From My Dreams

Chapter 8

Silence. That was what it was like after ordering coffee. The two of them took a seat in the outside balcony of the coffee shop and ended up looking at the outside traffic, the passing cars and birds flying overhead because they did not know how to talk about the particular topic.

Karan cleared his throat and brought his seat closer to the table to rest his elbows on the cold surface. "So," he started. "We've established that we are real people."

Hayley blushed. She wished she could have been brave enough to start talking. She seemed to be much braver in her - their - dreams. "That's true. It's actually great to know that I'm not insane," she chuckled. "I'm a fashion designer. I have my own boutique and I have a contract with Vogue right now." That was all she could say to introduce herself.

"It's really nice to meet you." They shook hands again. "Karan Mathur. Businessman. I have my own firm and I'm continuing the family name. I should leave behind-"

"Some legacy, right?" They said at the same time.

Hayley's heart constricted. Even in real life, they seemed to be able to read each other's minds. It wasn't only the dreams that connected them. It was something more. "I wonder what our dreams are about," she said, massaging her temples in the clockwise direction. "I've had so many theories about who you could be....as a person and as someone for me. I never thought I would be sitting here with you and drinking coffee."

"I've tried to draw you," Hayley's head jerked up to look at him wide-eyed. "But I've only been able to write our dreams down. It's the only time of the day where I have felt safe and secure. Like, it's the only time that nobody can take it away from me." He cleared his throat. "Do you think it is about our past lives? The dreams, I mean."

"Could be, but sometimes the timelines don't fit together exactly. Do you remember when we lived on the moon and were running away from aliens?" She laughed. "It seems as if....the dreams are trying to tell us something. But it's like you said. I've tried drawing you so many times but your face...." Looking at him, she reminded herself to breathe. This was the same man that sacrificed himself to save her many times. They both did!

But for Karan, he was looking at her and remembering how he had caused her death too. He couldn't hurt her again, especially now that they were actually meeting each other and knew each other's names. If this was a dream, he did not want to wake up. "You paint?" He asked, taking a sip of his coffee.

"Sometimes." She nodded.

"Then I guess it would be a total curve if I suggested that we could be soulmates."

Hayley choked on the water that she was drinking but was careful not to spit it out. She hit the top of her head to prevent it from entering her lungs. "Soulmates? No. No way. That's....not possible."

His eyebrows furrowed together. "You don't believe in them?"

"It's not true!" She said, raising her shoulders. "It just can't be. It's not a physical phenomenon, or any phenomenon, for that matter!" She breathed in deeply. "Not soulmates. After seeing so many adaptations with it....just no."

Karan smiled. It was nice to know that Hayley was a reader too. "So what should we do about this?"

Hayley blinked at him. She opened her mouth to say something but didn't know what to say. They did not know each other. They had spent almost every night together in their dreams but were strangers sitting before each other. They must have looked different too now that their faces had no haze over them when they looked away.

"We'll see what happens tonight?" She suggested. "I'm looking forward to seeing what dream we could have now that we've met each other. Whether that is because of any Saint that we worship or some cosmic entity trying to bring us together-"

"So you believe that could be possible but don't believe in soulmates?" He narrowed his eyes at her, a cocky smile on his face.

She chuckled. "How else would you explain this? Us?"

Us. That was the word both of them were looking forward to.

Well, that night would hold the answers to their questions.