The people in your life are the people you think about most frequently. Also, you attract people who are similar to the people you think about most often. This process remains in effect even if the people you think about are not real.
In other words, it does not matter if the people you think about are in your present reality or not. If you think about the opposite sex, you will attract people of the opposite sex into your life. If you think about your family on a regular basis, you will attract experiences revolving around your family on a regular basis. If you think about a crowd of screaming people who absolutely love you, you will attract a crowd of screaming people who absolutely love you.
For this reason, when thinking about others, you should do your best to picture them the way you want them to be. For as you picture others being the way you want them to be, you will begin to think and feel as if they are the way you want them to be and this will result in the attraction of matching experiences.