Hiding In His Dreams by Jason W. Chan

It was
not just about the miscarriage. He knew the stress of the
miscarriage was the trigger for a bigger issue.
    Finally, he spoke. “Fine. I’ll be
honest. My parents didn’t have the best marriage. They stuck
together for 25 years, even though the passion and the love were
long gone. It made me really sad to see the love just fizzle out of
the marriage. And it made me even sadder to see them still stick
together.”
    “ And you think that will
happen to us?”
    Luke did not reply for a while. “It
scares me.”
    Alyssa shrugged. “There’s really
nothing I can say to comfort you. Except for ‘take a chance.’ I
shouldn‘t have to convince you to marry me.” She shook her
head.
    “ You know I love you,” he
said. “I feel it in my heart.”
    “ Prove it,” she
challenged.
    He said nothing. He wanted so badly to
say something to comfort her, but she was right. Marriage terrified
him. He resented his parents for that.
    She gave him a brief look. It was
nearly a blank look, but Luke knew better. Alyssa’s looks were
never quite blank, always concealing a weapon. But Luke was unable
to read anything from this particular look, except for… undertones
of something. Resignation? Disappointment? Menace?
    Yes, Luke decided. That was it. It was
a menacing look.
    * * * * *
    At the work the next day, instead of
focusing on his latest client, he was thinking about Alyssa. He was
especially thinking about the look she had given him the night
before. It was ominous to him, like a black cat crossing his
path.
    There was a knock on the door, and
Gordie, his overachieving colleage, now a Full Manager and Luke’s
superior, peeked in.
    “ Excuse me, sir,” Gordie
said to Luke’s client. “I’d like to borrow Luke for a
moment.”
    The client, a skinny balding
middle-aged man, nodded and smiled. “Please go ahead.”
    Luke grabbed the document that he knew
Gordie needed, told his client he would be right back, and stepped
out of his office.
    Gordie, a young man in a pristine black
suit and a red bowtie, nodded. “Thanks for this.” He took the
document from Luke. “So I hear you’re getting married?
Congratulations!”
    “ Married? Where did you hear
that?” Luke squinted at Gordie.
    “ Office rumors travel fast.
You mean you’re not getting married?”
    “ I was going to propose, but
then something happened, and I’ve decided to postpone
it.”
    Gordie scratched his head. “Why?
Alyssa’s a great girl. I’m going to be honest with you. I saw her
bring you dinner one night and I thought to myself ‘I would gladly
give up my job if it means I get a girl as great as her.’ I could
tell that she takes great care of you.”
    Gordie pointed to himself. “Don’t be
like me. I know what people say about me. I know no life, no
friends, and I live at the office. Sure, I’m the youngest Full
Manager of the company, but I sacrificed too much to get here. Can
I get girls? Hell yeah, but now I’ll never know if they’ll like me
for me or for my money. At least you know that Alyssa loves you for
you.”
    Luke frowned. He did not feel this was
any of Gordie’s business. He was right though. Alyssa loved him for
him, and not for his money. She was with him before he had made
Junior Manager.
    Gordie saw Luke’s scowl. “Excuse me,”
he said, then left.
    Luke re-entered his office. “Sorry
about that,” he apologized to his client.
    “ So we want to acquire FH
Bank and they offered me a contact. You think this is a good
deal?
    His client stuck a thick pile of
documents on his desk as Luke sat back down.
    Luke stared at the document, but the
words did not register as meaning in his mind. To him, it was all a
bunch of scribbles on pieces of paper.
    He decided to dismiss Alyssa’s
threatening expression from his mind. She was just stressed out.
Yes, that was it. She had lost both fetuses in her womb. That would
make anyone, especially her, a woman that really wanted children,
stressed out.
    What about him? Sure,