Chapter X - The Watch
While you wait for Mei to respond, you go ahead and save her number in Brooke's phone. Your heart races, each second that passes seeming to take longer than the last. Have you really figured it out?
Finally, the phone rings. You answer it faster than you've ever answered a call before. "Hey Mei."
"Hello sir," she says. "I must say, I am impressed. I had not considered time travel as a solution to your problem.
"So it really is possible?" You ask, trying not to sound too excited.
"Absolutely," she says. A wave of relief washes over you when you hear her say that. "But you are aware that if we are successful, you will no longer be with child?"
"I'll be honest with you," you say, quieting your voice. "I don't really want to keep the baby. I only told Brooke we would keep it because I didn't want to have that argument in front of you. Also because I thought there would be a safer way for us to get our bodies back... Anyway, I figure if we do it right, I'll never have gotten pregnant. She can't be mad about losing a baby that never even existed in the first place, especially if she doesn't remember it, right?"
"Precisely," Mei replies. "I assume then, that she is not privy to this idea?"
"No, she's not," you let out a soft sigh. "We got into a pretty heated argument about me wearing the suit after you left. I've been hiding out in the bedroom for a little while now."
"Ah yes, I thought that might become a point of contention after she asked me to leave it there."
"Oh it did. A pretty loud one at that. Apparently my neighbor thinks that I would actually hit her. He offered me to stay with him tonight - you know, he thinks I'm Brooke - and even said he would use his gun on me if he had to. Well, on her in my body anyway."
"Oh my," she chuckled softly. "Quite the lively neighborhood you live in."
"I know, right?!"
"Anyway dear, how soon can you come to the shop? I won't be able to teleport again until sunrise," Mei says.
"Whenever Brooke falls asleep. She's probably in the living room and I just don't really want to face her right now. How late will you be awake?"
"Oh, I haven't slept a wink since the 1870's, dear. One of the perks of my practice." Your jaw practically drops to the floor. 140 years without sleep?
"Uh, wow, alright. Well, I slept for most of the day so I'll be wide awake for a while. I'll let you know when I leave."
"You can leave now," she says.
"Wait, what?"
"Go ahead and go, dear. She should be fast asleep on the couch already, blanket and all." You get up and crack the bedroom door open. Squinting as you peer down the hall and into the living room, you can just barely make out your body, curled up on the couch and covered in a blanket, snoring loudly.
"That's... Really impressive, wow. Except, I don't snore, and neither does Brooke," you say with a slight smirk.
"No? Hmm. Well, she does tonight. I'll see you soon, dear," Mei says, hanging up the phone.
You go back into the room and change out of your booty shorts into a pair of capris. You think to yourself, 'Should I find a bra too? No, probably not. I'm only going to see Mei. Plus if my idea really works, it won't matter anyway.' You grab Brooke's phone, wallet, and keys, stuffing them into your tight pockets as you head into the living room. Brooke's snoring is almost comical, you think as you put on her flip flops. You leave the house, shutting and locking the door behind you. You can't help but laugh a little, still hearing Brooke's snoring through the door before you walk away. You get into her car and start it, giving it a minute to warm up before pulling away.
The drive to the shop is relatively quick, with almost no traffic since it's so late at night, and every single stoplight seems to turn green for you. Mei's doing, perhaps? You turn the radio off and enjoy the silence, which you don't usually get to do with Brooke in the car.
When you pull up to the shop, Mei is already outside waiting for you. She ushers you inside, and locks the door behind her after she follows you in. You stand in front of the counter, and Mei walks around behind it. She bends down behind the counter for a moment and procures a small wooden box.
"This is the only time traveling item I have right now, but it should more than suffice," Mei says. She lifts the lid of the box, revealing a worn out, yellow and black plastic digital watch inside. The rim of the watch has the typical 4 buttons found on any digital watch, though the labels for their functions have faded away with time and use. The face of the watch has the digital readout, as well as up, down, left, and right arrows underneath the display. Underneath the watch is an old folded up piece of paper. You pick up the watch, turning it in your hands to inspect it. Mei picks up the piece of paper and opens it slowly, careful so that it doesn't fall apart.
"Clockstoppers," you say with a little chuckle.
"It's what?" Mei asks.
"You never saw that movie?" She shakes her head and shrugs. "It was a really bad kids movie from 2002, about a kid who gets this watch from his dad that can slow down time, and this evil company that invented the technology is trying to steal it back... Anyway, this looks exactly like the watch from that movie, just a lot older."
"I love bad movies, there are so many to choose from these days," Mei smiles. "Perhaps we should get together and watch it sometime."
