9:24 P.M.
Last night I had a dream that really disturbed me.
I had a dream that I was in Orlando at the seminar that is scheduled for next month.
I was at the cocktail party talking to some of the other reps and Kaleb kept peeking over at me from across the room with a shit-eating grin on his face.
I took a swift look at him out of the corner of my eye and caught him pointing in my direction in the middle of conversation.
The suspense was intense. I kept thinking in the back of my mind, "Kelly just chill. Curiosity killed the cat remember? Why do you care what he's saying about you anyway? He hardly knows you."
After some time had passed I glanced over in his direction and he was gone.
The crowd started to disperse and I desperately wondered where he had disappeared.
I offered Edith to help her clean up the event and she told me it was no big deal. I asked Zanoli where all the guys had gone and he said that Chris was sick and went to his room and Kaleb had gone out to a bar with some of the other guys from Iowa.
I quickly gave up looking for him and made my way to the elevator. I figured I would go up to my room and watch TV.
I got to my room and turned on the television. I watched part of an episode to "Will and Grace" and started to question what had happened to Edith. It had been well over an hour since I was down stairs at the party and she was taking a long time to wrap things up down stairs.
I jumped in the shower and got cleaned up. When Edith still had not returned I decided to go downstairs to check on Edith. She was nowhere to be found.
Maybe I had just missed her on my way down? Maybe she was going up as I was coming down.
I went back to the elevator and stood there watching the automatic door anxiously awaiting the elevator.
My cell phone rang and it was an unfamiliar number. I answered the phone and it was Kaleb. I heard an echo in his voice as he said, "Looking for me," He was standing right behind me.
He put his hands on my shoulders and I jumped so high I should have gone through the roof.
It felt a cruel mix of emotion. I was scared right out of my mind, yet relieved to see him again.
We got into the elevator and I had the feeling he was drunk because he was far more social than I had ever seen him before.
He smiled and leaned in for the control panel of the elevator. He started pressing all of the buttons.
I noticed there were well over 20 stops and I became a bit frustrated.
I smacked his hand just before he hit the last button.
When I went to smack his arm out of the way a second time he leaned in and kissed me.
The elevator had mirrors and I caught myself watching him kiss me in the mirror. We kissed through all of the stops and by 2nd to last stop, an old woman actually avoided getting in because we were kissing. When I realized that we had made someone uncomfortable I pushed him off of me.
I whispered, "What are you doing buddy?"
He smiled and leaned in for another kiss.
His smile had all the charm of a million dollars.
We got to the top floor and he took my hand pulling me off of the elevator.
I looked around and saw that there were four penthouses. There were large windows that lined the hall, which showed the bright lights of the city.
He pulled me to the side and made me look out the windows.
"Beautiful isn't it?"
My mind lapsed back to the moment at the party where I desperately wanted to know what he had been saying about me when he was pointing in my direction.
He grabbed my hand again and pulled me into one of the rooms. He switched on the lights in the long hallway, which lead to a wide-open space where the living room was set up. There was a bottle of champagne in ice and chocolate strawberries on a table near the window. He walked me towards the window and picked me up. He carried me into a large bedroom and laid me on the bed.
He grabbed the remote control and switched on some music. I was shocked to find that the music playing was by Justin Timberlake.
He kissed me and we undressed. I closed my eyes and got lost in the moment.
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The dream seemed to skip ahead in time.
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I had a dream that I woke up in the bed alone. I was cold and naked wrapped in red sateen sheets.
I heard a shower running and a feeling of comfort washed over me.
I wrapped myself tightly in the sheet and walked to the bathroom.
I was still sleepy and clumsily kicked a soap bottle that was set on the floor.
Kaleb peeked his head out of the shower and waved me in to accompany him.
I dropped my silk sheet robe and joined him. He stood behind me and massaged my shoulders and poured shampoo in my hair. We were both completely comfortable. He traced my body with his finger and made a groaning sound. He turned me around and pulled me close into a bear hug. He groaned again and backed away a bit to look at my face. He lit up with a smile and kissed me.
