The closer we got to him, the harder my heartbeat got.
The car seat had become so uncomfortable and the memories just kept coming in. At exactly thirty minutes from now, I should get the call that he has slumped and was being rushed to the hospital. Maybe if we got there early enough, I could warn him. This was the plan.
Soon we arrived. Rushing out of the car like two insane women, we got into the building and straight into the elevator. I bumped into a lot of people on the way– I was nervous. The door to his office now seemed farther than it used to be but out of a corner, he appeared walking alongside four other men. It seemed they were conversing about business-related stuff. Each one held onto identical files. He looked just fine.
"Dad?" I breathed out. He looked shocked to see me there. I quickly checked my wristwatch as he excused himself from the group and began heading toward us.
"Honey, what are you doing here? Are you okay?" He said, looking at me in confusion.
The time was perfect for the bad news. I didn't understand how he was standing before me looking healthy. Things weren't just happening right.
"Dad–you–are fine." I voiced. I knew by now Claire must think I'm crazy, she must consider all I had said to be untrue.
"Of course I am alright. What is going on? You've been strange" He said to me.
I swept my hair to the back of my head as I turned away. Everyone looked at me funny.
"Honey, I think we need to see the doctor." I heard him say.
"No, I am fine. It's just–" I tried to speak as I turned back toward him.
"I'll take her," Claire said, grabbing me by the arm.
"Okay, I would appreciate that." He replied to her.
This was how we got outside the building and back in her car.
"You need to calm down." She said to me,
"This isn't right. Things are not happening the way they ought to." I retorted.
"How do you expect it to? You altered things with your appearance." She said,
It struck me– her response.
"Do you think so?" I asked her.
"I do." She said, placing her hands on the wheel.
"So it could be that–" I said,
–" he would die in a different way or at a different time within today or tomorrow, I don't know but it doesn't make sense, you haven't warned him yet so it shouldn't necessarily change anything." She cut in.
"You are a scientist," I said,
"Which is why I believed your story." She told me.
"Urrgh this is so frustrating." I hit my forehead with both hands.
"Let's just get back home. We'll figure it out. We always do, don't we?" She said,
––––
"Here." She offered me a cup of hot tea. We had gotten to her apartment, it felt better than being at Dad's. The memories there were too destructive.
She began pacing about like someone deep in thoughts.
"What?" I inquired from where I sat. I had taken a sip from the cup and now focused my eyes on her as I placed the cup on the table before me. She stopped, looked at me for a bit before taking her seat next to me.
"If you time travelled, there should be another you in this time frame. " She said,
It began to hit me.
"Even if you ended up in your room at your Dad's, you should be meeting with your past self which could have negative consequences but that's the way time travel works, your soul cannot time travel from your body in the future to your body in the past." She added having adjusted herself toward me.
"What are you trying to say?" I had become concerned.
"That the only reasonable explanation for this is that you died in the future and somehow your soul came back to a time where you are alive– this time," She told me.
"That can't be," I told her, springing up at once, disturbed.
"It's how these things work, Ann. What I don't get is, if your dad died today in the future and is not dead now and you are perfectly fine, not sick as you know yourself to be. Then this isn't time travel." She replied to me.
"But the old lady–" I said,
"Whoever this old lady is, she didn't tell you everything." She said,
"Why? Why wouldn't she? She offered to help me. She sounded convincing. She sounded like she knew me well enough to not want me dead." I vented.
"You say all you remember is, she waved her hand at you and you woke up?" She began speculating.
"Yes. " I said.
Just then her phone rang. She got up and reached for it from the dining area. I remained where I was, puzzled while she took the call. Soon, she got back.
"It was Chris." She said,
All of a sudden, I felt alive. My spirit was lifted.
"Chris? How is he? What did he say?" A smile had come to my face. I realised now that nothing else really mattered, I was alive, alive enough to be with the love of my life.
"He is fine. He only updated me on his arrival." She responded.
"So he will be coming tomorrow?" I inquired with so much enthusiasm.
"Yes, he will." She replied. How I felt relieved. At least something was going right.
"But you know you just can't walk up to him saying stuff like you are from the future and he is your lover right?" She added.
"Oh come on. I'm not stupid." I told her.
"Hm. You seem so in love with him and a woman in love is the definition of stupid." She replied.
"Let's just relax, I will do some research on your case and tomorrow we will conclude. You can help by trying to remember anything that could be useful," she told me and I nodded affirmatively.
All she said didn't bother me much anymore, Chris was all I thought about right now. Yes, I am head over heels in love with him. I would give anything to see him, to hold him, to be in his arms again, to kiss him. It's been just a day without him but it feels like an eternity already.
The night came.
I anticipated tomorrow. How he would look. His lovely grey eyes. I had missed them so much. The feeling would be great. Going back to how things started and me knowing how it would end for us– True love. I was all smiles from my fantasies and didn't even realise when my eyes shut.
–––
Ding-dong!
I stood outside pressing on the doorbell. It opened up from the inside.
"Jesus. You didn't sleep did you?" Claire asked me, leaving the door open and turning back inside. She was still in her pyjamas and her hair was messy. I wasted no time though. I rushed in and shut the door behind me.
"You're not even ready?" I said,
"Was up all night trying to find answers to your questions and a solution to your– problem." She answered as she struggled to move.
"That can wait. Chris will soon be here. " I said,
"Oh, shit." She seemed to have forgotten. I watched her hurry upstairs.
We arrived at the airport a bit late and as we got out of the car, she placed a call across to him. I kept looking around, hoping to be the first one who sees him.
Alas!
There he was, exactly how he was the first time I got to see him. He was walking toward our car and my joy couldn't be measured. I wanted to hug him, I knew keeping my cool was necessary so as not to freak him out but I had no idea how far my legs had taken me. I was walking toward him unconsciously but now he had stopped.
'Why?'
He turned backwards, almost like he had forgotten something or someone called out to him and there appeared this tall white-skinned lady looking like a model, she wore a hat to cover her wine-coloured hair, dark glasses to shield her eyes from the morning sun, a coffee brown coloured singlet and a bum short with sneakers to go. She was holding onto her luggage and had her eyes buried in her phone. I stopped. I watched him turn to her and they began conversing so intimately. He adjusted her luggage and held onto it with his left hand. I quickly understood both their stuff had to be inside since he wasn't holding onto any. With his right hand, he held onto her waist, pulling her close. She smiled looking up at him and then it happened. He kissed her. He f*ckn kissed her!! On the lips!
My eyes grew bigger. My heart crushed right there. I couldn't comprehend it. Claire must have been shocked too.
"What is this?" I voiced.
"Ann, you have got to calm down." She tried to hold me back. I guess it was obvious what my next move was. I couldn't be calm. I mean how? Not with what my eyes just saw. I felt betrayed. Confused. Unsure of this reality and I badly needed an explanation.