"Maybe," you say, returning the smile. Mei goes back to reading the instructions for the watch, and you look around the store. It's so much creepier in here at night, with only the emergency light on over the exit. And it doesn't help knowing that nearly everything in the shop that you can't see has the power to warp reality in some form or fashion.
"Okay, I think I've got it," Mei says, the sudden break in silence causing you to jump a little. "Please let me see the watch." You hand it back over to her. She begins pressing the buttons, which freaks you out a little at first. "Interesting..." She says under her breath. "Oh, I see," and you realize she's only mumbling to herself again.
"Right then. Are you right or left handed?"
"Um, I'm left handed, but Brooke is right handed, so..." you shrug. Mei grabs a piece of paper and a pencil from behind the counter and sets it down in front of you. You pick up the pencil with your left hand and try to write your name, but it feels awkward and the letters look like they were written by a second grader. You switch the pencil to your right hand and try again, this time it feels much more natural and the letters come out neater. It doesn't actually look like your handwriting, it looks like Brooke's. "Well then, I guess I'm right handed now," you say with another shrug.
"Give me your left hand then, please," she says. You hold out your left hand and Mei secures the watch to your wrist. You turn your arm over to look at the watch.
"So how does it work?" She picks up the paper again.
"So the watch is in 24 hour format, are you familiar with it?" She asks. You nod, having a military dad will do that. "The top left button allows you to select your destination date," she says, pressing the button to show you. "The flashing number indicates your current selection. Left and right controls which number you're changing - day on the left, month in the middle, year on the right - and up and down allow you to change the number."
"Mmkay," you say, starting at the watch.
"The bottom left button allows you to select the destination time for the day you've selected. Same thing - hour on the left, minutes in the middle, seconds on the right, up and down to change the number," she says, reading straight from the paper. "Now, pressing the top right button is what sends you through time to your destination. The button is actually not a button, but a cap to keep you from accidentally pressing it. Slide the cap toward the top of the watch, and use a pencil or other small object to hit the recessed button behind the cap."
"That seems easy enough," you say, tapping on the face of the watch gently with your fingernails. "What's the bottom right one do?"
"Oh, that back lights the watch so you can see it in the dark. If you press and hold it, it will show the current date and time for when you are. Now, I need to explain something," she says.
You look up from the watch.
"The thing is, in order to travel time, you need a host body in your destination time. This watch is very basic - as such, your own body is the default setting for the host and as far as I can tell, there is no way to change it," Mei says. You swallow hard, starting to realize where she's going with this. "I'm afraid I just don't know which body you will land in should you set your destination to any time before you swapped bodies."
"Shit," you said under your breath. "So I need to set it to after we swap, but before we had sex. Greeeeaaaat," you say sarcastically.
"If you are placed into Brooke's body before the swap occurs, there will be two versions of you in the timeline - one in your own body and one in hers - and the real Brooke's mind will cease to exist. If you try to go back to after the time you had sex, not only is your problem not solved but you also run the risk of being placed into the body of the child." You let out a long and drawn out sigh, putting your hands on your head.
"This is going to be tough... We had sex right after the swap, and we both got so horny so fast neither of us could even focus on getting a condom out of the night stand."
"Well the way I see it, this is the best solution to your problem. I'm sure you can figure it out dear," Mei says, giving you a soft smile. "I would make getting that condom on priority one. After that, well, if you're still afraid of the condom not working, just remember you do have a second option for sex right behind your first."
"A second option for sex? I don't have-" suddenly it clicks. "Oh... No. Nope, no way, no how, nuh uh, negative, not happening. I don't care who's body I'm in, that one's an exit only."
Mei can't help but giggle, covering her mouth like an Asian school girl. "Just a thought, dear, just a thought." You shake your head and start punching coordinates into the watch. You don't remember exactly what time you swapped, but you know it was no later than 10:30. You set the watch for 10:31:00 just to be safe, and make sure you set the correct date. You double and triple check your entries to be safe.
"I think I'm ready," you say nervously. Mei steps around the counter and gives you a quick hug.
"Come find me at the shop if you need anything dear, even if you just need to talk. I'll know everything that's happened up until now. Also, know that I believe in you," she says softly. "You'll do great!" You can't help but smile at her words, hugging her tightly.
You grab the pencil off the counter and check your entries once more. Satisfied, you push the button cap forward. Mei waves at you and smiles. "Good luck!" Your heart skips a beat as you stick the pencil into the recessed button on the watch, and you hold your breath.
Everything goes dark.
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