"So, Shawn," began Daphne as they left McDonald's to walk around more, "what did you like from my time? I like your Times Square. How about you?"
Shawn glanced at Daphne, not knowing if she was flirting with him and getting him to admit that he kinda liked her. He appeared to seriously consider her question.
"What I really liked…hmmm. Oh, I really liked this one diner I went to. "Shake It p". I had an awesome chocolate milkshake made by this really hot uh…uh hot coffee machine."
"You had a chocolate milkshake made from a coffee machine? How's that possible?"
Shawn mumbled something about how he didn't see the way it was made and changed the topic. "Hey, you seriously can't walk around looking like that. You gotta wear something else."
"Why? Do I look funky? You're wearing your uniform too!"
Shawn waved her statement off. "Yeah, but I got other clothes back where I stay. You don't. You should buy something. At least go check out the fashion here. You might find something you like."
"Fine!" Daphne said. "Where?"
Half a minute later, they were outside the doors of Forever 21.
***
"I can't believe you said that they sold potions there that kept you twenty-one forever! You're such an…ass, Shawn!" Daphne exclaimed and punched Shawn's arm.
They were now exiting the store, Daphne having purchased a pair of three-quarter jeans which showed off her toned and tanned, calf muscles and a sleeveless, wrap-around crop top that could be tied around her waist, also made out of jeans material and wore it out of the store. The salesgirl had scanned her tags on her new clothes and packed her old Marriott Marquis uniform for her. Then she proceeded to charge Shawn's card. Shawn was now out $46.50.
"Hey, I didn't say shit!" said Shawn, referring to his Forever 21 joke. "You said it. I just went along with it."
"Yes but you left me believing it for a very very long time! Is there anything else you've been lying about?" Daphne demanded, glaring at Shawn.
He glanced at her again and thought that she looked like a real babe in modern clothes. Her long, blonde hair was swept into a high ponytail again which showed off her cheek bones. And those tight jeans did wonders for what he had first thought was a flat ass in that drab, Marriott skirt. But now, Shawn knew better. "Um…so about America winning WWII…"
"What? Shawn! You're kidding about this, right?" Daphne spluttered, staring incredulously at Shawn. "I don't even know what to believe anymore—"
"Yes, yes I'm just joking…about this. Haha. Got you!" Shawn replied grinning at her. He twirled her ponytail and said, "I think your hair tied up suits you better. You've got a very nice face."
"Oh." Daphne didn't know if Shawn was just playing around with her but she had a feeling she was blushing slightly as she accepted his compliment. "Thanks. You look mighty awful yourself."
"Damn! And here I was, trying to be all manly in my Marriott uniform. You mean it's not working?"
Daphne giggled and said "Definitely, no. But I'm glad you ditched your bell boy cap. That was really doing nothing for you."
Shawn pretended to look disappointed as they continued to walk alongside each other. "So besides insulting me, what else would you like to do?"
Daphne turned to Shawn and said, "Look Shawn, I've had a lot of fun with you today. I actually didn't expect to enjoy myself this much. But don't you think it's time I go back? To 1942?"
Shawn stopped walking as he realized that yes, Daphne had to go back. She wasn't from this time and she had a life somewhere else. But Shawn liked her. She was a girl who was nice to him. Girls in his university just saw him as a drug dealer and that was it. He didn't really have any friends who were girls and it was nice to bask in the company of Daphne. But it wasn't fair to her to make her stay.
"Yeah…I guess you're right. You wanna try to go back now?"
"Do you know how?"
Shawn thought he knew how. Now that he knew for sure that hotel rooms were a portal, she just had to step through the door.
"Yeah I know how to get you back. Let's return to the Marriott hotel then."
***
As they walked back to the hotel, Daphne asked Shawn to tell her what his life here was like. "I think to tell you that you're a bit of a mystery to me is an understatement," she told him. "You turn up out of nowhere and whisk me away on this adventure and yet, I don't know much about you. Right now, I feel I know Hitler better than I know you."
Shawn sniggered. "Oh really? Well, did you know he only had one ball?"
"One ball? What do you mean ball? Like a basketball?"
Shawn laughed even harder. "Oh, Daph! You're priceless! But it's ok. I don't think I should tell you what I meant by that."
"No, you can't say things to me then take it back! Now I absolutely want to know! If you don't tell me, I'm going to ask Lucia later when we reach."
She looked so adamant about really asking Lucia that Shawn knew he had to explain it to her.
