A Crossed Reality

by Gerald Pruett

  “You can’t help me,” Randy said.

  “If you give me a chance and talk to me, I might be able to.”

  “You say that I’m a student at Harvard and you want me to talk about that. How can you help me when you believe that?”

  “Where am I making my mistake?”

  “I never attended Harvard or any other college.”

  “What do you believe you were doing during the past three years?”

  Randy uttered emotionally, “That statement… or that question that you just asked is exactly why you can’t help me!”

  “I don’t understand. What was it about my question that makes you think that I wouldn’t be able to help?”

  “You asked me what do I believe I did during that time and not what did I do during that time. How can you help me when you have already made up your mind that I’m delusional?”

  “I have copies of your college transcripts that prove that you are attending Harvard. Would you like to see them?”

  “I don’t care what you have. This life is a lie. This is not my reality.”

  “You are part of a group, and each person in that group is saying the exact same thing that you are.”

  “I don’t know who those people are.”

  “And they are actually saying the same thing about you, but from what I understand from the people at Harvard, all of you were good friends.”

  “I don’t care what those people are saying. I never attended Harvard.”

  “If you weren’t attending Harvard for the last three years, what were you doing?”

  Randy gave the doctor a skeptical look before saying, “During most of that time I was making my way to Mexico City to find my dad.” Dr. Adams wrote down what Randy was saying. “I worked odd jobs here and there while traveling there.”

  “Did you make it to Mexico City and find your dad?”

  “I made it there, but I didn’t find my dad. My search was cut short when I was arrested for breaking into someone’s house.”

  “You broke into someone’s house?”

  “No, I didn’t, but I can’t speak Spanish except for a few phrases, and the man who thought I broke in couldn’t speak English, so I couldn’t explain that the door was slightly open when I got there. And since the door was open I thought there was someone home so I walked in. I was only in there for a short time when the man found me there.”

  “Why were you at that house?”

  “I was showing a picture of my dad around the city and a man told me that the woman who owns that house could help me find my dad. The person who pointed me towards the house said something else, but since I couldn’t speak Spanish, I didn’t know what he was telling me.”

  “How long where you in jail?”

  “I lost track to how long it was. That was also where I was when I blacked out. When I came to, I was in Harvard’s library.”

  Dr. Adams was about to say something when there was a knock on the door. He stood up before saying, “Excuse me for a moment.” When Randy nodded, Dr. Adams left the room.

  In the reality Alpha 0.0.0.1.0.0.0 at 8:00 P.M., Alex, Randy and the others were stepping off the private plane at the Boston airport. Chad was waiting at the airport and walked up to them.

  Alex saw Chad approaching and waited for him to get closer before saying, “Chad, thank you for the use of the plane. I went there to look for a friend and I found him.”

  “You’re welcome. Is there anything else I can do for you?”

  “What you did for me already was a lot so you don’t owe me a thing.”

  “Early this morning the staff members at the hospital where your mom works found a kidney for Chris. Chris is now in the recovering room after a successful operation, so yes, I do owe you something. You are the one who saved Chris’ life. So what can I do to repay you?”

  Alex thought for a moment before asking, “Would hiring a crew to make repairs to a house in Mexico City be too much to ask for?”

  “Consider it done.”

  Alex gave him a shock looked before uttering, “Are you serious?”

  “Yes I’m serious,” Chad said with a slight laugh in his voice. “In fact, what you ask for is less than what I would give.”

  “Just repairs to the house is all I want.”

  “Give me the address and I’ll arrange it.”

  “Thank you,” Alex said before pulling out the information that the officer had given her and then giving it to Chad.

  Randy stepped up while saying, “I don’t know about anyone else, but I’m starving.”

  “Same here,” Michelle said.

  “I can go for a bite to eat myself,” Brandy said.

  “Ditto,” Cindy said. “In fact, I’m actually hungry for some Adam’s barbeque.”

  “That place has great barbeque ribs,” Miles said.

