The Same Time (Time Series book 2)

by Brona Mills

  Luca gestures for us to sit around his desk, the chairs spread farther apart than they were when I was in here a few minutes ago.

  A few minutes. DD was with me for days the last time. Being cheated out of my time with DD trumps my fear of Nathan. I stand taller, smugger at the realisation. He’s losing the grip he had on me.

  Everyone stands, aside from Luca, who sits at the other side of his desk. David stands in front of me, blocking my view of Nathan. My heart clenches. I shouldn’t feel robbed. David’s right here, protecting me as always. Knowing this is the last time I’ll see Nathan, gives me the strength to step forward and face him head-on. I place my hand on David’s lower back as I step to the side, coming into full view. David tenses when Nathan’s within reaching distance of me. But that was never Nathan’s style. He got more satisfaction from the fear he inflicted and the control he had when I was alone with him. Why punch a girl in the face when there are people to help her?

  ‘I understand Ms. Lewis wishes to transfer some funds to you under certain contractual obligations.’ Luca leans back in his chair, like he deals with things like this every day. Maybe he does.

  ‘What obligations would those be?’ Nathan eyes me, and my natural instinct is to look at the ground. I hold his gaze, and he grins, knowing how hard this is for me.

  ‘Stella would like you to sign parental rights of your son, Max, over to her. You would rescind all legal and medical rights over your child, stay out of her life, and out of the country. I understand you have family in Europe and are keen to return there.’

  ‘You want to kick me out of the fucking country?’ Nathan’s question is directed at me, but it’s Luca who answers.

  ‘Not kick. Simply push. Stella has signed a sworn affidavit, detailing her witness statement to the events of September 24, 1993 and the murder you committed.’

  ‘She’s a lying bitch. The body went missing from the morgue. You got nothing on me.’

  ‘We have the body,’ I lie. ‘I needed insurance over you. I saw a great opportunity and took it.’

  Nathan’s eyes dart to me, hesitant. There’s no way he’d believe me if he hadn’t just seen what happened in the hallway, but it’s enough to make him nervous.

  ‘You have a way out. Take the cash and leave. Half a million and no jail is pretty good, if you ask me. I told her I could get you for less, but’—Luca waves his hand at me—‘she really wants to be rid of you.’

  ‘Half a million? You said your daddy left you nothing. See? I told you she’s a lying bitch.’

  David takes a step forward, and Mike grabs his arm to hold him back. Nathan tenses, but instead of throwing the first punch, like he normally would, he holds a nervous stance.

  David picks up a pen and holds it out to Nathan. ‘Sign the damn papers.’

  ‘Who the hell are you?’ Nathan asks.

  ‘I’m the guy who’s raising your son. Stella’s mine now.’

  Nathan sneers at him. ‘I’ll gladly take the money, but I’m not leaving the country until it’s in the bank. I never did get as much for that watch as I thought I would.’ He leans over and signs the papers without even looking at them. Tossing the pen on the table, he finishes. ‘Never cared for her anyway.’

  ‘Luca, finish this up and bill me.’ David tugs me out of the room.

  ‘Yes, sir,’ Luca says.

  Mike follows us out to the elevator. Once inside, we collectively let out a breath.

  ‘Do you think it worked?’ Mike asks.

  ‘Yes.’ DD wouldn’t have left if he wasn’t sure of that. He was here to show Nathan I had a supernatural guardian angel looking after me.

  ‘Stella, please tell me you didn’t steal a body from the morgue?’ Mike asks.

  ‘Of course not.’ A chill runs through me. ‘It was stolen from the morgue the next night. To be honest, I always thought Nathan was behind it. But I only realised when I stepped out of the office earlier that he doesn’t have the ability to pull something like that off. I took a chance.’

  ‘A chance? Christ, the whole thing could have fallen apart.’ David runs his hand through his hair.

  ‘But it didn’t. And I knew this is the time he leaves for good.’

  ‘So who the hell took it?’

  ‘Does it matter?’ My hand twinges at my side, and I stretch my fingers towards David’s. He flinches when I make contact, before weaving his fingers with mine and squeezing my hand tight with a reassuring smile.

