Just a Dream - Chapters 1 to 4

Just a Dream

Chapter 1

He gets out of bed and walks up to the window. He draws open the blinds. The early morning sunlight beats in on the bed. He looks at the clock and then walks over to the cupboard. He pulls out a pair of trunks. He then goes out the backdoor to the backyard where he climbs into his pool. He does 50 laps of the pool – a part of his daily routine.
He steps out of the pool and returns to the house dripping water all over the place…

[Meet Trinnean James (TJ to his friends), 27 years old. He is an Irish living in Miami Dade County. He is a pilot. What’s he doing in a beautiful house with a swimming pool? Well, he just bought it along with a shiny silver BMW Z4 convertible. He’s 5ft 7, suntanned, with short jet-black hair. He’s known to be a Casanova or a woman’s man - whatever you want to call him. Read on and make your own assumption]

As he steps out of the shower, he hears his mobile ring. He grabs the towel of the rack and wraps it around his waist, running into the room to answer it.

“Hiiiiii.” The voice at the other end greets him.

“Hey, should have known it was you. Only you have such great timing” he replies.

[Meet Adelina Christiano, TJ’s good friend from Spain, who happened to move to Miami, She’s 5ft 4 but loves to argue that she’s 5’ 6”. She’s a librarian and a part-time model for Victoria Secret].

“Well, guessing by that remark I guess I caught you in the shower” Adelina retorts.

“Yeh” replies TJ.

“Ah, like always, somethings just don’t change, do they?” replies Adelina.

Before TJ has any time to reply, Adelina adds “What plans for the afternoon.Wanna grab a bite to eat and watch a movie? Don’t say no because you’re here only for 4 days this time and it’s the only way I get to see you.”

TJ says “Uhhh well…”

“Please, TJ, don’t be so mean”.

“Chill, sweetie, was just putting up my price. Of course, I'll come. Shall I pick you up in an hour’s time? No wait, that’s too little time for you to get ready so I'll give you a couple,cool?” says TJ teasingly.

“Yeh, yeh, wise guy. I'll see you in a couple of hour’s, bye.”
         
TJ then continues to get ready, and then stumbles into the kitchen where he pours himself a glass of orange juice and makes himself a sandwich with ham, cheese, bacon and a fried egg. As he eats the sandwich, he smiles as he remembers his mothers constant nagging. ‘SON, I HOPE YOU ARE EATING HEALTHY. You can’t keep eating the way you did when you were a kid’.

He smiles again and then whispers to himself “I love you mamma”. He then sits down at his laptop and checks to see if the schedule for his flight back to India has been sent yet.

After about and hour and a half, he decides it is time to leave to pick up Adelina. He steps out of the house and goes up to the garage where his brand new Z4 is sparkling in the sunlight. He jumpsin and switcheson the music. [Mudvayne’s‘Happy’ bursts through the garage].

He rolls the car down the drive and when he reaches the main road, he hits the pedal.

Four blocks away from Adelina’s house he calls her. “Hey hope you’re ready I'm almost there”.

“Yeh, see you soon”.

As he crosses the intersection, two blocks away, he sees a flash of red from the corner of his left eye. He turns his head to see what it is, but it’s too late. His car is rammed by a Red Ford Endeavour. The Z4 hurled across the road, spins a 360 and rams into another car crossing the intersection at the same time. There is total silence all around; everything stops.

Suddenly someone shouts “Call 911”. A young lady runsup to TJ’s car. She notices he is bleeding very badly.

A husky voice shouts at the young lady “Leave him alone, he could have a back injury, you shouldn’t move him”.

At the same time, Adelina was getting out of her apartment building. As she stepped onto the pavement, she heard the sound of screeching tyres and busting glass and a scream for 911. She turned towards the commotion. At that moment her cell rang. It was TJ. She heaved a sigh of relief and answered the phone.

A lady’s voice came over the line. “Is this Adelina?”

Adelina looked shocked “Who is this and what are you doing with TJ’s phone?”