  “And barbeque chicken,” Cindy added. “That’s why I want to go there.”

  “Michelle, you should call Heather’s parents and check in,” Doug said. “Let them know that we’re going to Adam’s barbeque.”

  “Okay. Let me borrow your phone,” Michelle said.

  Doug handed Michelle his phone. As Michelle was making her call, she and the others walked towards the terminal.

  Before they walked too far, Chad said, “Everyone, enjoy your meal, but I’m going back to the hotel.”

  “You’re welcome to join us,” Doug said.

  “I would, but Alice is waiting for me at a hotel and I made dinner reservations for us at this romantic restaurant,” Chad said.

  “I hope you enjoy your meal, and what comes after it,” Alex said. Chad just grinned.

  A short time later, as everyone was walking through the parking lot Chad told everyone, “Bye.”

  “Bye,” Everyone responded.

  “I’ll see you later,” Alex added.

  Chad just waved as he walked towards his car. Alex, Trudy, Michelle and Miles went to Mile’s van. Doug, Kenny, Cindy, Brandy, Ben and Randy went to Doug’s Jeep.

  After Alex got comfortable in the van, she called Victor to let him know that she was able to work Sunday after all.

  Several minutes later, Alex and her group were walking into Adam’s barbeque restaurant. The place wasn’t crowded and the waiter put tables together to seat everyone. Heather and her parents’ joined the group. An hour later, the bill was paid and everyone left. Michelle went with Heather and her parents. Randy went with Ben and checked into the same motel he was staying at.

  Sunday, October 31, during the morning and early afternoon Alex, Doug, Kenny, Ben, Brandy and Cindy helped Randy to collect what he needed to create the remote.

  After Alex left for work Doug, Kenny, Ben, Brandy and Cindy remained with Randy to help out where they could.

  At Little Bucks, Victor was holding a costume contest and two-thirds of the customers entering were wearing costumes. By 5:45 P.M., the place was standing room only with barely enough room to move around and the noise level was deafening. Alex and another waitress named Miranda were the only two waiting tables. Miranda was dressed as Cleopatra while Alex was dressed normally.

  Alex was waiting on a couple who were sitting not too far from the entrance. As Alex was writing down the food order Miles walked through the door. Alex was focused on trying to hear the couple and didn’t notice Miles walking up behind her.

  After Alex wrote everything down and was about ready to walk towards the kitchen Miles tapped her on the shoulder.

  Alex turned to look and when she saw who it was, she loudly said, “Oh, hi. Are you alone?” Miles said something, but Alex was only able to hear a word or two. She shook her head. “I can’t hear you. You’ll have to speak up.”

  “I’m here alone, but I came here to talk to you and not to eat.”

  “Whatever you came to talk to me about it will have to wait. I have tables to wait on.” Alex held up the food ticket that she recently wrote out as she continued to say, “I have to turn this food ticket in.”

  �
��Can I tell you something right now? It will only take a minute and we can talk later tonight or tomorrow.”

  “Okay. What is it?” Alex saw Miles searching is thoughts for the right words. Miles had formed his mouth to say something, but when he didn’t Alex said, “Miles, I can’t stand around waiting for you to figure out what you want to say to me. So either say it, or I’ll talk to you later.”

  Alex saw that Miles was nervous as he said, “I’ll just come out with it.” Part of the crowd cheered that prevented Alex from hearing, “In this reality you are Alexandra. I don’t care about any other reality.”

  Alex made a gesture that she couldn’t hear. Miles repeated what he said, but Alex still couldn’t hear. She then said loudly, “I can’t hear you, so we should talk later. I need to go back to work.”

  Miles gestured for her to wait and tried to say over the crowd, “I’m saying that I don’t care who you are in another reality. You are a woman. I like you and that’s all I care about.”

  Alex again gestured that she couldn’t hear. Miles was about to repeat himself again, but stopped and stared at Alex for a second.

