Sunday morning.
I wake up throughly drained around 5am. I've been at my Mom's house for a week and today I get to go home. A week's just too long and with all the running around, the early mornings, and my Mom's erratic behavior the last few days, I was exhausted. Especially unnerving were the two dreams I had. The first was one of those hard to understand, non-sensical types. The second was a bit more jarring and obviously had significant meanings.
The first dream was a short one and in living color. It took place in a field which had a one lone billboard. It was a sign announcing a real estate development for homes soon to be built. I was standing next to it looking out into the field. It seemed early morning. I had a photo in my hand and it was a photo of the billboard. Oddly, in the photo, there was a suction cup on the billboard--one of those clear ones you stick up in the bathtubs and showers--placed on the billboard for no apparent reason. I looked up from the photo and noticed there wasn't a suction cup on the actual billboard. But at that moment, I realized I had a suction cup in my left hand and understood immediately I was to place it on the billboard in the exact same spot. For some reason I knew that this was a critical act. I placed the suction cup carefully and a second later a woman appeared about 50 yards away. I stood staring at her as she started running towards me. There was an oddness to the scene--it seemed we were on two different planes or dimensions, our worlds slightly askew. I recognized her as she came closer, though I had no idea who she was. As she came closer, I ran towards her and we embraced for a moment in front of the billboard. I woke up right at that moment, wondered what that was all about and fell asleep again. The second dream seemed to start almost instantaneously.
I was late on a job interview at some network in Hollywood. I was driving from Santa Monica and was in a massive traffic jam. I had no clue where the interview was to be at, so I parked the car and resorted to a map. As I got out of the car to open the map and fish the address from my pocket, there was a tap on my shoulder. I turn around and it's some chunky kid. He handed me a phone and said it's for me. I look at the phone number on the display and while an area code wasn't present, I knew it was from the Sacramento office. There was an incident.
The next thing I know I'm in the office seated at a round table with some staff members. I'm not certain if they were actual staff members, but the individual in question which was at the center of this office disturbance was nobody I had met before. She was disgruntled and acting out. She had exaggerated curly hair similar to Shirley Temple, heavy black framed eyeglasses and wore a ridiculously short dress. I was repulsed by her appearance. She was yelling and screaming about some incident and turned around, threw something on the table and slammed doors as she ran towards the ladies room. Apparently this wasn't the first time. I ran after her and entered the ladies room. She stood in the middle of the room. I was furious with anger--so much so I couldn't speak at times. I reprimanded her about her behavior, terminated her employment and told her to leave. The anger was so real I woke up somewhat shaken. What was that all about? As I ran through the dream over and over again, it seemed it had something to do with my Mom and my conversations with her about her behavior.
I felt somewhat melancholy after thinking about the dreams. And I'm sure the guilt of leaving didn't help too much. After breakfast and a few hours of conversation, I bid farewell to my Aunt, Uncle and Mom. I was leaving to drive to Sam's house. The plan was to return his car and he would drive me to the airport.
I was early so I decided to stop at a Starbuck's near his house to check my emails. As I pulled into the parking lot, I realized I had been to this location before. Several years ago when my marriage was ending, I had met Sam at this Starbuck's to tell him what was going on. I think it may have been around Thanksgiving and it wasn't a particularly happy time for me. Absolutely nothing--work and personal life--was going well. The world seemed gray and drab. I told Sam what was going on and he replied that he had suspected as such. He asked how I was doing and I lied and told him I was fine.
I asked how he was doing and to my surprise he started talking at length about his marriage. Things were not going well and he had thought of divorce. He added that this sentiment may be mutual and even thought there was a possibility of an affair--and he had even contemplated one himself. In the end, both parties remained faithful and they are still together. And while there are still some issues, things, he said to me recently, things are better.
As I sat and started up the computer I recalled the incident. An emotion packed Starbuck's, I thought to myself. And while the nature of our conversation wasn't particularly enlightening, somehow we became closer since that day--more so than ever before. It was one of those key moments that you never forget and can put a finger as a turning point.
As I thought of this I noticed I had an email from Jenn. Apparently she had responded to the email notification from Blogger.
She responded to what was to be my last entry of my previous series. I read her note and was touched by what she wrote. I wrote back to her, tears welling up thanking her and explaining I was closing out the series. The last chapter I wrote was to be the title story. It was time to move ahead into a new series, I wrote her.
I got up to leave. I still felt drained--neither sad nor happy. But I was clear about two things: I couldn't wait to go home to be in the city where she lived.
The second?
It was unlikely I would ever step foot into this Starbuck's again.
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