The lady replied “Your friend just met with an accident at the intersection …”

Before the lady could complete her sentence, Adelina let out a loud cry and started running to the intersection. People moved out of her way, wondering what was wrong with her.

By the time she reached the intersection, her face was covered in tears. She walked up to the silver BMW and saw TJ. “Noooo” she screamed. The young lady standing by the car turned to her and said “Are you Adelina?”

Adelina replied between sobs “Yes …” sob “What happened? He was just coming to pick me up. He just spoke to me and told me to come down and wait.”

She had started talking very fast and rather incoherently. She opened the door and held TJ’s head. His blood was flowing onto her clothes. She didn’teven notice; she started talking to him hoping he could hear her “TJ, you cannot die now. I never told you how much I love you and wished you you had asked me out. Please don’t leave me as yet.” She cried.

The young lady tries to comfort her but it is to no avail. Adelina was in her own world. She snapped back to reality with the sounds of sirens blaring. The paramedics rushed to TJ. Adelina looks around. The police have arrived at the scene and were questioning the young lady and a few other witnesses. As the paramedics put TJ in the back of the ambulance, Adelina runs up to them and asks them if she could come along.

“Is he going to die?” She asked almost in a conversation with herself. A paramedic looked at her and smiled and said “Your boyfriend is doing fine. He’s lost blood, but he’ll be just fine. Don’t worry.”

“Not boyfriend, I wish he was” Adelina replied.

Chapter 2

When they reach the hospital, they rush TJ to the emergency.A nurse leads Adelina to the reception to complete the paperwork. After about 15 minutes, a doctor approaches Adelina.

“Are you the person who accompanied Mr. James?”

“Yes, is everything alright? Is he going to live?”

The doctor looked at Adelina and realized she was very disturbed

“Well, ma’am, you have nothing to worry about. Mr. James is doing just fine. He has just lost a lot of blood and has suffered a few bruises and needs a couple of stitches. He should be fine by this time tomorrow. Are you related?”

“Thank you, very much, doctor. No, I'm not related; we are just good friends. I just wanted to find out how he was before I called his parents. They are in Ireland. They don’t need to worry, right?”

The doctor replies, “No, they have nothing to worry about he is perfectly ok. We will be shifting him out of emergency in a little while. You can be with him in his room if you like.”

Adelina thanked the doctor and asked him if she could be informed when TJ was being shifted to a room. She then went to the waiting room and pulled out her cell phone.

“Hello Raphael, Adelina here.Sorry to wake you up but TJ was in an accident. Nothing to worry about - he’s in hospital. Just spoke to the doctor. He said that TJ is doing well and will be shifted to a room in an hour’s time and that there was nothing to worry about”.

[Meet Raphael TJ’s younger brother. He works for a global software giant in their Indian office and, unlike his brother, prefers driving a Merc to a Beemer. He supposedly looks just like TJ, but if you tell both of them that, they’ll laugh at you and ask you if you’re insane or blind. They hate being called twins].

Raphael, groggy with sleep given it was late at night in India, is slowly coming to his senses.

“What happened?How’d he meet with an accident?”

Adelina quickly updated him before adding, “Tell your parents and tell them not to worry. I'm at the hospital and will inform you if anything happens”.

Raphael replies, “Thanks a ton, won’t tell my parents just yet. They’ll take the first flight out of Ireland. I'll tell them when I wake up properly. Thanks again. Goodnight.”

Adelina then sits in the waiting room. In about 15 minutes an orderly walks up to her. He tells her that TJ is being shifted to the room and that he’s still not woken up.When Adelina enters the room and sees TJ, she bursts into tears. She pulls a chair up to the bed and sits on it. She holds his hand and kisses it. Her tears fall onto his hand. She then pushes his hair of his face and kisses his cheek. She then puts her head on his hand and falls asleep.
         
When Adelina wakes up and checks her watch, she realizes that it’s near ten at night and that she hasn’t eaten anything all day. As she gets up to go to the canteen, she feels TJ’s hand hold hers she turns to face him. His eyes start to open. He opens his mouth to speak.

“Who’s there? Can anybody hear me?”

