So here I am sitting in my room, writhing in pain, regretting a lot of decisions that I have made.
"Aah! THE PAIN! It's unbearable! Please stop it!"
Alas! As if the world will stop, from the crying of a pathetic man. The world is too big! No one to care for others. Well, at least the pain is numbing down now… I am at my last leg perhaps. Everything going dark…
.
.
.
"Paul!" A girl says in a sweet voice.
"Wake up Paul! You will be late for the office dummy!" A gentle stirring.
I think I know this voice. It's Jean! My sweetheart! But… But…
The girl comes closer to Paul. She leans at him and gently kisses him on his cheeks and whispers in his ears.
"Wake up honey! It's morning! I cannot let my sun keep snoring on the bed."
A sweet feeling rushed over me. While I was scared to open my eyes earlier to come to reality, I got eager to open them. And I saw Jean. My sweet Jean. Her brunette hair, which she often dyes in other colours, touching my arms. I remember I used to tease her about whether a Jean without blonde hair should even be called Jean. That she is deceiving people with a false name. And she would laugh at my idiocracy. Her gentle face was smiling and she put her forehead on mine to check my temperature.
"Hmm… Your fever looks fine now. It seems you are healthy. Will you go to work or do you want to rest today?" She was smiling at me. With her gentle smile and sun rays falling on her, she looked like an angel. For a moment, I thought I had reached heaven.
And when I saw this tears dropped from my eyes.
"Jean?!" How is it possible?
Jean looks at me a little confused.
"Are you okay Paul? You seem a little weird. Anyways, sorry but I am getting super late for the office, even if you are okay I think you should rest." She kissed me gently on my cheeks and left the room.
Jean is alive. It means my research was successful!
My name is Paul. And this bright world you see is not mine. I used to come from another universe, a parallel universe. Ever since I became a teenager I used to see parallel universes of my other selves in my dreams. I would make a particular decision in my actual world. But when I would go to sleep I would see how my self decided something else and how it affected their life. A job opportunity, I rejected in my world. I would see my other self living happily and enjoying my life in others. All these incidents build up regret in me. I chose science as my field of study to develop a way, so I could see before making any crucial decision, of how it will turn out. It wasn't successful. But then, mysteriously, an equation left unsolved on my board was found with the solution. I do not know who did that. But, my gut said that the solution was indeed true. I was sceptical of my abilities for a long time, and combined with so many regrets, I fell into gambling. And how could a failed scientist afford to gamble? On that fated day, I was shot. While I was dying, my body filled with regrets, I woke up here… My memory was able to travel through multiverse, into a world, where the old Paul dies. And now is my second chance.
I hear Jean leaving and the door closing. I got up from my bed and went in front of a mirror.
"My body looks in good shape. I suppose I used to go to the gym. Hmm… It's my second chance. I will not waste it. I promise you other Paul, I will make decisions that you will not regret."
"What are you talking about weirdo? Did you get a brain fever?" A girly voice came from the room door. I saw a cool-looking lady. She had pink hair tied in a ponytail was wearing a yoga outfit and was sweating. She had a white towel around her neck, which she was using to dry up her neck and face. She had abs and a well-toned body.
But, the question remains. Who the fuck she is?
She looks at Paul staring at her in a daze.
"Tsk" She chuckled as she approached him. "I told Jean, not to wake you up but she just couldn't help herself from going to the office without kissing you in the morning. Come here, let's go to bed and rest." She says as she gently takes him to the bed and lies him down. She patted his head a little and sighed, "Honestly. You don't have to be so strong-willed. You rest here while I get you breakfast after I take a bath."
"Thanks. Sorry to bother you." Paul had no idea what his relationship with her was and neither he knew her name. So, just saying as little as possible was best. The pink-haired, greek goddess-like-bodied girl just smiles at him.
"As if caring for my stupid boyfriend is something bothering." She kisses him on the cheek and leaves the room. Paul remains frozen.
'What the hell? Is Paul here cheating behind Jean's back? Who is she?' He panicked. He didn't want to lose this newly found heaven so soon. He got an idea.
'If my memory is here, then perhaps. I can still try to access the native memories of this body. They must be dormant somewhere in my mind. And surely, he was right. He had many revelations. The girl he just met was named Rose. And just like Jean, she is also his girlfriend. But it doesn't stop here. Because there is one more woman named Radhika, who is also his girlfriend. All of them live together, cordially with him.
For the first time, Paul had felt as jealous as he was right now.
'This bastard Paul had 3 girlfriends! Aaaah! But don't worry Paul. I promise you, I will protect and love your family as mine. Rest in peace other me. And I am sorry, I am stealing your life, even though you abandoned it.' He thought. He felt a little complicated, about whether he should tell the truth to the loved ones, but he felt that he should wait for a while and slowly experience all of the native Paul's memories first. He closes his eyes and a memory starts to flush over him.