Dream: Bygones be gone!

[mokie]

Dream: Bygones be gone!
I dreamt I was travelling abroad, and while strolling a cobblestone street somewhere in (I think) Eastern Europe, I ran into her.

I won't go into our brief history except to point out a few relevant details: we used to work together, she was a big part of why I left a much loved job, and by freak coincidence she's shown up at every job I've had since. I always know when she's coming because a foreign man will walk up to me out of the blue and treat me like shit. If you guessed that they're relatives of hers, you're right!

In the dream, we saw each other on the street and by unspoken agreement turned to go our separate ways. A few minutes later, we bumped into each other again in a restaurant. She was visibly flustered and I was no happier. I approached her to say it, but she opened her mouth and said exactly what I'd planned to say: let's just let it go. And with that, we were both done with the grudge, and the energy of trying to hold it, and trying to avoid each other around town.

But suddenly she was playing her palsy-walsy routine with me again, and acting like my syrupy sweet BFF. She explained that was in town for a wedding; I had my camera right there and am always game for practice, so I made a reconciliatory offer to take some shots in addition to whatever official photography they were having done. Just like that the party decided I was in charge of photography.

I was put on the spot by this gaggle of girls with questions about why the previous amateur photographer's shots always came out wrong. I suggested a technical issue with her storage media, but the other amateur misheard me and thought I was asking for money to pick up memory cards. Already exhausted by the talkative girls, I waved off the money and slunk back to my own (non-digital) camera to see if I had memory cards with me. I left in search of some, just in case--and, I must admit, to escape the bridal party chatter.

I woke up, went to the bathroom, and laid back down confused but glad that both the grudge and the dream were over.

Except I fell right back into the dream. I wandered in search of memory cards, ducking corners whenever she and her friends came near. Eventually I found myself searching for some guy who could answer a now-forgotten question.

I woke up, and sighed, and made mental note of the labyrinthine nature of the dream. That's usually significant.

And then I fell right back into the dream again. I grumbled (in the dream) about how I'd like to be able to do that when I want to, and wandered (in the dream) in search of a bathroom.

I woke up a few more times, each time rolling over and back into the dream, before I gave up and got out of bed.

Notes, details and explanations
#1. I believe the dream was set in Budapest, but I can't explain why.

#2. I also believe that if I threw it all away and traveled to Budapest tomorrow and got a job selling kebabs on the street, she'd be my very confused third customer. The freak coincidence is that kind of freaky.

#3. I recently thought about her for the first time in ages when I realized the party I was attending might overlap her social circle. I believe that (and my "eh, so what if it does?" reaction) laid the egg for this dream. It wouldn't be the first time I worked out a personal conflict in a dream, though oddly enough it would be the first time I worked one out without a sex dream--and thank sweet bunny Jeebus for that favor.

#4. The meandering and mazes are typical of my sick dreams, as is repeatedly half-waking throughout the night. While I am indeed sick, this dream felt too cohesive and mundane to be a true sick dream. That means...

#5. I spent the entire night waking up to avoid her. Let that be a lesson to my brain: you can make me forgive her, but you can't make me spend time with her.

Questions, interpretations and ideas are welcome!