While You Were Sleeping
Chapter 4
Later that night, around six, I sat alone in the hospital room of Phillip Black, resident rich guy in whose life I was now very deeply entwined. You know the saying 'you can't get too much of a good thing?' Whoever said that obviously didn't know what it felt like to get too much of a good thing. As a matter of fact, that person was a liar because you really can get too much of a good thing and that is exactly what was happening to me. Of course, I didn't exactly know if this dream guy, someone I'd been chasing after, well at least longing after for months now in the most vulnerable position before was a good thing after all. See, maybe if he'd been awake I could have made better use of the scenario of the two of us alone in a dark room together with one bed, well you get the picture. Unfortunately he was in a coma and I was due to meet the rest of his family at his house in two hours.
I decided I'd best spend my time debating whether or not it would be wise of me to go over to the Black household. For some reason, I figured that I might, in a subtle way, be declaring my own funeral. After all, what were to become of me when Phillip awoke and his family told him his fiancé was there to see him? He would tell them I was a fake, a fraud…then they'd probably throw me in jail with some of Greta's imaginary friends from her Harry-happy phase. I could have sworn she was having a mid-life crisis when she was only halfway there.
Then again, whether or not that worked out, I was still falling in love with his family. How I wished I could have a family to go home to, and this bustling crowd was just the type of cheery household I needed. I took one of Phillip's hands and sandwiched it between my own, letting out a sigh of exasperation. It was hard to make life-altering decisions when your life had been un-altered for a long time. I was still just becoming accustomed to the feeling of being on my own. Now, I was amidst a warm family, or at least they looked warm. They were kind to me, too. It was like I was the daughter and Phillip was a forgotten boatload lying on the hospital bed watching us converse.
The Blacks were probably home, preparing a glorious family Christmas dinner. I let go of Phillip's hand and stood up slowly, scratching my head. I started pacing beside the bed. I would be taking a big risk if I chose to go to that dinner and continue to associate with the Blacks. But, what if he awoke and fell in love with me? Like a love at first sight sort of deal? It wasn't too far-fetched. If that happened, then I would be living happily ever after with the man of my dreams. Basically it was a win or lose situation.
I didn't notice the fact that my inner thoughts began to shove their way out of my mouth as I started talking aloud to myself, planning what it was that I could do or would do or what in the world it was that was going on.
"You know…" I said, placing my hand on Phillip's limp arm. "You probably don't know what it feels like to be in love since you're in a near death state. Now, I don't even know how this happened but I fell in love with you at the subway. See, y-you come to my ticket booth every day and I sell you a ticket for the subway. And then, then I saved your life after these guys pushed you onto the subway tracks and my friend called an ambulance and they patched you up and your family thinks were engaged."
Phillip's lifeless form didn't move. I huffed.
"Yeah, well it's not my fault. You don't even know who I am! And who is this Cynthia girl? Are you engaged to her because oh what a mess that would be!" I looked down at my hands, examining my ring fingers. "Look, I don't even have an engagement ring. Not that anyone has noticed…" I paused.
"Then look, I can wear a ring for you on my right hand and a ring for me on my left hand. It would make perfect sense since I don't normally wear any jewelry at all."
Whatever crazy woman moment I was having passed and I snuck quietly from the room, leaving Phillip alone for his first night in the hospital. Not that he knew…the man was in a coma. As I stepped out into the hallway, I bumped into Mickey. I stopped and looked up into his blue smiling eyes.
"Hello!" I said, surprised to see him, but pleasantly surprised.
"Good evening, dear…" He said slowly. I nodded in response.
"Are you here to see Phillip?" I prodded.
"No. But I saw you in there with him."
"You did?"
"Yes I did."
I could feel the temperature in my veins drop a few degrees. "Um, did you hear what I was saying?" I said in a timid whisper. Mickey nodded his head.
"Uh oh…" I managed.
"Uh oh is right." Mickey answered.
"Are you going to rat me out?"
"No. Actually, I'm going to forget this ever happened. You're best bet is to play along with this."
"You don't care that I'm fooling everyone into thinking I'm engaged to Phillip?"
"It doesn't bother me in the least." Mickey said finally with a shrug of his shoulders. "Besides, it looked to me as though he has so much hair in front of his eyes that he couldn't tell who you were to begin with much less the rest of us. I'm sure we can convince him. It'll be no problem."
Well then, there was a surprise. Seeing him obviously did not compare to that. Now this was another person who knew, that was two not including myself! That meant that three people would be able to blackmail me with the information that I wasn't Phillip's real fiancé (that is if I chose to blackmail myself…um, sure).