Adelina looks moves closer to him and says,

“TJ, it’s me Adelina. I'm here, can’t you see me?”

TJ looks bewildered. “Who are you and how do you know me? Where am I? What is going on?”

Adelina starts getting worried.

“TJ, it’s me, don’t tell me you don’t know me.”

TJ replies, “Whoever you are, will you tell me what’s going on here?”

Adelina bursts into tears and runs to the door, just as TJ says, “Adelina, Adelina, you’re wearing my favorite top. Hey, I'm fine just wanted to see the expression on your face.” He gives a very sheepish laugh.

Adelina turns around walks back to the bed side and starts hitting TJ

“You idiot, you bloody idiot. Here I am scared that I might have lost my you and you bloody idiot that you are, can lie there and joke about amnesia and vision loss. What the hell do you think; I don’t have any feelings? I've been by your side from the scene of the bloody accident and you turn around and joke like this.”

She bursts out crying. TJ looks at her and says, “Adelina, I'm sorry, it was really not right on my part to do that and don’t think for once I don’t appreciate the fact that you’ve been here the whole day I do. I woke up earlier and saw you fast asleep, I didn’t want to wake you up. You know me. I sometimes do things without thinking of the consequences.This is one such instance. Come here, give me a hug.”

Adelina looks at him and he smiles at her. She thinks to herself, “With that smile, how can anybody stay mad at him?”. She hugs him and kisses him on the cheek.

When the doctor comes in, he looks at TJ and tells TJ he is fine. While the doctor is checking TJ, TJ’s cellphone rings. Adelina realizes she has it and picks it up. “Hey bro, what up?” the voice at the other end says. Adelina replies, “Slick, Adelina here, TJ had an accident and has been in hospital the whole day”.

[Meet Jake Roberts, popularly known as Slick Roberts by his friends for his slick style and vocals. Slick is one of TJ’s college drinking buddies. TJ was his best man at his wedding].

Slick replies, “What the hell happened? Is he ok?”

“Yeah, he’s fine.The doc is just checking him. His car was a total wreck. Some ass jumped a signal and rammed into TJ’s car…”

Slick interrupts “Not his Z4, don’t tell me it’s his Z4”.

“Yeah, his Z4. Anyway,  he just suffered some bad bruises and cuts. He’s gotten a few stitches although he did lose quite a bit of blood; but the doc feels he can go home tomorrow.”

Slick says, “So he’s still coming to India, right? Can I talk to him?”

“Excuse me,doctor, can TJ talk on the phone?”

“Of course, he can. He’s perfectly okay. I would discharge him now, but I want to keep him overnight for observation”.

Adelina hands TJ the phone and tells him it’s Slick. “Hey bro, what up?  How you doing? Adelina told you about the accident? Some dumb ass in a bloody red Endeavour jumped a signal and rammed into my Z4. Thankfully I've got insurance to cover the damages. I'm so depressed”.

“TJ, you’re more bothered about your car than yourself, somethings just don’t change. So are you coming to India as planned or are you changing plans?”

“I'm coming, bro. Doc said I can’t fly the plane for a week. He says I need the rest although I can travel. I can drive by the time I get back to India. So should be fine, man. I shall see you when I get to India.”

“Yeah bro, if you are not too tired, maybe we can meet up and go for a drink,” says Slick.

“You know I will never say no to that” cackles TJ. The two of them talk for a while more before hanging up.

Adelina walks up to the chair and sits down. She looks at TJ and tells him she’s going to sleep. TJ says, “Adelina, don’t be silly. Listen, I'm fine and there’s enough space on the bed for two so come lie down. I don’t have any tubes going in or out of me, so it’s safe.” Adelina smiles and then agrees to lie downnext to TJ.

The next day TJ is discharged from the hospital.

Chapter 3

A few days later, TJ gets on his flight to India. He has informed his superiors that he won’t be able to fly for a week. TJ being the stubborn guy he is says he will not fly but will be there just in case the other pilot needs any help.
                   
