Designing Destiny – Ch. 03 (Tier 2+)

What kind of weird-ass dream had that been?

Fern shifted uncomfortably in her creaking office chair, her mind flitting not over the rows of numbers on the screen before her, but back to the nighmarish darkness of last night. She'd been… floating? Falling? And then there'd been that unearthly light… that creepy pattern… the voice that had chanted on and on, while she lay helplessly before it, completely powerless to move…

But weirdest of all? She knew that she'd heard that voice before. And the person it belonged to was none other than the pink-haired designer she'd met last week.

Destiny.

But that's just silly!, she reprimanded herself with a quick shake of her shoulders. It had just been a dream, after all – and brains loved to make the weirdest things happen in dreams, didn't they? Nothing had really, truly happened. In the end, she'd wakened in her bed just like normal. Suzie her stuffed fox had lain beside her, soft and reassuring as ever. And here she was back at work, just like normal: squinting through her glasses at the same old spreadsheet she'd been working on last Friday.

Every now and again, though, the voice seemed to echo in her mind with unnerving clarity. And it was in those moments that she felt herself teetering on the brink of a decision: to summon up her courage, to approach Destiny, to ask her-

Ask her what? "Hey, remember me? The lowly marketing girl you met last week? Yeah, anyway, you didn't happen to be haunting me in my sleep last night, did you? Chanting some weird ritual like you were gonna sacrifice me or something?"

Pff, sheer idiocy. And she was an idiot too if she thought that was even a remotely good idea.

So she set to work once more, trying to force her attention back to the dismal numbers before her. Row after row, tab after tab, checking and rechecking the numbers. Hmm, wait – that doesn't make sense. Double-check. Oh, never mind – I must've misremembered. Okay, next row…

"Hi there, Fern. How's that poor knee of yours?"

It was her – and Fern almost jumped out of her skin at the sound of that melodious voice from her dream. "Uh-! I- uh, hi! You- you startled me!" She blinked up into Destiny's face, caught in the same, grey-eyed gaze that had arrested her so last week. Destiny was smiling softly, today clad in a simple white blouse and shapely grey slacks. "So sorry," she offered simply, with a quiet gesture down at Fern's legs hidden beneath the desk. "I just wanted to see if you were okay? You know… after that tumble you took?"

Fern swiveled nervously in her chair, gesturing awkwardly at her leg and hastening to splutter out something like normal conversation. "Oh, ah, that! Um, no, it's- it's fine! Good as new, you know! I mean, not exactly – it's still scabbed – but I think, I mean, I'm pretty sure it's not infected. It's really not-"

"Let me see." And before she could do more than give a meek little "oh!", Destiny was dropping to her knees, spinning her gently in her chair and allowing her fingers to brush gently over the scab-covered, still visibly pink knee beneath Fern's skirt. "Oh, my, you really did bash it up, didn't you?"

Her fingers traced the outlines of the scab, and Fern gulped as a shiver of some unprecedented thrill rippled through her body. "Well, it does look as though you were careful to clean it out," Destiny continued, and she flashed a comforting smile at Fern as she gave it a final pat and rose once more. "Do me a favor, though… Fern. Promise me you'll take good care of yourself, okay?"

"Uh- umm, sure?! I- uh, yeah. Yeah, I- I can do… that…"

And so she was left, stuttering with wide eyes and a thumping heart, as Destiny flashed one final smile and vanished down the hall.

***

"Thank you all for making the time to meet here today. Now, I know we've had a few of these meetings in the past, and I know we're still not at the finish line. But we're getting closer – and we'll be closer yet once we finalize these six major issues on the agenda…"

Ugh. Fern groaned internally, trying not to roll her eyes as Laura beside her was so visibly doing. This was going to be a long one: another meeting in which the hourly-wage folks had practically no role other than to sit there as a captive audience for the long-winded project managers and department heads, droning on and on about project requirements and reusability and ROI and buy-in and…

Huh. Maybe she should have gone and used the bathroom before this thing started.

She stared into her tablet screen, trying to resist the urge to reach for her phone and pull up her reading app. She had to look busy and engaged, after all. Had to be a team player and shit. And definitely with her performance review coming up soon, she couldn't afford any bad impressions – not with her supervisor here.

Hmm… what did they say the six items were? Might as well make some headings awhile. Ooh, maybe in bold? Or in another font – one that will make them stand out…

"Fern, you'll be happy to assist with that, I'm sure."

At the sound of her name, Fern jerked uncomfortably back to reality. "Uh-, sure! Sure? I- uh-" Having completely tuned out the conversation, she had practically zero idea what the project manager was even referring to. But before she could stammer out any more vaguely affirmative babble, a familiar, warmly feminine voice spoke from the corner. "But of course! I'll be delighted to work with Fern on the Woodridge project."

It was Destiny, smiling sweetly and with officious politeness first at the manager, then down the table at her flustered listener. "We've already met, and I can already see that with her abilities and expertise, she's going to be an enormous help." Her eyes locked with Fern's, and Fern felt a weakly grateful smile emerge unbidden on her face. "Uh, yeah. Absolutely," she agreed, mentally thanking her stars that Destiny had given her such a flattering opportunity. "Happy to help!"

Happy to help, indeed. The discussion headed on to agenda item three, and she lapsed into silence once more, ignoring the good-natured jabs and sighs from Laura beside her. She didn't need to fidget, like her. She didn't need to mutter under hear breath, or text her latest boyfriend under the pretext of taking notes. She just needed to type… switch to bullet points… add an entry under agenda item two…

• Woodridge Project design and research: Destiny and Fern

And take other notes too, of course. Spurred as she was into attentive energy by Destiny's public approval, she could hardly help the clear and extensive notes that now sprang from her fingers. But even so, time and again she found her gaze drifting back up to that single item – those two names, so very close together…

Destiny and Fern.

And every time she read it, her heart fluttered. Every time, she could hear that thrilling voice in her mind. Every time, she felt a shiver run through her at the memory of those keen grey eyes that seemed to gaze right through her…

Well, one thing was clear. She and Destiny were about to spend a good bit more time together. And even barring any further nightmares, the next few weeks were going to become very interesting indeed.

(To be continued!)