He sat next to the sexiest woman he ever would know; in front of him, his favorite film; and he was nineteen again. Needless to say he felt like dying. Just as he did every time he found himself back in July 15, 1971.
He turned to Veronica: “I got to pee,” he told her.
She made an odd face. “Well, hurry; you might miss the good stuff.”
No chance of that. At this point he knew the lines better than the actors did. He stepped out to the concession stand to see Mary.
In his first life he paid Mary little attention. For one she had been on the heavy side. Further she lived a rather austere life, especially for a young person in 1971. She avoided drugs, alcohol, smoking, casual sex, and even rock & roll. She attended church every Sunday and worked her way through college. Later he learned the reason for this and it led to him realizing her importance.
As always he asked, “How many times has it been?”
She gave him a sad look. “Forty for me.”
Now this too, damn! See, after forty times you’re done. They’d lost Bob that way. That loss hit her hard as Bob had been the love of her lives. He sometimes envied Bob and Mary for that. Yet now she, too, would have her final life and final death. Well, unless the afterlife existed. Once he would have laughed at that, but now the idea seemed less outlandish to him. He looked at her then. “Well what number am I at, then?”
She shook her head. “I told you before: just subtract five from mine. Granted, I saw you last in 2019, but your last life ended in 2022.”
The anger and misery surged in him. “I hate this! How can I do this alone five times?”
She pursed her lips. “I managed without Bob the first three times.”
He smirked, “By being drunk in Tijuana.” Then he added more thoughtfully, “Sorry, you know what you mean to me and how much I’ll miss you.”
She rolled her eyes. “In fifty years maybe. As for now I have a proposition.”
He swallowed. “A proposition? I care about you, but I don’t feel the way Bob...”
She gasped. “Not that kind of proposition! Look, as always I came back to July 15, 1969. I’d already made a fortune then. Also I read Andorra just gave women the vote. I remember you liked it there and speak Catalan. So with my money and your knowledge we can do great things for the place. You in?” She then left the counter, to her boss’s consternation.
“Now?”
She looked. “Of course now. You know how the movie ends. And how the lives with Veronica end up? Right?”
At best, a brief marriage; at worst, Veronica would die of a heroin overdose. In comparison, Mary offered a whole new path. No contest. “Sure, I’m in. Let’s go!”
Copyright © 2003 by Thomas R.