Mickey stood quite proudly in his casual wear. I wish I knew what was going on under all that non-pigmented hair, but alas I was no mind reader. Actually, in that moment I made up my mind that I would tell the Blacks that I wasn't really engaged to their son. What a mass conflict would erupt from that! Then again, truth must be revealed and better early on then later. This way I could beat all my blackmailers to it, though I was only doing what they would have threatened to do. It was like jumping in front of a subway train. Wait…I'd done that before hadn't I?
After a while of silence, as I stood rocking back and forth deep in thought, Mickey cleared his throat.
"It's about time I left. I'll see you at the Blacks' or I won't. Nevertheless, goodbye for now Miss Lane." He tipped an imaginary hat in salute to me and disappeared into the elevator.
An hour later, I sat at my kitchen table rifling through a trusty bag of oreos. I found a package from Greta on my welcome mat. Jason seemed to have already found it there because he left a note on top of that saying he missed me today at the Ice Capades. Not that I'd really wanted to go in the first place or anything, I felt bad for bailing on Jason.
Seven o'clock and I was due at the Blacks' at eight. That gave me an hour to decide, not including the fact that I'd have to get dressed and catch a cab over there. My eyes scanned the cluttered kitchen. Bunches of old newspaper stood beside my kitchen sink. I stared at it for a long time. I really hadn't even noticed that it was there, but now that I did I realized what a slob I must be. And that made me think that people aren't supposed to spend their Christmas' in a pigpen. So then, I decided that I would go to the Black family Christmas dinner.
I looked back at the clock. It read five minutes after seven. I realized a very valuable twelfth of my hour had been wasted. My jaw dropped and I was shocked and panicked, trying to figure out what to do first. That only took up another five minutes of my time.
Well, needless to say, I was racing the clock. I had just enough time to grab a shower, curl my hair then it was off in a cab to Cuthbert Street where my rich to-be-in-laws lived. Of course, I inevitably bumped into Jason on my way out of the building and he persisted to press me for information on where I had been all day. I brushed him off and felt bad for it, but decided against re-entering the building to apologize.
The cab ride was fairly quick, and I was surprised to find that the streets were relatively empty. I'd think everyone would be driving about to visit relatives, but then I realized that Christmas started a good twenty hours earlier, not to mention Christmas Eve the days before. The cab driver pulled up in front of a house in the middle of Cuthbert Street. Yes, my jaw dropped. I tapped my driver on the shoulder.
"Are you sure this is the right address?"
Chapter 4
Later that night, around six, I sat alone in the hospital room of Phillip Black, resident rich guy in whose life I was now very deeply entwined. You know the saying 'you can't get too much of a good thing?' Whoever said that obviously didn't know what it felt like to get too much of a good thing. As a matter of fact, that person was a liar because you really can get too much of a good thing and that is exactly what was happening to me. Of course, I didn't exactly know if this dream guy, someone I'd been chasing after, well at least longing after for months now in the most vulnerable position before was a good thing after all. See, maybe if he'd been awake I could have made better use of the scenario of the two of us alone in a dark room together with one bed, well you get the picture. Unfortunately he was in a coma and I was due to meet the rest of his family at his house in two hours.
I decided I'd best spend my time debating whether or not it would be wise of me to go over to the Black household. For some reason, I figured that I might, in a subtle way, be declaring my own funeral. After all, what were to become of me when Phillip awoke and his family told him his fiancé was there to see him? He would tell them I was a fake, a fraud…then they'd probably throw me in jail with some of Greta's imaginary friends from her Harry-happy phase. I could have sworn she was having a mid-life crisis when she was only halfway there.
Then again, whether or not that worked out, I was still falling in love with his family. How I wished I could have a family to go home to, and this bustling crowd was just the type of cheery household I needed. I took one of Phillip's hands and sandwiched it between my own, letting out a sigh of exasperation. It was hard to make life-altering decisions when your life had been un-altered for a long time. I was still just becoming accustomed to the feeling of being on my own. Now, I was amidst a warm family, or at least they looked warm. They were kind to me, too. It was like I was the daughter and Phillip was a forgotten boatload lying on the hospital bed watching us converse.
The Blacks were probably home, preparing a glorious family Christmas dinner. I let go of Phillip's hand and stood up slowly, scratching my head. I started pacing beside the bed. I would be taking a big risk if I chose to go to that dinner and continue to associate with the Blacks. But, what if he awoke and fell in love with me? Like a love at first sight sort of deal? It wasn't too far-fetched. If that happened, then I would be living happily ever after with the man of my dreams. Basically it was a win or lose situation.
I didn't notice the fact that my inner thoughts began to shove their way out of my mouth as I started talking aloud to myself, planning what it was that I could do or would do or what in the world it was that was going on.
