by Brona Mills
She texts again.
Delete these messages so Nathan doesn’t see them & meet me at Cici’s house. I’m sending u another message, don’t delete it.
I rock from foot to foot, scrolling through my messages, deleting the last ones I sent and received from my mom. Another one appears in my inbox.
Hi honey. We need to talk about what outfits we’re going2 wear 2the will reading this afternoon. Meet me at Cici’s house 9am. She has a few things for us to match. Mom x
Holy shit. Mom is stealthy.
Today
Sunday, March 1, 1998
After the initial shock from my confession wears off, Mike and David resume hatching their plan on how to pay Nathan off. I’m emotionally exhausted and don’t listen to their arguments about how this should play out. I’m merely resigned to the fact Nathan might be someone who’s destined to be in my universe forever. Even in the alternative future that Liam visited, Nathan had already killed me.
I hug my knees and rock back and forth, like when I rock Max to sleep sometimes.
David catches my eye. ‘I need to make some calls.’
Mike returns to his room, and I leave David in the kitchen alone.
I get into bed with Max. I hug him tight, and after an hour, I relax and drift off to sleep.
I jerk awake when I hear a knock at the front door, followed by a scrape along the kitchen tiles as a stool is pushed out. David greets someone and steps out of the apartment. I don’t fully relax until David returns half an hour later and cracks my bedroom door open.
‘Are you awake, Mighty?’
‘Yes,’ I croak.
He crosses the room, toeing off his shoes.
‘What are you doing?’
‘Remember when I said you didn’t need to cry alone anymore?’
I purse my lips and nod into my pillow.
He gets into bed behind me and holds me, like he said he would.
I turn into his chest. ‘Who was at the door?’
He digs into his pocket and pulls out a diamanté brooch. ‘Security company,’ he says. ‘They specialise in immediate threats. You need to keep this on you. There’s a tracker in the back and a panic button right here in the middle.’ He runs my finger over the top. ‘I have one for Pamela too, since she’s normally with Max when you’re not.’
‘I’m not letting Max out of my sight,’ I snap.
‘I know,’ he soothes. ‘But she should have one too.’
I nod, calming down. He wasn’t insinuating I should go about my day as usual.
‘They’ve set up surveillance of the apartment and are stationed outside. They’re going to keep a close eye on you until Nathan is gone. You’re safe, Stella.’
‘Jesus, David. How much does something like that cost?’
‘I’ll worry about it later.’
‘They’re going to do a job for a college kid on a promise of payment later?’
‘I used my credit card. My parents upped the limit for emergencies when I moved here. This qualifies. We can pay the bill when Mike gets the cash. You need to sleep. I’m here, and I won’t let anything hurt you.’
‘You don’t know who he has helping him. He always said he had help, and the body went missing from the morgue the next day.’
‘Sh,’ David tries to calm my rising panic. ‘We have some help here too. Rest. Let me work this out for you.’
The next morning, Monday, Mike assures me that seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars will be wired to him today. My stomach sinks. He’s more broke than I am. Borrowing money like that is like borrowing from psycho Peter to pay psycho Paul.
‘We’ll have enough to pay Luca, the lawyer, and then we can discuss the paper work.’
‘How can we word a contract that he won’t come back, or be able to take Max from me?’
‘Try not to worry, Mighty. That’s what we’re hiring Luca to do.’ David’s confidence relaxes me somewhat.
He and Mike talk shit in the living room about how to intimidate Nathan when they finally meet him, and I cut toast into rectangle soldiers for Max’s breakfast.
‘He won’t be happy I’m choosing to stay away,’ I tell them. ‘He’s not going to listen if we go in all nice and ask him to leave us alone.’ I’m repeating myself, but I can’t seem to stop replaying every possible scenario.
‘Bullies respond to bullies,’ David says. ‘They only respect people they fear. We need to be someone he fears.’
