Dreamer - Savannah Campbell (ready player one ebook txt) 📗

she’s done so far professionally and all she was going to do in coming years. Their enthusiasm for her increased even more when she told them about today’s interview.

                Her dad grinned. “Your productivity and ability to never let grass grow under your feet is still most certainly intact little lady.”

                “Now, what to wear, what to wear? It’s good to over dress, I’ve heard that, but I don’t want to do that to any extreme. Hmm.”

                 Irene eventually decides on a pair of dark slacks with a light colored blouse.  After finishing her morning routine except for a light shade of makeup she plans to add after breakfast, she meets her parents in their kitchen. She shakes her head at the common scene that hasn’t changed since she was in middle school. She sees her at the table together but she thinks their body language gives the impression of people who could not be farther apart mentally. For all they think, they could be imagining eating at different houses.

                After eating quick bites of French toast, she goes to apply her makeup and prepare the papers she’s bringing to her interview. In addition to a hard copy of her Curriculum vita, she’s also bringing her doctoral thesis and samples of articles Dr. Bingham let her edit and contribute introductions to during her last year of their work together.

                She placed all of the documents into a leather bound folder the night before. Irene grabs it from her desk on the way downstairs and yells goodbyes and love yous on her way to her Jeep. Penny’s been good to me indeed. Irene pulls out of the driveway, heading south to Darrington Community College.

                An hour later, she’s finished with the interview and now has the official contract for the job in her folder of papers. The hiring committee told her things would be official in two weeks following a background check coming back with no glaring problems. She smiles wistfully as she walks back to her car.

                 It takes her a while to get to it again since Irene parked in the visitor’s lot. The semester’s classes started days before and she didn’t want to chance parking in any campus spots. Cause getting a parking ticket on a day when I’m interviewing to work for the place would provide such a great image, right? Irene laughs as she reaches Penny and puts her folder on the hood so she can get her keys out.

                Geoff’s smooth voice startles her out of her reverie. “Now there’s a sight I have hardly seen yet think is amazing nonetheless.”

                “Gee-off! What in the world are you doing here of all places?” Irene says excitedly and her face goes completely pink.

                “What? A well beloved Darrington son can’t come home to help out the clinic in town he feels desperately needs it?” He smiles, his dimple showing as he walks closer to her.

                “Well first of all, you’re not a native son of this town, you moved here when you were 13. And second, I didn’t mean Darrington, I meant here in the college’s visitor parking lot.” Irene says. She feels her socially driven nerves going slightly haywire. I’ve not seen him since the celebratory dinner we went to when he passed his medical boards. She knows they’ve kept in written contact for work and educational updates in the days between then and now but face to face contact had become quite slim.

                Geoff looks right into her eyes with his sparkling hazel ones. “Well, I heard you might be around here at about this time, give or take fifteen minutes so I thought I’d wait around and scare you senseless. Too bad I didn’t succeed fully on that second part.”

                Irene replies with a glare up at him. He was always taller than her and throughout college. She sees now that the distance in their heights has increased to more than a few inches. “Okay stalker, well you did scare me, I’m just so good at emotional control it’s not really evident.” Her voice almost succeeds at hiding how nervous having him this close to her is making her feel inside.

                “Okay questioner,” Geoff responds with an imitation of her sarcastic tone. “If you want the truth, I’m back in town to work in our fine town’s less than pleasant district. I plan to hopefully find work at their clinic, I want to work there no matter the pay.”

                “Again, that doesn’t explain why since that area of town you’re waxing oh so poetically about is nowhere near here. You are here—in the parking lot where I parked for my job interview.”

                “Oh that’s right. I’m here to see how that went. I wanted to go with you to either a celebratory lunch or a sorrow drowning pity party.” He smirks.

                Irene sputters. “But, how did you know I was even interviewing for a job in town?”

                “Hester von Ehrenberg told me. I called her to check in on town gossip. I do that about once a month since you and I both left town for school. Well, your leaving isn’t fully true as of recently. She told me about your recent move back. For a girl who has such a strong distaste for the society life she comes from, she sure is good at embracing its gossipy conversation style. She also told me you’re meeting her for lunch today and I thought I’d invite myself to it.”

