Second Chances

Truth In A Dream

"Hi, baby."

I turned around as Abby walked into my room. She stood on her toes and pressed her lips to mine.

"You okay?" She mumbled against my lips. She broke the kiss and studied my face. "Zac?"

"I need to tell you something and it isn't going to make a lick of sense."

"Okay," she said softly. I grabbed her hand and led her over to the couch.

"Zac," she stuttered. "What's going on, baby? You're starting to scare me."

"Do you remember the dream I had a while ago?"

"The one where you were a lawyer?" She asked, tilting her head slightly.

"Yeah," I sighed. I looked up at her, knowing how this was gonna go. She wouldn't believe me. She'd think I was crazy and I'd lose her in this life.

If I told her the truth and decided to keep this life, would she remember what I told her? Would I lose her in this life too?

"Zac?"

I hadn't realized I'd fallen silent until she said my name.

"This isn't real," I blurted out.

"What?" She stuttered.

"This life isn't real, Abby. That dream I told you about the other night? That's real. I'm a lawyer in New York and you're my assistant. The thing is, I didn't remember you until the deal."

"The deal. . ." Abby said slowly. My heart sank when she scooted away from me. "Zac. . ."

"When this all started, an Uber driver was taking me home from work and he asked if I was happy in my life."

"You don't take an Uber to work," Abby said softly. "You drive yourself here."

"In this life, yes. But in my other life, no."

"Zac," she sighed.

"I know how this sounds. Just let me explain."

I held my breath, waiting for any response from her. She bit her lip as she studied me. She nodded her head, scooting away from me again.

"My driver asked if I was happy. I thought I was, but he made me second guess everything. He then asked if I wanted to see what my life would've been like if I had gone down a different path. And when he did, this is what it was. The different path he was talking about was you and I never stop being friends. I never hurt you and we got closer. We became us."

I was out of breath when I finished explaining everything. I waited for her to say something, but she didn't say anything. She looked at her hands, completely silent. I couldn't even hear if she was breathing. She looked up at me with tears in her eyes.

"You have to know how crazy this sounds," she whispered.

"I know," I stuttered. I ran my hands through my hair, trying to think of a way I could make this all make sense. But I came up empty.

"Zac," she said, her voice low. "You want me to believe that all of this isn't real? We aren't teachers. We aren't friends. We aren't dating. Instead, I'm your assistant who, up until now, you had no recollection that we grew up together. Do you understand how horrible that sounds?"

"Abby," I said, her name getting caught in my throat. She stood up and continued talking but with her back to me.

"How could you not remember me? We grew up right next to each other! You're trying to tell me that you became so self-absorbed you completely forgot about the girl next door?"

"I know!" I said, jumping up. "I know how awful this sounds. When I finally figured it out, I felt sick. I couldn't stop thinking about it. But then I decided to fix it."

"Fix it?" She repeated.

"Yeah," I said, my nerves jumping higher. "I started being nicer to you, talking to you more about things other than work. I even asked what happened."

I looked over at her, begging her to believe me. I watched as she hesitated. As she studied me, I could tell that I was losing her.

"Zac," she stuttered as she took a step away from me. "This isn't funny."

"I'm not trying to be funny, Abby. I'm not lying to you either. I would never lie to you. You know that."

"Just stop," she said, her voice breaking.

"I love you," I said with tears building up.

"Do you?" She challenged. "Or do you love the dream me?"

I reached over and grabbed her hand but Abby instantly tore her hand out of mine. She hesitated before turning to leave.

"Abby, wait," I begged. She looked over at me, her eyes filled with frustration.

I held my breath, waiting for her response. As she opened her mouth, I noticed everything start to fade away.

Of course.