On the flight, TJ feels very odd not wearing his uniform. He decides he’ll go to the cockpit where he belongs and sit there. En route, he stops at the airhostesses’ section and says hi to the ladies. He then joins the pilot in the cockpit for a while. He then decides to retire to the pilots’ cabin as he is getting very fidgety with nothing to do. As he lies down on the cot, he hears a gentle knock on the door. The door opens and a head pops in.

[Meet Carla a hot French – Italian airhostess who has a thing for TJ and who TJ loves flirting with. Born of a French father and an Italian mother, she has the best of both worlds in terms of looks. She and TJ joined British Airways on the same day and actually met when they were on their ways to their interviews].

“Hey, Carla, come on in”.

Carla replies, “I intend to whether you ask me to or not. By the way, how are you doing? Are you fit?”

“I'm fit and fine, the doc just wanted me to be careful, that’s all”.

Carla gives a wicked smile and says, “That’s good, really good to hear”. She then flashes another smile at TJ, turns around, and locks the door. She turns to him and says,“I got you where I want you and I know you want this as bad as I do.”

She lets her hair loose - she looks even more gorgeous when her hair is let down. She starts unbuttoning her uniform. TJ remains silent, watching her undress. She strips down to her underwear and then walks up to him. She pushes him back onto the cot and bends over to kiss him. He doesn’t hold back and lets her kiss him. She starts to unbutton his shirt. He unhooks her bra and lets it fall to the ground. She bends down and starts to kiss his chest, before moving her hand down to his pants. She slowly slips his pants off, teasing him with the slow movement. She stands up and slowly removes her panties and turns to TJ. He sits up and pulls her to him, kissing her hard. The both of them start breathing heavily. Carla pushes TJ back onto the cot and gets on top of him. The two of them make love like two wild animals kept apart for years.

After about half an hour of intense action, they fall flat on the bed panting and sweating like they’ve just completed a marathon. Carla turns to TJ, looks at him and says, “Exactly how I love it, baby. Hot and wild.” She kisses him.

A little while later, they get up, get dressed and leave the quarters. TJ heads back to his seat. He slept for most of the remainder of the flight.

Chapter 4

In Chennai, India, TJ takes a cab to his place. Once he settles in, he decides to go out for coffee to the neighbourhood coffee pub. On his way there, he calls up Jake to find out his plans. Jake tells him that he and some other friends are planning on going out pubbing at night. TJ agrees to join them.
         
At the coffee pub, TJ orders coffee, picks up a book from the adjoining bookstore and sits down at a table to read. He notices this really good-looking lady looking at him. She’s wearing a strikingly beautiful red halter top and a short denim skirt. Her black hair falls perfectly to her shoulders. He can’t take his eyes off her. He walks up to the lady.

“Excuse me, is this seat taken?”

The lady looked back at him and replied, “Well, that depends”.

TJ looked a bit startled and asked, “Depends on what?”

“Depends on if you’re gonna sit there or not. If you plan to sit there and join me for coffee then the seat is not taken, if you’re not planning on sitting there and joining me, then yeah, the seat’s taken” was the reply.

TJ sat down and told her, “A simple yes or no would have been sufficient. Well, you don’t look like you’re from around here”.

The girl smiled and replied, “Well, is that a pickup line? If it was it ain’t working. Well, I'm from Goa if you must know. You definitely don’t look like you’re from here either”.

TJ smiles because he knows he’s gonna have a good time trying to figure out this beautiful girl sitting in front of him.

He answers, “Yeah, you’re right I'm not from here. I'm an Irish lad but I live everywhere including here”.

The girl looks very puzzled, “What do you mean by that?” she enquires.

“Well, I'm a pilot so I don’t live in one place anymore. By the way, my name is Trinnean James and you can call me TJ.” There’s silence. TJ then says, “Here’s where you say TJ, nice to meet you and my name is ….” The girl starts to laugh.

TJ is captivated by the laugh. “You have a really awesome laugh and a terrific smile,” he says.

She chuckles and replies, “I'm sure you say that to every girl you meet. Well, TJ nice to meet you and my name is Sneha D’Costa and you can call me Sad. Just kidding I know that was corny, you can call me SD.”

