Door To Another Realm

Meeting the Man In the Dreams

Sunlight swept across the room and slowly played across Candice's face. She began opening her eyes, as the light had invaded her dreams. As she sat up right, she stretched and yawned. 'Time to welcome the new day!' Once she was awake enough, it was time to prepare for her day to the grocery store.

She showered, brushed and put up her hair, dressed in a simple pair of shorts and a graphic tee, grabbed up her things and headed out to the town square. She recalled seeing what looked like a little supermarket. Hopefully all the things she needed would be there.

After entering town square, Candice stopped at the bistro for a nice caramel glazed donut and iced caramel latte. She noted how the bistro was back and finished her donut, deciding to keep her coffee while she does her shopping. While exiting the bistro, Candice smacked into something hard, nearly spilling her latte. As she was about to stumble back, a hand reached out and steadied her quickly. She looked up to see the concerned face of Cameron looking down at her.

Candice smiled shyly and was about to apologize to when Cameron interrupted her. " I am so sorry Candice! I am running a little behind and wasn't paying attention where I was going. I didn't even see the bistro door open." Candice quickly waved it off and told him, "it's quite alright. No harm done. I was just about to go to the supermarket. While I have you, do you mind showing me where the book shop is? I got the time to kill." Cameron smiled and nodded. He placed a hand on the middle of her back and lead her to the shop. It was right where she thought it was. But it wasn't here when she came by last. Was she really in another realm?

She decided then to ask Kim what was really in the square, then she could eliminate what was what. She walked into the shop ahead of Cameron as he stood holding the door awaiting her entry. Cameron excused himself to get his work done for the day. Candice look at the layout and took mental note of where things were. While walking through the back end of the store, close to the office, when she ran into a body again. " I'm sorry Cameron, I didn't notice your door open..." She slowly looked up and saw him... The man from her dreams. She looked into his caramel eyes, reveled in the beauty of his presence. She took in the gloriousness of his mane of deep brown hair.

"I'm sorry miss." He extended a hand and smiled down at her. Candice smiled shyly and took his hand. There was a silence between them for a moment, which he broke. He cleared his throat, "uhm... have we met before? You seem very familiar." Candice looked at him shocked, which she quickly covered up. "I don't believe we have. My name is Candice. And you are...?" "I'm sorry where are my manors? I'm Mike. I am co-owner of this shop. Cameron is my business partner. Have you met Cameron yet?"

She nodded her head, "yes, I actually start work here on Saturday." "So you're the sweet, shy young lady starting with us?" She smiled shyly and covered her face to try and hide the burning in her cheeks. He grabbed her hand and moved from in front of her face, "you're very pretty when you're shy!" Her faced flamed on from his flattery. He burst into a deep chuckle and dropped her hand before guiding her to the office door. "Cameron, what have we hired Candice to do here?" Mike looked from Cameron to Candice, while she was still a blushing mess. 'She is absolutely adorable,' he thought while watching her squirm under his gaze, 'just like my dreams.'

Cameron stood and laughed slightly upon seeing her shyness. "I will have her do the basic work of cataloging the new inventory and make sales when necessary. I thought the customer interaction could do her some good. She seemed lost when she walked in and I could tell she's had a bit of a rough go of things. Since we had an opening, I figured we could help her while she helped us." Candice blushed more upon hearing his words. Was it that obvious that she came from a***e? 'Oh man, the black eye," she thought to herself. Tears slowly began to prick her eyes as she was scolding herself internally. Mike noticed she had become tense and reassuringly squeezed her shoulder, " hey, what's wrong? We are here for you. Once you become a part of our little family here, we will always take care of you." She began full on crying at hearing those words. He turned her and lightly gripped her chin to make her look up. She froze slightly as she looked up to see those glorious caramel eyes look at her with so much concern. "Look Candice, yes we can see that you have been through a lot and we want you to know we will help you in any way we can. We know a home that takes care of girls who are trying to escape abusive relationships and we can help you that way." Candice shook her head, "it's not like that, I am already at that house. Kim got everything set for me while I made my escape. I come from a little town thousands of miles from her. I escaped my abusive family the night I turned 18."

Mike looked taken aback. He looked to Cameron who still looked concerned for her. Candice felt strangely at home here. She knew these two men would always look out for her. Especially Mike. She could feel a calming aura around him and knew he was her home. The only problem was getting to that point with him. Instead of pushing the topic farther, Mike thought it best to drop it there for the time. He turned to Candice, "how about I take you for some lunch and a coffee, since yours seems to be empty?" She looked to her now empty cup from her iced latte. She looked up smiling and told Cameron she would see him in 2 days. She looked up at the clock that was hanging on the office wall and saw it was 11:30. She pulled out her phone and looked to double check the time and saw it said it was 9:39 still. Mike noticed her questioning look and peeked at her screen. "Weird, I can show you to a shop that can fix that for you." She smiled up at him and allowed him to guide her to bistro.

While they ate and talked, Candice kept noticing that he would sneak glances at her from time to time. She learned that he was 20 and went into business with Cameron, who is also 20, right after highschool. Cameron came from a well off family and was able to get a small advance from his inheritance. The men did pretty well with the shop and had even thought of adding a little coffee shop to the inside for the customers to enjoy some time while looking for their books. Candice was excited about the prospects of getting started at the book shop.

Mike was enthralled and intrigued by Candice. He couldn't help sneaking glances when he thought she wasn't looking. He didn't want to come off as a creep. He paid for their food and her iced latte, then he led her to the phone shop to have a look at her phone.

After they showed Candice how to adjust the time and date on her phone, Mike decided to stay by her side for the day. He helped her get her groceries and things she needed for her new home. He was a perfect gentleman and helped her when she needed. He kept his hand on the middle of her back when they walked and made sure she was comfortable the whole time.

They were comfortable around one another. Almost like they had known each other all their lives. They spoke freely, laughed, and joked. There was no mistaking it. Mike knew she was the one. The woman from those dreams he'd been having. She was the woman he would spend the rest of his life with. She was sweet, beautiful, funny, and too adorable. He knew he had to make sure those dreams came true.

The sun was starting to go down, and Mike wanted to make sure Candice got home safely. He offered to walk her home and followed her directions. As they walked he decided he didn't want to wait to long for his dreams to come true. She suddenly stopped and smiled at him. He gave her a questioning look before she answered, "this is it. This is my house." He looked up to see a quaint little yellow house with red shutters and a red door. It was cute. He led her up her stairs to her door. She opened it and thanked him for the lovely day. He grabbed her hand before she could walk into her house. "I feel like I've known you my whole life. I can't let this moment go and not see where we may end up," he said a swiftly swept her into his arms and covered her lips with his. Fireworks erupted as their lips entangled and the slight tingles left behind as the parted were so addictive. He gave her one more quick peck on the lips and told her goodnight while he slipped a small piece of paper into her hand. He didn't want to push his luck and knew it was still too soon to really push this relationship.

As Mike walked off down the road Candice stood still shocked at the sudden kiss. Her heart was still pounding in her chest as he rounded the corner and out of view. She gripped the paper to chest as she grasped the door knob with shaky hand and entered her home. As she entered, she slowly closed the door and leaned into it, suddenly realizing she didn't know what was on the paper. She opened it quickly and found his name with a heart. Underneath it was a number, which she assumed was his. She let out a slow sigh and gath red herself quickly, before she put up her purse and took out her phone. She entered his number with a little heart next to his name. Candice couldn't believe it. The man from her dreams was real and he was even better than she had imagined.