by Sara Wood
“Hope, I understand all of that and I’m sorry that I wasn’t here for most of these briefings. I was dealing with something a little bit more important, or at least it was in my mind. I didn’t want to believe that things were getting to the point of backstabbing. When we ended this thing, we decided right then and there that we would walk away with what we had in our possession. It started off with a need to hold onto a piece of the relationship. From there, it escalated to lawyers and their way of fighting was to put us in front of the courtroom to air our dirty laundry.” My Sister Caroline had been front and center in the court most of the time.
“I think that everybody here can agree that we all have the right to speak our mind openly. There are no secrets between the five of us. I think that we’ve done something here that is miraculous and that no man has ever been able to accomplish in their lifetime. It remains to be seen what we’re going to do with the device, especially since we’re not able to use it again. That doesn’t mean that we can’t let others use it, but do we take the risk of trusting someone that has only bad intentions.” Caroline was only saying what was on everybody’s mind. We didn’t want to admit it, but the only people that we could truly trust were those in this room.
“My sister has a point. I don’t think that we can even take it on face value that our benefactor will not want to benefit in some way through this device. We still don’t know where the power source came from, but I have a feeling that it was a benefactor that had decided to stick his nose where it doesn’t belong. I know that he has a lot invested in this, but that doesn’t mean that he can play with our lives.” I was dressed and ready to go, wearing a very old piece of clothing that I had stuck in the closet years ago. It was a blue dress with white trim and a plunging neckline.
“I think it’s safe to say that everybody here can leave. Let my sister Kayla and I to decide on what’s best for us.” Hope, Samantha and even Kate decided to throw their hands up in the air in self defeat. There were no more words spoken and the briefing had come to its inevitable end. I’ve done my hair up in exactly the same way that it would be when I arrived back in the time, before my marriage began to fall apart. I had done the necessary steps, including meditation and yoga, which was really something that didn’t understand. I did feel more centered and my breathing was level.
They all left and I could tell that they were not very happy. It didn’t matter to me. Like everybody that had gone before me, we all had our own agendas and nothing was going to deviate us from that course of action. This was after all my life and if I wanted to find out what the true reason behind my marriage crumbling, then I had the right to do that. They all spoke a good game, but none of them really paid attention to what could possibly be a catastrophic event. They could make their sermons, but to leave by them was another matter.
“Kayla, you really have to see it from their point of view. You and I both know that your marriage was not all that it was cracked up to be in the first place. You hardly ever smiled and I don’t think that it was a huge secret that you began to drink in the afternoon. That was well before you lost sight of what was truly important in your life. Just remember that, when you decide on what you’re really trying to accomplish. You never know, your wish may be something entirely different and you don’t even know it.” I listened to her and I wanted to say that I would give it some thought, but the only thing that was on my mind was finding my husband and shaking him back to reality.
“I never thought that this day would finally come. You told me that we had made the breakthrough, but I truly didn’t believe. Even after everything that I heard, I still couldn’t wrap my mind around the fact that this was even possible. We talked about it, we worked on it together and we thought that we were getting close. This is the kind of breakthrough that makes or breaks a career. We’re not even sure if we’re going to share this with the public. To give a person that one time to go back and change something or even witness something in history is mind blowing.” I wanted to scream it to the world, but this secret had to remain between the five us and our benefactor.
The guy that did most of our mathematical equations was getting suspicious. He was sending emails to find out if his calculations were correct. What he had done was put us on the right path, but it was the rest of us that it finally made the discovery. The first time that George went back was something that I would always remember. The monkey was never the same. His journey had changed him into a more docile and compassionate animal. He was no longer wild and untamed. It was like something happened to him that gave him a perspective that he didn’t have before.
“I know what I said to the others, but I still want to stress to you that it’s very important that you don’t step on any butterflies. I know that you’re planning on something on a grander scale, but do take into consideration that it’s not just your life that you’re messing with. There will be a chain reaction unlike anything that you’ve seen in your life.” My Sister Caroline was worrying needlessly. My only main objective was to be a fly on the wall. I didn’t have any designs on making things right, but I could say that now and that could change when I finally came face to face with the problem.
I stood there looking at this device and for some reason I began to envision some kind of science fiction movie. I was always a big believer that technology was taking leaps and bounds in the right direction. Things that were not automated were now becoming more technologically sound. Over the years, things had changed. I’m not sure that I can say that they were for the betterment of mankind.
I stood on the device, my black heels clicking together, mimicking what Dorothy must’ve done when she was taken from her home by a tornado. This was my way of experiencing what she did in that story, but on a different level altogether. Caroline pressed the buttons and I waited, until finally it felt like I was upside down. My whole perspective had changed and everything was spinning in a clockwise formation. There were no lights and it was more of a blur of my own fingers stretching out against the unraveling of time itself.
