I was sitting there, at the airport book store. Today the latest of his series of books had been released, and he was on location himself to sign copies for fans later in the day. In just a few hours in fact. There were people waiting impatiently outside of the store already, the first ones were there already when I showed up for work in the morning. I had been tasked with setting everything in order for the event. So many people would have paid to do my job, to be so close to the man behind the most famous self-help book series in modern history, yet I had never read a word he had written. Funny how things always seem to work out that way; most of us seem to work jobs we dislike, when someone who works a job we would enjoy dislikes theirs and would love to do ours. I had placed chairs for the elderly, set up a ticket machine so people would get their turn fairly and a desk for him to sit behind. His assistant had brought his special chair to the event which I unpacked, cleaned and put in place. This was a man who held himself in high regard, I am certain he would refuse to so much as touch an airport chair. Some might call him arrogant or downright narcissistic, some called him a fraud and yet others called him god. Whatever you chose to call him, there was no denying he had an incredible air of power surrounding him. He had a presence which could silence even his most vocal critics when stood before him. He was not a man you wanted to disappoint. As I was all but done with my chores, he came in to inspect. Everything had to be in perfect order or I was to do everything over. I had never seen as much as a picture of him before he entered the room, but his presence was so strong I knew who it was right away. He did not look at all like I had pictured him in my mind. I had pictured a tall man in a dark gray suit, with a handsome face and a charismatic smile. The man now stood before me was short and stout, with a frown on his fleshy and wrinkled face and clothed in a dress shirt and dress pants with suspenders. I thought he looked a bit like an overgrown Grumpy from Snow White, and had to fight back a chuckle over the thought. He only humphed and sat down in his chair, which I could only assume to mean "great job, miss! Thank you so much!" in Grumpish. I sat down in one of the chairs to catch my breath and make sure everything was set up as well as could be while he began getting papers out of his briefcase and placing them on the table in various piles. After he had organized his table to his liking he did what I had feared the most. He lifted his head from his papers and looked at me. I knew what was coming next, I had worried about it all day. "So, what did you think of my latest book?" - I knew it! He said it with a sideways smile, cocking his head, clearly expecting praise and for me to beg for him to sign mine first. "I- I have not read your book. Sir." I replied honestly, my eyes moving back and forth from his eyes to the floor, not knowing where to rest. I was ready for a disappointed humph and for him to go back to his papers, perhaps for him to ask me to leave even. But I was petrified he would get so upset that he would undo all my work and make me do it over to punish me, or worse yet, for him to go to my boss and tell her I did a poor job. But I had not anticipated his actual reaction. His grumpy face lit up! He dug excitedly through his briefcase, and took out what must have been his own personal copy. He walked briskly over to me and handed me the book with a firm but uncharacteristically joyous energy for a seemingly grumpy man such as himself. He leaned in and almost whispered to me, "no, I understand. These are not easy times, economically, for someone like yourself. Here, you can borrow mine." - To my relief he seemed much nicer than I had expected, and since I had no interest in self-help books I thanked him but declined his offer. I had made many mistakes in my life up to this point, but this was easily the biggest. His face turned a shade of red so brilliant it could have been used as a swatch for Ferrari. His altruism and confident smile turned into a rage so fierce it could have scared a ghost back to life. My mind was blank and my body frozen solid from fear. I was alone in a room with an enraged, book wielding man with a bruised god complex whose head looked like it was about to explode. The windows were blocked by metal shields security had put in place last night and the door was out of sight. No one could see into the room and his assistant was still sipping on his caffè latte at Starbucks on the other side of the airport. I was done for. This was it. So this was how my life would end. He pulled me off the chair onto the floor, still too frozen in panic, I could not move and even less try to run away. He flung his book across the room and put his hands around my neck. His hands were so tight I could not scream for help even if I had the presence of mind to do so, but my mind was blank anyway. As I laid there, all I could focus on was how the oxygen in my lungs grew more and more sparse. Time seemed to stop and the moment did not feel real. My mind was blank and I felt nothing, that was all I knew. Until suddenly, I started to actually feel good. My thoughts started flowing again and I realized how funny the situation was, I wanted to chuckle again. No, this was not just funny, this was downright hilarious! I wanted to burst out laughing. “But wait,” some small oxygen hoarding part of my brain said, “this should not be hilarious, I am being strangled to death!” That is when I realized what was happening. I had read about it before, hypoxia can cause euphoria, which meant I was really close to passing out. For just a second I was able to think again. My body had relaxed due to my mental state which had made him loosen his grip a bit. Maybe even enough for me to push out the air left in my lungs for one last call for help. It was worth a try: “STORE IS OPEN!!” The fans came rushing in just as I passed out. I had survived one of the most terrifying experiences of my life. That is when I woke up and realized it was all just a really strange and vivid dream. This was not the only really strange and vivid dream I had last night either. In one of the other dreams I traded my body with a man for a lovely yellow Lamborghini, it ended up being a scam and I realized I hated his body and ended up on a quest to get mine back. I think my brain had saved up some really good ones for a special night, and I guess last night was it. :lol:
