Disturbing dreams

Emma was not her usual efficient self for the rest of the shift. She was absent-minded and kept making mistakes. The end of shift could not have come sooner, she felt exhausted from all the thoughts whirling around in her mind. Scared to accidentally run into Mr. Long, she packed up her stuff in record time, and left as fast as she could.

The way home was a blur to her, lost as she was in her own thoughts. No matter which way she turned the matter over in her head, she could not come up with a good way of refusing Mr. Long's proposal in such a way that she would be able to keep her job. He clearly had not accepted her immediate refusal, and who knew how he would react if she just blankly refused him again.

She thought about lying, and say she was in a serious relationship. But that might need backing up at some point, which would mean a lot of trouble to find a fake boyfriend to keep up the pretence.

She could maybe say that she was too busy for a relationship? That with work and her studies she really didn't have any time left to be in a relationship. But from the way he had looked when saying 'my woman', Emma didn't really think that what Mr. Long was after was not a 'normal' girlfriend. He wanted a mistress, a beautiful woman on his arm to show off, someone to warm his bed, someone to be at his beck and call. Also he had offered to pay for her entire education, which would mean she wouldn't need to work anymore.

Her best option seemed to be to just quit and find another job. The problem with that option was that she needed to earn money. Who knew how long it would take to find another job? And it would very likely pay less that what she was earning as a VIP bartender.

None of the possibilities seemed to be the right one. By the time she unlocked the door to her tiny flat, her head was hurting from turning over the problem in her head a thousand times. Completely exhausted from the evenings ordeals, she wriggled out of her clothes, throwing them carelessly on the floor, and fell onto her bed. Although she fell asleep the moment her head hit the pillow, Emma spent a restless night tossing and turning. The whole night she was plagued by wierd and disturbing dreams.

First, she dreamed of being trapped by Mr. Long in his office. He was holding her tight by her wrists and she was trying desperately to escape. Then, he turned into a great golden dragon, which wrapped itself tightly around her like a python. She could barely breathe, the pressure from the great beast was simply to much. A deep rumbling voice sounded from all around her. It seemed to be far away from her and at the same time emanating from every fibre in her body.

"In this life, and the next, and the next one after that, and the next one after that, I will only want you, only love you, only worry you."

The voice was alluring, but frightening. Emma tried to fight, to free herself, to breathe, but she was trapped, wrapped in the great coils of the dragon. The more she fought the tighter the beast wrapped around her.

Just as she thought she would surely die, dream or no dream, she jolted awake to find herself tangled in the bed sheets. Fighting for a moment to free herself, she threw the stupid covers on the floor. Her skin was covered in a thin layer of sweat, her heart was racing and her breathing was ragged, as if she had really just been suffocated by a large gold dragon. She tried to calm her breathing, telling herself it was just a dream, only a dream. She was just worried about Mr. Long, but he didn't have his claws in her quite yet. Drawing several deep, calming breaths, she managed to slow her heart rate down. Feeling a bit calmer, she lay back down on the bed, and did her best to catch a few hours sleep before dawn.