  When Miles hesitated to repeat himself, Alex held up the food ticket again and said, “Miles, I’m going…”

  Before Alex was able to get too many words from her mouth, Miles gave Alex a passionate kiss. The people around them saw the kiss. Catherine and Becky were walking in and were able to see the kiss through the crowd.

  It took a couple of seconds for Alex to realize what was happening. She pulled away before demanding to know, “What are you doing?!”

  The noise of the crowd settled down slightly when Miles said loud enough for Alex and a few nearby people to hear, “I don’t care who you are in a different reality. I like you and I wanted you to know how much.” Miles realized how much louder he was over the crowd and continued to say in a lower-volume voice, “Alex, I’m falling for you and in a hard way.”

  Alex gazed shockingly at Miles before she finally said, “Okay, I can’t deal with this right now. I’m working.” Alex then turned and walked away.

  As Miles turned to leave, he saw the smiles on Catherine’s and Becky’s faces.

  When Catherine and Becky stepped up to Miles, Catherine said, “That was an interesting sight that I witnessed.”

  “So how long have you and Alex been a hot couple?” Becky asked.

  “The sight you saw was me trying to become a couple with her,” Miles said.

  “You’re the one who sent Alex the flowers the other day,” Catherine said. “You’re her secret admirer.”

  “Guilty,” Miles said. “Well, I’ll see you two later.”

  “You’re not going to stick around, so you can socialize with Alex?” Becky asked.

  “Alex is working right now, and after that kiss I gave her, I got the impression from her that she doesn’t want to deal with me right now.”

  “You can’t retreat now,” Becky said. “Stay and win her over.”

  “I would, but this is her place of work and as you can see she’s slightly overwhelmed with customers. I would most likely make her mad at me if I stayed… if she’s not mad at me already that is.”

  “Bye then,” Becky said.

  “Bye,” Miles said.

  Catherine just waved.

  As Miles walked towards the exit, Catherine and Becky walked towards the bar.

  After Alex gave the food order to Stephen, she walked towards the bar for the drinks. She stepped up just after Catherine and Becky sat down at the bar.

  Catherine saw Alex stepping up and tapped her on her shoulder.

  Alex turned to look and when she saw Catherine and Becky she said, “Oh hi. When did you two get here?”

  “Becky and I walked in, in time to see you and Miles kissing,” Catherine said.

  “He kissed me. I had nothing to do with that.”

  “You seemed to have enjoyed it,” Becky said.

  “I enjoyed it?” Alex echoed. “I pulled away from him as he started the kiss.”

  “Alex, sweetie, I’ve seen turtles move faster than you did during that kiss,” Catherine said.

  “What are you talking about? I ended that kiss right after it started.”

  “It’s obvious that Miles likes you and from that kiss I saw, you like him too, so go for it,” Becky said.

  Alex said in a defensive and aggravated tone, “I didn’t step up to the bar to hear you two telling me to go for it with Miles. I step up to get my drink order filled before the customers start complaining. So I would appreciate very much if you would leave me and my relationships alone. Okay? Thank you very much.”

  “Okay, Alex, you can retract the claws before you hurt someone,” Catherine said.

  “Okay, I’m sorry. I have been on edge all day, so you two going on about me going for it with Miles is not a wise thing to do right now,” Alex explained.

  Catherine opened her purse and as she reached into it she said, “Okay, first off, the way I feel about Miles, I would never tell you to go for it with him.” Catherine pulled out a bottle of Midol. “Secondly, before you pull out an axe on someone, take a couple of these.” Catherine held out the bottle for Alex to take.

  Alex took the bottle and slightly grinned when she saw what it was. She then opened the bottle and took two tablets. After closing the bottle again she handed it back to Catherine while saying, “Thanks.”

  “No problem,” Catherine said.

  Alex gestured towards Bryon while saying, “I need to fill my drink order.” Alex then walked up to the waitress’ spot and placed the order.

  Minutes later, Alex was giving the customers their drinks. Just before Alex stepped away, Devin, while dressed as a caveman, walked up to her and said, “I can’t believe that I see you waiting tables.”

