Chapter 3 - Dreams

I wrote this out of sequence. I wanted to introduce Rebecca, and I did it in Chapter 3.  This is a still largely a draft. I need to tightening it up a lot before it is considered ready. But for now, I wanted to put something out there for me to work on, so here it is. 

This is a chapter that describes the events proceeded Chapter 1 and Chapter 2

March 2011

The dreams came to Rebecca in in the middle of the March. It was the reoccurring dream of the same faceless person, who would come to her bedroom, he would grab her, cover her mouth, and flip her so that her buttocks would be facing the ceiling. He would then enter her with force, he’d come inside of her sometimes, and other times he pulled out and come into her mouth. She would always wake up in an orgasmic state, sweating, panting, and surprised each time.

She remembered clearly because she was into the Twilight series of movies. She tends to get into phases of things, this was her Twilight phase, she told herself. She’d stay up every night, watching the same movies, initially with her 8 year old daughter, who was really into the werewolf teenager heart throb Jacob, and then when her daughter went to bed, she’d watch the movie all alone, over and over again. She skipped the parts she didn’t like and watched intently when Edward and Bella were interfacing each other. She was ashamed to admit it to her husband John, who was always working away in his office, often late into the early mornings.  She told him that she was just playing it in the background, and she was not paying attention. But she knew why she liked it, it was the romance, the undying love scenes, literately, and she felt that was lacking in her own life.

John would not understand that. John liked things more concrete, non-fiction, he was into history and science channel. He had a successful career, at first as a lawyer, and then when he made partner at a national firm, he decided it was time to pursue his passion, which was in urban design and public policy. He started a firm with a couple of grad school buddies in the west side of Berkeley, a city known as the Republic of Berkeley, for its ultra liberal reputation. John liked shows like Top Gear, or anything on History channel.  But these days, John did not watch TV in the bedroom. He sometimes watched TV in the living room, but mostly he would work in his office, and then he’d go to bed around 2 or 3, often after she’s gone to bed. The business was moderately successful. John had developed a reputation among his peers and clients for his quick wit, his broad knowledge of industry he had an opinion on everything and he was approachable, both arrogant and down to earth. People liked John.

Lately John often traveled with a couple of his colleagues on his consulting projects. Most often to Asia and Africa, where economic demand was stronger than the U.S. and white businessmen from Ivy League schools were in demand.  John was such a man. He had gone to Harvard, and his colleagues in his firm had all graduated from Yale, Stanford and Princeton.  

John being on the road suited Rebecca well. She liked her space. She liked to watch her vampire shows on her own, without having to feel guilty.

True Blood was her favorite, John ordered HBO for her. He was a kind man who did things for her without her asking. She always considered herself lucky.

They met in the late 90s through a popular dating site Match.com. Rebecca was a spunky, carefree, sexy, party girl in her mid twenties, she was petite, had large boobs, athletic frame but very curvy. She always grew her hair long, it used to be black, and then she had it colored, so it was a medium brown with blonde highlights. She had been on her own since she was 12, having been sent by her parents from Beijing to study in the bay area. So by the time she reached her mid twenties, she had considered herself a California native, and her friends were mostly Caucasians, all lived in San Francisco at the time.  She never thought too much into it, though from time to time, she would look at those photos she took with her best girlfriends, it’s unmistakable that she was the only Asian in the picture. Rebecca would take a stock of friends, and would often be surprised by how many non-Asian friends she had. She didn’t know if that was intentional or just how her life turned out to be.

Rebecca went to a state school, grade was just above average, but she managed to excel in her career, she did a tour of the Big 4 consulting firms. Before she went to work for an internet start up firm, she was with Deloitte consulting.

John was fresh off the law firm job, and was in transition, he had been divorced for three years. He was just over six feet, dark brown hair, hazel eyes and great deep voice. He was fit, but not as fit as others she’s met in the past. She suspected that he would gain weight, and over the years he did gain weight, just like Rebecca did for a while. They had a courtship that was amicable, just like the marriage. Rebecca had always liked her type to be blond, unpredictable, neurotic, and from the East Coast.  John was not her typical physical type but she loved him, because he was kind, and safe, unlike her other men she dated, he was not volatile, he was stable. Rebecca knew he loved her. They dated for two years and one day, after they had already purchased a home together in the East Bay. they went to the city hall and eloped, much to Rebecca’s friends surprise. But then again, Rebecca never followed any rules.