He stepped out of the shower and dried off. I washed the rest of the shampoo out of my hair and followed him into the room where he wrapped me in a big white fluffy towel.
He whispered in a sexy voice, "We have a busy day ahead of us. Let's not get lost in the game..... Agreed?"
I was confused by his comment but nodded as if I understood.
We got dressed and headed down to the lobby in the elevator.
On the ride down I wondered what ever happened to Zanoli and Chris because they were supposed to be rooming together with Kaleb. I wondered if they knew about my night spent with Kaleb.
When the double doors of the elevator opened in the lobby there was a group of people already present. Zanoli and Chris had a look of shock on their face and Kirk made eye contact with Kaleb and busted out laughing.
I was so uncomfortable. We had both been caught making a face that expressed a feeling of embarrassment. It was a face that said, "Ok, you caught me, now FUCK OFF!"
Kaleb walked into a large banquet room following his father and they shut the French doors behind them. I felt as if he had totally blown me off and I started to feel like shit.
I walked into another room where the conference was taking place.
Edith walked up behind me and put her hands on my shoulders. She smiled and said, "I was worried about you, but you look wonderful. You're practically glowing! How did you sleep last night? Where were you?"
I was surprised that she was so nice to me after I had just not shown up to our room.
Chris came up between us and said that he had to talk to Edith right away.
They walked off and he pointed at me. She nodded her head and started walking in my direction.
Her voice was now stern when she said, "We need to talk about policy."
We walked into the lobby and I saw that the double French doors were just opening. Kalebs father walked out and straight up to me. He grabbed my arm and didn't say a word. He led me into the room with the French doors and sat me in the chair at the head of the conference table.
Kaleb looked like he had been crying and he had a blank stare on his face.
I saw other people I had met in Iowa sitting at the table.
Kalebs' father started talking and directly addressed me. "Now Kelly, I know that you have a devoted interest in my son. I know that you never intended for this to happen. We're not blaming you, but something HAS to be done. We can't just dance around this situation forever."
Tears welled up in my eyes.
My heart started to beat at a million miles per second.
I couldn't make eye contact with anyone at the table.
Barb stood up and put her arm around me.
She tried to comfort me in the peak of my embarrassment she whispered, "It's almost over."
Bill walked over to me and pulled my chair out from the table. He turned it around so I was facing him. He looked me straight in the eye and addressed me in his stern tone.
"This is a serious situation. This isn't a game."
There was a long uncomfortable silence.
I tried to stand up to excuse myself from the situation.
Kaleb walked over to me and got down on his knees begging me to sit.
I sat down and started crying when I saw tears fall down his face. I didn't even know why we were crying.
He tried speaking but I couldn't comprehend what he was saying at first because his voice kept cracking. Then he finally got it out, "Kelly, these past few months have been hell. I just can't do it anymore. I regret nothing, but spending so much time with you has made me open up a part of my heart that I had forgotten still existed."
His father moved closer to us and pushed Kaleb in the back.
Kaleb then stated, "Kelly, I want to grow old with you. I can't bear the thought of not seeing you every day for the rest of my life."
There was a massive weight lifted off of my back.
I felt as if I could breathe again.
I pulled him up off of his knees and pulled him in for a colossal bear hug.
Barb came up from behind us and put her arms around us and the other people in the room shortly followed her example. Barb, Kaleb and I were all crying.
I wiped my eyes and noticed that Bill had an expression of approval and I felt as if I was on cloud nine.
Just moments ago I thought I had entered a room for a grave lynching.
We opened the French door and walked into the lobby where Edith and the others from the office were waiting for the verdict.
Bill announced the engagement and the people from my office all had an expression of shock that lead to an expression of deep disenchantment.
I wanted to kiss Kaleb, but all of a sudden felt more in the wrong than ever before.
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I woke up thinking, what the hell was that!
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I will never be able to look that man in the face again!
