Caught In The Act Of Time

"Hey Mike."

I looked up at my new supervisor. Her name was Anne and she was smoking hot. She was late thirties, petite but amazing long legs and a beautiful butt. She always wore tiny skirts and pantyhose with form fitting tops that were perfect for her small perky tits. It was very professional just in a sexy way. She was my boss and I was an adult but I sure as hell noticed despite thinking it would never be allowed to affect my work. We were a large finance technology company and this was only my second job out of college. That made me a cog. But a nicely paid cog in my estimation.

What I didn't want to admit was I had just and the weirdest sensation. It was like Déjà vu combined with what felt like one of those sleep starts. I was staring at the wall trying to make sure I was ok and wasn't sure what to make of the sensation.

"What's up Anne?"

Anne had been leaning over the wall from her desk next to mine.

"I think you pulled your data from the wrong set. It's not adding up like I think it should. Can you double check it's the most recent file?"

I frowned and turned to my screen. She was right, I had missed her email with the most recent data and had compiled it all wrong.

"Shit... you're right. Sorry."

"It's ok, you're still learning the system here," she laughed a little. "Can you fix it?"

"Yeah of course. Give me an hour."

"I can't look until tomorrow morning so take the rest of the afternoon, just double check it before sending, ok?"

"You bet, thanks."

She dropped down out of view and I could hear her snapping her laptop shut before thunking away on the carpet tiles in her heeled boots. If she didn't need this data fixed until the end of the day, I was going to go for a walk and clear my head a little. I headed down the atrium stairs and outside onto the street to find some coffee. There was a cute woman in the elevator that I had seen a few times but I was still reeling a little from a recent breakup and I just wanted to clear my head. I nodded a 'hello' but otherwise tuned her out.

The fact was, these little episodes were happening more and more. This was at least the forth time it happened in the office. I figured it happened at least twice before I started paying attention to it. So combined with a few times at home, this seemed like a problem.

The occasional falling sensation had happened every now and then before in my life. Mostly in college but since it's usually associated with exhaustion that made sense. Really it I hadn't thought about it forever. But after about a month into this new job, it started happening a lot.

I lived across the bridge from the office. But it was a pretty easy commute on the train. My now ex girlfriend lived in the city but had a couple of roommates and as a result, rarely invited me over and would often stay at my place a few days a week.

Things just got a little weird with her at the end. One day I woke up and she wasn't in the bed, at first I didn't think too much of it. When I went out to the kitchen to start the coffee, she was sound asleep on the couch. She had never complained about me snoring so I thought it was a little strange.

That time, she woke up from the smell of coffee and asked why the hell she was on the couch. Like, she seemed pretty upset about it. I shrugged, made coffee, and made a joke about sleepwalking.

This actually happened a few more times over the next week or so. My girlfriend was really really upset about it. When I asked her why, she said each time she knows she was carried there. I asked if she knew that, could she wake up? I was pretty sure it wasn't me--I sleep like the dead--but maybe I sleep walk? Though carrying my girlfriend around the apartment seems like exertion that I would need to be awake for. I mean, I was fairly strong but probably couldn't carry her easily through doorways while asleep.

Then one night she decided to tie a string to her ankle. I didn't like this idea since I have a smallish fear of fires and picturing waking up an unable to get her out of the house scared me a little. So we agreed at least to tie a thin string that one of us could snap (we tested) in an emergency. She actually woke up the next morning with the string tied to the couch. Now she was convinced I was messing with her, and she was getting mad at me to the point it was taxing our relationship. I did my best to plead my case but I could tell she was slipping away from me.

I had this little web cam I used to watch my cat Bentley when I traveled, so I set that up and pointed it my bed. The next time my girlfriend slept over and she ended up on the couch, I went to check the camera.

This backfired. She saw the camera in my hand and decided that I had been filming her for something shady and she stormed out--calling me all sorts of evil things. I never heard from her again, she never returned any of my calls or texts. On top of it all, when I finally watched the video--nothing happened at all. On frame she was lying next to me in bed and the next she was gone. It was like a power glitch or something. As I watched it over and over again, the only difference between the two moments was my right hand was under the pillow to start, then in front of me when she was gone.

