The Dreaming: Old Shalon (Book 4)

7.2. Meeting The Father

Author's Note: I'm posting all of chapter seven -- 7.1 and 7.2 -- tonight! So make sure you read them in the right order (some people come here through their notifications and get mixed up when there are two posts at the same time).

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7.2. Meeting The Father

The elevator soon opened onto a luscious jungle on the floor above. I was shocked to see all the various plants - trees, flowers, shrubs, grasses. There was some serious landscaping involved.

Captain Mercer sat at a fountain in front of us. He was wearing a very comfortable outfit, in stark contrast to the soldiers around him. I don't know how I knew it was him, but I did.

He wasn't what I'd been expecting. Not at all. He was a very... small man. He was old. He had a giant belly. He was bald and ruddish. He obviously drank a lot! He was wearing a heavily embroidered vest and vibrant blue pants that accentuated his enormous belly. He also had beautiful, brown eyes and the warmest chocalatey skin.

"Welcome," he said warmly. "Welcome."

He walked up to us and grabbed my hand, and looked into my eyes. Before I knew what was happening, he pulled me in and kissed me on both cheeks affectionately. Like I was his long lost daughter. "Welcome, welcome," he repeated.

And just as soon as the assault had started, it ended, and I was left in a cloud of perfumed confusion.

I did a double take - looking around me. Is this serious? I wondered. The guards were impossible to read, but otherwise acted like this was normal. This was not at all what I had been expecting.

He then turned and gave the same reception to Nike and then to Michael, who were both as astonished as I was. First Nike, who, like me, didn't know how to react. Then she started giggling when he did the same to Michael. Michael clearly thought this was a hoot, and laughed out loud.

After he let Michael go, Mercer stepped back to address us all. "Hello," he said, "I'm Mercer, and I'm very happy to invite you into this special place."

I detected an accent there, but couldn't tell from where exactly. I responded, "Nice to meet you... Captain Mercer--"

"Oh, no, no - no need for formalities. You can just call me Mercer." He pointed at the guards at the door and said, "These guys take themselves far too seriously!" and he shook his head and laughed. Was that an Australian accent I heard?

Michael and Nike laughed too. I had to admit, the man was a character. Completely disarming. I couldn't imagine him ever doing anything evil. He looked like a mix between Santa Clause and Ghandi. Dark skin, skinny arms and legs, and a round belly, with bright, clear eyes.

"Well, nice to meet you... Mercer," I smiled. I felt my cheeks were wearing thin. How many people would I have to meet and how many more smiles would I have to give? "I'm Shalon, Shalon Sims," I said finally. I couldn't play the 'respect me, I'm an old lady' card with this guy - first of all, he was older than me by the looks of the skin on his hands, and second - well it just felt completely inappropriate.

"I'm Michael," the boy said, stretching his hand out for a real handshake, a shit-eating grin plastered over his face. Blimey - the kid was acting as if this really was the Wizard of Oz.

Mercer looked beside me, at Nike. She automatically ducked her head when she saw him looking at her.

"That's Nicole" I explained. "She's shy and kind of... messed up from... well..." I couldn't find my words. "Life, I guess. Haha!" I laughed nervously.