                At the mention of Hester, Irene smiles as she remembers her dream from the night before. The smile quickly fades into uneasiness as it hits her that Geoff isn’t going away. Her nerves feel tighter than before when she first saw Geoff. It’s more intense than before and it makes her feel physically queasy like the toast at breakfast used bread way past its prime. This time though the nausea is coupled with the feeling of a vice slowly being tightened around her heart. She doesn’t know why she’s feeling so strangely at the thought of Geoff and Hester becoming closer friends. It’s not like I mind them talking, it’s good when people I consider herself close to act at least civil to each other, right?

                “Reen? You okay there? You’ve not said anything snarky to me in about two minutes and that’s hitting above your average.”

                “What? Oh yeah well, Hester runs the town gallery of course she gets all the dirt on everyone from the biddies who host fundraisers there.” Irene says as she shakes her previous concerns out of her head. She quickly composes herself before speaking again. “In other news, I got the job I just interviewed for, I’m now assistant director of the child and family clinic at this campus. I guess the meal will be celebratory then.”

                Geoff whoops loudly as he grabs Irene by the waist. He pulls her up into a hug that unexpectedly lifts her off her feet. She finds herself unconsciously reciprocating as her arms go around him but quickly panics at the contact. Realizing her actions, she pulls herself back into a standing position.

                Irene straightens and flattens her blouse. “I’m not meeting Hester until 12:30 at the diner as I’m sure you know already Mr. Follower. You can meet us there if you want.”

                “Well, I was kind of hoping to show you my new place of employment. I fudged the truth earlier; I already have the job at Darrington’s free clinic. I start next month. Who knew being a high school valedictorian and graduating Summa Cum Laude in med school made you a good job candidate?”

                Irene remembers the email signature he had been using for the last few years. “And residency at Johns Hopkins did the final little nudge to help right?”

                 “It may have done harm you never know.” Geoff shrugs as the two of them get into Irene’s Jeep and drive out of the parking lot and head west to the low income housing area of town.

 

Chapter 3

March 2010

                Irene is walking through the hallway of her high school. She knows this means she’s trying to learn something. Tonight, she knows exactly what that thing is as she comes to a door. Okay, let’s see if I can push myself one step further. I want to know what Hester’s dreaming about tonight. Irene pushes down the doorknob and walks through the opening.

                The world she enters into is a tornado of colors. Hester is in the middle, painting crazily on one canvas after another without a second glance. Her actions repeat until suddenly the colors fade to blacks, grays and whites. Hester’s paintbrush drops from her hand and a look of overall terror comes over her face. Her clothes change from a messy artist’s smock to a business suit. She looks around frantically and sees Irene. Her face contorts in confusion about how her friend suddenly got there.

                “Irene?” She questions. “Can you help me? They’re taking away my colors. They don’t want me to live in them.”

                Irene realizes suddenly what’s wrong. As blasé as Hester is when she’s awake when it comes to her the rich background she comes from, she subconsciously worries about losing that freedom. Hester doesn’t want her parents to take it away and make her accept the world she comes from. Not that they ever would, somehow the von Ehrenbergs have come to an agreement with their daughter over her art. Hester never told me what it was outright but it probably has to do with their fundraisers held there. Irene walks to the artist.

                “I’m here Hester. Your colors aren’t going anywhere, this is just a dream.” Her voice is calm and reassuring. “You’ll always be able to do your art and it’s a good thing too since you’re so talented. Now you’re going to want to wake up. Before you do this though, I need to leave okay? I can’t explain anymore, I don’t know why I’m here really.” Irene hates to lie but she knows no other way to explain her presence. Hester nods as Irene goes back through the same door she used before. She created it to be there with her control over her part in the dream.

                After she walks through the door, Irene finds herself in her own queen sized bed. She’s a bit shaken by the experience of seeing the woman who’s normally almost overly confident in such panic. It takes Irene a few minutes to compose herself before she starts writing about this latest experience. She makes a note to herself on the pages to not enter another person’s dream unless something uncontrollable happens in which she needs answers. But even then, I have to be so careful to not disrupt anything I encounter.

                After replacing the notebook, Irene gets out of bed and starts her morning routine. She’s started reading the local paper while eating light breakfasts. She also checks her personal email before driving to her office. Irene also makes sure to get to work a few moments early to enjoy the quiet stillness before any rush of work or stress begins.

                The job keeps her busy for most of