She might not have been the one for me, but it was still hard to take that she left me over something I was pretty damn sure I had nothing to do with. My integrity is something I have a lot of pride in.

When I was having these episodes at work, I noticed there was a split second where all sound ceased completely. Then there was sort of snap, like something far away was suddenly close and it was over. The problem was I felt a little car sick after. So combine all those things and I could tell something happened, just no idea what.

The fresh air felt good. The coffee helped. But after I fixed that dataset for Anne, I called my primary and a few days later and a thousand bucks for out-of-pocket for tests, learned my brain looked totally fine. So I got prescribed therapy.

A few weeks later is when things got weirder.

....

I had a dream a couple times where all it consisted of was a woman near me, once crying and apologizing. That was it. It was never clear what she was apologizing for or really to who. It left me feeling like I had some extra weight on me to start the day and was wracking my brain to see if this was connected to anything in my real life and my dream was my subconscious trying to process. Nothing clicked though.

Then things shifted. When I woke up, I didn't feel that mental weight. Rather I felt a little warm and fuzzy--like that feeling I'd get from when my girlfriend and I had first started staying over and we would wake up in each others arms. This happened sporadically until a few more times until one day woke up feeling like that but also with the vestiges of a dream where that woman's voice was saying, "oh my, is that for me?" Followed by a, "I had no idea that would happen." And I saw in the dream this woman's blue eyes sparkle.

Her voice had that sort of sultry tone my girlfriend would sometimes get when she wanted me to do something for her, like go down on her or something like that. What was that dream about? I had to admit, in addition to feeling like I had been held, I was a little tingly and aroused. I got into the shower and masturbated slowly, imagining that voice was behind me and reaching around to service me.

A few days went by before I noticed something else. I woke up one morning feeling all warm and fuzzy like that time before but this time something was different. I had cum in my bed. There was a large wet spot next to me and some cum on my shirt. The weird thing was, nothing inside my shorts. I mean, it had been a minute or two since I had one of those dreams where I came but it was almost like my boxers had been off and I just came on the bed.

Recalling my ex girlfriends claim that I had been up to something nefarious in the night, I got out the web cam and set it up aimed at my bed. Was I sleep walking for real? Was I having a wank and not remembering it?

Thinking of those therapy appointments I was prescribed, I wondered if I should bring this up? I was embarrassed and wasn't sure what to say.

On top of it all, despite the mental confusion, I felt good. And it happened a few more times.

....

Our office had a bit of an old dot com architectural aesthetic. There were table tennis tables and comfy lounge areas all over the lobby. I guess a reminder of the company that used to own this place. One of the things I found odd about it was the building's exercise room looked out over the atrium so you could see people running on treadmills all day long towards the window. A few guys I had started to hang with and I thought it looked like they were trying to run right off the balcony and into the atrium.

One day I was looking up as I was passing through and noticed a gorgeous woman on the treadmill. She was in leggings and a sports bra with her dark hair in a pony tail swishing back and forth. I didn't recognize her but the guy in me needed a closer look. I made my way up to the exercise room and poked my head in as if I was sizing up capacity on the machines.

The woman was just getting off the treadmill and was toweling her face. I recognized her as the woman I sometimes passed in the hall and elevator but since she normally dressed somewhat conservatively, I had never paid much attention to how absolutely stunning her athletic body was. She pulled the band out of her hair which made it flow beautifully over her shoulders and noticed me looking at her which made both of us immediately blush. I did notice she had an electric looking amulet that rolled between her breasts as she did that--I'm no geologist but it seemed very strange and beautiful the way it caught the light.

"Sorry, just checking how busy it was up here."

She made one of those half smiles and quickly picked up her things and went into the locker room. She seemed shy and me checking her out hadn't helped.

