The Same Time (Time Series book 2)

by Brona Mills

  ‘Audrey said Sunshine Studios.’

  ‘In order to get Sunshine Studios interested, we need to get other studios interested too.’

  ‘Okay.’

  ‘Start writing. I can help you in a few days. Let’s set a deadline for the end of the month and work our butts off day and night. We already know we did it, right?’

  ‘Almost done,’ David chirps, crossing the hallway back to his room. We’ve been home for three hours, and he’s almost finished switching furniture and moving his clothes. ‘It’s getting tight in there. I’ll need to leave some stuff in Mike’s room.’

  ‘No problem.’ Mike watches David until he’s inside our bedroom. ‘Is this all happening a little fast, Stella?’

  I smile at his concern. ‘Don’t worry about me, Mike, I’ve had David wrapped around my finger for a while now.’ I wink.

  He arches his brow.

  I stand at the back of the couch and wait for David to pass through the room again. When he sees me, he opens his arms to me.

  ‘There’s no reason to wait around anymore,’ David says. ‘Mike’s guardian angel told us it’s going to happen.’

  I freeze and David squeezes my side at my reaction.

  ‘If Audrey said we get married in the future, does that mean that’s the way it’s always been?’

  ‘From what we’ve seen, the big things in life always work out the same. There’s no changing those.’

  If that’s true, then I was always his wife in the future, just like Liam suggested. Maybe that’s why DD came to me, to help change his destiny as well. Maybe avoiding pregnancy isn’t the answer. Maybe stopping myself from making such a catastrophic decision was all I needed? But how can I stop something I could never fathom myself doing?

  ‘He’s home.’ David nudges me when Pamela and Max come through the front door.

  The panic about my future is put on hold while I rush around the couch and scoop Max into a bear hug. I smile at Pamela. ‘Thanks for collecting him. We got through a lot this afternoon.’

  ‘Mommy, put me down.’ He squirms when I try to give him a hundred kisses on his cheeks.

  ‘Hey, David and I wanted to talk to you,’ I say.

  Mike gets up from the couch, but I put my hand on his arm to keep him in place. ‘You know how we all live here, like a family and best friends,’ I tell Max as we sink into the seat. David remains standing while Pamela perches on the arm of the chair opposite us. ‘Well, David and I are going to be dating.’

  ‘What does that mean?’

  ‘Like boyfriend and girlfriend,’ I tell him.

  ‘Ew, are you going to kiss?’ he asks.

  I laugh. ‘Yes, we are going to kiss and go out on dates, and David is going to move into my room.’

  ‘We should probably move Max’s bed into my room for a while,’ Mom adds.

  ‘Why?’ Max asks.

  David sucks in a breath and shifts his weight from one foot to the next.

  It’s Pamela who answers. ‘Don’t worry, you’re still going to get to do all the things you do with your mom now. It means that David might be there a little more than he is now.’

  ‘Like how he always comes to the park with us?’

  ‘If that’s okay?’ David asks.

  ‘Suppose so,’ Max says. ‘You push the swings way faster than Mommy does.’ He jumps from the seat. ‘Can I go now?’

  I nod, and he takes off to our room, where I hear the crash of his toy box before he drags it through the hall and into Pamela’s room, spilling toys as he goes.

  ‘Congratulations,’ Mike says to Pamela. ‘Your new roommate’s a slob.’

  David is noticeably tense.

  ‘He’s a great kid,’ Mike says, slapping David on the arm ‘We’ve been living here long enough that he won’t notice much of a difference.’

  ‘Who wants homemade burgers and fries?’ Mom asks us.

  A collective response of yes’s from all of us has her beaming as she enters the kitchen.

  ‘As long as you’re making that relish thing,’ Mike shouts.

  David crosses the room, wraps me in his arms, and pulls me down to the couch. ‘Does this mean we can keep going on dates? The full works? Dinner, movie, snogging on the doorstep?’

  ‘As long as I get to pick the movie. Your taste in films sucks.’ I slap him on the leg when I stand. ‘I’m going to play with Max. See if he has any questions. Mike, get started on what we discussed. David, can you see what office supplies you can bring home for us? And, Mom?’