Chapter two
I felt something smacking against my face. I opened up my eyes to see that it was a newspaper. I grabbed it instinctively, turning the pages, until I saw the date and the year in question. It was two years before my marriage exploded and I didn’t mean to go back that far, but this device was unpredictable at the best of times. I got up and dusted myself off, walking out of the alley to see a familiar sight. The doughnut shop that my husband and I went to almost every day was right across from me. I looked at my watch, but it was shattered. I’d forgotten that we were not supposed to bring anything with us besides our own body and clothes.
It was like time had stopped altogether, but it was just my perception of things, considering that my watch was no longer a viable source of information. I watched to make sure that the coast was clear, before crossing the street. I was almost hit by an overanxious older man in a silver lexis. He was busy on the phone, talking to who ever it was. It had distracted him from driving. It was the reason why driving and talking on the phone had become illegal. It’s wasn’t right now, but I could see the reason it would be.
I went into the doughnut shop, and was immediately accosted by the fragrance of fresh pastries being made in the morning. The owner one Gerald Reiner was busy behind the counter with a smattering of flour on his face. He looked like he was enjoying himself, immersing into his passion for pastries and making a real name of himself.
“Kayla, I’m a little surprised to see you here without…” I put up my finger and I pointed to the one pastry that had always made me aware of my waist size. “I know exactly what you’re looking for. Wait, weren’t you supposed to be in some kind of scientific conference for the next two weeks?” I really didn’t know for sure. I tried to prepare myself for any eventuality. “You said that you were going to be away for two weeks and that it involved a bunch of scientists that were getting together to talk about experiments and such.” It started to dawn on me that
my appearance here was only going to confuse things. My husband didn’t even know that I was back. In reality, my other self was still enjoying the aftermath of skiing and then sitting by the fire with colleagues. We had some heated debates the lasted into the wee hours of the morning. I was never much for cold, but skiing had changed my mind in ways that I didn’t think was possible.
“I had to come back early and take care of a few things. I plan to go right back to it, but not, until I deal with a couple matters” I bit into the chocolate éclair and it was almost better than sex. If I were to be eating one of these and having sex with the man that I love, then that orgasmic high would have been something to feel for sure. I don’t know why I never tried it and every time that I bit into one of these things, it would always come to mind. I never did put it into action, which is one of my regrets that I was hoping that I could rectify.
“That is precisely the reason why I do what I do every morning. The look on your face makes it all worthwhile. I have to tell you that you really do help my business. I know that you’ve been talking me up and I don’t know how I can pay you back.” I had invested a bit of money into his success. I was happy to do it. Once I got a taste for his culinary favorites, I was hooked and ready to sign on the dotted line. I didn’t have much, but it did afford me the opportunity to eat here for free and to share in 5% of the profits.
“I take these home every day and I share them with my husband. I’ve even given them to neighbors and they rave about them like they can’t believe that your shop exists. I tell them where they can find you and I think that’s the reason why you find yourself with a lot of clients. I see the love that you put into your food and it translates into the taste that I didn’t think that was possible, but you make me a believer.” I was never one to give high praise to anyone, but for him I would make the exception.
“You are making me blush, Kayla. Your sister Caroline has been coming around and I think that I have you to thank for that. She has been spreading the word herself, but she has no idea that you and I are in business together” He took my hand and kissed it. I thought it was platonic, but now I was beginning to see that maybe there was more to his interest than just a business partnership. He was of Greek descent and he was showing that he was not above using his manly charms to woo me into a state of indecision.
“You always do this, Gerald. I always tell you that I’m taken, but you still feel the need to flirt shamelessly. You do give my libido a jolt of adrenaline. I’m afraid to say that I take that back to my husband.” He looked a little disappointed, but I think that he was more than a little happy that I had come into his life. He had no idea how to market himself or how to use social media. I was able to do that for him. I was good at making people see that he was the next big thing to come along in a long time.
“You can’t blame a guy for trying. I find you incredible and every time that we talk, I feel that we have more that a passing connection. I think that you’re just going to have to get used to it. I’m not going to stop, until you are mine. I don’t care how long it takes, because you are the woman that I am supposed to be with. You may not know it now, but someday the realization will come to you and you’ll be ready for a real man.” Normally, I would laugh at his attempt to break my marriage up, but this time it was different.
During the divorce proceedings, I really didn’t know if I was capable of finding another. I didn’t want to and dating was taxing at best and annoying to the point that I wanted to give up. I had my faith and my scientific curiosity keep me warm at night, but it did not replace the need for a warm body next to me. Feeling that cool sheet on the other side of me these last few months had made me feel lonelier than I had ever been before.
