Miles slipped off his glasses and folded his arms over the table.

"Who are you seeing this time? Your father again?"

"No. I keep seeing Arthur."

Miles was stunned at this for she usually only saw illusions of people she couldn't stand. "Your seeing Arthur?"

"Yeah and I don't know why."

"Do you not like him?"

Ariadne shook her head. "No. He's very nice which is why I don't know why I'm seeing illusions of him."

"Where did you see him?" Miles asked.

"In the bathroom and at the theater. He walked across the stage and looked at me."

"Did he ever speak to you?"

"He told me something."

"And he looked the same way he always has?"

"Same suits, same hair."

"Very interesting… I think you should talk to a doctor about this."

"No." she said immediately. "My sister claims it's a gift but obviously it's a disorder that makes me see people who aren't there. I've tried seeing a lot of doctors but all of them said the same thing."

"Well does your head hurt?"

"No."

"Is your vision blurring?"

"No."

"You've been through a lot lately." Miles suggested. "Performing an Inception as your first job is never easy. What you need is rest."

"But I have things to do." She protested. "I volunteered to design the set for the theater schools next production."

"Did you? Ah yes, I remember you did that last year. Very impressive."

"Why do you think I'm only seeing him? Why not Cobb or Eames?"

"Do you care for Arthur?"

Ariadne's eyebrows crunched together. "Like romantically?"

"Possibly." Miles shrugged.

"No. You know what would happen if we dated."

"Or you can learn from Cobb and Mal's mistakes and try to avoid them." Miles advised.

"There's no way I could get with Arthur. I'm only twenty-three. He's what, twenty-seven? Twenty-eight?"

"Around twenty-seven." Said Miles. "Go relax. Draw some sets. Study for the big test. Put him out of your thoughts for now."

"Ok." Ariadne sighed. "I guess they'll be away by tomorrow." She started to leave when his voice made her turn back.

"What did he tell you?"

Ariadne was hesitant to say anything. "Uh… he told me I should date this guy I sorta like."

Miles nodded. "Don't let that relationship business throw you off track."

"I know." Said Ariadne. Seriously, I doubt it will last.

Back at the apartment she lay on the couch with a new sketchbook. The first scene was in Mount Olympus so she imagined what a Greek Gods kingdom would look like.

It's high on the mountain so they'd walk on clouds. There would be pillars bordering the set. There's a crib for the baby and a thrown for Zeus… oh yeah, and the pile of gifts. That was a simple set. There wasn't much building in that scene. She began to draw the mansion. Lets see… floors don't matter on stage but there will be a fancy couch…

Her thoughts were interrupted when the phone on the coffee table vibrated. "Hello?"

"Bonjour Cherie."

"Bonjour Jean."

"I didn't see you at the theater today." He said. "Why'd you leave so soon?"

"Because I had to start sketching." She lied.

"You think you can take a break and have lunch with me?"

She was being pulled in both directions about that easy question. Part of her was saying, "No." and another said "Go for it!" It was like there was an angel on one shoulder, devil on the other.

"Sorry Jean but I really want to get this set finished."

"Ok, I understand Cher."

"But listen…" she stopped him from hanging up. "You can help build the set right?"

"Each actor in the show has to help for at least two hours." Said Jean.

"I'm going to be there in a couple of days to watch over the crew. Maybe you could help out that day?"

"Sounds like a date." She imagined him winking at her over the line.

"Great. I'll see you in a couple of days."

Ariadne turned her phone off and dropped it.

"He seems like a gentlemen." Her head turned to see Arthur again standing by the TV. "Hopefully he'll get your mind off of Arthur."

"How can I not think of him?" she asked. "He's unique… why am I talking to an illusion of him?"

"I'm not just an illusion." He said. "I'm a part of your mind. I tell you what you believe and want but not dare to say."

"Well it's a good thing other's can't see you."

"You should date Jean. He's a very nice boy. I know you favor Arthur but you know it's not possible to be with him."

"I know that."

"He would rather be with a tall blonde than with a short thing like you anyway."

Ariadne shook her head. "No. He wouldn't date at all. No wedding, no kids, no peace. Just work." Ariadne huffed. "I love dream-sharing but I'd still do anything for a life."

"I know you would. But you'll never have one with a job like that."

After he said that, she steamed up like a Boston lobster. "Don't you dare tell me what I can and can't have!" she roared. "I want to be more than just an architect; I want to be a mother someday and you can't tell me how my life will end up!" With that, she picked up the picture frame on the nightstand and chugged it at him. It went right through him and clattered against the wall.

"You need a husband for that." Arthur continued, as if nothing happened.

"And I'll get one!" she snapped. "Now go off somewhere and bother me later."

The shape of Arthur faded away like a ghost. "I'll show myself." She said again. Now she understood what the illusions were. They were the half of conscience that told her what she didn't want to admit. These images were like an opposing debater. Whenever she was stuck with a decision, which wasn't common, a hologram of someone would appear.

But why was it Arthur?