  Pamela turns from the stove. ‘Yes?’

  ‘Make coffee and find your reading glasses. It’s going to be a long night.’

  I leave the room to a chorus of ‘Yes, boss’ and a salute from David.

  This is finally it.

  ‘Shit,’ Mom screams. ‘Fire!’

  I run back to the kitchen where David is pulling my mom backwards from the flames at the stove.

  ‘Fuck!’ I run to the cabinet and pull out the fire blanket. I have no idea what to do with this thing. David pulls it out of my hands and frees the blanket from the package in one swoop and throws it on top of the stove, killing the flames that were licking the ceiling.

  Max is at my legs, clinging to me before I’ve even realised. Mike and Pamela are standing to my left.

  Pamela stutters, ‘I’m sorry. I only turned around for a second, and the oil must have got too hot.’

  ‘It’s okay.’ David pulls the blanket off the stove and we all assess the burned pan. The black marks from the flames run the entire height of the wall, and when I tilt my head up, the damage can be seen stretching halfway across the ceiling.

  ‘Doesn’t look like there’s structural damage. It’s going to need cleaned and maintenance will have to inspect it. But we might be lucky and only need to pay for a paint job.’

  ‘Just as well we have some spare cash, right?’

  Pamela looks pale and dejected. It doesn’t take a lot to make her sink low, and the guilt from this near miss will have her plummeting.

  ‘Don’t worry about it.’ I squeeze her hand. ‘It was my fault. I called you away.’

  Mike steps up. ‘But the relish is still good, right?’

  When Cici is checking in a delivery, I phone Liam. ‘He came to me again, a few days ago.’

  There’s rustling on his end, and I hear the click of his Dictaphone over the receiver. ‘Tell me everything.’

  Halfway through my story of what transpired, including the bombshell of a second time traveller, he cuts in. ‘DD told you not to tell the younger version of himself about the time travel?’

  ‘Yes. Like you said about not giving him too much information, he mentioned that his focus needs to be on Audrey.’

  ‘Good. It means we’re all on the same page. You met Audrey? Do you think you’d recognise her if you saw her again?’

  ‘Like a time travelling line up?’ I quip. ‘Of course I’d recognise her.’

  ‘Three of us, travelling through time, one to the future, some to the past, but all knotted together somewhere along the line. This is good. Thank you for bringing it to me.’

  ‘At least your work might benefit from it, even if I can’t tell David directly. But, Liam, I need something in return.’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘If this is one big loop of things always turning out the same way, there’s going to be information in that letter DD left behind, that might have to do with David and my relationship. Things I need to know.’

  ‘Stella—’

  ‘You want me to bring you more information?’ My tone hardens. ‘Then get me that damn letter.’

  ‘I’ll try my best, but I need something from you first. Come in and watch a video for me. Tell me what you see. But, Stella—’

  ‘I know, I know. Top secret.’

  Three weeks later

  Sitting in the waiting room of Sunshine Studios, I’m poised and Mike bounces his leg off the glass coffee table, nearly knocking over the two-hu
ndred-dollar fresh flower centrepiece.

  ‘Stop it.’ I slide the vase back into place.

  ‘How can you be so calm?’

  ‘I’m not calm,’ I tell him. ‘I’m acting like I’m calm. You should try it sometime.’

  ‘Ha bloody ha.’

  ‘Seriously, Mike. I’m twitching, but we’ve got to get in there and own that room. We’re offering them a budget that will be hard for them to reject. We’re going to make them see dollar signs and box-office records. If we walk in there and they sense fear or our hunger, they’ll screw us over.’

  I place my hands over his. He stops bouncing his leg. ‘Right from this moment, I want you to play a part.’

  ‘What part?’

  ‘That of a successful writer, director, and producer you’re going to be one day.’

  He screws up his mouth. He doesn’t want to object, but he’s letting me know he doesn’t think he has it in him.

  ‘You’re a good actor, Mike. This is another performance. We walk in there and sell what we have. It works. Audrey already told us this will work. We only need to secure enough funding that the movie won’t be under-budgeted, but we can still be involved with production. And still have enough cash flow leftover to live on while it’s being made.’

