I Remember You.

Chapter 22 - Dream Lover.

Later that Night...
Lorelei Anderson...

The loud, unmistakable buzz of a tattoo gun tore through me, making me sit bolt upright in bed. Darkness coated everything like morning dew coats grass. I would absolutely know that sound anywhere. I loved that sound. It was almost like my safe space whenever I heard it - images of my dad float through my mind, is he tattooing someone?

At this hour?

I mean it isn't entirely unheard of. Not in the trailer park. I have lost count of the number of residents who would come to dad and ask for either a touch up on their pieces or ask for new pieces. My dad, bless his soul, would always give them discount prices, and happily work on them. I could understand loving something so much that you would practically do it for free.

Pushing back the duvet, I slid out of bed as the tattoo gun seemed to get much louder. I then pad towards my door and silently slide it open.

Upon opening the door, I realise that this is another dream. I know this because the scene outside of my bedroom door is the Dray-Lei tattoo shop - the same royal blue walls, the same chrome fixtures and finishings, the same black slate flooring, the same black glossy front desk and black velvet sofa where customers could wait for their artist to be ready. The same little table that held an abundance of tattoo magazines. I could even smell the underlying scent of the disinfectant they use to keep everything sterile clean. I loved that smell - it was comforting and reminded me so much of my childhood - Dray and I would spend so much time in this shop while our dads fought to not only get the business up and running but to also build their reputations as the best in the area.

Dray and I would spend most of the time in the back offices either doing homework when we were younger and then gossiping about boys as we got older. It was a huge part of my life and what shaped me into the woman I had become.

Stepping into the shop, the door closed behind me with a click and as I whirled around, I could only see the real entrance to the shop where my bedroom door had just been. Ok so this is most definitely another dream.

There is something different about this one though - an air of something that I can't quite place hanging heavy around me, almost weighing me down. Slowly, I step around the floor to ceiling partition that separates the front of the shop to the back where customers were being worked on. Looking around, it is quiet, there is no one else here other than whoever is tattooing and their customer.

Kevin.

I knew that it was him before even seeing him. I mean, given how much I have been dreaming about him lately, it stands to reason that this is yet another dream with him.

Making it to the back space and finding that I am right sends a jolt through me as I see myself as I am now, lying on the chair that he has reclined almost entirely horizontal. My top half is completely naked as he works on the space directly over where my heart lies. I have always loved watching Kevin work - he is so focused as if he hits some sort of zone that I can relate to when I get drawing; it is almost as if the world around me just fades away to nothing.

Stepping closer to see that I am getting the image of the necklace he gave me tattooed into my flesh, even in the same shade of amethyst that the necklace is made of.

"Are you ready for tomorrow?" Kevin asked the other me.

God, it was unsettling how quickly I had come to believe that this was really me, in the other dreams it was more unnerving because while it clearly looked like me, there were differences that couldn't be denied but I never doubted that it was me.