by Brona Mills
I stare at the photo and nod. It’s one hundred percent Audrey. ‘Based on what she seems to know about time travel, it looks like you guys go on to feed her all sorts of information.’
Liam nods. ‘Just in time for her to travel back here and fill us in on all the progress we’re going to make in the next ten or so years. The world of time travel is expanding. She’s someone new.’
‘What do you mean new?’
‘She wasn’t at the dinner party I witnessed when I travelled to the future. Audrey’s a new player.’
‘Is that what David put in his letter? Information about Audrey? Or about the progress he’s going to make on his research?’ I ask.
‘Audrey and David’s experiences are different,’ Ethan tells me. ‘Even though they left at the same time, the David from the future—’
‘DD. That’s what I called him, when I met him. It’s easier to keep them straight in your head.’
‘Why DD?’ Liam squints.
‘No reason.’ Heat travels to my cheeks. ‘We spent some time giving each other nicknames. Labour takes a while. We got bored, is all.’
‘Very well.’ Ethan clears his throat. ‘DD’s travelling hasn’t been chronological like Audrey’s. He went backwards, so each time he gained more information about what was happening and why, he arrived at a time earlier in our timeline. He didn’t have anyone to discuss things with. That must have led to him having to make some decisions while he travelled. Some mistakes even. Mistakes that I now have to harbour.’
‘You don’t have to harbour anything, Dad. We can help with this. We can bring David in on it, give him the information he needs without giving away many details.’
‘No, it’s too soon. The letter was specific on what was to be done, and the date on which we should open it. Which means he knows full well that interference at an earlier stage will have negative effects on the order of things.’
‘What order?’ I ask.
Ethan stands and puts his hands in his pockets. ‘All you need to know is that man loves you more than anything. Just go live your life. Don’t ask DD anything when he returns and visits you again. It could fuck up everything. I’ll see you in seventeen years.’
‘Seventeen years?’ I stand and meet him as close to eye level as my height will allow. ‘We’re supposed to open the damn letter when we’re forty? We have more than enough time to make changes if it’s that bad.’
Ethan chuckles. ‘Time is the goddamn problem here.’
‘You could be dead in seventeen years. How the hell are we going to get the letter then?’ I spit. It’s harsh, and the bitch side of me hasn’t surfaced in a while, but it’s the truth.
‘I’m glad to see you’re not taking chances with your life.’
‘Chances?’ I ask.
Liam runs his hands over his face. ‘Just because we’ve met someone from the future who knows us there doesn’t mean we are guaranteed to survive ’till that time. You can get too cocky,’ Liam says. ‘You meet a time traveller who knows you in the future and realise you’re still alive in 2016, so you think nothing can get you. You might start taking risks you normally wouldn’t because you think you’ll survive everything. But you still need to look after yourself.’
‘So no sky diving just because you think you can’t die,’ Ethan adds.
‘So we can change the future?’ I ask.
‘In theory, everything can be changed, but so far the big stuff seems to be happening the way it always did,’ Liam tells me.
‘But don’t go betting your life on it. It’s still just a theory.’ Ethan winks. It’s a condescending dismissal and an end to the conversation.
‘You’re forgetting, my time traveller told me I died many times. I’m doing everything in my power to make changes to the future. And if I survive that long, I’m going to make sure I get my happy ever after.’ I storm out of the office, not caring if David can hear me slam Ethan’s office door from his lab, and march to the elevator.
Liam chases at my heel. ‘I’m sorry. I thought with the two of us, he might give us more information.’
‘He did. He just didn’t realise it.’
Liam explores my face. ‘What did he say?’
‘DD’s coming back, a version of him who still doesn’t know the whole story.’
‘That doesn’t give us much to work with.’
‘It means whatever happened to DD to make him write that letter has already happened in my life—in this time line. DD is moving backwards, so we need to go through everything that has happened, each and every time DD has already shown up to help me, and see if we’ve missed something. It’s not happened for him yet. We might be able to change the past for him.’
‘He appeared each time your life was in danger. You think he helped you so much that maybe something bad happened to him while he was in your past?’
‘I don’t know. But that’s not all we have to worry about.’
Liam sucks in a breath. ‘He’s coming back.’
I nod. ‘DD said Nathan left for good. But since DD’s coming back, it means something else got me. I’m not out of the woods yet.’
New Otani Hotel, Little Tokyo,
Los Angeles, California
Lying in the hotel bed, in the middle of the day, David runs his hand over my lower belly.
‘I can’t believe you brought me here,’ I tell him.
‘I know how much you love this place, and I wanted to do something special to celebrate your first big career break.’
‘Thank you.’
He kisses the tip of my nose. ‘And somewhere special to propose.’ He grins.
‘You’re crazy.’ I bring my hand out in front of me to admire the ring he gave me last night.
He pauses his lazy strokes across my stomach. ‘You want more kids, right?’
Panic seizes me more than I was expecting. ‘Where did that come from?’
‘Technically we’re still young, but you already have Max. Did you want to start trying for a baby?’ David asks. He’s been petting and stroking me for a while and always brings his hand back to play with the ring on my finger. ‘You’re totally in love with me.’
