DREAMS DO COME TRUE

LEXI
The dog barked twice. Two short yips heralding the arrival of the mail. Pushing the excited terrier aside, Lexi gathered the envelopes quickly. Sam sniffed at the empty door mat and reluctantly went back to his guard post at the window.
Lexi found what she was looking for and discarded the rest of the mail on the kitchen table. Taking a deep breath and wiping her suddenly shaking hands on the front of her jeans, she stared at the return address. "Dreams Do Come True Inc."
The envelope was slightly bulky, and Lexi closed her eyes, wishing and hoping that is held the answer to her dream. The dream that, despite all her best efforts over the years, had thus far stubbornly refused to come anywhere near true.
With a quick swipe of her index finger she tore the seal open. The one sheet of paper contained inside was flimsy. She opened it up carefully and read the delicate old fashioned scrawl:
"Dear Ms Hamilton,
Thank you for your enquiry.
Please find enclosed 3 doses of the potion you require.
We advise that you follow the instructions EXACTLY, and trust that your dreams will come true.
Yours,
Matthew Smythe"
Lexi picked up the envelope and peeked inside. A smaller envelope, rather like a seed packet, nestled in the corner. The answer to her dreams?
On the back of the packet, in tiny black lettering, were a list of instructions.

Take one capsule with water every hour until dose is completed.
Effect is immediate following consumption of final pill.
TAKE ALL PILLS.
Do not drive or operate machinery while taking this medication.
Only to be taken by person named on package.
No refunds.
Taken at patients own risk.
Dreams Do Come True Inc. is not liable for any accidental injury or death which may ensue from consumption of this medicine.

Lexi frowned. The three capsules which lay on the palm of her hand looked innocent enough. One red, one blue, one green. The red tablet was embossed with the number 1, the blue with 2 and the green, 3. She raised her hand to her face, and sniffed uncertainly. They smelled a lot like candy. Well, she had come this far. she wasn't about to turn back now. Filling a glass with water from the filter jug, she popped the red pill on her tongue. An immediate sensation of strawberries flooded through her taste buds and she raised the glass to her lips and swallowed the pill with four great gulps of the cold water. Placing the glass carefully on the counter top by the sink, she closed her eyes. The process had begun.

GREG
Greg smiled at the woman who held the door for him, causing her to blush. Greg didn't notice. Nor did he pay any attention to the two giggling girls who glanced his way shyly as he stepped onto the sidewalk. He knew he was good looking. Extraordinarily so. Women had been telling him since he was 5 years old. He didn't see why this biological fact should govern how he lived his life, however, so he had gone to school, studied hard and ignored the female population as best he could. He now found himself at the top of his field, unhindered by female companionship (save for his mother and three sisters, all of whom thought him utterly adorable and found his unmarried state incomprehensible.)
He didn't even think of women very often. He was far to busy working, and when he felt the need for female society, there was always his family. Two hours with his sisters and their accompanying offspring were enough to make him realize the wisdom of his celibate life. Women chattered non-stop and children alternately cried, screamed and slept. He didn't need that to be fulfilled.
As he held out his hand for a passing taxi, he felt at peace in his world. On his way to another business meeting, he was in control of every facet of his life. He was indeed a happy man.

Two hours later Greg was bewildered. This wasn't an emotion familiar to him, and he spent several moments puzzling over it before reaching the conclusion that he had not the foggiest idea what was going on. He quickly went over the events of the past few moments, cataloguing them neatly in his head in the order they had occurred.

1) the meeting had been a success.
2) he had heard the buzz of praise from his contemporaries, and had experienced the usual rush of pride.
3) he had been the last to leave the conference room, and had been closing his briefcase when he had felt a strange sensation. It was as if someone were whispering in his head.
4) he now had an overwhelming desire to eat lunch at the Corner Cafe. For some unfathomable reason he craved a large latte and a ham salad on rye. Hold the tomatoes. Which was really odd, because he loved tomatoes.

LEXI
Lexi placed her usual order and sat at a window seat in her favorite cafe. A warm spring day meant the tables out front were busy, but Lexi preferred to sit inside anyway. She had brought along her book, but didn't really feel like reading. The saga which had held her captive yesterday suddenly had no thrall. She was nervous. She had followed the instructions on the little packet, and now had the answer to her dreams swimming in her bloodstream. Would it work? If not, half her Grandmothers inheritance would be flushed (literally) down the toilet. But she had faith, Her Grandmother had left the address to "Dreams Do Come True Inc" in her last letter, along with the news that she would be the sole inheritor to Grandma's surprisingly large fortune.
"I know that you have had your heart broken so many times Lexi darling, but do give this little place a try. They use some rather different tactics to the usual run of the mill dating agencies"
There had been a postal address, but no email address. Lexi had tried to Google them, but without success. It was as if they did not exist. Still, she was desperate, and now, rich enough to give them a try.
Her order arrived. A large latte, ham on rye, no tomatoes.

