Nava

Chapter 4

Nava smiled as she walked in the door to music blasting and the smell of chicken cooking. "Dustin! I'm home!" She called. Dustin walked out of the kitchen as she was pulling off her coat. "Hey, Hun," he said, pulling her into a hug. Nava smiled into his shoulder. "How was work today?" Nava asked. Dustin shrugged. "It was okay. A little stressful but overall today was a good day." Dustin worked as a diesel mechanic.

Nava wrapped her arms around Dustin, breathing in his scent. "Do you mind if Isabella comes over for dinner? I need to talk to both of you," she asked hesitantly. Dustin looked down at her, his brow furrowed. "Yeah, that's fine. Is everything okay?" Nava took a deep breath. "I hope so," she said, pulling away from the embrace. "I'm going to call Isabella." Dustin nodded and walked back into the kitchen.

Nava walked into the bedroom and sat on her bed. It wasn't too late. She could tell Dustin she changed her mind and that it wasn't important. Nava sighed. No, she needed to tell them. She was having nightly dreams now and they were getting worse.

Nava dialed Isabella's number. It picked up on the third ring. "Hallo? Was ist los?" (Translation: "Hello? What is it?") Nava smiled. Isabella had probably been dealing with a german client. "Isabella you know I can't speak German," she said. On the other end of the phone, she heard Isabella chuckle. "Sorry Nava. I was helping someone figure out a good set of throwing knives to buy. What's up?" Nava held back a sigh. Of course, Isabella would jump right into business. 'No, Hey Nava! How are you?' Nava held her breath half a second before speaking. "Isabella, would you like to come for dinner? I need to talk to you and Dustin." Isabella's response was immediate. "I can head over in fifteen minutes." Nava nodded to no one. "Okay see you then."

Nava walked into the kitchen. "Isabella will be here in half an hour." She said avoiding eye contact with Dustin. "Okay." he said turning to Nava. "Can you tell me what's going on?" he asked. Nava sat down at the table. She sighed. "It's my nightmares. They are worse than I've been telling you," she said looking into his eyes. She couldn't miss the hurt she saw in them. "I'm sorry. I didn't want you to worry but they keep getting worse. I wanted to tell you and Isabella at the same time because she might have some suggestions," Nava said with tears in her eyes. Dustin nodded and turned back to the stove.

Nava got up and walked into the living room. This was her favorite room in the house; she could just sit there for hours doing nothing. Navas' whole house was based on a modern meets western theme. She walked over to the hammock she had hanging up. She laid down and looked at the ceiling. She had a hammock in the backyard but it was too cold to be outside. Besides, this one had her favorite blanket in it.

Nava was tired but she didn't want to fall asleep only to be woken up in a few minutes when Isabella arrived. She also didn't want to experience another nightmare. She closed her eyes and tried a technique Isabella called a combat nap. Nava relaxed and acted like she was asleep. She had to trick her body into thinking it was asleep but all the while keeping her mind awake and alert. Nava took a few deep breaths and told herself she was asleep. A few minutes later she felt a little more refreshed and awake.

She heard Isabella's motorcycle and sighed. Dustin walked into the living room. "Dinners not ready yet so you can tell me and Isabella what's going on before we eat," he said. Nava nodded. "Okay," she said, swinging her legs out of the hammock and sitting up.