“Babe. Babe, wake up!”
I awoke to my husband’s face inches from mine, hovering above me with a part-concerned-part-enraged look on his face.
‘Wha- what time is it?’
“Who’s Den?”
‘Huh?’ I rubbed my eyes, feeling the weight of sleep beckoning them to close once more. Flashes of the dream I had escaped behind my half-open lids.
So much for keeping a dream journal.
“Who. Is. Den?”
‘Babe I’ve never heard that name in my life. What are you on about?’
“You kept screaming ‘Den’ in your sleep. Wha-what’s that? Short for Dennis or something?”
I looked back at my husband incredulously. I wanted to laugh, but I reminded myself that 4 am may not be the time for jokes.
‘Bub, HOW would I know a Dennis, or Den, living in Pakistan? Aren’t you the one with US clients?’
“I don’t fucking know,” he replied through gritted teeth. “What I do know is that you’ve been saying the name over and over again in your sleep.”
I hoisted myself up and stared back at him. I wanted to tell him that I didn’t know what he was talking about, that jumping to the conclusion that ‘Den’ was some guy was absurd, and that his morning breath made it a lot harder to not recoil from the entire conversation.
Instead, I chose to be reasonable.
‘Uh, okay. You’re sure Den is a person?’
“Yes.”
‘Okay, tell me how. Maybe jolt my memory a bit.’
He gazed at me, bewilderment painted across his face as his eyes rapidly darted from side to side while he made eye contact. This was his way of making sure I wasn’t lying.
This was serious.
‘I’m just saying, babe. If I was talking in my sleep, at least remind me so that I can help.’
“Well, at first, you kept telling this Den guy that you used to be happy. You were laughing like a moron. Scared me half to death.”
‘Now you know how I feel about your sleep-humming.’
“When I start humming another woman’s name, wake me up.”
Ouch.
‘Okay, so I was laughing. And?’
“Then you started frantically screaming his name, saying you wouldn’t leave him behind.”
Uh oh.
His words hit me like a splash of cold water, freezing the instance for what felt like eternity. My mind raced. I knew what this was about.
‘…and?’ I continued meekly.
“And now we’re having this conversation.”
I sat up straighter and reached for his hand, urging him to sit back down.
‘Okay. Okay, I can’t give you a definite answer. But I might know what this is about.’
I reached over to the bedside table and pulled up my dream journal. I opened it up to bullet points that went back a month. Scanning quickly through them, I mentally pieced together the information I had thus far, knowing fully well that it might prove to be…controversial.
‘Okay, before I answer, I need you to remember that I love you, and only you.’
“Why-why would you need to say that now? What did you do?”
‘Babe, back up a bit. It’s not that deep. There’s this guy I keep seeing in my dreams. It’s always the same guy. We go on adventures in my dream. He’s kind of like my Morty.’
“And in this scenario, you’re Rick?” scoffed my husband.
‘How are you getting digs in when you were ready to interrogate me no less than ten seconds ago?’
“You’re no Rick. Let’s leave it at that. Anyway, continue.”
I rolled my eyes.
‘As I was saying, we’ve been going on adventures. It mostly happens after I smoke up. I haven’t given much thought to it because, well, I just assumed it wasn’t important.’
“Don’t you want to know who he is?”
‘Not really. If I decided to track down every person I’ve seen in my dream, I wouldn’t get much else done.’
“Okay. Okay. So I have nothing to worry about?”
‘No, baby. Come on, we were watching It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia. Maybe I picked up ‘Den’ from there. Dennis? Come on, dreams don’t mean shit.’
My husband gazed at me silently, coming to terms with the explanation. It checked out. Besides, we both had places to be in less than three hours.
“I guess it makes sense. Just try to keep it to a minimum.”
‘I will when you will,’ i retorted, humming afterwards to indicate just how ridiculous he sounded.
“Whatever, goodnight. Love you.”
‘Goodnight.’
I lay awake for the next twenty minutes, with beads of sweat forming on my forehead. I glanced over at my husband who was all but snoring, deep in slumber.
I picked up my pillow and headed to the couch in our room. Lying down, I placed my blanket over my head and let myself fall back to sleep.
My eyes opened to a middle-aged man with dark brown hair, hazel eyes, and full lips staring back at me. I smiled. We kissed.
“What took you so long?” he said between kisses.
‘I had to throw him off your scent…Den,’ I replied.
“So, we’re set on Den?”
‘I don’t think we get a say.’
“We’ve gotten a say so far,” Den pointed out.
Pulling back, I looked Den in the eyes, my own darting rapidly from side to side.
‘It comes and goes in bits and pieces, baby. For now, I’ll take it as it is.’
“When do you plan on telling him about us?”
I froze, as Den stayed still with a smile on his face. Too still.
‘Den? Den?!’
“BABY, PLEEEEAASE!” I jolted awake at the sound of my husband’s voice. My husband. In bed.
I peeked over from the couch and he stared back at me with an exasperated look. I smiled sheepishly and mouthed an apology as he slinked back to sleep.
Just then, I heard a phone buzz. I headed over to the bed, checking my phone near my pillow. No notifications. Curiosity got the best of me, and I reached for my husband’s phone.
One notification.
“New message from Denise.”
I tapped it open.
Nudes. Just an endless sea of nudes. Dating a month back.
I figured it was time to finally wake up my husband.