An Irish accent from the hallway startles me. ‘You’re right,’ she says. ‘You need to be forceful, and it needs to be David.’
Damn, Audrey is still here. If David hadn’t spent the night holding me, I’d be throwing shit right about now. I ease the eggs into the boiling water, throw the spatula on the counter, and circle the kitchen island to get a better look. She’s pretty, despite the lack of make-up and tired eyes. Her long red hair is rumpled and tucked behind her ears, but shines like it’s used to being styled by a professional.
‘Why David?’ Mike asks her.
‘Because David is going to adopt Max,’ she answers.
What the fuck is she talking about? I turn to see David’s reaction, and he’s not the least bit fazed by her idea.
‘It’s part of the contract that Luca works out,’ Audrey continues. ‘Max’s dad will sign away his rights and after you two get married, he doesn’t come back.’
‘What the hell is going on?’ I scream.
‘Stella, listen,’ David says, raising his hand like he’s trying to tame a wild animal.
‘I’m not going to let the first guy that comes along adopt my child, David.’ I’m affronted he’d even suggest it.
‘Luca can fix it,’ Audrey says. ‘He can set up Max’s adoption and put in clauses that take any legal and medical rights away from David as well. Basically, you use David’s name to take him away from his father, but you don’t pass on any legal or parental rights to him. You can sort it out that—’
‘Who the hell is this girl?’ I stare from Mike to David.
She moves closer. ‘You need to do whatever it takes to protect your son. So take the damn help.’
‘Okay, enough of the bullshit.’ I’ll make sure I get all those details ironed out with Luca before I sign anything. ‘What I don’t understand is, if you have someone who can lend you that much money, what the hell do you need me for? Why don’t you just get a real agent? Why the hell are you living here?’
‘Hey, I like our new place.’ Mike pouts.
This is so not the point.
Audrey slides down to the floor next to the coffee table and looks through a grocery bag for leftovers of the food Mike dumped there this morning.
I turn my attention to David and Mike. ‘You’ve got yourself in some serious shit. People who lend that kind of money want it back, with interest, and they will kill you for it.’
‘It was me,’ Audrey says, eating chips. ‘I gave them the money. I told them to find you. You are going to be important in all of this, but don’t think you’re getting a free ride. You’re going to have to work your ass off to pay them back and get Michael to where he needs to be.’
A free fucking ride? Is she kidding me? ‘Who the hell are you?’
Audrey stops eating and pauses for a second. ‘I’m from the future.’
This is so fucked up. She can’t be serious. The exhaustion from the last twenty-four hours takes over, and laughter spills from my mouth. I try to hold it in, but fuck. This crazy girl has shown up and promised us nearly a million dollars. Why the hell did Mike and David believe her? I’m screwed. I let the laughter consume me, because the next thing will be uncontrollable tears. And I need to stay in control. I need to get myself together. I need to run with Max. I sink into a chair. Where will we go? What the hell was my plan yesterday? When David held me last night, I felt safe. I wasn’t thinking about where I should be running to. I was thinking about a future full of David.
David sits down next to me with his arm around the back of
the chair. Like he’s trying to hug me, while maintaining the space I’ve asked him for.
David, who is way more naive than DD would have been. Where’s DD? If I’m really this screwed, he should be here. Why hasn’t he shown up in a ball of light to rescue me?
The three of them continue their conversation, making plans, like I’m not here. I shouldn’t be here. I should be running, but I can’t move. What if Audrey’s not crazy, and DD sent her here to help me? What if she really is from the future and not pranking the hot new time-studies fellow on campus?
Audrey’s words draw my attention ‘. . . You and Stella were already engaged by this time, and me being here has slowed this down. Mike already had a few movies in the pipeline by now, and you get the screenplay signed for pre-production soon. You need to get on that now, and I mean twenty-four seven.’
The light is here. I can see it at the other side of the coffee table. DD is coming back. He’s going to rescue me from all this. He’s going to explain everything to the younger version of himself.