"Ok so uh, here's the thing. Oh! I know. I'll Google it for you. Hang on."
Daphne looked confused by what Shawn had just said and Shawn knew she had questions for him so he held up one finger to deflect her questions as he whipped out his smartphone to Google the information. He came up with a photo of the male anatomy, zoomed in on a particular part of the photo and handed the phone to her. She glanced at it curiously and then recoiled. "Oh my goodness, Shawn! Why on earth would you show me such a picture?"
Shawn took his phone back and slipped it into his pocket, sniggering. "It was easier than explaining. And now you get it. So while guys normally have two balls, Hitler only—"
"Yes, thanks, Shawn, I get it. Hitler only had one."
"If it helps, I have two." Shawn winked at her.
Daphne blushed once again and said that no, it didn't help. She couldn't believe she was even having this conversation. In 1942, boys were so gentlemanly and sweet. They would never talk about such things in the presence of a lady. But here, it seemed perfectly ok for boys and girls to discuss this with each other and in the open. It was just so different.
They were nearing the hotel now. She could make out the looming building a few miles from where they were at.
"Shawn?"
"What's up?"
"You still haven't told me anything about yourself."
"Oh." Shawn was hoping he had shocked her with the photo of the hairy penis accompanied by the even harrier balls into forgetting to ask him personal questions. Guess that didn't work.
"Fine. You get to ask me as many questions as you can between now and the entrance of the hotel."
"Ok!" said Daphne and slowed down her pace considerably, so that she walked one tile at a time. "First question—"
"That's cheating!" Shawn pointed out. "Don't expect me to keep up with an old grandmother. I'll be so far ahead, people will think you're crazy because you're talking to yourself."
"Ok, ok," relented Daphne and resumed her normal pace. "How old are you?"
"Twenty. You?"
"Eighteen. Is this your job for the rest of your life?"
"What? To work at the Marriott? Yes, it's my dream job. How can you tell?" replied Shawn.
Daphne laughed and said, "No, see in my time, many boys your age either get a job and think of starting a family or are recruited to fight in the war. They don't go to school. So I guess, what I'm asking is, are you in college or do you have a girl that you're waiting to marry?"
"There's a third option. Why didn't you ask me if I am recruited to fight in wars?" Shawn asked her.
"Oh uh…are you?"
"Hell no! Man, that would scare the shit out of me."
Daphne frowned at Shawn's lingo. "You know, sometimes I don't understand what you say and there are other times when you sound very crude."
"Do you want to ask me something about that? Because we're reaching the hotel."
"You haven't even answered my previous question."
"I study at New York University."
"Really?" Daphne asked Shawn excitedly. "Me too! Well, I start in the fall. I'm studying journalism. What about you?"
"Wow really? I'm studying business there. Hang on, I thought girls were not allowed to study back then. They were forced to stay at home and be all 'feminine' and stuff."
Daphne cocked an eyebrow at Shawn and replied indignantly, "It's not the 1800s! Of course women are allowed to go to the university and study." Then she thought about it and continued, "I would love to see the New York University campus now, in your time. I bet it'll be so different from mine!"
They were at the entrance of the Marriott Hotel now. "Really?" asked Shawn. "But you said you wanted to go back home. And we're here."
"Oh," said Daphne, suddenly feeling that she didn't want to return home just yet. Shawn was right (again) earlier. She did want to see more of New York. And Shawn seemed like a person to do it with. But she couldn't simply abandon her life in 1942. How could she? What would her parents say? They would be so worried.
Shawn could see Daphne struggling with thoughts of staying here and leaving to go back. He wanted to make the right decision but he couldn't help but feel a little selfish. He also wanted her to stay.
Shawn put his hand on her shoulder and told her, "Look, Daph, as much fun as it's been having you here, I really think you should return. Time doesn't move when you're here but I don't want you to feel forced to stay. You could always return with me one day. I'll definitely come back." He didn't want to add the "for you" part because well, it sounded way too dramatic, like that Bollywood movie he had made the mistake of watching once. But Daphne was definitely one of the reasons he'd return to 1942 for.
Daphne looked up at him and smiled dryly. "As sweet as that was, Shawn, I want to stay. At least until tomorrow. Can I stay?"
"Really? You're sure you want to stay?" Shawn removed his hand from her shoulder. He felt stupid for putting it there since she wasn't leaving yet. Now she probably thought he was some sappy, ultra-romantic dude.
