Finn and Fiona. Day Eight and Beyond

Today I looked at myself in the mirror and studied my features as if I had just met myself. I wondered at what a salon could do with my face but I knew that I could never look as good as my Fiona.

Having not been in the flat most of the week to get it dirty I now had the day to myself and decided that I had not seen my sister in a long time. I rang her and she was happy to hear my voice and even happier when I said that I would like to visit. She, and her family, lived on the south-west coast and it would take me a couple of hours to get there so I told her that I would arrive in the late morning and would take her and her husband to lunch. I made sure I looked neat and tidy and locked the flat to go for the car.

Driving down I put the radio on and found a station playing classical music which really soothed me, making the drive very enjoyable. When I arrived I was welcomed with a hug and a kiss on the cheek from my sister and a man-hug from my brother-in-law. The children, I was told, were off at a weekend camping trip so I wouldn’t be bothered by them. I truthfully answered that they were not a bother at all and my sister gave me an odd look. After a chat in the house we went to a local pub near the beach where we had a good meal of locally caught crab, followed by pudding and custard, washed down with a glass or two of wine. My brother-in-law said that he needed to talk with the local builder about their roof leaking and my sister took my arm as we walked along the promenade.

“OK buster” she said “what’s going on. You are mellower than I have ever seen you before, more caring and careful in what you say and you even noticed that I had new curtains in my lounge.” I then told her about my dreams and also about what had happened with work this week. I explained that my dreams had been so real I could understand her viewpoint and could even shop to buy her clothes that would suit her now. I said “It has been a real eye-opener for me this week, I have fully experienced a spa treatment and a full salon session and, although I have never had either before, I can answer any question about them you may have.” She quizzed me on some of the spa session facts and I answered her to her satisfaction.

I told her that I was looking at myself with a different viewpoint and was being tidier than even before. I admitted that I had already been a bit of a neat freak. I said that I now knew what it was like to wear female garments and shop for the exact shoe to go with a dress but that I had no desire to do that in real life. She took it all in and told me that, whatever I was experiencing; it would make me a better man and an excellent husband. She also said that if I ever find Fiona, she wanted to meet her. We went back to her house and she asked me what I thought would happen with work and, when I said I thought I was in line for a move up the ladder, she hugged me and told me I deserved it.

It was getting late in the afternoon and her phone rang, It was one of her daughters who had been insulted by another girl at the camp and wanted to come home. I volunteered to drive and pick her up so we got in the car and set off. At the camp site the girl was waiting at the gate with her bag at her feet and gave a little jump when we pulled up. I got out of the car and gave her a hug before picking up her bag and putting it in the back and then opening one of the rear doors for her to get in, saying “Her you go, young madam, your carriage will take you home now.” She giggled and said “Uncle Finny, you are so funny sometimes” and the started reciting “Funny Finny” until her mother told her off.

I dropped them off at the house and gave my sister a hug and a kiss before heading home, feeling a little relieved that I had told her about my dreams and worries. Before I left my sister said “Thank you for coming down today, Finn. I am sure that whatever happens it will be for the good and that you are now exceedingly able to take it all in your stride. Remember, I want to meet Fiona, even if she comes down on her own.” That gave me cause for thought as I drove home again, listening to the classical music on the way.

Back home I put the car away and went up to my flat and had a couple of pieces of toast for tea. I then had a good look at my wardrobe and made some decisions on what I should throw out as too old, too threadbare, too big or too small and found myself with two big bags of charity shop donations and a lot more room on my hanging rails. This, I thought, is getting serious; at this rate I will need to spend a week shopping to fill up the space again. I undressed and put everything in the hamper for washing tomorrow, put on my pyjamas and got into bed. I lay a while thinking of my chat with my sister. I had never felt so connected with her before. I put the light out and went to sleep.

The sound of classical music brought me to my senses. Today was my wedding day, the one day in her life that a girl is the true focus around which everything else rotates. I got out of bed, went to the ensuite and looked at myself in the mirror, in wonder of the beautiful woman I was and the beautiful bride I would be in a few hours. I put my feet into my slippers, threw my gown on and went downstairs for breakfast. My mother was already up and had her own gown over her half-dressed body. We ate quickly and tidied up so that we would be ready when the others arrived. We were expecting Suzy and Bev and there was a friend of theirs who would put the finishing touches on our make-up. Then there was a florist delivery, the photographer and my boss with the cars.