The light rapidly grows strong, and that horrible piercing noise makes me grind my teeth together.
‘Audrey,’ Mike screams and jumps towards her.
I want to tell him it’s okay, it won’t hurt her, it’s just DD coming for me, but she beats me to it.
‘It’s ok, Michael.’ Audrey holds Mike’s hand. She keeps talking to him, but the noise is too loud to hear them, even from the other side of the coffee table.
The light implodes like it did when David left me at the hospital, but this time it takes Audrey with it.
I stand. Waiting. DD’s not coming to save me this time. Despite the ridiculousness of it, I thought I was connected to him. That no matter what, he’d be there for me. But I guess there’s a version of him already here, who’s been here for me all along.
‘Stella?’ David says cautiously.
‘I know this is confusing,’ Mike says.
I run to my room to check on Max. I want to hold him, to make sure he’s still okay. I sit on the bed, while he continues to watch cartoons. How the hell he was oblivious to what happened in the next room is beyond me.
‘He’s okay, Stella. You don’t need to worry about him,’ David says. ‘Audrey has come to us a few times. She’s here to help us.’
‘Who is she?’
‘A friend,’ Mike answers. ‘She sent us to you. You help us get out of this mundane life, and she says we did it. In the future, you are this remarkable agent, and you make a fortune. So do I, and David too. She has told us how to do it. Now, we just need to make sure we do.’
Liam needs to know there’s someone else travelling too. His theories and recordings about time travel need to be updated to include Audrey’s involvement, whoever she turns out to be.
‘I don’t ever want another day like this.’ I stroke Max’s cheek.
‘I know it’s scary, but you get used to seeing her come and go,’ Mike says.
‘Not that.’ I approach the doorway to speak to them. ‘Max’s dad. I don’t ever want to feel that . . . helpless again. If I didn’t have you two to help me, he would have taken us. We would be dead soon.’
And that’s exactly the kind of butterfly effect that Liam spoke about. If we give David too much information, it might affect his ability to harness time travel in the future. What if he and Audrey never time travel? Liam needs to know that keeping David in the dark might save me and Max again.
David takes my hand. ‘Audrey told us to find Luca and to make the deal with Max’s dad. She even gave us her wedding rings to pawn and pay him off.’
‘Why?’
‘Because you’re our friend, and I didn’t want to lose you too,’ Mike says. ‘In the future, you’re never helpless again.’
‘Who else did you lose?’ I ask.
‘No one.’ His smile doesn’t reach his eyes. I wonder if he’s infatuated with time travelling Audrey, like I was with DD. ‘Do you think her plan is going to work?’ I ask.
‘It’ll work,’ David assures me.
‘What do we need to do?’ My voice chokes.
‘You guys get working on your careers. Let me deal with the rest,’ David says.
Mike nods and turns to me. ‘How are you at writing?’
‘Are you sure he’s going to show up?’ Mike asks while I pace the waiting room of Luca’s office.
It’s an expensive office with plush carpet and designer furniture, and I know the fees generated here are more than a lot of people make in a year. Hell, some contracts my dad’s lawyers worked on racked up more money than someone might make in ten years. ‘He’ll show. I told him we had the money.’ I pull my collar. ‘I need to wait outside. I feel trapped in here.’
‘Stay close to the door. Nathan’s due in twenty minutes, come back in before then,’ David says.
I step outside and pace the thick carpet in the reception area while Mike and David finalise payments with Luca. The least amount of time I need to be here the better.
‘Tough day?’ The raspy voice behind me reminds me of David waking early morning, when he kisses me before sneaking back to his room, but it’s DD.
Slowly turning around, I smile before my emotional firewall breaks down and I’m a crumbling sobbing mess reaching my arms out for him. I missed him, but this must be one of the times I died for him to be here.
Looking the same as when he came to me in the hospital—older, tired, and worn out—DD wraps his arms tight around my back and presses his face to my hair. I melt into him. This time, we both know we’ve been more than friends.