  I send myself a text message reminder to keep Mike working on some short contracts while this screenplay is tied up in legal. My eyes twitch when I try to focus on the tiny screen.

  ‘You look tired.’

  ‘I’m okay, but I need to wrap this up. I want to be home to make dinner for Max tonight. We can pick work back up when he’s asleep.’

  ‘And the boutique, are you going to give that up soon?’

  I put my phone away and look at him. ‘Once some cash is coming in, yes. Until then, I can’t.’

  ‘David told me you’re not sleeping.’

  ‘Of course I’m sleeping. I’m exhausted. I fall asleep as soon as I’m in bed.’

  ‘But you get up in the middle of the night to write yourself notes, and at five-thirty every morning to get paperwork done before you go to the boutique. We have a small cash flow to survive on right now, Stella. You can give something up and make your life easier. That’s what we’re trying to do here.’

  Panic crawls through my lungs, and I know it’s the fatigue that has a hold of my emotions. ‘I can’t.’ I choke.

  He takes my hand in his. ‘We’re a team. We’ll support each other until we’re all where we need to be.’

  ‘I have to be the one who provides for Max. I need a job I know is going to pay at the end of the week.’ I swallow a lump in my throat. ‘I just need to know he’ll always have a home and food on the table. If this doesn’t work out, you guys can pack your bags and go back home. Let me have this piece of assurance to keep me sane, okay?’

  ‘Okay, but, Stella, the first pay check we get is all yours.’

  ‘You don’t need to do that, Mike.’

  He shakes his head. ‘You’ve worked too long on this for free, and there were months I never had enough to chip in for my share of the bills, and neither you nor David brought it up. You’re right. I can trot home with my tail between my legs if this doesn’t work out. So let me do this. You’ve earned it.’

  ‘You’ve earned it too. Don’t you want to send some of that money to your family in England?’

  Mike pinches the bridge of his nose. ‘David told you my parents were filing for bankruptcy?’

  I nod. ‘It came up. I knew things were bad, but you never mentioned how far things had progressed. You need this money as much as I do.’

  He pats my hand. ‘We’ll figure it out.’

  ‘How about we both take the cut we’re supposed to?’ I take a deep breath and get my head back to where it needs to be. ‘Let’s get in here and kill this.’

  ‘We’ve got it.’ He winks.

  David’s lab number appears on my phone screen. ‘Hello, sexy baby,’ I answer.

  ‘Ehem.’ He clears his throat. ‘I’m not really the baby type of man, but I’ll roll with it if you want,’ Liam replies.

  I cringe. ‘Sorry. Thought you were David.’

  ‘You break my heart so easily, Stella.’

  I smile at his playfulness. ‘What can I do for you?’

  ‘I need you to help me speak to my dad.’

  My throat dries. ‘Why?’

  ‘He’s being stubborn about the damn letter. I explained about your experiences, but he starting shouting. He never shouts. Normally, I’d agree we shouldn’t read it. Hell, I’ve been agreeing with him for years, but his reaction’s made me realise something.’

  ‘What?’

  He lets out a breath, like he’s calming himself before he speaks.

  ‘Spit it out, Liam.’

  ‘I think he’s already read it.’

  My heart beats faster. I stand and pace, using up the adrenaline that’s cursing through me. ‘What the hell does that mean?’

  ‘Once I mentioned your name, he got defensive. I think he knows some things about you and David from that letter. Whatever David wrote, it was important enough to send Ethan Bennett into a rage.’

  Ethan’s not what I expect. I saw a picture of him inside the book he wrote years ago with Liam, but that was a stereotype image you would expect of a physics professor. The suit and tie, the glasses, and the serious look of intelligence you associate with someone in the job. Here in his office, surrounded by day old coffee cups and an overflowing trash can, he looks like he’s on the brink of being the washed up, possibly unhinged professor, rather than the well-respected UCLA scientist.

  ‘Excuse the mess,’ Ethan says as I eye the place. ‘Been kind of busy making sure the universe doesn’t fall down around us.’

  I nod. ‘So I heard.’