  My heart skips a beat and finally, I feel like I have a home. Liam might be wrong. I might not be able to warn David about the time travel he’s going to experience, but perhaps I can save him from the heartache of marrying the wrong girl and losing his baby. I can love him better than she ever did. And if I’m her, at least I have the knowledge I need to avoid pregnancy, because I know an abortion would never be an option for me. That’s why I can’t figure out if I really am his future wife, why I would have ever done it.

  ‘What’s you plans for tomorrow?’ David asks me from the kitchen. ‘I want to take you on a date.’

  I throw Break The Piece on the coffee table and take a seat at the kitchen island opposite him.

  ‘You want to take me on a date?’

  ‘I thought it was overdue. We spoke about telling everyone about us. Now seems like a good time, don’t you think?’

  ‘Why, because some time travelling Irish girl showed up and told you to save me from my crazy ex and marry me and adopt my child?’

  David lets out a breath and leans over the island, getting closer to me. ‘She said you were my wife in the future. She didn’t tell me to marry you right away. Besides, don’t you think if we kept dating and getting on as well as we do, that things would get serious between us? Heck, I already think seriously about you.’ He places a kiss on the tip of my nose.

  ‘I do, but I don’t want anything to influence your decisions.’

  ‘What about your decisions? Are you so impenetrable to time travel influences you’re only worried about me?’

  ‘I’m worried about you derailing your life for some young single mom you pity.’

  David rounds the counter and snakes his arms around my waist. ‘Stella, when I look at you, pity is certainly not something that comes to mind. Dropping to my knees begging to be yours, maybe.’ He kisses my neck. ‘We’re dating already. Your mom knows about us. It’s just the going out sort of dates that need to start happening. Let’s keep dating until you’re ready to take the next step. But I want to take you out in public where we can hold hands and eat ice-cream and kiss in the middle of the street.’

  ‘Where do you want to go?’

  ‘This is your town. Where do you want to go?’

  ‘What have you still to see?’

  ‘Most things. I’ve seen the university and Rodeo Drive. I’ve done the Hollywood tour—’

  ‘Wait, you’ve done the Hollywood tour?’ I lean back to look him in the eye. ‘Are you fricking kidding me?’

  David smirks. ‘Got the tour bus around Beverly Hills, the Hollywood sign and everything.’

  ‘Ugh, that is so ridiculous.’

  ‘Only ’cause you’re a local. For anyone who doesn’t live near the mansions and high-rises, this country is an amazing place to visit.’

  ‘Really, just what is it you find so amazing?’

  ‘Well, except for the local hotties’—he tugs at my lips with his teeth and pulls me into the crook of his arm, guiding me back to the stove where he stirs the marinara sauce—‘the culture diversity is pretty cool. I mean, I’m from London, but still, over here it’s on a whole other level. Normally we’d need to get on a plane to actually feel like you’re visiting another country. And I travelled a lot with my parents, so I know what I’m talking about. You guys have so many integrated pockets of different cultures all over the city. Japanese, Chinese, Korean, and Thai. You only need to spend an hour there, and you feel like you’re in the country.’

  ‘You want to go to Chinatown and eat Chinese foo
d?’

  ‘Already did that. It was completely different to the Chinese food we have back home, which is kind of weird.’

  ‘It was real Chinese food, that’s why.’

  ‘So where do you want to take me?’ He asks.

  I think for a minute. ‘Ever been to Japan?’

  He shakes his head. ‘It’s on my list of countries to visit when I’m rich and famous.’ He smiles.

  ‘No need, when you’re in a city that has Little Tokyo.’ I stretch up and kiss him on the lips.

  ‘We leave at ten tomorrow morning. Bring your wallet, ’cause you have a ton load of Japanese food to buy me.’

  David’s turning in the street, looking at the red and white lanterns that run from light pole to light pole. ‘This place is insane.’