‘It’s okay,’ he croons. ‘I told you I was here until you were okay, didn’t I?’
‘I can’t believe this is real. When I met you and Mike outside Cici’s store, you were so young. I thought I was losing my mind. I just ignored it, until you started talking about your work on the theory of time travel and I let myself think that maybe it was true. Then I met Liam, and that girl, Audrey, disappeared, and you and Mike know all about it.’
DD holds me at arm’s length. ‘We know about Audrey, but I never travelled before. Not until now, when I’m forty. You can’t tell me, okay? Remember that.’
‘I never said a word, even before Liam told me not to. He told me about you travelling to him when he was a boy.’
‘I haven’t been there yet, but if he said I did, then it must happen.’
‘It was years ago. How can you not have been there yet?’
‘I’m not travelling in chronological order, like Audrey. Each time I leave a place, I travel farther into the past. How many times have I come to you?’
‘This is the second. The first was when I had Max.’
‘It’s too soon for me to know anything about my own travels. My focus needs to be on helping Audrey, and that will lead to this. One day I’ll have the time to explain what I know, but right now we have to get rid of Nathan. There’s something you need to know.’ He runs his thumb down my cheek.
‘What?’ My heart skips a beat.
‘We got rid of him for good. This is the last time you’ll see him.’
A booming voice from the hall startles us apart. ‘What the hell is this?’
DD looks up, and we stare down at Nathan.
‘You again? Well, I wasn’t expecting that. Always showing up without a scratch on you.’
I narrow my eyes at Nathan. He was the one who came off worse in their brief scuffle at the hospital. ‘If I remember correctly, you were the one who was pinned against a wall the last time you two met.’
‘You know what, Nathan. We had a deal. You were supposed to stay away. But now I know better than to bargain with the likes of you. It’s time to raise the stakes, bring in the real deal.’ The light has already started to form around DD, and I see his jaw twitch. He knows he’s leaving.
‘You are about to witness how important this woman is to us. On the other side of that door are two really pissed people who are willing to give up everything to protect her. This is your chan
ce to retreat with some dignity and your life intact.’
‘My life? You think you can threaten me, old man? You’re the one who ended up in a pile of dirt.’
‘What the hell is that supposed to mean?’ My attitude to Nathan hasn’t subsided with his absence.
The light grows, and the noise intensifies. Nathan raises a hand in front of the light and I take a step back.
‘I’ll always come back.’ DD speaks as the light engulfs him. ‘Every damn time you do, I’ll be here, waiting. I’ve sent a file to the FBI with evidence tying you to the murder. It’s on a time delay. They will get the information in ten hours. That gives you enough time to take the money and leave the country.’ DD manages his final parting words before the light retreats, and he’s gone.
‘What the fuck was that? He supposed to be some sort of ghost?’ The fear on Nathan’s face warms my insides.
Luca’s office door opens, and David steps out, looking younger and, if possible stronger, flanked by Mike and Luca.
‘You must be Nathan. We’ve been waiting on you,’ David says.
Nathan looks from David to me and back again. ‘Are you kidding me? What the hell is going on here?’
Luca steps forward. ‘Let’s continue this inside, shall we?’
Nathan’s shorter than the three men, but walks like he’s about to pounce on everyone. His stance says he’s ready for a fight. Despite David and Mike working out and being blessed in the muscle department, Nathan’s the psycho willing to take the cheap shots and not care about the consequences.
‘Really, what is he? Like some baby brother version of your sugar daddy?’ He sneers as he passes David.
Fuck, he really needs to keep his mouth shut. DD wouldn’t have revealed himself to Nathan if he didn’t know what he was doing—I hope.
‘He’s a friend. David had his lawyer arrange the transfer,’ I say meekly. God, I’m going to have to find the courage to stand up to this guy. I’ve spent so much time helping Mike learn how to act, you’d think I could implement some of my own advice for half an hour.