"Gerald, you have no idea how your attention has made my day over the years. I think that I would like to get to know you. I do like what I see, but I think that we need to look at this, as a work in progress. You never know, some day in the future I may just be ready to try something Greek.” This took him by surprise. His hand gripped just a little bit tighter than it was before “I don’t want to give you any false hope. I just think that there’s room to grow. We are already friends and it’s possible that that could blossom into something that is more lasting. Again, I don’t want to make you think that I’m going to leave my husband for you.”
I had my dark hair up, but now I was unpinning it allowing it flow with a natural grace down over my back. I saw him swallow and his face flushed with the obvious excitement of what it was to be in the presence of a real woman. His muscles could be easily seen and his apron was covering a physique that was better left to be explored by every available woman in the area. I was one of those women. I fantasized about him from time to time, but it was more to excite and enhance what I already had with the man that I thought that I was going to spend the rest of my life with.
“You give my heart hope. I thought that I was barking up the wrong tree, but maybe there is something for us in the future.” Time wasn’t a constant. It was always changing from 1 minute of every day. Life was never going to stay the same. Either you bend with the wind, or it knocks you down and makes you feel ill prepared for what is coming. I certainly didn’t see my marriage becoming rocky to the point of falling in on itself. That coldness in the air when I arrived home every night had nothing to do with the air conditioner or the temperature outside.
We would talk openly, but there was no passion behind our words. “If I give you hope, then I guess I’m doing my job. I really don’t want to make you think that there is anything here more than just a friendship. I’ve been blind and I hope that you remind me of this every morning when I come in here. I think that eventually I’m going to need somebody to lean on and it might be you.” The divorce proceedings had made it impossible for me to see him up close and personal. I didn’t want him to think that I was using our friendship to give my sexual self the jolt that it needed. I stayed away and kept him at arm’s length, thinking that maybe I was playing with fire. Perhaps, it was time to let that fire burn and see what happens.
“You and I might be business partners, but it doesn’t have to stay that way. I’m just putting it out there. I’ve always found you attractive and I would gladly do whatever you want me to do. If it was just to talk, then I would be there to listen, but if there was something more, then you would make me and my whole family very happy.” He hadn’t mentioned my husband, but his infatuation was pretty evident from the way that he looked at me. I think that he was purposely keeping him out of the conversation to make it appear that we were alone in our own little world of culinary delights.
I took that one last bite. I closed my eyes and reveled in that feeling that was coursing through my veins. The sugar rush was amazing. If I didn’t think that I would go into diabetic shock, I would have two or three more in one sitting. They were addictive, but one per day or even one every other day was more than enough to satisfy my sweet tooth.
I walked out to see the difference that technology had made in our lives. The model cars did not exactly show how far we had come in such a short period of time. I knew exactly where my husband would be and I needed to get there. If he was having an affair, I wanted to know about it. He had already admitted in court that he wasn’t a one woman man. I had fallen victim to it myself, but only once and with a very old sold in a young man’s body. I found his stamina to be worth the risk of getting caught with my pants down.
I wondered if maybe I should stop in and see him, but I think that would be just bad taste. I would use him for his body and then toss him away with no regard for his feelings. I had strayed from my path, but I had turned back towards it in hopes that I could make it back before it was too late. From everything that I could see and remember all this time, I think that I was slowly coming to terms with the fact that my marriage was not going to be like star crossed lovers.
I stood at the park, taking a moment to relive those moments that made me smile. I was always on the go and sometimes I
felt like I was on a conveyor belt going nowhere. Science was the mistress that was getting in the way of finding true happiness. I found myself wondering, if maybe I got involved with my husband, because I didn’t have anything better at the time. Was it possible that I was settling, when there was something better waiting for me around the corner? Was that something better, a man named Gerald and his fascination and passion with pastries?
“Kayla, you don’t know me, but I know you and your friends.” The sound of my name and the tone of this man’s voice had gotten my attention. I turned to face a carbon copy of a Harlequin romance novel hero. He had long blond hair blowing in the breeze and a cocksure smile that made it impossible not to feel powerless in his presence “I think that we need to talk, before you take this too far. You may not know this, but all five of you have changed things. We normally don’t interfere, but we think that it’s time that we finally do something about it.” I was a little floored. I really didn’t know what to say to these accusations.
Chapter three
I sat outside at a local eatery that made the best hamburger. I looked at this man and I had a feeling that I knew him, but didn’t know him at the same time. It was the strangest thing. “I don’t know what kind of sick joke this is, but I’m not laughing.” I took one bite and I was transported by the flavors. It had this nice spice that caught you by surprise.
“Normally, I wouldn’t eat anything when I’m on the job. For this one time, I will break one of my own rules. My name is Milton Niles. I’m your benefactor and the one that gave you the tools to make time travel possible. That power source was taken from many years in the future. You probably thought that it was alien by origin, but it’s really just an evolution of technology in a new form. We decided to find somebody with the potential to go beyond their own reasoning.” He sounded crazy and anybody else would’ve thought that he was going around the bend.