  Alex looked at Devin as if he was a stranger before asking, “Excuse me?”

  “You’re actually waiting tables. Venus must be out of sync with Jupiter.”

  “Okay, who are you?”

  “I’m Maxine’s husband, Devin.” An expression of recognition came across Alex’s face as Devin continued to say, “Maxine is going to be amazed when she walks in, in a few minutes and sees you waiting tables.”

  Alex gestured towards a group of four people who were sitting at a table before saying, “I have customers to wait on, so excuse me.”

  “Of course.” Devin watched Alex for a brief time as Alex walked up to the group for their order. Devin then walked to the bar and bought drinks for him and Maxine.

  When Maxine walked in, Devin handed her, her drink and then pointed Alex out to her. As Maxine and Devin waited for a table to come available Maxine watched Alex as Alex performed her job. They waited seven minutes before getting a table in Miranda’s section.

  After taking their seats, Maxine told Devin, “I was actually hoping that one of Alex’s tables would have opened up first. I’m curious to see how she is as a waitress first hand.”

  “From what I see, she seems to know what she’s doing.”

  Maxine and Devin faced Miranda as Miranda stepped up to take the order.

  As the time passed, Maxine would turn and watch Alex when Alex would walk near their table.

  Within forty minutes, Maxine and Devin had eaten and paid their bill, but before they left, Maxine walked up to Alex. Alex noticed Maxine as Maxine was walking towards her. When Maxine stepped up she said, “I’ve been watching you.”

  “I’ve seen you watching me,” Alex responded.

  “Anyway, I wanted you to know that I’m impressed by what I saw. You don’t seem to be the same Alex I met two years ago. In fact, from what I’ve seen tonight, you are actually a decent person.”

  Alex grinned before saying, “Thanks.”

  “I’m at O’Shannon’s most Friday and Saturday nights, so you should drop in more often.”

  Alex continued to grin as she said, “I might do that.”

  Maxine nodded before waving and saying, “Bye.”

  Alex slig
htly waved before saying, “Bye.”

  As Devin and Maxine left, Alex went to check on a few customers.

  At 12:20 A.M., Alex was entering her dorm. Trudy was sitting on the couch watching TV. There was a movie case on the coffee table.

  When Alex stepped in, Trudy said, “Brandy brought a movie by and said for you to check it out.”

  Alex stepped to where she could see the TV and asked, “Is that the movie she wants me to watch?”

  “No. This is just regular TV.” Trudy gestured towards the case. “The movie is there. I figured I would wait and watch the movie with you.”

  Alex picked up the movie and after reading the title she asked, “Why is she giving me this to watch when she knows I didn’t like this movie?”

  “According to Brandy, the movie is nothing like what you saw in your reality. She says that it is a hundred percent better. I haven’t seen the movie yet, so I can’t say if I like it or not.”

  “Fine, I’ll watch it. At least this time I won’t have to pay the box office price to see it.” Alex gestured towards the TV. “So when is your show over?”

  “Oh, I saw that show about a half dozen times or more. So go ahead and put the movie in.”

  “Okay.” Alex walked up to the DVD player; turned it on; put the movie in and then took a seat on the couch next to Trudy.

  After Alex and Trudy saw thirty minutes of the movie, Trudy asked, “So how is it so far?”

  “Brandy’s right. This is nothing like what was shown in our reality.”

  “Are there different actors?”

  “It’s the same actors. I’m not sure, but it seems to me that in my reality, someone else wrote the screenplay. I was thinking that during the opening credits.”

  “Someone else writing the movie would make the storyline different,” Trudy said as someone knocked on the door. Trudy looked at her watch and continued to say, “It’s one o’clock.” As Trudy was standing up, Alex paused the movie. “Who’s knocking at this time of the night?” Trudy opened the door and saw Miles standing there. “Miles, do you know what time it is?”

  Alex heard what Trudy had asked and stood up. As she walked towards the door, she heard Miles saying, “Yeah, I know. Is Alex awake?”