"You know…" I said, placing my hand on Phillip's limp arm. "You probably don't know what it feels like to be in love since you're in a near death state. Now, I don't even know how this happened but I fell in love with you at the subway. See, y-you come to my ticket booth every day and I sell you a ticket for the subway. And then, then I saved your life after these guys pushed you onto the subway tracks and my friend called an ambulance and they patched you up and your family thinks were engaged."
Phillip's lifeless form didn't move. I huffed.
"Yeah, well it's not my fault. You don't even know who I am! And who is this Cynthia girl? Are you engaged to her because oh what a mess that would be!" I looked down at my hands, examining my ring fingers. "Look, I don't even have an engagement ring. Not that anyone has noticed…" I paused.
"Then look, I can wear a ring for you on my right hand and a ring for me on my left hand. It would make perfect sense since I don't normally wear any jewelry at all."
Whatever crazy woman moment I was having passed and I snuck quietly from the room, leaving Phillip alone for his first night in the hospital. Not that he knew…the man was in a coma. As I stepped out into the hallway, I bumped into Mickey. I stopped and looked up into his blue smiling eyes.
"Hello!" I said, surprised to see him, but pleasantly surprised.
"Good evening, dear…" He said slowly. I nodded in response.
"Are you here to see Phillip?" I prodded.
"No. But I saw you in there with him."
"You did?"
"Yes I did."
I could feel the temperature in my veins drop a few degrees. "Um, did you hear what I was saying?" I said in a timid whisper. Mickey nodded his head.
"Uh oh…" I managed.
"Uh oh is right." Mickey answered.
"Are you going to rat me out?"
"No. Actually, I'm going to forget this ever happened. You're best bet is to play along with this."
"You don't care that I'm fooling everyone into thinking I'm engaged to Phillip?"
"It doesn't bother me in the least." Mickey said finally with a shrug of his shoulders. "Besides, it looked to me as though he has so much hair in front of his eyes that he couldn't tell who you were to begin with much less the rest of us. I'm sure we can convince him. It'll be no problem."
Well then, there was a surprise. Seeing him obviously did not compare to that. Now this was another person who knew, that was two not including myself! That meant that three people would be able to blackmail me with the information that I wasn't Phillip's real fiancé (that is if I chose to blackmail myself…um, sure).
Mickey stood quite proudly in his casual wear. I wish I knew what was going on under all that non-pigmented hair, but alas I was no mind reader. Actually, in that moment I made up my mind that I would tell the Blacks that I wasn't really engaged to their son. What a mass conflict would erupt from that! Then again, truth must be revealed and better early on then later. This way I could beat all my blackmailers to it, though I was only doing what they would have threatened to do. It was like jumping in front of a subway train. Wait…I'd done that before hadn't I?
After a while of silence, as I stood rocking back and forth deep in thought, Mickey cleared his throat.
"It's about time I left. I'll see you at the Blacks' or I won't. Nevertheless, goodbye for now Miss Lane." He tipped an imaginary hat in salute to me and disappeared into the elevator.
An hour later, I sat at my kitchen table rifling through a trusty bag of oreos. I found a package from Greta on my welcome mat. Jason seemed to have already found it there because he left a note on top of that saying he missed me today at the Ice Capades. Not that I'd really wanted to go in the first place or anything, I felt bad for bailing on Jason.
Seven o'clock and I was due at the Blacks' at eight. That gave me an hour to decide, not including the fact that I'd have to get dressed and catch a cab over there. My eyes scanned the cluttered kitchen. Bunches of old newspaper stood beside my kitchen sink. I stared at it for a long time. I really hadn't even noticed that it was there, but now that I did I realized what a slob I must be. And that made me think that people aren't supposed to spend their Christmas' in a pigpen. So then, I decided that I would go to the Black family Christmas dinner.
I looked back at the clock. It read five minutes after seven. I realized a very valuable twelfth of my hour had been wasted. My jaw dropped and I was shocked and panicked, trying to figure out what to do first. That only took up another five minutes of my time.
Well, needless to say, I was racing the clock. I had just enough time to grab a shower, curl my hair then it was off in a cab to Cuthbert Street where my rich to-be-in-laws lived. Of course, I inevitably bumped into Jason on my way out of the building and he persisted to press me for information on where I had been all day. I brushed him off and felt bad for it, but decided against re-entering the building to apologize.
The cab ride was fairly quick, and I was surprised to find that the streets were relatively empty. I'd think everyone would be driving about to visit relatives, but then I realized that Christmas started a good twenty hours earlier, not to mention Christmas Eve the days before. The cab driver pulled up in front of a house in the middle of Cuthbert Street. Yes, my jaw dropped. I tapped my driver on the shoulder.
"Are you sure this is the right address?"
