To say that Lena Harrell was stressed would be an understatement. How she had gotten herself into this mess, she did not know. What she did know was that her rent was overdue, her kitchen was bare, and her clothes smelled more like Febreze than Tide.
She scurried around her room, leaping over a random pillow and grabbing for the hairbrush. Her tangled, dark auburn hair popped as she flattened it with the brush. It was unusual for her hair to be in such a mess but after a restless night it didn’t surprise her. She assumed that stress had led to the recent nightmares that had plagued her sleep, but she still couldn’t shake them. They had been going on for about a week when she decided to start a dream journal and every morning, she would write more and more about what she could remember. Every morning, she was more and more frightened.
The dream Lena had encountered last night had been the most vivid and most startling of the series. She was in a bed being held and caressed by a faceless man. His touch started out as smooth and inviting but slowly grew harsher and more demanding. When she turned to tell her to stop, there was no longer a faceless man by her side, but a lion. She had jolted away just before the fanged mouth claimed her.
Lena blinked hard to get the images out of her head. She didn’t have time for any of that. It was a dream, after all. She sighed and looked at herself in the mirror. Her hair still stuck up in some odd places so that would be put back in a ponytail or bun of some sort. Other than that a few wrinkles in her red silk shirt and black knee-high skirt, she looked like she was ready for the office. As ready as she would ever be.
Hours later, Lena returned back to the apartment complex with a large stack of papers in tow. With a nod to the security guard, she entered the lobby and made way to the elevators, almost rolling her ankle and tripping in the process. Luckily she didn’t take the tumble and straightened herself before noticing an elevator closing its doors. Her heart raced for a second as she cradled the papers as best as she could in her left arm and stretched out her right as if she was hailing a cab.
“Hold, please! Sorry, sorry,” she managed as she made her way to the elevator only to have it closed. The couple inside must have not heard her. With how her day was progressing, she wasn’t surprised but it would have been nice to catch the ride up to the sixth floor without having to wait.