imagination and no one
lived up to him.
But she knew he was real. She snorted.
Maybe I’m crazy? It’s possible with the knock to my
head.
Sipping the cold water, she closed the door and set the glass
in the sink.
The dream brought to light familiar emotions. She yawned and
made her way to her bedroom.
She caught the strains of a Def Leppard song filter from the
speakers of the CD player. The darkness of the room and silence
encased her, but something was…different. Flipping the switch,
light flooded the room and stated loudly, she was alone.
Joy walked to her bed, climbed in and sat crossed legged. She
inhaled until her muscles eased and her pulse settled back into a
semblance of its normal rhythm. Remnants of the dream played
through her mind.
His presence filled the room like the warmth of an
embrace.
Was that what happened when they met in dreamscape? Their
essences left imprints in each other’s lives and on their
possessions?
Her heart continued to pound, and she shook her head to dispel
the final scene repeating over in her mind.
Why did those come up instead of her life memories?
She laid back and grabbed the pillow beside her. Curling on
her side, she cradled the heat, which brought tears to her eyes.
The warmth there not from her, she couldn’t touch both cushions at
the same time.
Joy wanted her memory back, all of it. The tiny slivers that
seemed to appear while she slept weren’t enough.
She buried her face in the cool cotton and inhaled the
scent. It was his .
Only the images of the dreams came to the forefront of her
mind.
Recently the pain stabbing her temples multiple times
throughout the day was gone. She didn’t force or seek out the link
she discovered either.
Before, whenever she had touched the connection, a throbbing
built until she was certain her head would explode from the
pressure. No amount of attention used avoided the eventual
agony.
That didn’t stop her dream lover from caressing her mental
thoughts and dominating her every waking moment. Pandemonium ruled
the day, whether by memory loss or her dreams, didn’t matter. Chaos
was on order and only Joy could halt the mastery of her
perceptivity.
Could she believe he was a real person?
Not a plug to fix the absence of her past and present
life?
Chapter
Nine
Jairo gripped the cell phone after he punched in Joy’s number.
He’d promised his sister he’d call her. Glancing at the clock it
was late…too late to call?
He took a deep breath, clicked in her phone number, and hit
“talk.” Holding the phone to his ear, he waited to hear her voice.
Each time it was the same, he reacted the same.
First, his heart would stop, and then it would race and he
wouldn’t be able to catch his breath. Sometimes his palms would
sweat and he’d fidget like an untried youth. He kept telling
himself what he felt was what women feel, not men. It did not stop
the sensations from drowning him in euphoria and only with a single
word.
“ Hello?”
There it was. No matter how he prepared himself his reaction
was the same.
“ Joy?”
“ Yeah?”
“ It’s Jay.” His jaw tensed at using his nickname, he wasn’t
used to saying his birth name when introducing himself.
“Jairo.”
“ Hello, how are you?”
“ Good. You?”
“ Same here.” A faint laugh rang through the line connecting
them.
His heart stuttered. Jairo opened his mouth to tell her
everything he felt for her, but this was the first time they were
talking without his sister’s guidance. He didn’t want to scare her
off.
Besides, this very well could be a fluke.
Yeah, right. You know exactly who you are to her and she knows
the same.
Every question he asked she answered, sometimes with attitude,
making him smile. When Joy asked, in return he tried to respond the
way she did, and then she’d laugh and the sound made his heart
swell and soar.
She was the most beautiful creature he had met. Her quick wit
and play with words were similar to
June Francis
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Jill Santopolo
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The Pleasure Mechanics, Chris Maxwell Rose
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Daniel Silva