising out of bed. What should he do?

“Are you ever curious why you don't remember your dreams?” she asked.

He stiffened. “How do you know that I don't? I sometimes do.”

“Seldom,” she said.

“What are you saying?”

“Nothing. I was just drowsy and dosing off a bit.” She ran her fingers down his stomach and back up again.

Keith relaxed. He liked her, the fact that she stayed close to him as though their encounter meant more than just being a companion for the night. He let his arm rest over her back and squeezed her closer to him. She pressed into his chest in return.

“I never remember the bad dreams.” He thought back and realized that wasn't all. “Sometimes I wake up so excited about a dream, so happy, but I can't remember those either.”

“Dream space,” she said.

“What do you mean?”

“Dream space is where all the best things occur,” she said.

“And the worst. The nightmares.”

“How do you know they aren't the most exciting ones? Like the movies that scare you. Don't you like that? Aren't you excited after seeing them?”

“But they aren't real.”

“So, you believe that your dreams are real?” She lifted her head enough to look at him.

“I didn't say that,” he said. He bent down and kissed her forehead. “Is that what you're saying?”

“Indians, long ago, thought that our dreams were just another part of living. They knew that they were real. They knew it. Are we so smart?”

“But dreams aren't real. This is real.” He tapped her back with his hand. “This place, this room. You. You're real.”

“Oh,” she said.

“Nellie? What are you trying to say? Where did you hear that dreams were real?”

“Dream space. How do we know that it's not just another place? Another life we get to live? I was just wondering.”

“I know when things are going to happen sometimes,” Keith said. “I don't know how I know, I just do. I think it has something to do with my dreams. Do you think that's possible?”

Nellie's breathing deepened as she slipped toward sleep, and she mumbled something.

Keith rubbed her back. “What did you say?”

She stirred. “What do you think?”

Keith stared at the ceiling and thought about the question. He wasn't sure what he thought. The answer could go either way. And what he thought had nothing to do with what was true. Truth lay outside thought, outside believing. He really wanted to know what was true. He shook her. “What do you think?”

“Dream space is real,” she said.

The idea scared him. As she lay across him and slept, he felt nervous about the possibility. He also wondered why, if dream space was real, he couldn't remember it.

Chapter 3

DAY 2

A
n unusual and exciting night had ended and Nellie dressed quickly before leaving Keith's apartment. She did not talk in the morning, which he was grateful for. He got up with her even though it was long before his scheduled wake-up. He dressed in pajamas and waited for her, watched her.

“Enjoying yourself?” she said while bending at the waist and slipping on her bra.

He turned away. “Would you…” he started reluctantly. He imagined her looking up at him, directly into his eyes.

“Would I what?” she said.

“Agree to see me again?” He closed his eyes and put his hands together, rubbing them.

Nellie shoved him from behind and he almost fell over. “Hey.” He turned around. “Why'd you do that?”

She straightened her shoulders. “What do you mean, why?” she said. “Does it bother you?” She darted toward him and pushed again. “There,” she said.

His back slammed against the wall. His arms went up to protect his face. He had to control his emotions. After such a pleasant night, why would she attack him? What did she want?

She advanced again, only this time her hands were out. When she got close, she began to tickle him. Her fingers wriggling over his sides and stomach, her face laughing up at him, close to his face.

Frightening and funny. “Come on,” she said. “I'm just playing. Haven't you ever played before?”

Confusion ran through him. His raging senses were on overload. What kind of signal would his chip be emitting? “Stop,” he cried out. “Don't. Please. They'll come back. Please.”

Nellie slid her hands up to his cheeks and kissed him. While doing so, she made a humming sound and then a loud smack when she pulled away. “Fun, isn't it?”

Keith breathed heavily. There were tears in his eyes. Got to calm down, got to calm down, he thought. He shook his head. He was afraid to say anything, afraid she might start again.

Nellie squared off with him. She walked over and slipped her arms around his waist.

Keith leaned against the wall and raised his hands, giving in to whatever she chose to do.

“You like me?” she said.

“It's not that so much,” he said.

“Oh,” she said coyly.

Keith laughed.

“Come on,” she said shaking him.

“You know this is highly unusual. Companions are meant for just that.”

“A night's work,” she said.

She was back to normal, but he was on guard. “No. I didn't mean it that way. I meant until one feels the need to become a parent, one doesn't look for a mate, only a companion. That is how the system works. I shouldn't feel as though we could stay together.” He reached around her shoulders and pulled her close so that she couldn't look into his face and see his embarrassment.

“Until one. Who might that one be?” she chided.

“You should go,” he said. He had never requested that a friend, let alone a companion, come back the next day. Even if he enjoyed someone's company, two days in a row was too much for him. He usually waited until much later, after he had time alone.

She walked out of the bedroom with him following. At the door, she swung around. “Did you remember any of your dreams?”

The question caught him off guard. He thought for a moment. “No, why?”

“Pay closer attention.” She opened the door and passed through the opening as though floating. She poked her head back around and looked at Keith seriously. “I'll be back tonight. But only if you request it. It's up to you.” She disappeared behind the door, which closed with a click.

He stared at the closed door. “Only if he requested,” she had said. So, now he had a second chance. He didn't have to make the request. He took a deep breath and smelled her scent. The room hummed from where she had been, as though she were still there. An energy had been left behind. Keith shook but there was no chill in the air. He checked the clock and found that he had almost two hours before his wake-up.

In the kitchen, he got a drink of water and turned to look at the door again, as though she could come back in, unannounced, crouched into a playful stance, wriggling her fingers at him. He laughed out loud. She had really scared him, yet the police didn't come by. He thought about his fear and what could have been different about it that it didn't alert the authorities.

Did he ever feel as though she'd really harm him? He searched his feelings, his thoughts. She had exhibited both shy and aggressive traits, but never appeared to be dangerous. Maybe that was it. He knew that she wouldn't hurt him. But how could he know? Well, no one had ever hurt him. The system was nearly flawless in that sense. Of course, that was the reason. She couldn't be dangerous in any way or the system would have detected it and dealt with it. So, he decided, the fear was excitement. She was an exciting person…in a dark sort of way.

Keith placed his cup on the counter to use later in the morning. Going back into his bedroom, he kept an eye on the door. She could still sneak in. That's something she might do.

He lay down but it was impossible to sleep. Nellie had stirred his blood to being fully awake. There was a ringing in his ears. He rolled over, then curled into a fetal position. He pushed his face into his pillow. Finally, he just lay on his back and closed his eyes. He thought about the day before and all the things that happened. More went on that day than any day he could remember. It all appeared to have a purpose, but he had no idea why he thought so.

Here's how he put the pieces together: the dream had alerted the police so that they could detain him. When he got to work, he had to make the morning deliveries, which he only did occasionally. Then he saw the boy in the stairwell. Then Nellie, who was nothing like what he had ordered through the Companion site, but was much more interesting, more fun, and more frightening in the end. Now what?

As he thought back through the day, he relaxed, and soon, even though he wasn't asleep, images played out in his mind. Ideas, people, actions whimsically and quickly flashed before him. He couldn't catch most of them fully enough to know what was going on, if anything was going on at all. But he became curious, an unusual feeling in itself. What he wanted was to know more about the boy curled up in the alcove in the stairwell.

He dozed off for a moment and the boy's image came alive, but only long enough to stir in the shadows inside the alcove, then lift his face and look into Keith's, blinking from the harsh light.