Being a successful architect was only one dream she had in mind. Ariadne had another she wanted to be a reality. She wanted to be the mother of a baby girl. Named after the heroine in Lewis Carroll's classic, Ariadnes favorite childhood story, Little Alice would be smart like her mother and talented like her father.

She pictured the child running on the beach collecting shells, her long dark hair flying behind her. Like the Alice in the book, Little Alice was always curious and wanted to go different places. No Red Queen would scare this child; Little Alice was braver than a queen lioness.

I'm thinking way too ahead! Ariadne snapped out of her daydream and tried to get back to work.

A couple days passed and the crew started building the set. Several wooden pillars were standing on the stage waiting to be painted. Ariadne was standing by them giving instructions to one of the builders. Jean was right by her.

"And if I see any of you horse around then your gone. And that would make the construction longer." She said strictly. A few of the male crewmembers snickered thinking even though she was in charge, they didn't have to listen to her. "Ok, get the paint buckets and get a move on."

"You sounded like you were in charge." Jean praised.

"Well I'm very picky sometimes." She admitted. "But all architects are."

Jean kneeled down beside one of the pillars and took the brush next to the can. "I love how these are carved so nicely like a real pillar. Have you ever actually been to Greece?"

"No. I'd love to but I can't now with finals in five weeks." She said. "I already started to study so all is well."

Jean stroked the brush over the wooden sculpture. "I have a theater exam if you can believe that."

"Well didn't you have to learn about how theater started, what kinds of approaches there are, stage directions, famous plays and Shakespeare anyway?"

"In high school." He said. "It gets worse here. I never had a chance to ask you this."

"What?" Was he going to ask her out on a date? If she were a thermometer, the mercury would be raising quickly.

"How did you get so interested in architecture?"

And the mercury line went down.

"I always loved the castles where the Disney princesses lived. I wanted one just like theirs. After seeing Hogwarts School on Harry Potter, I really wanted a castle. My mom would by me toy buildings instead of dolls and soon I started building my own models out of Legos. That's when I knew I wanted to be an architect." She told him.

"So which princess castle did you like the most?"

Ariadne did not expect him to ask her questions about her interests but she knew right then that he wanted to listen to her.

"Belle's. It was a two in one."

Jean chuckled without turning to look at her. The next moments were dead, the only sounds coming from the bristles on the cedar. Ariadne checked her watch. Break the ice already!

"So, are you free this weekend?"

Jean put the brush down.

"Oui. But there's a party on Friday I was going to."

"Oh."

"But I'm free Saturday." He finished. "Would you like to see my apartment and watch a movie?"

"Uh… sure." Ariadne was almost ready to faint. "Sounds like fun."

The look on Jeans face shifted from contentment to fear. Ariadne was about to question him when he exclaimed, "Get out of the way!" He leapt toward her and pushed her to the floor five feet away from the danger zone. A pillar must have been pushed because it almost killed her. The fierce crash reflected throughout the theater.

"Are you ok?"

She looked up to expect Jean holding her down. Instead, she saw Arthur starring at her, his hands around her forearms.

"I'm fine." She sat up. "No thanks to them." Ariadne marched over to the crewmembers that were supposed to paint it. "What the fuck happened here?"

"It was his fault!" said the tall one pointing to the short one.

"He put paint in my hair!" The short one argued.

Ariadne rolled her eyes. These guys were around their twenties and they still acted like kids.

"What part of no horsing around did you not understand?" she snapped. "I almost got killed!" Ariadne pointed at the fallen pillar that broke a hole through the stage. "And you vandalized a two hundred year old stage!"

"You guys are dumbasses." Said Jean shaking his head in disapproval. Everyone working on the stage looked onto the scene.

"Get out!" Ariadne ordered. It was very rare to see this girl get enraged. The one thing that got on her last nerve was people who vandalized or tried to destroy her work. "I worked my butt off designing this set and since you can't seem to understand that, leave!"

"Wait until Monsieur see's this." Said Jean.

"Can't wait." Ariadne growled.

What the hell happened? When she went to look up at Jean after being pushed, she saw Arthur. He was touching her; illusions never touched her. Ariadne was not torn between two choices when it happened. As she was about to understand this disorder, it grew more confusing.

"Cherie." She gazed over at Jean. "Cherie, don't worry about it. They'll fix it."

Ariadne took a deep breath and sighed.

"If Monsieur asks where I am, tell him I got a headache and had to leave."

"Are we still on for Saturday?" he asked with a hint of doubt.

"I promise I'll be fine by then." Ariadne told him. "I'll meet you in front of the school at six." Jean gave her and amorous hug to comfort her.

"I'll see you then." Jean looked forward slightly concerned as his new girlfriend proceeded away from him.

"That's your girlfriend?" Jean turned to see one of his friends Luc who was in the production with him. "She's cute. I'd be lucky to have a girl like that."

"What are you saying?" Jeans eyes squinted and turned red in his mind.

"Relax. I'm just saying she's cute. I like the way she handled those dumbasses over there."

Jean took one last gaze at Ariadne before she crossed the doors and left his sight.

"I'm one hell of a lucky guy."