Back in my room I took everything off and had a good, long, shower with a shower cap on and made special care in patting myself dry before dusting myself with powder. I put on the corset and stockings and then the cream slip before putting my gown back on. I sat at the vanity and turned my phone on to show the look I needed to recreate and set about following the instructions I had received yesterday. With a couple of mis-strokes and wiping off I thought that I had it nailed and tried to make sure my hair was arranged properly. I heard the front door close and excited voices of my friends so went out and called them to come upstairs. We had a group hug and they complimented me on my make-up and then I showed them into the spare bedroom where I had hung their dresses on a rail.

I left them to dress and went back into my room to put on my wedding dress. With it on I looked at myself in the mirror and thought that it would be perfect for a future grand occasion so would not be money wasted. I put the shoes on and then added the jewellery and some perfume. I then went to help the other girls get ready and we then went downstairs, me taking a small bag that my mother would look after should I need a tissue or fix my lipstick.

The friend arrived and made sure we all looked our very best before going off to get to the church. The flowers arrived and the girls pinned one in my hair and we put one in each of theirs. My mother was very smart in her skirt suit and we put a flower on her lapel. The photographer turned up and took lots of pictures of us, as singles and as groups, against a green screen he had put up. He could then add a suitable background later. My boss arrived with the cars and then there were more pictures with me on his arm before we were allowed to leave for the church. I was in the back of one car with my boss and the girls and my mother in the other. The photographer shot off to be at the church and set up when we got there.

We drove slowly and I had to giggle as I had the urge to wave in a queenly fashion as we went along. Arriving at the church there were more pictures as we arranged ourselves. My mother gave me a hug before going into the church to find her seat. I stood tall as I took the arm of my boss and the girls took their places behind us and the doors were opened for us to enter. I could hear the first bars of the wedding march sound as we started my journey towards being beside my husband and my future. We had just made it to the top of the aisle and I could see everyone looking at me when………

There was an almighty crash and I woke up in a darkened room with the sound of shouting outside my bedroom window. I was really unable to comprehend for a few minutes as I dragged my complaining body out of bed and looked out. Down along the road there was a crashed car and a couple of guys crawling away from it and a couple of people going over to help. A few minutes later I heard the sound of sirens in the distance. The lights didn’t work so I understood that the car must have crashed into a power pole and had blacked out the whole area. A fire engine came around the corner as I watched and they got on with making sure the car was safe. Then the police and ambulance turned up and there was so much going on I realised that the night was shot as far as sleep went. I looked at my watch in the moon light and saw it was just before three on Sunday morning. I had the odd thought that it was a good job I had not restocked the freezer yesterday as it would be starting to melt again.

I found a flashlight and went to have a pee before deciding to dress and make sure I kept warm as the night was a bit chilly. I sat in the dark and thought about my dream. I wondered if it would restart from the interruption or if it would carry on in real time without me being there. The problem was that I was so wrapped up in the whole wedding thing and was so looking forward to standing alongside my man that I felt cheated. I didn’t even know what he looked like as any thoughts that I had of him in the past few days had been of an entity, not an actual person. I sat and steamed as I was getting really mad at whoever that driver was down in the road because he had interrupted the best day in this womans life! It was then I saw the absurdity of what I had just thought and started to laugh. I laughed until I cried and then I cried for real.

When I pulled myself out of my funk I felt as if I had washed all of my cares away. I had not cried since the day my parents had died in a road accident and, even then, it wasn’t as deeply as I had just done. Looking at my watch I saw that it was after four and dawn wasn’t far away so I found some matches, lit a gas burner on the stove and made myself a cup of tea by boiling water in a saucepan. This was almost a reversion to cave-man days. Mind you, the tea actually tasted different.

