There were a lot of movie stars in this mall. Some of them owned stores in the mall. Thandie Newton owned a store and seemed to spend a lot of her time there, which didn't seem so strange, because, again, the surroundings were beautiful. Thandie's store carried cosmetics, about which I know little, so I felt a little awkward and out of place in the store. Thandie seemed very glad that I was there, though; she and several of her friends kept tackling me, holding me down on the floor and tickling me. It was pretty nice. Then Thandie motioned for her friends to leave us alone, and she lay on top of me on the floor, and all of a sudden I realized that her feelings for me were more than just playful. I was surprised and flattered.
Then I was playing keep away with some young male movie stars, with a ball a little bit smaller than a basketball. I didn't know their names because they are young and I am old. All of us were wearing suits which had come from another of the mall's stores. We were playing outside of that store. Suddenly someone tackled me and lay on top of me on the floor. After a moment I saw that it was Matt Damon, wearing an very, very nice-looking black suit with a white shirt and blue tie. Matt said to me, in a low voice so that no one else heard, that Thandie liked me. Really, really liked me. "And," he added, "she's pregnant. And..." Matt paused, not sure how to go on.
I finished his thought: "That's right, Thandie and I have never had sex, so someone else is the father."
"Right."
"But she has feelings for me."
"Right."
To my own surprise, the thought of being with Thandie and helping her to raise a baby fathered by someone else appealed powerfully to me.
The young movie stars and Matt Damon suddenly started rushing along to some destination unknown to me, carrying me along in their current. I felt that I was walking along in stockinged feet, and I wanted to stop and get some shoes to match the new suit I was wearing. As I was being swept along I saw some men's shoes in a storefront. But then I looked down and saw that I had been wearing a pair of elegant shoes the whole time. The shoes were so light that it had felt as if I was not wearing shoes.
With some effort I broke free from the roaring stream of youthful actors, and tried to go straight back to Thandie's store, but I got lost. I couldn't find my way around in the enormous mall at all. I knew that Thandie's store was on the 2nd floor, but I couldn't even tell which floor I was on at any given time. Finally I asked someone for directions. And after asking several more people for directions, I found Thandie's store.
It had become dark. I assumed this was because the mall was closing, or had closed. I saw Thandie's sillouette from some distance away. I called out: "This is going to sound like we're in high school: Matt says you like me."
Thandie replied, "Were a lot of your classmates pregnant in high school?"
"Probably," I said, "but they managed to keep it from me."
"So what do you think?" Thandie asked.
"I think it's wonderful that you like me. I'm in," I said, and I sat down beside her. "I was trying to run right straight back to you since Matt told me. But I kept getting lost. I think it's true what they say: that it's for the best when the woman picks the man."
"Who says that?" Thandie asked, as I sat down beside her.
"Well... I do. And people who agree with me about that."
"You feel the same about me?"
"Honestly, I had never thought about you that way, but I'm feeling more and more, every moment. I'm here. I'm in. Yes. Yes. Yes. That's how I feel."
"I'm a mess."
"No," I said, "you're really not," and I woke up.
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