GREG
Greg was salivating by the time he got to the cafe. He had never felt so hungry. "Ham on rye, hold the tomatoes" was repeating like a mantra in his head. It was all so very odd. He pushed his way through the tables on the sidewalk, thankful there was not much of a line. He paid no attention to the menu, written in bold purple ink on the wall behind the servers. Before the waitress had asked him for his order he was babbling "large latte, ham on rye, hold the tomatoes". The girl behind the counter smiled at him, white teeth flashing as she flirted. She took his money and tried to catch his eye, but Greg had already turned to find a seat. And then his heart stopped. The most beautiful woman he had ever seen was sitting, bathed in the muted sunlight which was doing its best to stream in through the grimy window. She was like some vision from one of his nieces favorite Disney fairy stories, minus the floor length gown and the ugly stepsisters. He gazed at her, awestruck. Is this what love felt like?
With a languid movement of her head she slowly turned to face him. The world came to a halt, and the only sound was a buzzing in his left ear, which he gradually realized was the waitress repeating "Sir? Sir?" and holding out his change. He flapped his hand in her direction, as if at an irritating insect, and continued to stare at the vision near the window. She smiled and his heart started up again, in double time, trying to thrash its way out of his chest. She was sitting alone at a table for two and he moved to stand next to her.
"May I?" He gestured at the empty chair and she smiled again, nodding. He sat down, because suddenly he could stand no longer.

LEXI
Lexi gazed at the stranger. He had blue eyes, brown hair and an expression of utter amazement on his face. He didn't say anything, just continued to look at her, as if she was the loveliest thing on the face of the planet.
He cleared his throat. She waited for him to speak, but although he opened his mouth, no words came out.
"I'm Lexi" she said, and offered him her hand across the table. At that moment, a waitress deposited his meal in front of him. They both looked up, distracted. The man turned back to Lexi impatiently, ignoring the waitress and his food.
"Lexi" he breathed. Her name had never sounded so good.
"You are ..?" He gazed back at her, his blue eyes seeming to drink her in.
"Your name?" she tried again. He nodded and, frowning, seemed to be thinking hard. She smiled encouragingly.
"Greg" the man croaked eventually, and Lexi felt warm all over. The name itself was rather ordinary, but he sounded so ... infatuated. With her. It was a new and intoxicating experience.
Lexi was floating, and she didn't think it was a side effect of the pills. It was magic, the magic of being adored.

GREG
Greg was enthralled. Not only was this woman the woman of his unimagined dreams, but she seemed to have been created just for him. As at last he regained his senses and with them his voice, they began to converse; and it was as if every topic on which they touched, their views and interests matched. She loved the same movies, had read the same books, visited the same holiday destinations. She adored dogs and despised cats. They liked Indian food, but not chinese. The only point of contention was her allergy to tomatoes.
He was unaware of time, and only when she glanced at the window did he turn his head and exclaim in surprise. It was dark. They had been sitting talking for hours. He was suddenly uncertain. Would she think it strange if he proposed marriage only 4 hours after having met? He glanced at his watch. Was there time to get a license today? He laughed out loud. He could not believe he was having such irrational thoughts, but the idea of letting her out of his sight filled him with dread. He had to have her. She was his dream come true.

LEXI
As they stood and headed for the door, Lexi was aware of the attention they were getting. She was used to it. She imagined the beautiful man at her side was familiar with it too. Greg reached for her hand and smiled into her eyes, folding her fingers through his. They passed a waitress, who smiled engagingly at Greg; dismissing Lexi without a glance. Greg ignored her, so she took a closer look at Lexi. And she was suddenly puzzled. Something wasn't quite right.
The street was busy and as they stepped into the warm air Greg pulled her close, his arm around her, his face bent to her hair. His lips brushed her forehead. She turned and found herself looking at their reflection in the cafe window. She saw him leaning towards her, his hair touching hers. She saw his long legs, his broad shoulders, his strong fingers. She saw a short fat frumpy woman standing with him, her thin brown hair skimming stooped shoulders. She blinked and gazed at her mirror image, watching as her lazy eye sank into its corner, and nestled against her sharp pointed nose. She smiled and watched thin lips pull back over ugly yellow teeth. She watched as her arms went about this beautiful man and pulled him close. And then she closed her eyes on the image and kissed him. The magic had worked. Her dream had come true.