I was given a new wife. I don’t know what happened to my wife and why this was necessary, but a bald white man in a gray business suit looked at a clipboard and made the proclamation in a broad, airy conference room. My new wife was the younger sister of a high school girlfriend. She’d been two years behind me in school.

My new wife and I shook hands and talked. She was as I remembered her, and wore a white blouse. She was pleased with the new relationship. So was I.

She and I went out and sat down on the ground, on white cement. I discovered then that I worked for the Pittsburgh Steelers. The current quarterback, Big Ben Roethlisberger — in uniform — walked up to us and enthused, “How cool it was to see me walking down the tunnel when I was coming up after the game. I’d thrown for 375 yards, four touchdowns, and no interceptions. It was a great game.”

While talking with Ben, we discovered a commercial was being made. We zipped down and watched a fraction of it — something to do with cars, and it used a superball to identify the cars by bouncing the ball off them — and then zipped back to our space on the white cement. The superball being used took off from the shoot location. As it shot by, I grabbed it to return to the shoot. Ben was amused. “They have people to chase those balls down, and they probably have a hundred of the balls.” That made sense. I felt sheepish.

A woman came by looking for me and my new wife. She and I were selected to participate on some special research team.

My new wife and I left, though. Going down to another part of the building, we discovered new cars were on sale. My wife wanted one, so she picked out a small but sporty gray sedan and took it for a test drive. I walked alongside her as she drove it around. I then saw motorcycles for sale. After checking one out, I asked for permission to take it outside for a test ride. That was granted, so I zipped around outside. The motorcycle was not large, but it had strong acceleration, knobby tires, and a comfortable ride. I was pleased and decided I would buy it.

We went into the dining room to get something to eat. It was set up with a buffet line. Not many people were there. I took the last of the baby carrots with peas in butter sauce. I was really excited to get them. A man in a suit showed up. He wanted me to pay for the meal by putting it on my room. I explained to him that we weren’t staying there, that I was a new member. That’s where the dream ended.