Here at Last (9 page)

I glanced down
,
indifferent to it
. “Oh, it’s fine. Thanks.”

He
sat back in his chair and
shook his head.
“
I'm still trying to figure out how I know you.
Where are you from?”

“Northern New Jersey. Morristown. I grew up there, and my
sister and parents still live
there.”

“Do you travel much for work?”

“The company I work for sends me on long-term assignments to different places.”

“
That
must keep you pretty busy.
”

“It does.” He was listening intently,
and I could tell that he was still trying to understand
how he knew me
. “I
just got back from an eight-month job in San Diego in March
.
”
The memory of Him flashed in my mind again.
“Then, I was in New York for
seven months
.”

Nicholas
was quiet for a moment and shook his head.
“
Sophia
,” he
furrowed his brows
. “
I feel like we've met before, but I don't remember where. This is going to drive me crazy until I figure it out. Your face is so familiar.
”

“I’ve seen you, too
,
”
I said simply.

“So
…
you recognized me yesterday?”
I nodded
, and he
crossed his arms
. “Whe
re
did we meet?”

Why not?
I had nothing to lose. “
You’re going to think I’m crazy,” I
told him
,
“
but
I
’ve seen you in three
dream
s
.”

“What?” he asked. Leaning forward with his forearms on his knees, he became quite serious. “
Are you sure?”

“I’m sure,”
I nodded.

He shook his head and stared off into space. “I’ve been having a lot of
strange
dreams
lately
, but I don’t remember most of them.”
Then, he looked back at me. “Is that why you left so
quickly
yesterday?”

Feeling a little embarrassed, I smiled.
“Yeah
.” I looked into my cup of tea, which was hal
f gone by now, and swirled the m
ug
ever so slightly
to watch the particles at the bottom
sway
beneath
the liquid
.

A little nervously, he asked, “Can you tell me about the dreams?”

I looked at him. “I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”

“Please,” he said, sounding a little desperate. “I’ve been struggling here for the last few years – first with
Rachel
’s illness
and, then, becoming a single father. I could use a little clarity. If
you’ve
really
seen me in your
dreams
,
maybe you look so familiar because I’ve seen you in mine
. Please tell me. I
t might help me feel like there’s
some
meaning to my life
, and it’s not just
absolute
chaos.”

Suddenly,
I felt sorry for him. I'm sure he had a lot to juggle and not a lot of help.
“Okay.”
I closed my eyes before l
ooking back up at him
.
“The first dream came not long after I arrived in San Diego.
I c
ouldn’t see
your
face clearly
, but I’m pretty sure it was you.
I
’d
been
with
my boyfriend
David
for
four
years. He was a wonderful man, and we were living together in my house back in New Jersey. We talked about getting married, maybe having kids. But when I went to San Diego, everything changed.”

“What happened?”

“
I don’t know. Everything just fell apart
.
It was
the longest time that I
’d
ever
been away from him, and I only
saw him a couple of times
. I was working long hours to set up a physics lab
with my boss
JT
. JT’s
a very good-looking guy
and ha
s
a bit of a reputation as a
playboy although I never had a problem with him
.
David
suddenly became insecure and
wasn’t comfortable with my working
so closely with JT
. It was
the first time
I’d
ever seen
David
jealous, and it made me wonder if he didn’t trust me.
I thought that he
would
get over it after I
finished the project and came home, but we never got that far
. Also, h
e was ready to start a family, and I wasn’t.
O
ne
morning
, I
had a dream
, and you were in it
.
You were standing there smiling at me. That’s it
.”

“Did I say anything?”
he asked,
looking
perplexed
.

Given that I had only met
Nicholas
the previous day, I was a little nervous about sharing so much
personal
information.
However,
he was clearly
struggling
, and I felt obliged to
tell him
what
I could
.
My dreams had comforted
me
and had
inspired me to
work on myself
.
If nothing else
, I could thank him
for that
.

“
I don’t mean to pry
.” His eyes searched mine. “I’m just… looking for some answers.”

I continued. “It’s okay. I feel like I owe it to you.”

He
moved
his head to one side
. “
Why
?”

“When I saw you that night, I felt
–
and I don’t mean to make you uncomfortable with this
–
I felt an overwhelming sense of love. It was something that I
’d
never felt before
, not even with David
.
You were standing there
just smiling
at me
.
There was so much…
warmth
.
”

“I didn’t say anything?”

I shook my head. “Not then.”

“You said
there were
three
dream
s.
”

I nodded. “
Several weeks later, I had the second dream. It was the same as the same as the first.”
Things were
about to get very personal, and I hesitated. “
I might save the
third
for another time.”

Just then, we heard
Hannah
crying
again
. “Okay
,
”
he said.

“I really should get going,” I told him. “I hope I didn’t make you
feel uneasy
by sharing this.”

“No,” he shook his head and ran his hand through his hair. “Before you go, can you tell me one more thing?”

“Sure.”

“
Did the
dreams
mean anything to
you
?”
H
e looked
puzzled
like he was trying to
make sense of
it all.

I smiled
a little
and nodded. “They showed me that there was a
certain feeling
that
I was
missing in my relationship with
David
.
I went home and broke up with him.”

He looked
startled
. Just then,
Hannah
started to
bawl
.

“I
'll
let myself out
,” I told him
, and h
e nodded
. I picked
up my
purse
and walked
toward the door.

“
Sophia,” he said quietly, and I turned to look at him. “Thanks
.”

I nodded and pulled the door closed behind me as he walk
ed
down the hall
toward
Hannah
’s bedroom.

It was a
sunny,
cold day, and
I
moved quickly to get into the car and start the heater. As I drove home, I wondered if I should have told
Nicholas
anything about my
dreams
. After all, I had just met him the day before. He’d been very kind to call me about my scarf. Clearly, he recognized me. I wondered if he
’d
had the same dreams but didn’t
remember
them with everything else going on in his life.
I just had to trust that things were unfolding as they needed to.

Chapter
1
1

It
was the second week of December,
and everyone
at work
was
cheerful and looking forward to the time off between Christmas and New Year’s
.
O
n Thursday
after work,
Margaret,
Peter
, and I bundled up and walked quickly
along
the
few blocks
to
Mercat a la Planxa
on South Michigan Avenue
,
one of the best tapas bars in town.

We ordered some food and drinks and managed to snag a table just as some
patrons
were getting up to leave.
We were glad we’d gotten there a little early as
the place was packed a short while later.
Margaret excused
he
rself to go to the bathroom, and
Peter
stepped outside to
answer
a phone call
where it was cold but far quieter
.

“
Sophia
?” a familiar voice asked through the din. I glanced
over
my right shoulder
, and JT stood about two feet away.

“JT?” I said
sounding surprised. I stood up, and we hugged. “What
are
you doing here?”

He smiled. “My sister
Denise
lives in Chicago.” He pointed to a
corner
table
,
and
Denise
wa
ved. I smiled and waved back. “I came here to spend some time with her over the holidays. She
’s
going through a messy divorce
.”

“I’m sorry to hear that…
t
he divorce I mean
,” I said.

He
chuckled
and shook his head
. “
I can’t believe I ran into you here.
We
should get together while I’m
in town
.” His tone softened
, and he reached up and touched my
arm
.
“I’ve missed you.”

I felt myself b
lush and was glad
for the dim lighting
.
B
efore I thought better of it, I
said
, “
Since you’re in town, y
ou should come to the Hastings
holiday
party
next weekend.”

He
smiled, looking
encouraged
.
“I’d really like that. What time is it?”