A BAD DREAM

She gasped and snapped her eyes open, the morning light invading through the open windows blitzed her eyelid, prompting her to shut her eyes before reopening them again. That wasn't a dream, was it? The name she saw... it was a dream, it ought to be a dream. Her memories flashed back to the name inscripted on that grave beside her mother's grave.

Jane Anderson.

How is it possible? How could her name be embedded on that gravestone when she's alive? It must've been a dream or better still she might have seen it wrong. It wasn't her name, maybe the person bears her name but definitely not her surname. Maybe her eyes had tricked her and made her believe it was her name. Maybe what she saw was Jane Allison.

But then, it troubled her mind as to how that masked guy was related to that person. Was she his mother? Friend? Girlfriend?

Jane smacked herself on the forehead, scolding herself. How is that related to her? Why does she care if that person were all these titles? The important thing was that she might have read the name wrong on the gravestone. A sound almost jolted her out of the bed and it turned out to be her phone ringing, she turned and fetched it from where it was on the nightstand. With sleepy eyes, she read the name written on the screen, for a moment she thought it was Hugo.

It was her PA Indy.

"Hello Indy," she answered. Her voice was hoarse as she waited for Indy to speak up. "You called me so early today, is something wrong?"

She half yawned.

"Jane, I think I found something...."

She immediately sat up when Indy said that. "What did you find? The guy I had the one night stand with....."

"Not exactly," Indy responded. "But I think I had traced who took and uploaded those photos and that video of yours."

"Really?" Jane's eyes shot up in surprise. Becoming immersed in the information Indy might have for her. "Where? How?"

"I'm not sure….. but I traced the source of the post, I digged into the post to find the source and I found someone with the same name in some app. This might be a hunch, I may not be hundred percent positive that the person might be the one but I would have to track them down and query them."

So she got nothing? Jane said to herself. The news of finding the person was just a hunch. The elation she was feeling deflated in an instant. Heaving a deep breath.

"I believe this person is a troll who posts untrue made up and nerve-racking stories about celebrities. That's what I believe this person is."

'It's not made up neither was it untrue,' Jane whimpered under her breath, she did have a one night stand with a mysterious guy.

"Once I trace who they are or their location, I will update you. Also have them do a public apology."

"Alright," Jane rubbed her eyes to remove the sleep crust from them. "Also Indy, do I have any promotion, ads or stuff to do?"

"Yeah, two ads to do. One is an ad for a cooking spice and the other is an ad promotion for a pill."

"When is it?"

"The two of them are to be carried out by next two weeks, monday and friday."

"Okay. Keep reminding me." Jane sighed and hung up the call, stretching her numb bones. Yawning again. Honestly she did feel a little disappointment, if she had called to tell her she found a clue about that man, maybe the CCTV of the bar might have caught him on screen, it would have been better.

It brushed it off her mind and scrolled through her call log. She had called Hugo on her way back from the cemetery, she called three times but he never picked up and the text she wrote yesterday, he read it but never replied. Honestly, this was the first Hugo was acting in this manner, yes, they do quarrel and fight but that day, he crossed the line....both of them crossed the line.

No matter how upset she was with him, she never raised her hand on him. It was her first time and the guilt was eating her up. She was going to meet him up today so she'd properly apologize.

Led by her instincts, she dialed his number, hoping he would pick up this time. It rang but he didn't pick up instead it was directed to voicemail. She gave up and climbed down the bed and made her way toward the exit.

She walked down the stairs to the kitchen to quench the thirst in her throat. She walked up on her stepmother and half sister, preparing breakfast.

"You got up so early today," Ivy said, kneading some flour on the kneading board. Her stepmother Fiona was rinsing some castagnole (fried dough balls) from the frying pan.

"How was your night?" Her stepmother asked.

"Terrible," she replied and walked over to the refrigerator. "I had a terrible dream."

"What was the dream about?" Fiona queried with concern etched across her face.

"I died..." She trailed off when Ivy squealed, pausing the kneading. Casting her a stunned look. Jane wasn't expecting those expressions from them. Also even though half of her believed it might be real, it was a bad dream to her.

She pulled out a bottle of water, fetching a cup from the cup rack. She poured herself a small quantity, downing it in one go. The corners of her eyes flitted at them. They still had that surprised look across their faces.

"Could you tell us more of your dream," her stepmother urged.

"Well…" She began. And placed the bottle of water on the sink counter. She contemplated how to say it without making it sound absurd. "So yesterday, I visited my mom's grave but beside it was a grave with my name inscripted on it."

"I don't get it, what do you mean your name was inscripted on a grave? Didn't you just say you had a terrible dream?" Ivy queried. Her eyebrows furrowed as questions laced in her eyes.

"You visited your mom's grave yesterday," she added.

"Yeah but it felt like a dream. I saw the name clearly on the grave 'Jane Anderson'. How is that possible?"

"Geez," Ivy rolled her eyes. Feeling utterly disappointed at the words that flew out of her mouth. Resuming the kneading. "I thought you might have died in your dreams."

"Exactly I did." Jane asserted. "I almost passed out seeing that name."

"Jane, you aren't the only one bearing Jane or Anderson. There are at least 5% of people according to science that have the same name and surname but aren't related," her stepmother explained.

"You are weird." Ivy shook her head, eyes glued on the flour she was kneading. "I thought you died in your dream, hfff."

●●●●●●●●●●●●●

"He's going to be wowed," Ivy squealed like a little girl given an ice cream cake on Christmas day.

Her gaze trailed on the floral dress that hung on Jane's body, staring in admiration. The fabric is soft and flowing, over her knee length. Draping over her body like liquid silk. The color was a deep red and white floral dress, making her look radiant and alluring. The dress was elegant and classy, yet also sexy and seductive.

"I bet you, he wouldn't know what hit him when he sees you in this dress, Ivy good job—- you did a wonderful job choosing this dress." She patted her right shoulder, commending herself.

Jane chuckled and stared at her reflection on the huge mirror in front of her. As Ivy stated, the dress looked good on her but gaping at her reflection now, she felt she dolled up too much. She was just going to celebrate his birthday with him and apologize but she felt she dressed too much for it.

She spun to Ivy. Questioning with both her eyes and hands. "Doesn't it feel like I dolled up too much?"

"Which makes it better," Ivy beamed. "We are talking about your boyfriend so you got to doll up for him and seduce him with your clothes."

Jane sighed and turned her gaze back to the mirror to have one finally look at herself and dress. Her hair fell on her back and shoulders and a hair clip was attached to one side of her hair which was done by Ivy. She applied mild makeup. She nodded her head in satisfaction before leaving for her boyfriend's house.

It wasn't a long ride as she killed off the engine in front of Hugo's building. She took a deep breath, calming her racing nerves before stepping down from the car. She took slow steps toward the stairs, counting her steps. Making her wonder why she was so nervous. This was her boyfriend not some stranger.

She politely knocked and waited for Hugo to open up but no response came. She knocked the second and third time, no response before she decided to turn the knob. Luckily the door wasn't locked. She stepped in and made her way to his bedroom in case he was sleeping and didn't hear her knocking.

She stepped in and her jaw dropped when she gently pulled his bedroom door knob and pushed the door open. She held the cake she bought on her way to his house in her other hand .

A gasp escaped her lips at what she saw before her.