After this I went and lay on my bed, fully clothed, and dozed off to a dreamless sleep. When I woke again the sun was shining and I went to look out of the window where the electricity workers were putting the finishing touches to the repair of the power lines. It wasn’t long before I heard the chirrup of various electrical items rebooting and the sound of my refrigerator starting up its cooling cycle. I made myself some breakfast and realised that I really needed to go shopping if I wanted to eat and drink for the next few days. There was a supermarket that I knew opened on Sunday mornings for a few hours and I would need to get the car out and drive there.

I went and stripped off again and went for a hot shower and shave and redressed once I was dried off. Feeling a lot better I checked that I had my cards and keys and went to get the car out. I drove to the supermarket and got a basket to get my shopping. I found a few frozen meals that I could use, some bread and milk and a small tub of marge as I had found that the one I had was very oily this morning, having been at room temperature for an extended time during the week.

As I shopped I couldn’t help but notice that they were playing old songs on the loudspeakers and, as I got the line up at the checkout, they had ‘My Sharona’ playing. This had been a real earworm for me in earlier days and I quietly sang along with it but, when it came to the ending I sang “My, my, my Fiona.” The dark-haired girl standing in front of me in the line turned around and said “How did you know my name?” as the blood ran from her face and she started to crumple. I instinctively went to stop her falling and called to the shop assistant to help me. Together we took her into the staff canteen and I put her on a settee they had. The assistant went and came back with both of our baskets, hers with her bag in it, then left us to fetch some smelling salts.

I sat in a chair while he was away and looked at her. I mean, I looked at Fiona, the girl I had seen in the mirror these last eight nights. I knew every part of her face, every part of her body and every part of her life and wondered, seeing her reaction, if she knew my inner self as well. The assistant finally returned with the smelling salts and gave them to me. I opened the bottle and waved it under her pert nose and she shuddered and then opened her eyes. I smiled at her and said “Hello, Fiona Margaret O’Halloran, I am so happy to meet you.” She looked at me for a few moments, said “Hello, Phineas Tobias Olsen, I am more than happy to meet you, too.” She then put her hand on my neck and pulled me towards her and we kissed for the first time.

She sat up and I sat beside her, holding her hand. She said “I have had the weirdest dreams this week. I woke up as you, in America. You were studying a new software package for your company and I couldn’t believe the places your hosts took you to in the evenings. I saw some sights I would rather forget and I had the feeling that you would not like them either. I also learned a lot about being a man that I didn’t know before. Then I was waiting for my bride at the church last night and some idiot let off fireworks outside the house and woke me up as she was coming into the church.”

I told her that we would have a lot to talk about and asked her if she would grace me with her presence for lunch. She smiled and said “I would love to, just let me take my shopping home to my mother and then I am all yours.” We took our baskets to the checkout again and bagged our things. I led her out to my car and we put the bags on the back seat and I opened that passenger door for her. She gave me a light kiss as she went to get in and I knew that we would be together for life. As my place was closest we took my shopping up and I put it away while she inspected my flat. She said that it was exactly as she had seen it in her dream Friday night after I had got home but there were more clothes in the wardrobe. I pointed to the two bags and told her that I had culled a lot only this morning. Before we left I took her in my arms and we kissed properly and when we came up for air I asked her if she would marry me and she said yes.

We took her shopping to her house and, before we went in, I said “When you are ready to paint over the pink of your bedroom, I will do it for you.” She was little shocked and then realised that I knew as much about her as she did herself. “No secrets, then” she whispered. I said “No secrets, my love.” We took her bags into her house and I met her mother in the flesh, being introduced as “Finn Olsen, the chap in my dreams that I had told you about. We met this morning and will be getting married as soon as we can arrange a day. I expect it will be the day after he gets back from America.”

As for the future, we had both lived some of it before so the week before our wedding went as smoothly as it had in our dreams. I did have to go to America to study up on the accounting software we were going to install, along with the central computer that would have all of the daily figures from all of our sites fed into it. I had a good job now and, although she didn’t have to work, Fiona wanted to stay with the spa. They did offer staff discount and we had both spent a few sessions there, although mine were in a separate room.

The wedding did go along without any interruption and we were both relieved when she got to the altar to stand alongside me. The honeymoon was everything we expected and, talking about expectations, Fiona was spot on with her prediction in regard to pregnancy. It’s a good job we bought the house from her mother.

The end

Marianne G 2021