Only in Her Dreams Read Free

shop was that Jacobs had a breakout screenplay turned into a movie and had been directed by none other than Roman Polanski back in the early 1970s. Since then he worked tirelessly on another screenplay--the next great revolutionary film.
    It should be extraordinary after he’d slaved away on it for over four decades.She continued outside through the open back door and onto the patio. People were already arriving, choosing tables with a good view of the make-shift stage but far enough from the speakers to protect their eardrums.
    Julie’s voice floated across the tables from the open order window. “Hey, can you come help take orders inside? This is a large crowd for a Monday night.”
    “Sure thing, boss.”
    As Lucessa re-entered the coffee shop, she noticed Mr. Jacobs had departed for the evening; she glanced at the rooster-shaped clock on the wall, yep...five-thirty.
    Another man sat in his place. It only took Lucessa a second to place the clothing and those clear blue eyes. She gasped, her stomach clenched. It was him .
    In her town.
    Sitting in her coffee shop.
    And he was staring straight at her .
     

Chapter 2
     
    Maxim watched her enter the room through the back door. She looked so different from when he observed her in her dreams. They were not his to control, only to observe from a distance. Most of them took place before her father died; therefore, she appeared as a child of about seven. Gone were the long, stringy brown pigtails, and in their place was a mane of rich mahogany hair that swung just past the middle of her back. Her oversized childs’ pants and flowered t-shirt were replaced with a pair of skin-tight jeans and a blue polo that read ‘The Queen Bean.’
    His first trip to Earth in twenty-two years, and all he could do was stare at the girl he’d watched over for more than two decades. Maybe his brother was right; the Oneiroi weren’t meant to interact with humans. It wasn’t safe--for humans or for his kind. This must be why his father, Morpheus, forbade the Oneiroi to pass between the two worlds centuries ago. The temptation was just too great.
    She looked up at the clock and then her eyes met his. In them he saw recognition, confusion, fear, and then panic. His thoughts of remaining as an invisible, silent observer were gone. Her eyes seemed to be drawn to him. It was time to go; he’d done enough damage. Guy expected him to stay hidden and unknown to the girl. He stood and walked out the front door of the coffee shop, resolving to find a better way to keep an eye on her.
     
    # # #
     
    The elegant woman behind the desk at Windows of Hope Counseling Center sat the phone on its cradle and turned toward Lucessa. “Miss Sarcona, Doctor Applegate will see you now.” The smile on her face did nothing to soothe Lucessa’s unease at having to return to this office after all this time.
    Lucessa popped off the couch, wiped her palms down her black slacks and slowly made her way through the reception area to the doctor’s office. What am I going to say? Since the day before, the question had pressed on her. The thought of telling Dr. Applegate that the man from her dreams had now moved into her reality made Lucessa sweat. She’s going to think I’m crazy. Hell, Lucessa was beginning to think so herself.
    After all the hours of counseling she’d been through since Greg’s death and all the time spent working on herself--cultivating a new life without him, she feared Dr. Applegate would be disappointed in her. As she walked through the doorway into the doctor’s inner sanctum, the familiar couch comforted her. How many hours have I spend crying on that couch, proclaiming the injustices of the world?
    When she sat on the leather seat, her left ring finger immediately found the crack in the worn material and she began rhythmically dragging her nail along its length.
    “Hello, Dr. Applegate. Thank you for seeing me on such short notice.”
    “I keep time open each day for just this sort of