"Yes, but where do I stay? I don't have any money with me."
"Oh that's not a problem!" Shawn said and dismissed her worry. "I know the perfect place for you."
In twenty minutes, Shawn had killed two birds with one stone: they had arrived at the place where Daphne was going to spend the night in and the place that she very much wanted to see: New York University.
"This is NYU in 2014," announced Shawn as they stood outside one of the campuses of his university. "Does it look the same as yours?"
"Wow! No, it doesn't. Yours seems just like everything else in this city in this time. Modern and spacious. It's really big isn't it? But I guess for my time in 1942, my campus is quite big as well. Did you know that we carry out military training on campus as well?"
"Really? So like soldiers march around in your building when you're trying to study and stuff?"
"No, my school will be quite far from this. They train near Bronx."
"Damn. We could use soldiers down in Bronx once in a while," said Shawn as he led the way into the building.
Now and then, Shawn would meet some of his friends hanging about with their arms around girls instead of their noses in their textbooks and Daphne watched as he slapped them high-fives or did some weird fist bump routine with them. And when his friends spotted Daphne, they slapped him an additional high-five followed by a whoop of joy. "Whoa Shawn, doing well for yourself, huh?" said one guy and winked at Daphne who blushed furiously and stared down at the ground. She wasn't used to all this outright attention. She remembered getting several notes from boys who would profess their feelings for her, sometimes in poems which Daphne never really understood. She didn't understand the allure that poems had on people. But right now, she preferred the poems over all this winking and whooping and stares.
Eventually, Shaw managed to ditch the guys and bring her up to his dorm room. True enough, when he opened his door, there was Josh Mitchell in front of the television on the PlayStation console. He was Shawn's best friend from high school who had followed him to NYU as well. When Shawn wasn't busting his ass at the Marriott or selling drugs, he and Josh would be taking drugs and playing video games, sometimes getting as high as the celebrity-only 103rd floor of the Empire State building. He guessed that Josh had been waiting with much increasing annoyance for him to get back from his shift so that they could start gaming.
"Finally!" groaned Josh as he got his ass off one of the beanbag chairs in his room to greet Shawn which was the first time he had moved in three hours. "Dude where've you—" Josh stopped as he saw Daphne step in after Shawn, smiling at him shyly.
"Oh uh, hello," Josh told Daphne and added a little wave at the end which looked more like he was performing a magic trick rather than a greeting gesture and glanced at Shawn with a how-the-hell-did-you-land-this-hot-chick look.
"Hey… You're Josh, right? I'm Daphne. I'm uh, Shawn's friend. As of very recently," said Daphne and looked at Shawn for him to do the further explanation.
But Shawn sat down on his bed with a loud "Ohhh", dropping the Forever 21 shopping bag he had been helping Daphne carry onto the floor, not bothering to say anything about her to Josh, as though it was no big deal that he had a hot girl in his room which didn't really happen that often, if at all. Then he lay back on his bed and closed his eyes, his legs still dangling off the edge.
Josh and Daphne looked at each other again and shared an awkward smile. Josh rocked back and forth on his feet, looked everywhere about the room except at Daphne, sighed then went back to the beanbag chair to resume his games without his usual drugs.
Daphne still stood there, not having been asked to sit down by either boy (Shawn didn't count because he might have fallen asleep) and looked around the room. There were two single beds in the corners of the room with two desks with roller-chairs jammed into the other two corners. Both desks were incredibly messy, filled with everything else but books and notes. There was a huge closet along one of the walls and Daphne could see shirt-sleeves sticking out of it. Clothes were strewn everywhere on the floor and there was a weird smell lingering in the room, like clothes that had not been washed for a long time. How could boys live like this? she wondered in disgust. She saw that the biggest feature in the room was the television and some other device that Josh was holding on to. Not holding on but more like gripping. Josh was gripping something really tightly and squinting at the television screen, now and then yelling out profanities.
Daphne wanted to poke Shawn and wake him up but didn't want to feel too dependent on him either. She sighed and went over to sit on the other beanbag chair beside Josh despite the lack of invitation. She might as well be friendly. Josh watched her approach him out of the corner of his eye and turned his zombie-killing spree up a notch. He was sure that the more zombies he killed, the more impressive he would seem.
But of course, Josh need not have worried because Daphne had no idea what he was even doing. Daphne had never sat in a beanbag chair before and as she sunk into it, she started making struggling noises and tried to seat herself more upright. "What is wrong with this—is this even a chair?" she asked.
