Asleep

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Charlie~~

When Nora comes into work the next day, all I can see is Dad tossing me Kyle's sweatshirt. She says hello but nothing more on her way to her desk. She and Tye had the day off yesterday while I was awake.

Now it's just her and me.

Alone.

In my office.

I sent off a text to Tye asking him to come in early.

I'm not going to hurt her, but alone with her, all I can hear are Dad's orders. I keep expecting an email from him to land in my inbox telling me to do it.

Am I making a mistake giving up a chance at freedom by refusing to do something in a dream?

Dreams aren't real, but this one is. This has been my reality since I was seven. It's reality for Nora now. Hurting her here is no different than hurting her while awake.

Tye arrives an hour later, still early like I asked, and I only have three letters prepared for him. I have five more to finish before he can deliver them and no other task for him to complete. He offers to go ahead and take the three but then that leaves me alone with Nora again.

It's only eleven in the morning. We have the whole day ahead of us. I ask him to order lunch to be delivered to the office. He can decide from where.

"I can pick it up," he says, a bit too eagerly.

I pick up my pen and start on my next letter. "That won't be necessary."

*****

Dad often bugs my office, and even though I often check and destroy them, I'm always paranoid he's watching the outside of my building. I don't want him to know when Nora and I are alone. He wouldn't even need a camera. He could send an employee, so when Tye is ready to deliver his letters, I make sure she walks out the door with him. She usually leaves when he does, but I don't want her to even linger a second longer if it means we'll be alone.

As she gathers her stuff, Tye leans against my desk, crossing his arms. Since my desk has a slight wall built into it to give me privacy when writing certain letters, Tye ends up looking down on me.

"Nora and I are supposed to catch a movie with some friends later. Do you want to come?"

"Come?"

"You know, just hang out. You can't work all the time."

I throw a glance at my computer. I'm trying to stay away from Nora. Besides it's not as if I haven't seen the three movies playing at the theater. Dad has a team dedicated to making them and has to approve them before they're shown. It's usually me and my siblings who are at the screening where he decides his verdict.

The three current films are dull and lack any depth. Most movies here have to be if they're going to get through the censors.

I'm supposed to meet with Marcella today anyway to discuss me determining if the new residents she orients are Lucid and what we do if they are.

"Thanks for the offer, but I've already made plans."

His smile looks sad. "Anytime." He draws back but then pauses. "Would you want to get a drink Sunday night? I wanted to talk to you about career possibilities for me."

Not expecting him to ask that, I blink. "Yeah. I could do then." As long as it's just me and him and no Nora. "You pick the place, and we can head there after work."

He looks relieved, all forlornness gone. "Great. I'll let you know." He turns away to grab his own things, and I notice Nora hanging back at the wall near her desk, watching us. I nod at her, and she quickly looks away. For days, she's been distant, and I'm sure it has to do with that sham of a party we threw for Tye. She saw through it right when I suggested it. But she didn't see it as me trying to protect her. To her, I was taking advantage of her and her time. I can only imagine what kind of picture that situation painted of me in her mind. She thinks it was me who made her sit around for hours with no work to be done and then I showed up with four men who wanted to gawk at her.

The door slides open upon Tye's approach. "Ready, Nora?"

"Yeah," she says following him through it without bothering to spare a glance back at me.

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