  ‘It’s great, right? We should have actually come down at night, ’cause City Hall looks great lit up in the background, but I want to be home for Max before it gets dark.’ I grab his hand and walk through the small square towards my favourite restaurant. The sunlight shines through the trees, highlighting the old buildings nestled in between the new. ‘This place right here’—I point—‘does the best ice-cream. We need to line up.’

  ‘It’s eleven in the morning. You want to eat ice-cream?’

  ‘Hell, yeah.’ I hold our hands in the air. ‘You told me you’d hold my hand and eat ice-cream, so that’s what we’re doing. Then we need to walk over to the New Otani Hotel and see their Japanese rooftop garden. It’s a miniature version of the one in Tokyo, and you can see the trees from the street below. We can go the long way around. There’s a load of sculptures and museums to look at on the way over.’

  ‘You’re into art?’

  ‘Not really. I mean, I don’t know anything about art, but I like to look.’

  ‘What’s that?’ He points to the Watchtower peaking over the top of a building.

  ‘We can get closer to the sites once we’ve got the ice-cream.’ I kiss him and tug him in the direction of the restaurant.

  We stroll around the souvenir shops and I point out places I’ve eaten at with my dad. I tell him where there are the best fortune cookies or the nicest ramen noodles. I swear he looks like he’s cataloguing everything I’m telling him.

  ‘I have to ask.’

  He twists to look at me, as we continue walking the street. ‘Sounds ominous.’

  ‘Do you ever think Audrey has screwed with your life? Like if she hadn’t shown up yesterday, would we even be out on this date today?’

  ‘Yes and no.’

  ‘Wow, that’s honest.’

  He nudges me and turns back around.

  ‘Honestly, I think the first time she appeared to Mike two years ago has influenced things. Mike and I even moving to the US was something she started.’

  ‘So we shouldn’t even be together then?’ I gulp.

  ‘I wouldn’t say that. I mean, there are a million scenarios that might have brought me here. Audrey was just one of them. And I know for a fact, no matter where or when I met you, it would end with me scrambling to get your attention.’ He puts his arm around my shoulder and nestles me into his side as we walk. ‘I don’t care what brought us together, or why. Just that it feels right, you know?’

  Outside Weller Court shopping mall, he pulls me to a stop and leans back against a sculpture.

  ‘I want to be with you, and I want to be all in. Not just dating and roommates. I want what Audrey told me. And I’ve wanted it for a while. You’re the one I want to be with, no bullshit, no games. I want a relationship, and for us that means involving your son and also your mother. Hell, even Mike is so involved in both our lives.’ He laughs. ‘I want to be a part of your life. So, if that means we have family movie night instead of trips to the theatre, that’s what I want. If dinner out is Chucky Cheese instead of a candle lit romantic meal for two’—he smiles and leans in for a kiss—‘baby, I don’t care, as long as we get to do it together.’

  ‘Are you serious?’ I take a brave step forward, into his space, and push against him. ‘’Cause I kind of need that. I need the steady relationship. I need to know you won’t split at the first fight. If we’re going to do this, date and live together and involve Max, then I need to know it’s for real.’

  ‘It is for real.’ He slides his hand over my throat and around the back of my neck.

  ‘Okay.’

  ‘What does that mean?’

  ‘Let’s tell everyone. Let’s move in together and let’s make those careers Audrey said we have.’

  He chuckles. ‘We already live together. You want me to pack up my shit and move into your bed?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Fuck,’ he breathes into me. ‘I was hoping you’d say that.’

  ‘This is moving fast, David.’

  ‘We’ve been friends a long time. Not many couples get a time travelling buddy to show up and tell them they’re doing it right.’

  I swallow hard, stand straight, and pull him back on the path to the hotel. When we’re far enough back, I chuckle. ‘Do you know what the sculpture is?’ I point to the place we were leaning.

  He throws an arm over my shoulder. ‘Something nautical? It’s like two big ropes tied together.’ He tilts his head. ‘No, not tied. Wrapped around each other.’

  ‘It’s a friendship knot. See how the two pieces wrap around each other before heading back in their original direction?’

  ‘Yeah.’

