Chapter Text
Waking up with a start, Millie turned over and glanced at her bedside clock: only 5:30am, she groaned to herself. It was too early to get up for work, but too late to get a proper full night's sleep now. The dream was still fresh in her mind and as vivid as the first time she had dreamt it. It was undeniably a pleasant dream in that it evoked beautiful blue/green seas, palm trees and golden (and white) sands; but the recurring nature of it puzzled and unsettled Millie, especially as each dream seemed to expand on the previous one.
There had been hints from the very beginning of a male figure in what looked like a dark suit, but the occurrences were fleeting and until last night she hadn't got a good look at his face. Increasingly a bit more detail would emerge, such as his height and build and the fact that he had brown hair and apparently fair skin. But in this latest dream he had actually turned around and faced her, and she found herself mesmerised by striking green eyes and the merest hint of a slightly lopsided smile.
Facing this man had startled Millie to the point of jolting her awake, and she was aware that she was shaking. Where was this place that kept repeatedly inserting itself into her sleep time and, more disturbingly, who was this man whose presence had become increasingly vital and centre stage in these night-time visions?
Forcing herself to lie still and try to get back to sleep, Millie closed her eyes and tried to clear her mind of such thoughts.
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"Hey Edward, are you coming for a drink with us after work? Sam's leaving and we need to give him a good send off," said a cheerful voice in the office.
"Uh...I'm not sure...I have a lot of reading and stuff to catch up with..." came the hesitant reply. Too bad it's not Doug who's leaving, Edward thought.
"Oh come on, don't be such a stick in the mud! Work can wait till Monday," insisted Edward's jovial colleague, Gary.
"Well, maybe. I'll have to see how it goes, if that's alright."
"Yeah right. Well, it's at the White Hart if you deign to join us," teased Gary.
Edward surveyed his tidy desk in the medium-sized open plan office on the third floor of the building in which he worked as a civil servant. He supposed his reading could wait, but he wasn't really the most sociable guy in the world and felt uncomfortable in crowds, especially when most of the people were rather the worse for wear with drink. He also was somewhat averse to environments that tended to generate heat; those hot flushes he'd been having for the last few weeks were not something he wanted to have triggered by a room full of hot and sweaty colleagues.
Nevertheless, he decided to make an effort and join the gang at the start of the weekend. He just hoped that those unwelcome intrusions into his body's equilibrium didn't appear. Honestly, it was bad enough experiencing sudden waves of heat like a menopausal woman, but the momentary flashes in his mind's eye of actual sea waves and sand (ugh!) and palm trees made him shudder. And they were getting more frequent and more vivid as well. The only positive was the mysterious dark beauty whose face was still somewhat elusive but who, he felt sure, was almost enticing him to follow her...
Edward debated whether to confide in any of his workmates, then decided that would not be a good idea. They tolerated him and were passably cordial, but they did think him a bit of an oddball and he didn't need to lose their respect any further.
Am I cracking up? he wondered. Maybe I should see a doctor. It must be stress - work has been very stressful and demanding for the last few months, after all. And yet..........
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"Don't forget it's Lorraine's birthday today - drinks down at the White Hart later. See you after my shift, okay?" Teresa was Millie's favourite co-worker and the life and soul of any party.
"Sure, see you around 6.30 ish. Not worth my going home to change first either, so I'll just have a quick freshen up in the ladies' here and join you later."
Several hours later, Millie, Teresa and a number of their colleagues all trouped down to the White Hart pub in Croydon, because that was where the birthday girl lived, and since she would be somewhat the worse for drink after all the rounds she would be bought, it was considered wise that she not have far to get home afterwards.
After the first round, Millie went up to the bar to get the next one and started back towards their table with a tray full of liquid treats. On the way towards her friends, something caught her eye and distracted her, causing her to momentarily fail to watch where she was going.
"Uh, careful there," said a voice. Clearly she had just bumped into someone and she looked up to apologise.
"Oh God, sorry. Have I spilled drink on you?" she asked, both embarrassed and concerned at her temporary lapse in concentration.
"No, you're alright. Just missed me, thanks to the tray, which looks a bit wet, though," came the reply.
She started to smile with remorseful gratitude, and was struck by the man's expressive green eyes and slightly crooked smile.
"Thanks - and sorry again." She stared at him for a moment, but had to avert her gaze when she felt her tummy gripped by a sudden knot in it.
"No problem." He was frowning slightly now, but not, apparently, with annoyance. He was bewildered by something about Millie and needed a few moments to sort himself out.