Rebecca got into Twilight because of her eight-year-old daughter, and she was watching it one night and got hooked.  This was not normal, not for a woman in her late 30s to like such movie. She would tell herself, but she liked how moody the first movie was. It was before it became a huge franchise, it had the low budget feel to it, even the scenes, filmed from Washington State, felt low budget. She liked how Bella’s awkwardness, how she first met Edward, the undying love, literately. Every night, she’d watch the same movie, the very first Twilight series, until half past twelve, and then she’d fall asleep, often before John was in bed.

They had an amicable relationship.   John and Rebecca, or as her eight year would sometimes call, J.J, just like her friend in school. They have been married for 12 years, and have two children. Her daughter Annabelle and their son Andrew. Who was five.

She had watched Twilight movies for at least hundred times. She could not get enough of it, the puppy love, she thought to herself, how romantic, how pure, and she would feel for the characters pain. Then she would fall asleep. Sometimes she masturbated, sometimes not. She had a drawer full of vibrators, nothing kinky, just the typical kind you’d find at the store called Good Vibrations.  It helped her to sleep.  Then she would be waken up by those dreams, often at 4 to 5 AM, and she would feel strangely sad and excited at the same time. She wondered who she was dreaming about, and what it was about.

Around the same time Rebecca was obsessed with her Twilight movies, she was going through a different change of a sort. She had started interviewing for a job in San Francisco, or as the northern Californians would call it, the City. The City, is not THE CITY. To Rebecca, in the States, the only “city” is New York City, but she rarely confronted her friends, who would argue San Francisco reigned supreme.  Lately Rebecca felt a strange pull lately to New York.  The firm she’s interviewing for, was based in New York, midtown Manhattan, it was an investment banking firm. That’s when the dream started.  She blamed on that guy she interviewed with. She met a guy during one of the interview sessions, he was from Boston, and moved to New York, before being sent to San Francisco to run the Compliance department. She always felt a pull for guys who came from Boston and New York. She knew that was one of the main reasons she’d convinced herself to marry John, who had gone to college in Boston, and then lived in New York, before moving back to California, where he grew up. It was important somehow, though it’s been so many years, Rebecca had trouble remembering the exact reasons.  She thought the faceless man must have been this guy she interviewed with. It was the most difficult interview process, which lasted eight months. She felt that she was on a bachelor show, waiting for the rose to be passed to her, competing with many suitors.

In March, after her fifth round of interview, she met this guy, Robert. Robert was of medium height, extremely fit and he had short blond hair, piercing blue eyes. He had a strong Boston accent, he had nothing on his desk but some sports memorabilia, he was a Red Sox fan, of course. Robert was second generation Irish, he had nine sisters. He was one of the middle children. Rebecca learned more about Robert’s personal life during the interview than the actual job, which Robert did not care to talk about. She couldn’t figure out if he already determined that she was not good enough for the job, and therefore was just killing his time with her, or if he was trying to appear to be personable. This is a popularity context. Her headhunter had warned her.  So Rebecca obliged. She had been working for a large tech firm in the upper peninsula and felt that she needed a change. She put on this really friendly face, and chatted away with Robert about Boston and New York. She was surprised by her knowledge of it, she didn’t realize that she knew so much about both cities. After the interview, she sent an email to thank Robert for his time. Within minutes she received a warm rely.  Robert told her how much he enjoyed meeting her and that he was sure her hiring manager, Simon, would be in touch with her. She read the note at least one hundred times. She then googled Robert, and found his Facebook page, and his LinkedIn page as well, she was positively infatuated with Robert. He was the first guy she’s encountered in the last twelve or so years who wrote such a nice, flattering email to her, she thought.

Therefore, she wanted the job more than anything in the world. She dreamed about seeing Robert again, and she fantasized about fucking him, a quick dirty office intrigue.  No one would know, no one would get hurt, but she’d be sexually satisfied. She thought those reoccurring dreams was about Robert.

She was wrong.