Building Friction (Part 9)

The dream was the same as before. We were back along the side of the house, arms entwined around each other, lips glued together. AC/DC's "Thunderstruck" blared from inside, serving as our soundtrack. It seemed so cliche, I could sense my eyes rolling behind their closed lids.

He was lifting me up again, grabbing my hips. I opened my legs and let him move between them. I could feel the surge of energy that was connecting us. We were still fully clothed, both of us wearing jeans, preventing anything more than heavy grinding. My back scraped up along the stucco wall. His mouth was drawing away from mine, running along my face and down the side of my neck. I growled in my throat and tore at his hair. Then he spoke softly into my ear.

"How normal does this feel?"

I woke in a cold sweat, my heart pounding dully in my chest. My alarm clock read just after 3 in the morning. I wasn't scheduled to sub tomorrow, and I had plans to just write for most of the day. That didn't look like it was going to be very productive if I couldn't sleep. Throwing my legs off of the bed, I stumbled toward the kitchen to get a glass of water.

The screen saver on my computer monitor was swirling, mesmerizing me as I sipped at the water. I debated for a minute over going back to bed or checking my e-mail, then decided to just pop on for a second. As I logged in, I noticed that AntiDigital was logged in, although his status was set to "Away." My brain shouted at me to stop, but in my barely roused state, I found it hard to resist opening the chat window.

"Shouldn't you be asleep?" I typed in and then closed the window, assuming that I wouldn't get a response.

Instantly the screen popped back up, pinging at me. "Shouldn't YOU?" It read.

"I was. I just woke up from a dream and needed something to drink."

"I see. What were you dreaming of that you woke so abruptly?"

I hesitated and considered the right answer. "I never really remember my dreams."

"Oh, Chloe. I know you're trying to pretend that you hate me, but that doesn't mean you have to lie to me."

"What?"

"Let's cut the bullshit for a minute. You know I've been reading your stuff for a while now, don't you?"

I paused. His screen pinged again.

"I'll take your silence as a yes. Factoring that, you know that I am well aware that you remember practically every dream you've ever had, including ones from when you were a little girl sleeping with your Polar Bear hand puppet."

"So?"

"So, if I can remember that that puppet's name was Nanook, then I think you owe it to me to describe what this last dream was about."

"I'd really rather not. It's personal."

"Ah, so it was about me."

"Look at that arrogance sprout its head again. What makes you think that?"

"Because if it were about your precious Pet Store Boy, you'd be rubbing it in my chat window face, now wouldn't you?"

He had me there. If there was a more plausible dream sequence to be describing, one with Matt would have been my preference. "Fine," I typed reluctantly. "What if it WAS about you?"

"Well, then I would have to tell you that I am tickled that you think of me in such a manner."

"What manner do you assume I think of you?"

"Oh, sexual for sure. Dreams are typically a representation of repressed thoughts. And I think it's safe to say that you are working very hard at repressing thoughts about fucking me."

"LMAO! YOU are the one who said that you couldn't stop thinking about ME!"

"And you don't hear me complaining that I'm having any dreams about you either. Because I'm not repressing my daily thoughts."

"Oh, so you've thought about fucking me?"

"You know how it's been said that there are no stupid questions?"

"Yes?"

"Well, you just found one."

I stifled a giggle against the back of my hand. It was course and crude, but his honesty and forthrightness was something I'd rarely seen. I would have been lying if I said I didn't appreciate it. "So, what are they like then?"

"What are what like?"

"Now who's asking the stupid questions? The daydreams or thoughts you have about fucking me. What are they like?"

"They're hot. Basically you worship my cock and call me a god."

"I do, do I? I get down on my knees and bow to you?"

"Well, I wouldn't say that you bow, but you do spend an awful lot of time on your knees."

Now I was laughing heartily, filling my empty living room with sound. I could see Zoe stirring in her terrarium out of the corner of my eye.

"What was your dream about, Chloe?"

I sighed deeply, then figured 'what the hell?' and started typing. "We're back along the side of the house again, kissing."

"Hmmm. Are we naked?"

"Nope. We're wearing the same things we were that night."

"Is there any penetration? Any hot and heavy thrusting? Any bow-chicka-wow-wow?"

"NO. Just the kissing."