That night I had one of the most intense dreams yet. I dreamt that it was the woman from work. In the dream she fucked me silly. First easing slowly down on my cock while I laid there and slowing grinding on me. Her long beautiful dark hair falling down around, while I watched her pussy lips slide over me and she bent down to kiss me long and hard. Then she rubbed her nipples on my lips until I heard her cum with a rumbling moan. After the first time, she reversed and rode me backwards so I could watch her firm ass clench as she fucked me a second time and this time I came hard up into her. The pleasure was immense and rattled around in my core.

In typical dream fashion, nothing was quite right. I wanted to grab her ass and guide her hips on me but I never could seem to reach her. And when she put her nipples in my mouth, it was like my tongue couldn't tease them. It was so frustrating.

This time when the dream ended, it felt like time stretched and snapped at me like those sleep start episodes at work and I woke right up. I looked down, all the sheets were off, my cock was still semi-erect and covered in glistening discharge in the moonlight. God I felt so good. I'd never had a dream like that--ever. But also I'd never had a solo session like that, this actually felt like my girlfriend had just rolled off me--I almost could feel her weight still. Looking down at my cock it just didn't look like a mess I'd make on my own. Gingerly I reached down and traced my shaft a little and slowly lifted my hand to my face. Definitely the scent of a woman.

I jumped out of bed to look at the webcam. Like last time, one minute I was sleeping on my side and the next... well, I was sitting up staring at my cock. So something certainly happened that wasn't on the recording. There is no way that much could change in a single frame of a video--that was what, at least 24frames a sec? Probably 30?

This can't be a dream anymore but still I couldn't explain any of it. The doors were all locked, as were the windows. Except Bentley was sitting on the kitchen counter staring at the front door. Maybe I've never noticed but he seemed to act like the delivery guy was there. I looked through the peephole and the street looked quiet and empty.

Maybe I was just jittery.

.....

A few days later I was getting on the elevator and I noticed the woman I'd been seeing around got on also. I made eye contact and she blushed and looked away.

I tried a nonchalant, "how are you doing?"

"Good, how are you doing?"

"Pretty good, still settling in around here."

She was avoiding eye contact with me which just made me more curious. She was dressed in a loose pantsuit which did nothing for that figure I saw in the gym. But her hair was gorgeous and she had beautiful light blue eyes which gave me another sense of Déjà vu. Her amulet was dangling over her blouse and found myself trying not to stare at it. She bolted off the elevator at the next stop with only a nod in my direction.

The next day we got on the same elevator. I smiled and said hello and again she just smiled and blushed. When the elevator stopped and she got out, I pushed through the other people and followed her out.

This proved to be a clumsy idea.

I tripped on someone's foot, collided with a person waiting to get on the elevator who had a tray of coffee cups, and we all started to fall. My arms flailed out as the coffee started to arc through the air, something strange happened.

Sound came to a screeching halt, almost like a record scratch and the coffee stopped mid-air. I had been reaching out to break my fall and the only thing I could grab was this woman's arm. We fell into a heap while everything else stopped.

She looked at me absolutely freaked.

"How?! What are you doing? How did you get here?" She shouted.

I looked around me and all the other people I saw were frozen in positions like time had stopped. Coffee arcing but not hitting the floor. The person I hit was halfway to the floor and the elevator doors seemed stuck with a couple of people wide-eyed looking at us.

As I looked around, I saw her push the guy who was frozen in mid-fall into a seated position against the wall before grabbing her necklace and suddenly blurring into a frozen position like all the everyone else I could see.

I was all alone. I looked around and I could feel that surge of adrenaline of panic coming. What happened?

Then just as quickly as she had frozen, the woman popped out of her stasis and grabbed me.

"I guess I have to take you with me. Try to focus on something peaceful like a beach and don't pay attention to what happens. Re-entry is brutal." She instructed before the world spun. The elevator lobby elongated and snapped, feeling like it went through my head and out the other side before the soundscape came back in a flood.

She let go of me and said, "hurry! run to the sink, you might puke." I heard the coffee hit the floor and splatter.

