My life would be so much easier if I could simply decide that everyone who irritates me was imaginary.
Alex isn't in today. Again. My supervisor, Rebecca, told me that I'm not to leave any applications for him to input tomorrow. In the entire two years I've worked here, Alex has not once taken over my tasks for me. But he gets special treatment? Does something not fit here, or is it just me?
He's probably faking anyway.
I decided the "Venus In Furs" references yesterday might have been a bit too vague for those who've never heard the song, so I dug up the lyrics.
Venus In Furs
Shiny, shiny, shiny boots of leather
Whiplash girlchild in the dark
Comes in bells, your servant, don't forsake him
Strike, dear mistress, and cure his heart
Downy sins of streetlight fancies
Chase the costumes she shall wear
Ermine furs adorn the imperious
Severin, Severin awaits you there
I am tired, I am weary
I could sleep for a thousand years
A thousand dreams that would awake me
Different colors made of tears
Kiss the boot of shiny, shiny leather
Shiny leather in the dark
Tongue of thongs, the belt that does await you
Strike, dear mistress, and cure his heart
Severin, Severin, speak so slightly
Severin, down on your bended knee
Taste the whip, in love not given lightly
Taste the whip, now plead for me
I am tired, I am weary
I could sleep for a thousand years
A thousand dreams that would awake me
Different colors made of tears
Shiny, shiny, shiny boots of leather
Whiplash girlchild in the dark
Severin, your servant comes in bells, please don't forsake him
Strike, dear mistress, and cure his heartThe lyrics were lifted shamelessly off of The Velvet Underground: Album By Album
It's amazing how talkative some people can be if you offer them a friendly smile. I was waiting at the curb in front of the cigarette store for Dirk, with my emergency flashers on (yes, I'm one of those people you hate in shopping center parking lots), when a man pulled up in front of me, with his car facing mine. Reflexively, I offered him a friendly grin. Top-secret receptionists are good at that. He smiled back and waved before he went into the cigarette store.
When he came out, he pulled his car up alongside mine, and rolled down the window. "At least you're still smiling. Who are you waiting for?"
I jerked my thumb in the direction of Dirk, who was taking an unusually long time getting cigarettes. "Him."
"Oh. You know, I can't stand how high cigarette prices have gotten. And they keep fluctuating. A few weeks ago, I came here and bought a carton of cigarettes for nine bucks. The next day, they were seventeen dollars. The government's out to get us smokers."
I agreed with him, and he drove off, waving.
I'm wading through the Jung book I bought Sunday. I've gotten past the part discussing the significance of numbers in dreams, and have moved on to the basis for analysis of dreams. It's taking a bit longer than, say, a trashy romance novel would, because the book isn't written in an engaging style. Sometimes I'll find myself skipping a page unconsciously, because the words are printed a little small and there are no conversations to help me keep my place.
But the thirty or so pages I've already read have been a breakthrough where my dreams are concerned. I've been able to track the source of some of the stranger themes in my dreams, even if I have yet to understand why most of them are so horrific. Perhaps I'll find out about it if I read more of the book.
I have to remind myself to stay alert. Something odd is going on with Dirk's brother, Aaron. I'm used to him treating me with a sort of vague sarcasm. We got off to a bad start because we were partners in driver's ed, and I had no idea of how to drive. We've always treated each other as sort of....not enemies, really. Reluctant allies.
Lately, he's been nice to me. I mean, really nice. Going out of his way to talk to me, choosing to be my ally during mock-fights at practice. He also tends to grin at me across the rehearsal space when we're both screwing up badly.
I don't suspect anything, I just think the sudden change is odd. The other night, when I was in Dirk's living room, Aaron came in and told me that he hadn't realized I was there. He then went on to say that he'd called my house, but the phone was busy. Why would he have wanted to talk to me on the phone?
It's probably something simple. I've been nicer to him, and I've been friendly to Sonia. I've even expressed an interest in his kid's welfare. I told Dirk about my concerns, and he said that Aaron just likes me, that's all. I have a tendency to see ulterior motives where there are none.