Page 13 of Harbinger of Destiny

He couldn’t help but smile. “Are you always this stubborn?”

“I’m not stubborn.” She braced her hands on her hips and tipped up her chin.

Defiance. He liked that. She was no pushover. It shouldn’t surprise him. She had to rely only on herself. Hardship had made her strong… and turned her into the polar opposite of Kelly.

“I guess then I’ll just have to leave you a bigger tip than usual.”

Her chin dropped. “You’re already tipping more than any other customer.”

He shrugged. “I like the service here.”

For the first time, Amy smiled at him. “Your standards can’t be very high.”

Joshua winked at her. “Do you always insult your best customers?”

Amy blushed, and all of a sudden, she looked different. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but her eyes seemed to beam, and the corners of her mouth curved up. She looked… happy.

Did it really take so little to make Amy happy, a few kind words, a smile, and some friendly banter? But would it be enough? Would it be sufficient to become her friend to convince her to come to the future with him? Or did he have to become her lover? It was a prospect that he didn’t exactly relish. How could he become her lover when looking at her didn’t arouse him?

It was best not to think that far. After all, he had nearly six months to decide how to approach the subject of time travel.

“I should get back to work,” Amy suddenly said into the silence that stretched between them.

“You’re not gonna let me help you, are you?”

She shook her head. “You already helped me. I can’t ask you for anything else.”

“You’re not asking. I’m offering.”

She gave him a long look. “I’m not used to relying on others.”

Joshua had figured as much. He motioned to his table. “If you change your mind, I’ll be right there.”

She nodded and went back behind the counter, where she picked up the broken plate and the spoiled sandwiches and tossed them in the trash.

Over the next hour, there was a sudden influx of customers who seemed to be part of a tourist group. They kept Amy busy. Knowing that he wouldn’t have a chance to chat with her again tonight, Joshua decided to leave. He waved at her on the way out, and she acknowledged his departure with a quick smile while she served another customer.

It was dark already, but there were still plenty of people walking around Santa Monica, where the shops on Third Street Promenade were still open. Joshua stopped by a pizza place and ordered a large pizza to take home.

He walked back to his apartment where he devoured half the pizza in front of the TV. But watching TV soon bored him, and after a quick shower, he headed back out. He felt restless. A drive in his car would put him in a better mood. In the past week, he’d gotten rather good at driving, and enjoyed it tremendously. He liked watching people, and many of the bistros and restaurants along Ocean Boulevard and its cross streets had outdoor dining.

Kelly would have liked to dine at a restaurant like that, dressed up in her finest clothes, basking in the admiring gazes of passersby. Joshua shook his head at himself. Kelly had made her choice. He shouldn’t even be thinking about her. But the more he watched beautiful women on the arms of handsome men, sitting down to a romantic dinner, the more annoyed he became. Suddenly all gorgeous women he saw looked like Kelly. And all the men looked like him. Yeah, it was time to return to his studio and get a good night’s sleep.

When he oriented himself, he realized that he was only a couple of blocks away from the Happy Grind coffee shop, but the place would be closed by now. And even if it wasn’t, why would he go back there tonight? To confirm that the computer program used to pair up the time travelers with women of 2025 wasn’t infallible and in fact didn’t guarantee mutual attraction? To be reminded that Dr. Mandell and Professor Henley had decided to teach him a lesson? Would they have paired him with somebody else, somebody prettier, if he hadn’t asked that stupid question during the professor’s talk?

Frustrated, Joshua kicked down the gas pedal and, seeing that there was little traffic, he took the next right turn a little faster than usual. A pedestrian running into the street entered his peripheral vision. He stepped on the brake, and swerved so as not to hit the person. And he would have succeeded, had the female pedestrian with the long hair stopped. She bumped against the passenger side of the car, which had finally come to a complete stop.

“Shit!” Joshua yelled, adrenaline pumping through his body. “Fuck!” He spun his head in the direction of the woman, and froze.

“Amy?”

Somewhat dazed, she stared at him. “Joshua?”

“Oh my God! Did I hurt you?” He was about to open the car door to jump out, when Amy looked over her shoulder, then back at him.

“They’re chasing me!” Panic was written all over her face.

“Who?” Joshua glanced past her, when he saw a movement half a block away. Two figures were running in Amy’s direction.