My life has been hectic since I have taken the job offer in Washington. And part of my job involves a lot of travelling, which is great too. Recently I was in Sydney for a conference. It was supposed to be a good business trip but it turned out to be a complete nightmare.

The conference was great and I met a lot of interesting people. We shared informations and ideas, which was very educating. But the weather was disappointing. It was dry and hot. I could not stand the weather at all. It made me sick.

Maybe it was cumulative. I have never had any rest since I started my work in Washington. The last thing I could ever dream of was a nice vacation. Maybe it was the weather too. My head started to throb constantly and I felt unwell.

One night my headache became so unbearable that I felt like crying. I wished someone was there with me. I was afraid. What if it were something nasty like a brain tumour? Yet I restrained myself from crying. I'm not a child anymore. This was a simple headache and all I needed was a good night sleep. So I self medicated myself with 2 Panadols and went to bed early that night. I drifted to sleep almost instantaneously. It was then the nightmare started...

It was very noisy. I could not hear clearly. Everyone seemed to be shouting. Then I saw him.

Damon. What was he doing here?

It was strange as I have never dreamt of him in the past. He was charming and still has the effect on me even in the dream. We were talking and he introduced me to his wife and children. I was dumbfounded! The woman was very beautiful and the children were adorable. It was a lovely happy family picture. My heart ached so badly even when I was smiling and laughing with them. All of a sudden, something changed...

My father was reprimanding me and I was totally lost about what went wrong. My mother was in tears and my siblings were absolutely crazy. Everyone in the household looked devastated. The problem was I did not know what had happened. Then the news struck me hard. I was involved with a married man, which happened to be him! I could not even believe my ears when I heard this. My father was angry and blamed me for having a marital affair with him. His family was absolutely mad too as I had destroyed a wonderful marriage. I was the shameless woman! I nearly died in the dream.

It was half-past two in the morning when I awoke with cold sweets. I was trembling so hard that I needed to hold tight onto the blanket to calm myself. I was crying too and my face was drenched with tears. The salty tears tasted horrible on my tougue. It was dreadful.

The next morning I felt terrible. The headache was gone but I was in a state of shock. I knew it was just a nightmare but it was too real. I was not sure of its significance.

I called Carolin and told her about the nightmare. She comforted me and asked me to relax. It was only a dream, afterall. Yes, maybe she was right.

The lesson that I have learnt from the dream is no matter how much I love a man I will never get involved if he were married!