Dreams and Visions

"No Allen, nothing is wrong and I didn't call you by mistake. I just didn't want you to think I called you because I was bored and alone"

"I didn't say anything Samantha. You know you can call me whenever you are bored and lonely, I will come running. What are neighbours for? How's your friend Nancy?

"She left earlier. She had to go see her mother" she replied.

"Oh, you mean you are alone at your house?

"Yes Allen, why?

"Well, it's not that it matters or anything, but I was wondering if you need company"

Samantha didn't know what answer to give to Allen. She didn't want to sound desperate to him and she didn't want to be alone either, but she had to say something eventually.

"I am fine Allen, I don't really need company right now"

She lied. She had to.

"Really? Because you sound like you do need company. I can come right away"

Samantha smiled, feeling some type of way she couldn't explain. She never saw Allen as someone who was so immersed in the live of others, but now he was being nice to her, overly nice and Samantha was beginning to see him in another light.

"It's already late, Allen. I think I can manage until Nancy comes tomorrow morning. You don't have to worry about me so much"

"If you insist, I will see you tomorrow then. Remember to call me if you need anything, I will be there before you know it"

"Alright Allen, thank you for caring" she said.

"Sure, good night" Allen said, before Samantha ended the call.

Samantha dropped her phone and kept staring at it. What was it about Allen that makes her loose focus whenever he was around her, or whenever she hears his voice. Now she always wants to hear Allen's voice in whatever way possible.

"I must be crazy to think about another man right now. After all that men has done to me, I should not be thinking of anyone right now! I have to caution myself this time. No man on earth is going to make me go through what I did with Kay, never! She said to herself.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Samantha went to bed and as she slept, she kept tossing and turning in bed.

"Stay away from me Kay! Please don't hurt me, I didn't want to leave you but you left me no choice. Please go back to Rose and leave me alone. Stop it Kay! Stop it Kay, you are strangling me!

Samantha woke up abruptly, sweating profusely. It had been a nightmare. Kay was trying to strangle her and she woke up before he could hurt her further in hear dream. She held her neck, rubbing it and breathing heavily.

Samantha picked up her phone and dialled Nancy's number. Nancy picked up her phone at the first ring.

"Sammy? What's wrong? and why are you not sleeping by this time of the night"

"I had a bad dream Nancy. Kay was trying to strangle me, but I woke up in the middle of it. Now I don't think I can go back to sleep. I don't want to see Kay, not even in my dreams. I just want him gone from everywhere Nancy" Samantha said.

"Kay cannot do anything to you, Samantha. Don't let him take control over your life. Don't let Kay put fear in you. You only had a bad dream and Kay cannot hurt you in your dreams. He can't even hurt you physically, so why fear him in your dreams?

"You don't understand Nancy. I am not scared of Kay, I just don't want to see him anywhere. He just freaks me out. You know how Kay thinks. He wouldn't want to hurt me personally. He would want to use those close to me to hurt me. That's how he thinks and I know him too well. Sometimes I wonder how I dated someone like him"

"Stop it Samantha. Remember how I told you that you had the worst taste In men? Here's me, reminding you of that again. Kay was never a man to be with. I know you agreed to date him because you thought you were in love with him. Kay had so many flaws, but you chose to ignore them. You don't know how happy I was when you broke up with him. I was the most happiest person on earth, but I couldn't look happy before you. You had broken up with him and that made you devastated. I have never said this to you before, but I think I should say it now. Leaving Kay was the most healthy and most beautiful thing you could have done for yourself. I am proud of you Sammy. Forget about Kay, he can do nothing"

Samantha listened to Nancy talk. As she listened to Nancy talking, she didn't know a tear had dropped from her eye.

"Why Nancy, why now! Why do you care so much about me. What did I do to deserve such a friend like you" She said.

Samantha was emotional and didn't know how else to express her emotions. She always had to show people how she felt by crying whenever she was hurt, but now she was not crying to express her emotions, she was crying because it was Nancy. Nancy was speaking the truth. Her best friend is a friend indeed and now they are inseperable.

"Samantha, we are best friends and nothing can seperate us now. Kay can do whatever he wants to do, but let me assure you, I won't be alive to see Kay do anything to you. It's a promise Samantha. Wipe away your tears, stand tall and stand strong. I am always here for you. Now, go back to sleep girl, you don't want to wake up in the morning with puffy eyes from lack of sleep" Nancy said.

"Alright Nancy, I will go back to sleep now. I can't wait for you to move in completely"

"I can't wait either Sammy, sleep tight"

Samantha dropped her call with Nancy and tried going back to sleep, but it was totally futile. She stood up from her bed, walked to her desk and opened her laptop. Since she couldn't go back to sleep, she might as well get some work done. She opened her e-mail to see there was a message from the hospital where she works and it read

" Hi Samantha, we got an unusual call the whole of yesterday from a man named Kay. He kept calling the hospital line and we had to disconnect the wires to avoid his calls. Try to settle your differences, so he can let us have a peaceful day at work. From Raymond"

Samantha shook her head as she read the message. Kay was beginning to bite more than he could chew and she wasn't going to let him. He didn't choose her when they dated. He chose his colleague Rose and now he wants to just walk back into her life like nothing ever happened.