"Well, that's lame. At least in my version your top is off and I can see those gorgeous tits of yours."

"Wait. Yours is us kissing too?"

"That's one of the versions, yes."

"Is there ever any music playing in the background?"

"Please don't remind me."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Let's just say that the DJ has lousy taste."

"What's playing?"

"AC/DC crap. I'm not even sure of the name of the song. I do know that it was the one that they used in that god awful flick with Dawson."

"Varsity Blues, yes. 'Thunderstruck' is the song."

"Sounds about right, yeah. And now you're going to tell me that that was the song playing from the dream you woke up from earlier."

"Exactly."

There was a pause. "Shut up."

"I'm serious. It was."

"Well, I know that you must be one of those simpletons who believes in karma and destiny and that coming full circle bullshit, but I'm personally not a fan of it."

"And you're telling me this why?"

"Because the only reason why I am up is because I awoke from a dream where we were on the side of that house and that damn fucking song was playing."

I felt a chill run down my spine. "Liar."

"I wish I was, darling. Trust me, I don't want to spend even a minimal amount of time connected with you in any creepy psychic way, but I'm being completely honest when I say that I heard that damn song playing."

My body shuddered violently. "I think I need to go. I need my sleep."

"Alright, if that's what you want. Godspeed."

I clicked the window closed and stumbled back to my room in the semi-darkness. There was no possible way that I could be connected to this asshole. Well, this arrogant, condescending, sometimes funny, good looking jerk who kissed me like I was his last meal.

There was no fucking way that I could deal with that.


--------------------------------------------------------

I woke up again after 8 and started trying to write my next column, but nothing came. I stared at a blank computer screen for two hours before pulling out one of my emergency pieces and sending that to my webmaster. Then I pulled Zoe out and devoted a little attention to her.

After lunch I checked my e-mail and discovered that I'd received something from Matt, thanking me again for having him out last night and inviting me to do something a little more one on one. His next day off was Thursday and he thought it might be fun to go see a movie. I replied that I was more than interested in going to see a flick with him. Even if nothing romantic ever came out of it, Matt was still fun to be around.

Steph called to check up on me and I filled her in on the details of the last IM encounter I had with Geoff. "You think he was telling the truth?" she asked.

"I have no reason to believe that he wasn't. It's not like this guy prides himself on saying things that he thinks I want to hear." I lit a cigarette and then realized that I was smoking more than I usually did on a day off. I'd killed off nearly an entire pack over the course of the afternoon.

"That's true. I just don't want to see anything bad happen to you." I could hear her sigh on the other end of the line.

"What do you mean by that?" I asked.

"You have a tendency to make some really bad choices. Then after you get burned you spend months hating men and not dating. I just think that if you chose a little more carefully then you wouldn't have to go through the whole roller coaster effect."

"Who was the last guy that I dated?" I waited for her to answer, knowing that she would be reluctant to say.

"Chris." Her answer finally came through.

"And who insisted that Chris was a good choice for me?" I tapped ash onto the salad plate that was functioning as my make-shift ashtray for the day.

"I did. But when I could see things turning sour, I tried to warn you. You were the one who insisted on trying to make it work after all the signs pointed to the fact that it wouldn't."

She had me there. I was so bad about committing to any guy that I would chomp down hard whenever I finally made a decision, even if it was a bad one. "OK, too much heavy stuff for a Tuesday. I'm going out with Matt again on Thursday. The movies this time. You are NOT allowed to tag along."

"That sounds very promising. Second date with a decent guy. What do you have lined up for this weekend, by the way? I was thinking about having some people over on Friday."

"You always have people over on Friday." I laughed. "Actually, I've got to hit that rapid dating thing down at the Mandalay Bay. My website wanted me to try it out and report what it was like. I can only imagine: A room full of losers, 3 minutes at a time!"

Steph laughed loudly. "With their loser queen presiding!"

"Hey!" I protested, then grudgingly conceded. "At least I have a new dress with which to distract them from my Super Loser Skills. Thanks for always being there, doll. I'll call you sometime on Thursday and let you know how it goes with Matt."

"You'd better!" As she hung up, I said a thank you. I might not have the best ability to pick men, but damned if I didn't have the best fucking friends a girl could ask for.