I try to protest, but he bites his lip, holding back a grin. ‘And I’m totally in love with you.’
Hearing it never gets old when it’s from the mouth of someone so incredible and sincere. He really does love me, and not in a crazy way. In a healthy, forever, part of the same team, way.
‘I just don’t want to rush anything that wouldn’t normally have happened.’
‘It would have happened,’ he interrupts me.
I smile. ‘It would have eventually, down the line, but not now.’
‘You know what? You’re right. There’s no way I would have proposed to you right now if Audrey hadn’t told us we get married. You know why?’
My heart thuds in disappointment, and I try to keep my smile in place. He takes my hand and brings it to his mouth to kiss my knuckles, then down to my new ring. ‘I would have been terrified you would have said no. Hell, that you might have even laughed in my face. But I would have wanted to ask you. When you’ve met the one, Stella, you just know. The only reason I stayed away from you in the beginning was because I wanted you to get to know me and trust me. And I could see how important this job was going to be for you and your son. I didn’t want to be the jerk who kept asking you out on dates and interfered with your career for your family. And once we started dating, well.’ He smirks. ‘You were there. We’re great together. All Audrey has done is given me the confidence that you’d say yes.
‘I’ll take care of you, and I promise to try my bloody hardest to be the best husband and father there is. I’m going to love and treasure you and Max until the day I die.’
I nudge my legs between his and kiss him slow and deep. When I stop, I keep hold of his face. He’s smiling. The best guy I’ve met in my whole life has been smiling the entire time I’ve been kissing him. I lay my left hand flat on his chest and ad
mire my ring.
His face falls. ‘We can get a better ring when we have more money.’
‘David.’ My tone commands his attention and he meets my eyes. ‘It’s perfect. I love it.’
‘It’s not what a girl who grew up in Hollywood should have. It should be platinum, not white gold. And the diamond should be bigger, flawless.’
I harrumph. ‘I care more about being in the right relationship rather than having the right ring.’
He smiles. ‘We’re going to be okay.’
‘We are,’ I tell him. ‘We have other priorities to spend money on. I’d much rather we put Max and a house on the list of goals, than a bigger diamond.’
He runs his hand over my back. ‘And don’t forget more babies.’ He pulls me fully into his embrace and squeezes my side, tickling me as he lets us fall to the ground. ‘We are totally having a house full of babies.’ He twists me round so I fall on top of him.
‘You’ve really got this whole paternal thing in your head, haven’t you?’
‘It’ll be nice to keep the age gap close for Max. He’s four now, and in nine months, he’ll be nearly five, assuming we get pregnant right away.’
I swallow hard.
David throws his body on top of mine. ‘Let’s get practicing, right now.’
I giggle as his mouth tickles kisses along the column of my throat. At least I can keep up birth control until I figure this out.
Sunday, February 28, 1999
‘Why is Mike working on a Sunday?’ David asks me from the doorway.
I keep typing. ‘We’re behind. We had to bring in a B-unit for the day, finish up this scene, otherwise the whole next week will be off schedule and we can’t afford it. Over budget and late on the first movie is a death sentence.’
‘Need any help?’ He saunters into Mike’s bedroom that doubles as our office, perches on the desk, and nudges my legs open with his feet.
‘I don’t think that counts as help.’
‘No, but Max and Pamela are out, and I’m not going to lie. I thought sharing a bed with my fiancée would result in way more booty time than we’re managing.’
‘You never thought your fiancée would have a kid who sometimes shares a room with you, is what you mean.’
He narrows his eyes. ‘I didn’t mean that in a bad way.’ He takes his hands out of his pockets and rests them on the edge of the desk. ‘What’s wrong with you?’
I lean back and blow out a sigh. ‘Nothing, just tired. And stressed.’
‘I happen to have some inside information—future knowledge, if you will—that this is all going to work out okay.’
I smile. ‘Yes, but we still have to work and complete the things you and Audrey have told us we do. We can’t get cocky. So don’t bet your life on it.’ I swallow.
‘Me and Audrey?’
Shit.
‘Don’t tell me you’re not involved in this somehow.’ I grin, trying to recover. ‘There’s no way you aren’t out there in the future, not filling Audrey’s head with details to pass on to us. You and your damn butterfly effect and all.’
David’s phone buzzes, and I swing back to the computer to check the daily schedule.
‘What do you mean, he fell?’ he asks.
My heart flutters, taking a slight reprieve that if it was Max injured it would have been my phone that rang.
David holds his hand up, indicating for me to wait. ‘I’ll be right over.’ He hangs up.
‘Mike fell off a ledge at work. He landed on his head. He was unconscious so an ambulance is taking him to the ER.’
‘Wait.’ I scroll back over the daily log for Break the Piece. ‘He fell off the ledge?’
‘They said it was pretty bad. Why?’
I point to the computer. ‘He was scheduled to do a low-key stunt today. He was supposed to be harnessed, so it should’ve been okay, but it was an eight-foot drop. If he landed on his head from that height, it’s bad.’ My voice wavers.
‘They told me to bring him an overnight bag.’ He opens Mike’s dresser and tosses some things into a small backpack.