“Well, I like the name Sneha. I’m gonna stick with that.”

“Suit yourself”

“Well Sneha, not every girl can have an awesome laugh and a terrific smile…”

“Well, every guy can be a terrific liar when it comes to wooing a woman,” interrupts Sneha. Both laugh. Sneha continues, “So, TJ, do you always walk up to a girl and sit down with her for coffee?”

“No, you’re the first. I thought I might actually have a very interesting evening if I came and spoke to you”.

Sneha looks warily at TJ and says, “What is that supposed to mean?” TJ then sensing her worry smiles and says, “Don’t worry, I won’t eat you up but if you’d like to have a fun evening let me know and I'll take you out for a drink and dinner”.

Sneha smiles, and says “Ok, and what if I agree and don’t have a good time this evening?”

TJ laughs and says, “I don’t think that will happen but if it does, then you don’t have to give me your number and you’ll never see me again. But if you do have fun, you can give me your number. Since I'm here for a couple of weeks we can meet up again”.

Sneha smiles and says, “I like that offer very much, so let’s see if you can make me have a good time”.

“You’re on. So what do you do?”

“Well, I work for an adventure sports company in Goa. Which airline do you fly for?”

He smiles at her and says, “British Airways. But let’s get back to you. You work for an adventure sports company. Wow, that’s like so cool and even more because it’s in Goa.”

“Why is that so cool?” interrupts Sneha. 

TJ looks at her like she’s from another planet and replies, “Well, firstly, Goa is so beautiful and laidback and secondly, I'm an adventure sport freak”.

“How so, TJ?”

“Well, I love bungee jumping, sky diving, paragliding and scuba diving. They are just a few of the things I love doing. So, what exactly do you do there?”

“Ah. Well, I'm in charge of the paragliding section of the company. I do tandem jumping with people who haven’t jumped before. So I guess you’ve done all this before, but where?”

“Well, Sneha, like I told you I live all over the place. Well, bungee jumping I did in New Zealand, sky diving in the States, paragliding in both Goa and Switzerland, scuba diving again in Goa and Mauritius.”

“Wow, you have been around a lot. This is so funny. I’ve never met a guy before who actually has done all this, other than the guys I work with. What’s your favorite?”

TJ takes a few seconds and then says, “Well, I love all, but if I have to name one that would be sky diving - traveling at that speed and seeing the world speed up at you, what a feeling. Scuba is a close second. You’re in your own world. My friends say I must want to die, but I say you have just one life, you got to live it the way you want to”.

Sneha smile and says “Well, I believe that too. I think it’s too short to waste it doing something you don’t love”.

The two continue talking like they have been friends for years.

When they leave the coffee pub, Sneha turns to TJ. “Thanks for coffee. So how do we plan on going wherever you are planning on taking us?”

TJ looks at his watch. “Well, follow me and I'll show you”. He walks up to this red BMW roadster. “Hop in”.

Sneha looks at him and then asks “Expensive taste or a spoilt son?”

“Neither. It’s more of an obsession. I just love BMW’s. I always dreamt of owning one when I grew up, now I can afford one so bought one.”

“Well, TJ, you’re not gonna believe this but I have a BMW 545i in Goa and to add to that I have loved and wanted a BMW ever since I was a little girl.”

TJ laughs and says, “I love the BMW because I think it has class. Surprisingly, most people in India love Mercs. I saw a beemer and just fell in love with it. I have always wanted to be different and in BMW, I had another car to love.”

“TJ, where are we going? I look a mess. I need to freshen up.”

“You can do that where we’re going,” TJ snickers.

They drive a bit and then he pulls up in front of the Hilton. Sneha looks at him and is about to start talking, but TJ cuts her off. “They have a really nice pub here. A bunch of my friends are gonna be coming here, that’s why I brought you here”.

They get down and the valet takes the car keys from TJ. They walk into the lobby. Sneha turns to him and says, “I'm just going to freshen up and will be here back in five minutes”.