She laughed and began eating my food, instead of her own. “Not really. More cute-mad. You know?”
I’d never considered the emotional repercussions of time travel. The public entertainment channels were full of discussions about morality and anomalies, but I tended to concentrate on the daily tasks of paying the bills and squaring up to life. I hadn’t got the energy for much else. Philosophy was for the rich.
Once back in the sheen, Diane took my hand again. She couldn’t seem to stop, and I couldn’t seem to pull away. I’d heard about limbs having memories, but never really understood. My hand beneath hers was warmer than usual. I was more aware of my nails and knuckles, of the space between fingers. It seemed most likely this was a memory. In the future, my hand would get very used to hers. The tingles began moving to other parts of my body, presumably in recognition of her presence.
“What do we do now? Will I always be this version of me?” I asked.
“No. The journey back to the first day of your job is time-limited. Once that time expires, you pop back to the future.”
“Pop on back?”
“Technical term, B. Unless you want me to end the session sooner? I’d forgotten,” she slipped an arm around my shoulders, “how nervous you used to be. I want to cuddle you.”
I blinked far too many times. “What am I like six months from now?”
“I don’t know if I can tell you.”
“Because of the anomalies?”
“No. Because you won’t believe me. I don’t want to upsetyou,” she said.
I considered. “Is it something horrible?”
She giggled. “It’s fantastic.”
The sheen arrived. We didn’t open the door. A burning sensation swept my skin, igniting the hairs as forcefully as an army of tiny flames.
Throughout this process, Diane kissed my lips repeatedly. Gentle sensations aided the crescendo of my body and mind.
I returned the kiss. My tongue pushed against hers. Maybe it was the breach that broke through the final boundaries of time travel and the complicated layers of memory. Some things can’t be forgotten.
“I love this part best,” she whispered. “Light comes into your eyes. It’s beautiful.”
I remembered her.
Images flooded my brain in a heady rush.
At first, we were colleagues, and then friends riding the time-sheen, hurtling through space together. Some people say time travel is fantastic, but it was nothing compared to the wonder of attraction.
The dates led to nights over. My first kiss. A tangle of limbs and lasagna teeth. Feeling like it would never come right. I even remembered the saggy sofa.
Diane smiled knowingly. “Nope, I can’t tell you what you end up like. No way.”
With my returning memories, the galaxies shifted back into alignment.
“Tell me,” I insisted.
She rubbed her nose against mine. “Bossy.”
“Tell me.”
She opened the door, ready to run. “Six months from now, you’re asex fiend!”
I chased her around the building until we collapsed on thefloor.
“Man, that got intense,” she hiccupped. “I forgot you were so anxious.”
“Me too,” I said.