As she walked past him in the direction of the party table, Edward couldn't help feeling that the beautiful brown eyes and caramel complexion seemed vaguely familiar. He couldn't think where at first, and then it hit him. This stunning young woman was the spitting image of the exotic beauty who kept popping up in his mind with increasing frequency.
Honestly, I really am going to have to see a doctor if this carries on, he thought to himself.
In the meantime, Millie had re-joined her workmates and was distributing what was left of the drinks to them.
"Are you alright, girl?" asked Teresa. "Only you seem a bit, um, distracted or something. And how come my glass is only three quarters full? Don't tell me that new bloke behind the bar is skimping on measures?" she asked jokingly.
"What? Oh no, sorry; I kind of bumped into this guy and some of them spilled a bit. Here, have some of mine. It's the same white wine." Millie replied.
"Don't be daft, I was only kidding. But seriously, are you okay? You kind of looked for a moment as if you'd seen a ghost."
"Well, it was just something about that man. He..."
"Oh, I see," smirked Teresa. "Fancied him, did we?"
"No! Don't be stupid," snapped Millie, feeling defensive now. In truth, she was unnerved because the man with the lopsided smile and the unforgettable eyes was the embodiment of the one who had been invading her dreams.
Why do I feel as if I already know him?
She looked round her to see if she could spot him and found him looking in her direction. As their eyes met, they both instinctively looked away shyly, the way strangers usually do when they are caught off guard.
"Edward, are you going to say goodbye to Sam or are you just going to ogle the women here?" asked Pete, one of Edward's co-workers.
Edward spun round sharply to see Pete gesturing towards Millie.
"And there I was, thinking you only had eyes for work. Of course, if it's a bit of skirt you're after, Angela there has had it bad for you for ages."
Edward grunted, mildly disgusted at both his colleague's perceived vulgarity, and the thought of Angela as a potential love interest.
At this point Gary came over and stood next to him.
"You alright, mate? You're obviously here in body only; your mind is clearly elsewhere. Do you hate parties that much?" Gary asked.
"Oh...um...no, it's not that..." stammered Edward.
"Well then, what is it? Someone walk over your grave or something?"
Edward shuddered. "No, and that's not funny," he replied coldly. He decided he'd had enough of the lads' ribbing, and walked over towards the one person in the room who appeared friendly and interesting, not to mention beautiful and appealing. And inexplicably familiar...
Oh no, he's coming this way! What do I say? Come on, you're smart and sassy when you want to be, you'll think of something. I hope.
"Hi, sorry about earlier," she said as a conversation opener.
"Like I said before, no problem. My suit wasn't splashed at all," Edward answered in conciliatory manner. Then he added, "Um...would...I mean...can I get you a drink? Or...I..er...I can see that you're having a bit of a party there. Actually, so are we. Office leaving do...for a guy who's...leaving..."
For a man who was so confident and focused at work, he was having extraordinary difficulty in getting his words out properly. "By the way, I'm Edward," he added, by way of introduction.
Millie smiled. "Hi, I'm Millie."
Edward thought his heart had momentarily stopped. She had the most gorgeous dazzling smile he had ever seen on anyone, even the lovely Sasha, his former girlfriend (well, almost girlfriend).
He tried to think of something intelligent to say. "So, Millie, what do you do for a living?"
"Well, I guess you could call me a civil servant," she replied somewhat cautiously.
"Really? So am I, as a matter of fact."
Millie had assumed it was that sort of job - either that or perhaps a solicitor - considering the formal kind of suit he had on. He had obviously also come straight from work.
She hoped he couldn't hear her heart start to thump loudly as his gaze sent tingles down her spine - partly because his eyes were green and sexy, and partly because they just seemed so unsettlingly familiar.
"Um..." she began. "Have we ever met before? Only, you do seem rather...familiar...I hope you don't mind my asking," she continued a bit diffidently.
"Oh!" he said, a little startled by her question. Why on earth would she say that?? Maybe we have met before, but I'm sure I would have remembered her if we had....
He went on, "I must admit you do seem a bit...familiar...to me, too, but surely..." He was now tongue-tied.
"Yes, quite. Well, I'm called Millie, but it's short for 'Camilla'," she proffered. "I'm afraid I don't recall ever knowing an 'Edward'."
"Actually, 'Edward' is my middle name, but...it was useful at school since there were a lot of boys in my year with the same name as me and...I wasn't keen on the choice of nicknames...
"My first name is 'Richard'."