By the following Thursday she was a wreck. Even her coworkers noticed how on edge she was. How tired and drained she seemed. Her usual work performance was well below normal. Finally, Greg, her supervisor pulled her aside to question her.

"Are you ok?"

"Yeah, just tired."

"What’s going on? You seem so out of it. Is something happening?"

"No… well, yes. It’s silly really. I keep having this same dream over and over. Every time I close my eyes, it returns. I can’t sleep anymore. I feel so childish, being afraid to go to sleep because of a dream. I should be able to overcome this. I’m an adult now. But I can’t. And all because of a stupid nightmare."

"Well, maybe something else is going on in your life causing this. Do you need some time off? Why don’t you just take tomorrow off? Spend the weekend relaxing. Get your focus back."

"You know, that does sound good. I could really use some time to myself. Thanks! I think I will."

The rest of the day passed more easily then. She would have the time to get over this childish behavior. Time to focus. That was a good word.

As she sat, typing a report at her desk, the phone rang. She picked up the phone and answered, "Quality Publishers, Danielle speaking. May I help you?"

"Hey girlfriend!" The voice on the other end said.

"Julia! How are you?"

"I’m great. Just thought I’d check and see if you needed a ride to the party tomorrow. I know how you like to back out of these things so I thought I’d better check up on you."

"You know me too well, Julia," Dani said, "Actually, I had almost forgotten about it until you called."

"Forgotten!? What’s up with that?"

"I’ve just had a long hard week. Do you really want to drive all the out here though? Isn’t it out of the way?"

"No, actually, they moved the party. It’s going to be held not too far from you now. I can swing by and get you and then we can head on over."

"Thanks Julia, that would be great! What time?"

"8:30?"

"Sounds perfect. I’ll see you then."

"Ok, bye-bye!"

"Bye."

How wonderful! She had forgotten about going out tomorrow. That would be a great distraction. She sat daydreaming about the party for a few minutes, staring out the window. Below her, she could see the small community parking lot across the street. It took her a minute to realize just what she was staring at though. There, parked diagonally in a space was a red and white Honda motorcycle.

Dani caught her breath as she noticed it. Could it really be his, the handsome stranger from last week? He had slipped her mind in the commotion of the week. She wondered to herself why he was parked in town, but decided it really wasn’t her business and got back to work. When she went to her car at the end of the day, the motorcycle was gone.