Josh thought she was making fun of his beloved beanbag chairs. "It's the latest in beanbag chair technology," he snapped, feeling slightly annoyed with this girl. Yet, he still continued killing the zombies on his television screen at an alarming rate. He thought it had less to do with impressing her and more to do with venting his frustration that came about because of her.
After Daphne felt comfortable enough in her 'chair', she asked Josh, "So what are you doing?"
Josh's annoyance with Daphne was reaching mid-point. Why was this girl full of redundant, mind-numbingly lame questions? He was playing video games, duh! That's why Josh didn't have a girlfriend. They asked stupid, obvious things all the time. He just liked them for their ability to get him off, unlike Shawn who wanted someone 'special' in his life. Josh hoped this girl Daphne, wasn't the one.
But Josh couldn't be rude to Daphne because Shawn was his best friend. So he played along and informed Daphne he was playing video games.
"Oooh! Sounds fascinating. How does it work? Can I try? I see you have two of those…things," Daphne said, pointing at Josh's controllers.
Josh thought it was so like Shawn to find the dumbest (and hottest) blonde and try to bring her back which surprisingly had worked. What was even more surprising was that Shawn had fallen asleep instead of choosing to 'entertain' this girl. He could hear his pal snoring softly in that ugly bell boy uniform of his. Why did he even bring her back here if all he was going to do was fall right asleep? Josh felt a little bit like Chandler Bing from Friends. When Joey fell asleep after bringing home a girl, Chandler would be up and he'd talk to her, keep her company and tell her great things about Joey. Fine, Josh could do that too.
He paused his zombie game which was being watched curiously by Daphne and turned to her without lifting his ass off from the bean bag, which was a rather difficult thing to do on such a beany, bean bag chair. Somehow, he pulled it off and he was he was now facing her. "So uh, where did you two meet?"
Daphne pried her eyes away from the zombie-filled television screen and turned to face Josh, doing it more gracefully than him. How was she going to answer his question without sounding like someone who needed to be locked up in an asylum? So Daphne went with a half-truth. "We met at the Marriott Hotel."
"Huh. You're a guest there or what?"
"Um, yeah. Why else would I be there?"
"True, true." Josh could think of a lot of reasons for a girl to be at a hotel. For one, they were hookers. He couldn't think of how to keep this conversation with her going. She seemed aloof (and very dumb) to him. So he faked a yawn, stretched his arms as far as they could go and said, "Well, Daph, I'm tired and looks like Shawn's already asleep. So maybe you should head back to the Marriott and hook up with him tomorrow night?"
"Hook up?"
"Yeah…isn't that what you guys wanted to do tonight?
Daphne didn't know what that meant but it didn't sound like anything she had wanted to do. So she said very firmly that no, they were not going to 'hook up'. "Look, Shawn said I could spend the night here. I don't have anywhere else to go. And I'm tired too. I've come a long way, believe me. Where can I sleep?"
Josh was confused. They were not going to have sex. Instead, she was just going to spend a night here. She came a long way from somewhere to sleep in this dorm room? Why the hell didn't she just go back to her probably posh bedroom at the Marriott and sleep there? Josh wanted to slap Shawn awake and ask him what the hell was happening but he looked to be in such a peaceful state of sleep that he didn't have the heart to.
Josh stood up and started switching off the PlayStation and television. He had had enough for one night. Though it was only about ten-thirty pm, Josh would rather go to bed now just to avoid Daphne than continue their dreadful, filled-with-spaces conversation. But he was actually feeling exhausted. Who knew video games for six straight hours would get one so tired?
Daphne watched as Josh stood up and started putting his games away. Actually, more like kicking his game thingy to one side on the floor. She scrambled up off the chair and started panicking. If Shawn was sleeping on one bed, and Josh was most probably going to sleep on the other because he didn't seem like the type to be chivalrous and give up his bed for her, where was she going to sleep?
Daphne felt so furious at Shawn! She couldn't believe he had brought her here just to abandon her and throw her to this lone wolf known as Josh who had merely sniffed at her and discarded her. Once again, she tried to get Josh's attention. "I'm really tired. Just tell me where I can lie down for the night and I won't bother you anymore," she said.
"Ok," Josh said and shrugged, pointing at Shawn's bed and getting into his own bed. And that was the first night that Daphne slept with Shawn.