The apartment bell rings, and the last person I expect to see standing there is Liam. He looks dishevelled. His hair is loose and his stubble grows longer each time I see him.
‘David’s not here,’ I tell him.
‘I know. He called me on the way to the hospital and filled me in. Wanted me to document it. But I also need to document everything on David’s life too.’
‘Document it?’
‘We’re taking notes on Mike’s life, especially the things Audrey never told him. Either she knew and kept it from him, or—’
‘Or things are changing?’ I close the door as Liam crosses the threshold and takes off his coat.
‘We’re not sure yet. I’ve been trying to make changes for a long time now and nothing seems to stick. Maybe Audrey didn’t know, or she left it out on purpose.’
I chuckle. ‘You think Audrey really wants Mike dead?’
He raises an eyebrow. ‘Now wouldn’t that be a Hollywood plot twist?’
‘What can I do you for?’
‘I wanted to update you. I figured David wouldn’t give you the specifics of what we’re working on.’
I smile. ‘He’s not withholding anything from me. As far as he’s concerned, I’m not involved in this. Actually, I don’t think I’m involved.’
‘Of course you are. We’ve been working on the timing of Audrey coming and going. We have a database, and it looks like she shows up each year on Mike’s birthday.’ He lays out a photocopy of a spreadsheet. A few days surrounding February twenty-nine each year are marked.
‘What’s this?’ I ask. ‘Audrey travelled all the way back to 1992?’
‘No, I did. We were on vacation in England that year.’
‘On Mike’s birthday?’
‘Apparently.’
‘David said that Audrey was in a car crash in the future, on Mike’s birthday. It was the day she started to travel. It’s the last thing she remembers. Did the crash bring her here?’
‘Amongst other things. It’s important, though.’ He points towards the year 2016. ‘It looks like David might have been in the same crash, and I think that’s when he started travelling too.’
‘So how do we stop it?’
‘I don’t think we do. We need to let this play out. We need to wait until 2016 and make sure Audrey and David are in that car.’
‘Your dad said we can open the letter before that.’
‘It’s labelled towards the end of 2015, a couple of months before the crash.’
‘DD’s giving us a head start to figure things out.’
Liam shoves his hands in his pockets. ‘But not enough of a head start to influence any changes. It’s like he wants us to know things, but only enough to participate and not change his course.’
I look at the spreadsheet. ‘The crash is on the twenty-ninth of February?’
‘Right on the expected time of Mike’s birthday. Audrey arrives here to us, at Mike’s birth time each year. So, in 2016 that will be a minute before eight a.m.’
My mouth dries. ‘Surely a car crash that sends people though time is bad enough to kill you?’
‘I’m going to see if I can part-time study in nursing. I can enrol in EMT courses over the summer to keep the knowledge refreshed over the years.’
‘Why?’
‘Because, I’m going to be there.’
‘In the crash?’
‘In 2016, I’m going to make sure I’m right next to them. I can help them as much as I can if we need it, but also . . .’
My shoulders relax. ‘You want to travel by proxy?’ It’s a realisation, rather than a question.
‘I think that’s how it worked the last time, being so close.’
‘So why haven’t I travelled? I’ve always been next to DD when he left. And Mike? He’s been with Audrey when she travels. Why have you been the only one to get sucked along with them?’
�
�I don’t know. But what I do know is David knew they were in the wrong place. He practically made Mike make a wish on his birthday cake, and when he blew out the candles, everything went back to normal for me. Like it reset. It must have been his birth time. In a different time zone it was late afternoon.’
‘It was his birthday,’ I correct.
He shakes his head. ‘No, everyone has an exact anniversary time of birth, and it changes slightly each year due to the hours in the day and what time zone you are in. Especially for Mike since he was born February twenty-nine, a leap year. Somehow everything aligning at the same time made it possible.’
He looks hesitant, like he’s holding back what’s on his mind.
‘What?’ I prompt.
‘I think I have to save the Cute Punk Girl. There was another guy at the dinner table with Mike and David. I told you how the girl looked at him, with adoration and what I now realise was a bit of lust.’ He chuckles. ‘He was new to the group because I saw them introduce themselves when he sat down. He looked so cool and collected, I wanted to be him. I started to grow my hair out, and then when I was fifteen, I got some tattoos. Before I knew it, the sleeves were done, the workouts in the gym helped me grow into something—’
‘Similar to him? You covered yourself in tattoos, she must have been some kinda cute.’
He looks me in the eye. ‘The tattoos became addictive when I was a teenager. But the older I get . . . ’
‘Oh, god, it was you? You were the guy in David’s and Mike’s future?’
‘The five of us sat at the dinner table, and we didn’t belong there. It was like we were all in a different reality. You were dead and Audrey wasn’t there.’
‘You saw your future?’
‘I saw a version of my future. And the man I was then, he wasn’t comfortable there. He knew it had to change. But when the light came and took them, he saw that Cute Punk Girl was going somewhere else. He panicked. He was losing her. He looked at her like he was losing the love of his life, and even when I was a kid I wanted to help her. I wanted to save her.’