Nightmares

A Surprise from a Co-Worker

I was almost to my door when I started to feel that odd feeling again. I looked around and saw that there was another rose by my door.  I was about to start running out of the building when I heard someone opened the door to my house.  

I was about to pull the knife out of my purse that my father had given me as a birthday present the year before, but I was able to hear someone calling my name from inside my place like they were concerned for me. 

        “Rebecca, are you here? I came to check on you after I saw that your car was at the museum the other night. Your building manager let me in. I hope that isn’t a problem. I also hope you aren’t in the shower or this would be even more awkward than it already is right now.” Said Thomas as he was about a foot within my doorway. 

I walked up behind him as quietly as I could and then asked next to his ear, “Just how did you know where I lived Thomas? I don’t remember telling you where that was in all of the times we have spoken at the museum.” 

        Thomas jumped and was almost as pale as a sheet from having gotten spooked. Trying to get his breath back he calmly turned to face me and asked, “Have you done that little trick all of your life Rebecca? I can see how that would come in handy trying to get away from our boss at the museum, but did you really need to pull that trick on me? I happened to see your car was still at work the other night. I asked the guard if he knew where you worked since you two seem to be friends. So, I came to see if you were alright.” 

        “Well, it is true that I can sneak away from the boss with that little trick, but I usually prefer to just use it when I have to. So, are you going to tell me the real reason you came by, other than that my car was still at the museum the other night Thomas?” I questioned him with a smile on my face. 

“Well, I wanted to ask you if you were still up for that dinner we had talked about. I was scared that after having asked you that you might have run away without getting your car from work.” Blushed Thomas. 

        “That had nothing to do with you having asked me Thomas. I was just needing to get home quickly after work and my car was acting up was all.” I answered back to Thomas. 

“Oh, I guess that would be a better reason to leave your car. I would have hated for you to try driving the car and had even worse issues with it.” said Thomas. 

        “I would like to rest for tonight if that is okay with you. I have been feeling a little tired for the past few days, but I should be able to do something this weekend if you happen to be free.” I said with a small smile on my face. 

        Thomas smiled and shook his head yes. With that being said I walked him to the front door and closed it after he left. I was so tired that I was just wanting to go take a long hot shower and then go to bed. I was able to finally relax once I got laid down in my bed. I was almost asleep when the smell of roses hit my nose. I looked around but couldn’t find the flowers anywhere in my room, but as I kept looking, I noticed that the window was open and there was a breeze coming in.  When I made it to the window there was yet another single black rose with a blue ribbon tied to it. I grabbed the flower and quickly threw it away from my window, but there was a sound of laughter that caught my ears as soon as I touched the ribbon. I almost wanted to scream from that laugh, but I decided to just close and lock my window. The only thing was that I doubted that even that would keep him out of my house again. 

        The next morning, I went back to work as normal. I was getting my items out of the lock room like normal. I was able to get all of my items back to my table before anyone asked me for help. The next thing I was able to start doing was look at a few more items that just might need to go out to the England display that I had just been in the day before. I was Putting in my earbuds when I started to get that cold feeling again. I was sure that it was just my manager again so I tried to ignore it. I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned around to find that it was just Hugh.  

“I didn’t mean to startle you Miss Rebecca; I was just coming to see how you are doing since yesterday? I notices on the recording after I left you and you were in the exhibit for quite a while.” 

        “You only gave me a small scare Hugh. I think I had actually fallen asleep a little after you saw me in the London exhibit yesterday. I’m sorry if I worried you any about that.” I answered with a smile on my face. I gave Hugh a small hug and he went back to his post with a small wave as he left the back of the museum. 

        I was deciding what item to work on from my table next when my manager came up to my face before I could get my headphones back in. “Rebecca, I need to have a word with you.” said Director Johnson. And by the look on his face it didn’t seem to be that the talk would be a good one. I followed Director Johnson out into the hall and as on as the door was shut, I saw a smile break out on his face, which was the first time I had seen any emotion on his face. 

“Rebecca I just received an email from the head of the museum here. All the work you have done for us in placing the items in the correct time periods has actually made the museum twice if not three times the amount of money we made this time last year. The director of the museum wants to know if you would want to add tours to your preservation workload? I know you wouldn’t get that much time with the items that are here, but you would be making a little more money now than what you are.”asked Director Johnson. 

        “Do I have any time to think the offer over? I know that would be a great idea to have me as one of the tour guides for the museum, but I don’t want to lose my job in preservation.” I stated. 

“There wasn’t a rush for an answer back to the museum director, but if you could think about it by the end of this work week, I think that would be a good idea.” he responded. 

        I went back to my station with a shocked look on my face and started with the smallest item that I had pulled out to work on for the day. The only thing that was difference was that I was working on an item that was meant to be on a different station that week.