Second Chances

“Jennifer needs to be convinced to give up time-travel research,” Jenn said. “And the best person to do that is you.”

“Why me?”

“You need to talk Jennifer into going back to school and getting her medical degree. You have to convince her---me----that there’s plenty of work to be done in AIDS research. That she has to leave NASA. And all her----my---research notes on time travel need to be destroyed.”

Brian shook his head. “I don’t get it. Why do you need me? Why don’t you go to Jennifer and tell her all this?”

“Because I remember how excited I was about the project. Yeah, over a hundred people were killed in the bombing, but I know what she’ll say. She’ll say, think of the thousands who could be saved if time travel exists. She’s never met anyone from Merlin. She won’t understand the danger.”

Brian knew she wasn’t telling him everything. “But why me? Why should I be able to get through to her?”

“Because there’s something between us,” she said quietly. “I feel it right now. I felt it the first time we met too. And Jennifer is going to feel it when she meets you at the Hard Rock Café in New York City.”

She was talking about the sexual attraction that simmered between them and using that attraction to knock her past self off her predestined path. If she really thought he could do that, she must be experiencing one hell of a powerful pull.

Brian was glad he was sitting down. He hated to admit it, but he was feeling it as well. Every time their eyes met. Every time their eyes didn’t meet. It was always there, snapping and crackling around them like a live wire.

“Why do you call her Jennifer?” he asked. “I mean, she’s really just you, only younger.”

She looked at him with a burning intensity. She seemed to focus every ounce of her attention on every word he spoke and every move he made. What would it be like to make love to this woman, to have that focus and attention in a purely sexual way? The thought made his mouth go dry, and he had to take a sip of his drink.

“Up until recently---this year in fact, your time,” she clarified, “nobody ever called me anything but Jennifer. I was always treated more like an adult than a kid because of my IQ. But when I met you,” she continued, “I don’t know why, you started calling me Jenn.”

Wait a minute…… “I did?”

“Uh huh. Even though we didn’t do more than date a few times, you had a rather strong influence on my life.”

“We dated?”

“After we met, we went out once or twice. At the time I didn’t think we were compatible, so I didn’t pursue a relationship beyond friendship.”

He didn’t get it. “But at that time you were Jennifer, weren’t you? I mean, you were more Jennifer than you are now, five years later. So if you didn’t think we were compatible then, why would Jennifer think we are now? And what is it exactly that you want me to do?”

“All I want you to do is meet her---me—Jennifer—at the Hard Rock and let things happen as they’re supposed to. Only this time around, don’t be so quick to quit.”

“Quit?”

“Yep, you were the one who broke it off between us.”

Brian had to laugh. This was absurd. “Now we’re getting into the really unbelievable stuff. The time travel I’m starting to be able to handle, but this…..Nuh-uh. You’re telling me that I broke up with you. That’s insane. Why would I break up with you? You’re brilliant, nice, and polite. Your sense of humor needs a little work, but, it’s there. And have you looked into a mirror lately? You’re gorgeous, Jenn. You’re a twenty on a scale from one to ten. So what you’re telling me is that you’re perfect and I broke up with you. I don’t think so.”

“It’s true.”

“I’m always the one in a relationship who hangs on until the bitter end, hoping for a happy ending. And maybe the light’s not bright enough in here. You keep hinting at this instant love-at-first-sight doody, and—believe me, I know---I’m not the type. I mean, look at me. I’m just….not.”

“Sorry, you’re wrong,” she said coolly. “Have you looked into a mirror lately? You’re handsome as hell, Bri. This time around, I’m going to make sure you believe that.”

Brian rolled his eyes. “Oh, please.”

She leaned forward, the intensity in her eyes sparking even hotter. “I thought the spark between us was enough to keep us together for years, but you didn’t agree.”

“Are you sure you’re talking to the right person? That doesn’t sound like something I’d say.”

“I remember what you said. After we went out a few times, you told me… how did you say it? That you weren’t interested in just a physical relationship. You wanted a woman who would be emotionally intimate with you—someone willing to share her feelings.

“That sounds like me,” Brian conceded. Suddenly it all made sense. Jenn was attractive and intelligent and sexy as hell, but she wasn’t exactly the warm, fuzzy, sharing type. Even the intimacy needed for this conversation was difficult for her to handle.

“After five years of friendship, I know you pretty well, Bri. If I could think of another way, short of kidnapping my own self…” she shook her head.

I know you pretty well, Bri.

Brian was shaken. He was sitting and talking with a woman who knew him far better than he knew her. How much better, he didn’t know.

“So,” he said, taking a deep breath. “Tell me honestly. Did I ever sleep with you---in my future and your past…?” He rolled his eyes again. “This is definitely Twilight Zone stuff.”

She answered him seriously, quietly. “No. We never made love.”

But she’d wanted to. She didn’t say it in so many words, but he could see it in her eyes. She still wanted to.

“I have to go home now,” Brian told her. “My flight to NY leaves early in the morning, and I still have to pack. I also have a song I’ve been working on that I was hoping to finish tonight.”

“I understand.” She said. “I have an early flight to NY myself. I want to be there in case you need my help with Jennifer. We have to make things right, Brian.” She said, looking into his eyes sadly. “We just have to.”

**************

Brian couldn’t stop thinking about Jenn. Her story was impossibly absurd. Still, he found himself believing her. And he found himself drifting out of focus as he sat with the guitar in his lap, thinking not about the song he was trying to write, but about her eyes. About the way she looked at him, as if he were a tall glass of water and she was dying of thirst.

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