  ‘My dad always told me it was like life. Those people who were truly your friends would always be intertwined with your life. That no matter what, they’d be there for you. Wrapped around you, holding on and taking care of each other, so that no matter what direction you went in, they were supporting you and moving along with their own lives next to yours.’

  ‘That’s nice. You know, it’s sort of like Audrey and her travels. I always thought of it like the infinity loop. Never ending and always coming back on itself. I never thought it is certain people in our lives who hold the key to the never ending part.’ He’s biting his lip.

  ‘What?’

  ‘You know, we basically sealed our fate, in this weird time travel influenced loop, under the statue of an infinite friendship symbol.’

  I chuckle and wrap my arm around his waist. ‘Yes, we did.’

  ‘Where do we start?’ I ask Mike, leaning over his shoulder to look at his notes on the couch.

  ‘I don’t know how any of this works.’ Mike turns back to the book Audrey left for him.

  ‘That’s why Audrey sent you to me, remember? I’m a hot piece of agent ass in the future.’ I smirk and sit next to him. ‘Tell me everything about her—when she came to you and what’s happening, what you’ve found out about her.’

  Mike pinches the bridge of his nose. ‘Two years ago, she appeared out of the light and then disappeared again. I was working at a video rental shop, and I took David back to look at the store security cameras. It wasn’t until he saw the footage that he believed me. We spent the next year trying to get her to come back to us and researching ghosts and paranormal activity.’

  ‘She’s dead?’ Maybe DD’s dead too. My heart constricts for a second, followed by intense thudding when it tries to make up for the lost beat.

  ‘No. She’s real and alive, but at first we thought she might be.’

  ‘So people can travel back from the future and still be okay? They’re not in danger?’

  ‘I hope so,’ he breathes. ‘David is working on the physics of it. She’s come to me three times now, always around my birthday. She’s told us much about our futures and that you were my agent. We do it, you know.’ His smile reaches all the way to his eyes, causing them to twinkle. ‘We make the Hollywood A-list and finally get our families in a place they don’t have to worry about the price of milk.’ He squeezes my hand.

  God, Mike needs this to work out as much as I do. His family are struggling too, I can’t forget that. DD is safe. David is going to be safe when he travels. And if Audrey has com
e back multiple times, and David is working on how to control it, maybe in the future, DD knows exactly what he’s doing. We can finally put the worry of bills and school fees behind us. We just need to do what Audrey tells us. And what DD told me.

  ‘Audrey said we write the adaptation for this book. First of all, we need to buy the film rights from the author, then get a copy of the manuscript and condense it into one hundred and twenty pages. Both of us can start by reading it and exchanging notes on the scenes we want to keep and why they’re important. We’ll switch copies and read it again with each other’s notes in the margins.’

  ‘I’m going to buy you guys some office furniture tomorrow. We can set up a desk and chair in Mike’s room now that I’m moving out,’ David says, carrying a pile of clothes from his room to mine. Ours.

  ‘That’s a good idea. I’ll make you a list of things we need,’ I call.

  ‘I’ve got to say, you’re handling this well,’ Mike says. ‘When we first met Audrey, she scared the shit out of us, until we really got to know her the second year.’

  ‘She helped me. You guys helped me. And she told us things are going to get better. Sometimes you just need the confidence to keep going.’

  ‘So we write the screenplay?’

  ‘I need you to get a head start on this. You know the basics of script layout, since you’ve read so many of them. My dad left some screenwriting books in Cici’s garage. I’m going to collect them later, but the best part is the inside knowledge you have.’

  ‘I don’t have any inside knowledge.’

  ‘It’s your passion for this book, Mike. That’s why it’s going to work.’ I hold up the novel Break the Piece that he used during his original audition with me. ‘The story and the character meant so much to you. We’re going to take those feelings you had and amplify them on screen. We need to make some cinematography and budget schedules—’

  ‘And a girl. Audrey says we need to add a love interest.’

  ‘And add a girl. I’m going to make an offer to the author tomorrow to option the rights. I’ll check the sales rank and see what we’ll have to offer her. Then we can budget it and pitch it to the studios.’