Book of Dreams Read Free

remote, Zoe lost her balance and found herself on top of Kyle.
    ‘Are you sure you wouldn’t like a drink first?’ Kyle chuckled, as she wriggled her way off him. ‘Hey, that tickles.’
    Zoe, not one to be played with for sport, straightened herself and with a very authoritative look on her face, she held out her hand towards Kyle. ‘I’ll take that, thank you.’
    Kyle was almost inclined to comply with her request, but, pushing his luck, he raised his brows in a question and served Zoe a cheeky grin. Zoe made the mistake of cracking a smile, so Kyle gave Matt a whistle. ‘Catch.’
    Matt, who was now filming behind the bar, turned and caught the remote in his free hand. He played along with Kyle’s game, holding the remote in front of the camera lens where he could view it more clearly. ‘Some music might be nice.’ He pressed the button that he thought activated the stereo system. When the wall of television screens were activated, their combined broadcasts melding into one loud crescendo of noise, Matt lowered the camera to take a closer look at the control panel in his hand and accidentally pressed a button in the process. ‘Whoops!’
    As the bar Matt was standing behind swung back round into the wall, Zoe and Kyle rushed to his assistance.
    ‘Press the red button, Matt,’ Kyle shouted through the wall over the din of the television sets.
    ‘It’s all dark in here,’ Matt yelled back. ‘I can’t see anything.’
    Loud heavy metal music now began belting out from the radio. Zoe freaked, holding her hands over her ears to block it out. Kyle, on the other hand, nodded his head up and down in time with the music, rather well disposed towards the selection.
    ‘Well, that’s fixed up the music,’ he commented loudly to Zoe, who glared at him in quiet disapproval. ‘You’d better try another button.’ Kyle raised his voice considerably to offer advice to Matt on the other side of the wall.
    As Kyle awaited the next development, he strolled over to look at several glass display boxes containing models of various projects Nivok Industries had in development. One held a raw nugget of gold the size of a fist. Others contained shopping malls, hotels, resorts, casinos, and one even resembled a space station.
    He moved to inspect the futuristic-looking model, when his attention was diverted to a picture hanging on the wall behind it.
    The photograph was of a waterfall cascading into a large pool of brilliant blue water nestled amidst a lush forest. Kyle found it strangely familiar. ‘Where is this?’ he questioned Zoe, who was following him around to make sure he didn’t touch anything else.
    ‘Far north Queensland,’ she shouted in his ear. The noise level in the room was now equivalent to a rock concert.
    ‘I’ve never been there.’ Kyle frowned, trying to figure out this odd affiliation he felt for the photograph’s subject matter.
    ‘Neither have I,’ Zoe remarked. The song on the radio, although very loud, had a good vibe, which dulled her annoyance as it induced her to bop to the beat. ‘I suppose I should go and check it out before I sell it,’ she boasted casually.
    ‘This is the five million dollar property?’
    Kyle turned so abruptly, he startled Zoe. ‘Well, yes …’
    He took a step away from her, as if repulsed by Zoe’s bragging. ‘How could you sell a place of such beauty to Nivok Industries?’
    The tone in Kyle’s voice was meant to make Zoe feel ashamed, and it did. To her, Kyle’s adverse reaction seemed to indicate an unexpected depth in his character; he had a soft spot for nature. This, coupled with Kyle’s dark and distant demeanour, began to make him that much more interesting in Zoe’s eyes.
    She was not to know that this was a game Kyle played with anyone he decided deserved a kick up the arse. One of Kyle’s useless talents was the ability to read people and push their buttons as required. This also made it twice as hard for anyone to get a rise out of him;