I wandered into the kitchen and smiled sleepily at my mother. “Good morning,” I said.
“You dreamt about him last night, didn’t you?” Mother asked.
I nodded as I pulled out a bowl. “He was in the background. Would you like any tea?”
“There’s some in the pot,” Mother said. She sat at the kitchen table, clasping her mug of tea in tightly folded hands. “You know, Leanne, you can’t carry on like this.”
“Hmm?” I said as pulled out a bowl and poured cereal.
“I mean, you need a proper boyfriend, not just someone in a dream,” she said. “You come down here some mornings with that smile on your face and I know what you’ve been dreaming of. It’s not right, though. You need someone real. You need someone you can touch when you’re awake.”
“It’s not that sort of dream,” I said helplessly.
Mother gave me an old-fashioned look. “I don’t want to ask what sort of dream puts that sort of smile on your face. Why don’t I invite Liam over for dinner? Well, I’ll ask his mother and she’ll bring him and you can be nice to him. I’m just saying, be friendly. He’s an assistant manager at the supermarket now, and that’s something these days.”
“Please don’t,” I said wearily. “And don’t tell his mum, but I think he has a girlfriend.”
“Really?” Mother’s eyes lit up at the hint of gossip.
“I’ll tell you all about it tonight,” I said as I poured milk into my mug and over my cereal. I added tea to the mug and sat down. “If I remember. We have a new boss coming in.”
“It should have been you, you know,” Mother said. “You should have applied. Anyway, I want to hear all about them. They may be worth a date.”
“I haven’t got the qualifications to apply for that sort of job yet,” I reminded my mother. “That’s why I’m studying in the evening. Besides, it’s probably someone married or really old.”
“You may get lucky,” Mother said. “You have to find a boyfriend at some point.”
“I’ll tell you all about it tonight,” I repeated. I stuffed the last spoonful of cereal into my mouth and followed it with the last mouthful of tea. “I’ll see you later!” I grabbed my coat and bag and ran out.
I sat on the bus and smiled as I remembered the dream. He had been there. The man in my dreams. Every now and then, I’d see him. Last night I dreamt I was trying to revise for a test but the words kept blurring together and I couldn’t remember the topic. He had been in the background and then handed me the answers just as I woke up. He was usually in the background, perhaps next to me in a crowd or on a ship or a train or in a theatre or wherever my dreams took me. He had short, dark hair. It wasn’t clipped short, but it was above his collar and it was thick and straight apart from a tuft in his fringe that stuck up just a little. He had kind, deep brown eyes and a gentle smile. In my dreams he had been a haven every time. He wasn’t heroic looking, I suppose. He was taller than me, but then, I’m not exactly tall myself, and I never saw him flexing muscles. But when I saw him I always felt safe and warm and I knew that everything would be alright. Every time we touched or talked or interacted in any way, he was helping me. He wasn’t fighting dragons or zombie hordes. He was just there with what I needed. If he wasn’t helping me, then I was helping him. A few weeks ago I dreamt that we were at the beach. Mother was insisting that the sandwiches should be made here but in the background I could see him in the water and I took a towel to him as he got out of the water. It was always those little things, those little kindnesses and I always woke up feeling loved.
I pulled myself together as I got off the bus and dragged myself into the building, wondering if the new boss was there yet. I could hear murmurs as I trudged across the lobby and into the main office, so I guessed that he had got here early. Mr Givens, the big man from the main office, would be showing the new manager around as if he knew what we did, which he didn’t. I didn’t know anything about the new manager, but I hoped that they wouldn’t be too bad. The last manager, Mr Roland, had been a darling and had bought cakes all round on the last Friday of every month. His retirement had left a gap.
I hung up my coat and looked across. It was someone taller than me, but not particularly tall. He had kind brown eyes and though his short, dark hair was smoothed down, a tuft stuck up in front.
“This is Leanne, who is the data analyst here,” Mr Givens said. “She knows how this office works, so feel free to ask her anything. Leanne, this is Tom Rivers, the new manager.”
My eyes met his. It was my dream man. It was him, the one who was there for me in my dreams. And as he reached out to shake my hands I saw recognition in his eyes, a connection as if he remembered those dreams as well. We murmured conventional pleasantries, but there was no doubt that we both knew.
“Perhaps Leanne can come to lunch with me,” Tom said. His voice was as I remembered, deep and soothing. “She can bring me up to speed on all the details.”
“That’s a great idea,” I said. “We usually break here at one.”
“Excellent,” Mr Givens said. “Well, I’ll let you find your way around now, Tom. Don’t hesitate to call me if you need anything.”
As Tom saw Mr Givens to the door, I switched on the kettle. Tea for me, coffee for him with milk and one sugar, just like the dreams. And I was absolutely not going to tell Mother about this.
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