Wet Dreams
Anna
I felt a warm touch on my body, and I grabbed the hand and pulled it to me, caressing my face with it.
"What! Are you crazy?"
My eyes fluttered open to find Wendy's hand on my face.
Damn.
I'd been dreaming.
She pulled away from my grasp, incredulous at my actions.
"Aha, I can see you've been stuck in dreamland. You should try waking to reality now, Dear Disney Princess?"
I shook my head and twisted my body to the other side of the bed, adjusting the pillow underneath my head. "It can’t be morning." My voice came off low, almost a whisper.
"Oh, it's morning already. But you can keep sleeping if you're sure you won't get fired."
I stared at the pink wall in front of me, my mind numb from sleep, but when I finally realized what Wendy had said, I sat up quickly and started to panic.
I whipped my head back. "Huh?! Shit. Shit. Shit." I scrambled on the sheets, searching for my phone. "What's the time?!" She stood above me with her hands resting on her hips.
"It's eight in the morning."
Like a bat out of hell, I jumped up and flung the comforter to one side of the bed. My gaze eventually rested on the alarm clock by the headboard.
It was 8:01.
"But the alarm didn’t go off."
"That's because you didn't ask it to wake you."
I got up quickly and raced to the shower. I had been dancing at the club for a while, so why did I feel so wrung out this morning? And why did I have so much trouble getting to sleep once I fell into bed? “Fuck. I was dreaming about the handsome man from last night. We were getting it on hot and heavy in the back corridor when he got a phone call and bailed on me. He left me so aroused that I dreamt he screwed me,” I called out to Wendy as I closed the bathroom door.
Shortly after, I stepped out of the shower. I wouldn't call what I had a proper bathing, but it didn't matter this time. Retaining my job was all that mattered to me. The last time I had shown up late, my client had complained bitterly, and I sincerely empathized with her on the one hand. On the other hand, my dancing job often left me tired, but, unfortunately, there wasn't anything I could do about that. I needed money to pay my bills and buy groceries and gas, so working two jobs was the only solution. In addition to the bills, the tuition for my online IT classes took a large part of my earnings, leaving me with only a tiny amount to survive on every month.
"I guess your dream is to blame for this. I left a pancake in the oven, make sure you eat something."
"It was a wet dream. And a good one too. But now, I'm super late. Can't wait." I spoke while donning the cream-colored housekeeping uniform.
"That's what happens when you choose abstinence over good sex. And by the way, you're growing tinier because you barely eat. You didn't even eat before you went to bed last night. I'll pack the pancake, and you can eat it on your way."
"Don't bother. It's too…" the sound of the door shutting cut short my words. I grabbed my cleaning supplies and headed out to the living room.
"Here."
She handed the wrapped pancake to me, and I yanked it out of her hand.
"Thank you," I said as I scampered out of the house. I flagged down the next taxi and climbed in the back seat. A quick peek at my wristwatch told me I was twenty minutes late. I hoped Mrs. Walter hadn’t reported my lateness to the company already. The fear of losing my job made my stomach rumble, or was it a sign of incipient hunger? My eyes darted to the pancake in my grip, and I unwrapped it. The vanilla flavor wafted into my nostrils, spawning a deeper hunger than I thought. I sank my teeth into it, and the fluffy goodness made me take another bite. I wondered how I'd get on without Wendy. She was my high school best friend and the sister I wished I’d had. Even though we were the same age, she was much more responsible and often watched out for me like a mother figure whenever I got carried away with life's hassles. I stretched out my wrist, wondering if I was really getting tinier or if she'd just said that to coax me to eat.
I devoured the entire pancake quickly before the taxi halted in front of the two-story building. I stepped out of the taxi after paying the driver, my eyes darting to the coffee shop across the roadway, wishing I could get a cup to clear out the remnants in my throat. That had to wait; I just swallowed a few more times, trying to push the crumbs on down.
Briskly, I walked inside the building's lobby, heading to the elevator. I jabbed the floor number and leaned on the steel wall, hoping Mrs. Walter wouldn't spit fire at me. When the elevator dinged and the doors opened, I stepped out and walked down the hallway. I paused in front of the door and knocked twice. The door flung open at once; the nanny, Miss Clarke, was in front of me.
"Good morning, ma'am. Is she in?"