She tried to do some work on her laptop, but Samantha woke up in the morning on her desk. She looked at the phone in her hand, to see it was already seven thirty in the morning.

"Oh no! I must have fallen asleep on the desk!

She tried to raise her head up and it was not possible.

"What's wrong with my neck? Why can't I raise my head up? She said to herself.

Samantha tried to raise her head more times and it still wasn't possible. Her head was stiff on the table.

She had fallen asleep on her desk and whenever she did, she always woke up with a stiff neck that was hard to raise up. She picked her phone and thought of who to call. She didn't want to call Allen again. If she called Allen, he was going to see her head placed on the table like someone who was on a chopping board, and Samantha didn't want him to see that. She thought of calling Nancy, but Nancy would be in the shower now, getting ready to come to her house.

Samantha had to swallow her pride to call Allen. She dialled his number.

Allen was excited to see Samantha calling him so early in the morning. He picked up the phone immediately.

"Hey you, how did you sleep? He asked her.

"This not the time for questions, Allen. I need your help".

Allen had been waiting for Samantha to say the word 'help' and she just did. He stood up immediately and was in front of her house. Samantha didn't hear him say anything, so she wondered if he heard her at all.

"Allen? Are you there? She asked.

"I am in front of your house now"

"What! How come? But I just only said....

"Forget what you said Samantha. I am in front of your house and I don't know the password to your apartment" he said.

"My password is triple five" Samantha replied.

Allen inputted Samantha's password and was inside, but he couldn't see her anywhere.

"Samantha? Where are you? He called.

"In here! In my room! She yelled from inside her room.

~~~~~~~~~~

Allen wondered what help she needed from inside her room. He began to sweat in his palms. Did she need help with her zip? Or something intimate?

"Get your mind out of the gutter Allen" he said to himself, before walking into Samantha's room slowly.

Allen walked in to see Samantha's head on her desk. He was confused. He walked to her.

"Samantha? What's wrong? Why are you not raising your head up?

"This is why I called you Allen. I tend to have a stiff neck anytime I sleep off on the table. I need you to help with my pill. I get better when I take it"

"Oh, where can I get this pill? He asked, looking confused.

Allen thought Samantha was in pain as her head was on the desk, so he left her room to look for her pill without waiting to hear from Samantha where he could get the pill. As he walked out of her room, he remembered he needed Samantha to tell him where to get the pill, so he walked back immediately.

"i think i need more information" he said.

Samantha saw him walk back and she started laughing.

"Don't look so worried Allen, I am not in any type of pain. It's just stiffness okay? The pill is in my bathroom shelf by the way"

Allen walked so fast to Samantha's bathroom, saw the pill. He walked back and handed them over to her. She took one from it and put into her mouth. Allen watched as Samantha tried raising her head after few minutes. He didn't know what to do. He tried helping her raise her head, but Samantha declined. She wanted to raise her head up without any assistant.

"Are you sure you don't need my help? He asked, still confused.

"It's fine Allen, I need to raise my head on my own. If you help me, then the pill didn't work. I need to be sure the pill is working"

Allen simply nodded, still looking as worried as ever.

Samantha was able to raise her head up fully, looking at Allen and laughing.

"You shouldn't be laughing Samantha. I haven't seen something like this before. You scared the crap out of me! I haven't been so confused in my life like I was right now. I haven't been so clueless about what to do to help someone before, so you shouldn't be laughing"

"I am sorry for laughing Allen, but you looked like you were truely lost! You didn't even ask where you could get the pill, You just walked out and that cracked me up so much"

"You can laugh all you want, but I have made up my mind to always prepare for anything whenever you call for help. This is the craziest shit I have ever seen!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Samantha kept laughing, but Allen ignored her and walked to her living room. He sat on the couch, covering his face with his palms. She walked to him, sat beside him and quietly spoke to him.

"Allen? What's wrong?

"I am sorry, I shouldn't be like this. My father was really sick, and was always in and out of the hospital. So I get scared whenever I see someone close to me sick. I get scared Samantha. It's just so...

"You don't have to say anymore Allen. I can imagine how you felt seeing me like that. I am sorry I didn't know how serious this was. Please forgive me" she said.

Allen raised his head up, turned to Samantha and looked into her eyes. He raised his hand up to her face, moved closer to her. His eyes lingered on her lips. She looked beautiful. He tried to touch her lips when they heard the doorbell ring and they both jumped, pretending that nothing was about to happen .......;