I barely made it to the bathroom around the corner when my entire breakfast came flying up and out. It was like the worst sea sickness I'd ever experienced. Luckily I got it in the sink and none on me so I spent a few minutes collecting myself before heading back out.

The woman was outside the door leaning against the wall waiting for me. I just looked at her, not sure what at all just happened. I had no words.

"Let's go sit on the patio," she said. I dumbly nodded.

We sat on the little wall that went around the plaza seating area. It was warm and nice in the sun. It caught her hair and she seemed to warm to the sun before finally speaking.

"I'm Ashley."

"Mike." I returned.

"Yeah, I know."

I just looked at her. I didn't think we had been introduced.

She went on, "so that... that was weird wasn't it?"

"You could say that," I said slowly.

She was fingering her necklace. "I guess I need to try to explain." She took a giant deep breath before continuing. "When I was super young. My parents were killed in a horrible car accident."

I just waited to see where she was going.

"And I was raised by my grandfather. He had been a navy pilot and while he never told me what he did after he retired during the time he raised me, I just suspected it was still military since we were always moving. Cambodia, La Paz, Middle East somewhere. West Texas. Calexico. Places far from anywhere."

She sighed, seeming like she was trying to figure out how to tell her story. "Anyway, he was able to send to college in LA but he died at the end of my freshman year. I had to clean out his last place which was out in the Mojave and found he had left this necklace for me. There was a note that said, 'hold it tight in emergencies.' And how he was sorry for all that he had put me through growing up. That was it."

"It's striking," I finally said.

"The point I'm trying to make, I really don't know where he got it, but he was someone who got around if you know what I mean."

It sounded to me like she was implying he was a secret government official or spy, but I just sat quietly so not to derail her story with questions.

"The thing is, I discovered eventually, if I grip the amulet tight with my hand... it's like time stops."

Had I not just had that scene outside of the elevator, I would have thought she was bananas. She was still talking.

"But it's not really time stopping, it's like I'm suddenly on another plane or dimension of time. The world seems to stop but when I've stayed there to see what happens, I can see things moving very slowly."

"What the hell?"

"But it's never happened with someone, like no one has ever been pulled there with me. I guess since you had your hand on me, you got pulled into that dimension? I dunno. I had grabbed the amulet once I felt I was falling hoping to avert some catastrophe."

"Like you could have caught the coffee?" I chuckled.

"Well I did move that guy so he wouldn't smack his head as he fell."

"Ah. I guess I saw that but didn't parse what you were doing."

"I try not to use it that much. I'm scared of what would happen if anyone else found out."

"But me grabbing you as I fell has changed that. I found out in a way."

"Yeah."

"He didn't leave any clue about it?"

"No. And I'm not sure why he thought he put me through a lot in that note. He was kind and took care of me the best I think he could."

"I'm sorry, seems like you've had a lot to deal with."

She grimaced. "I suppose."

"Can I ask a question?"

She nodded.

"I have some weird episodes since I started working here. Like feelings of Déjà vu or just being disoriented."

She turned a deep red. "Yeah."

"You?"

She was quiet. "I've used it a few times, rarely to save a guy from falling. It's not like I can do a scientific study or anything. But it does seem to have an effect on the people I'm nearest. I've heard some people remark about feeling odd when I've snapped back. But I can't tell why it's just them and not everyone or everything. But maybe also I just don't know. It scares me."

"Oh shit? So when I've felt that, you were nearby?"

She was rubbing her face, almost to hide herself from me. Then she squeaked, "sorry you just smell so good, I got in behind you in the elevator one day and it was like I was on auto pilot."

It a took a moment to hit me, "wait, you where stalking me?"

"No! Well yes. No, i mean, i didnt start out to. I guess it sounds creepy as hell."

"Little bit." But I chuckled. "Why not just come up and say hi? You're beautiful, I would have loved that. I mean, I noticed you and was thinking about how to."

She blushed, "since we moved around so much, I guess I'm just super uncomfortable doing that. People leave or I leave. It's always easier to keep to myself."

I found myself watching her. She was exuding more confidence in this moment than she was coming out of mouth and all was somehow familiar.