  ‘What else you hear?’ he all but snarls.

  ‘Dad, Stella is here to help us. Be nice.’ Liam clears a stack of papers from the chair in front of the desk and motions for me to sit.

  ‘She’s here about the damn letter.’ Ethan tilts his chair back.

  ‘The one you already read,’ I add.

  His mouth drops open, and his desk chair snaps forward. ‘How the hell did you know that?’

  ‘Jesus, Dad. When?’

  Ethan growls under his breath. ‘A couple of years after we got it.’

  Liam plants a hip on the edge of the desk. ‘When you decided it should go into a security vault?’

  ‘I didn’t want you making the same mistake I did.’

  ‘Which was?’ I ask.

  ‘Having too much information. Sometimes you can know the wrong things.’

  ‘Or the wrong people can know too much about their lives,’ I say.

  ‘She catches on quick.’ Ethan raises his eyebrow at Liam.

  Liam clears his throat. ‘I need you to watch a video.’

  ‘Now?’ My voice is high-pitched. ‘What the hell is so important about it?’

  ‘You’ll understand when you see it.’ Liam wheels over a TV and VCR unit while Ethan opens a vault safe and pulls out a video.

  I squirm in my seat. Nothing good can be on a tape stored in a safe.

  Liam loads the tape into the slot and the wind up of the machine fills the silence around us.

  ‘If you don’t know what this is,’ Ethan growls, ‘you still need to keep your mouth shut.’

  I raise my eyebrows. ‘If it’s that important, why the hell are you showing it to me?’

  Liam sits on the edge of the desk again. ‘We need you to identify the people in the tape. We got it last year and have guessed at who it might be. You’re the first person we feel comfortable asking.’ He gives his father a warning look.

  ‘Suppose she’s the least risky person to confirm it.’ Ethan adjusts his glasses.

  ‘Gee, thanks.’

  Liam hits play, and the screen is filled with black and white footage that looks to be from a store security camera. The store has display shelves of VHS tapes on both sides, and waist-high stands i
n the centre aisles. A video rental store, maybe. The angle of the footage is from a height, encasing the entire shop in the one shot. Near the top of the screen is a young couple, the only people in the store. The girl’s back is to the camera, but the guy talking to her can be seen clearly. I lean forward and speak before I mean to. ‘That’s Mike.’

  Ethan rubs his forehead. ‘Yes, we’ve met Mike through David a few times. But who’s the girl?’

  I move closer to the screen, and Liam hits pause. There’s a slight distortion to the tape as the pause pulls on screen.

  ‘The footage only lasts a minute,’ Liam tells me.

  ‘How much can you really tell from the back of a person’s head?’ I scoff.

  The picture’s black and white, like the security feed, and her hair could be red if the picture was in colour. I grit my teeth, reluctant to answer in case I’m wrong. ‘She’s wearing the same clothes, but I’m not sure.’

  ‘Wearing the same clothes as whom?’ Liam asks.

  ‘She said her name was Audrey. She was wearing a cardigan with white trim, the same cut as that.’ I trail my fingers across the screen. ‘Black Capri pants, ballet pumps. Her hair is the right length.’ I turn to face them. ‘Is this all you have?’

  ‘No,’ Ethan tells me. ‘You might as well show her, Liam.’

  Liam removes the tape and places it back in the safe. He opens a folder and hands me an A4 still of the woman, taken from the footage.

  ‘Jesus.’ I take the picture of Audrey’s face from him. It’s blurred and looks enhanced somehow, but it’s definitely her. ‘Where did you get this?’

  ‘From the security tape. There’s a reflection in the store window. We were able to zoom in, and reversed the angle on the footage. From there we could see her speak.’

  ‘What did she say?’

  ‘“Michael”,’ Ethan answers from his chair.

  ‘What?’

  ‘That’s what she said, but whoever cut the tape did a shitty job and left a quarter of a second of glowing white light.’

  ‘You have her disappearing on tape?’

  ‘Not enough to be conclusive, but David does.’ Liam takes a step forward. ‘David sent me the tape last year, with a ridiculous story about why he needed to see what the girl was saying. Is it her?’