Page 26 of Fast Forward

“I’m here till five, then off to my daughter’s engagement party.” Liliana smiled. “I’ll be here over the weekend as well.” She then leaned close to me. “Don’t be scared, dear, I’m sure you will return to your normal life, but you were sent here for a reason. When you’ve realised what that reason is, go back to your life armed with the knowledge of how to make your life the best it can be.”

I clamped my lips together and nodded, before turning away and walking out the door. Away from the one person who believed me and knew I wasn’t crazy. I took another of those breaths that everyone says to take and checked the time on my e-pad. I was determined, that by the time the birthday cake was placed in front of me I’d be ready to go home. I’d understand why I’d been sent here and it would all be over.

I could do this. I could get through the rest of this day. It would be a piece of cake, pardon the pun. Only five hours until the guests would arrive at my party and then they’d sing Happy Birthday, and I’d make my wish. Only five hours. What could possibly go wrong in that amount of time?

Chapter 9

Five Hours to Go

“If we could be twice young and twice old we could correct all our mistakes.” – Euripides

A man in a suit nodded at me as I walked through the doors of City Junction Cafe. “Good afternoon, madam, do you have a reservation?”

“I’m meeting my sister, Kasey, it might be under Crawford?”

The man removed one of his hands from behind his back to press a screen next to the door. “There’s no Crawford, could it be under another name?”

It couldn’t be under McSnelly, could it? I was too embarrassed to ask. In fact, by the looks of the opulent interior with mahogany tables and crystal chandeliers I doubt they’d let anyone by the name of McSnelly inside.

A woman from one of the tables by the window glanced in my direction, her rounded cheeks reflecting the light from outside. She was definitely my little sister. Just twenty-five years older. She waved at me and I waved too, taken aback by how classy she looked. Her once dishevelled mop of hair was moulded into a sleek bob and she was actually wearing lipstick!

“Don’t worry, I see her,” I said to the man.

He glanced towards Kasey and with a sweep of his hand, ushered me through before returning to his vigilant stance. All sibling rivalry dissolved as I approached the table, my tense muscles relaxing at the sight of a familiar face, even though somewhat different. “Kasey, Kasey, it’s so good to see you!” I flung my arms around her and she laughed.

“I saw you yesterday, why so happy? Ah, you’ve had one of those better-than-sex facials, haven’t you?”

“I sure have.” I sat down on the suede chair.

“Happy birthday! I heard you’ve had a lot of fun so far?”

“Well, apart from my trip to the doctor’s this morning, that’s never fun.”

“Doctor? What’s wrong?”

“Oh, nothing, I think I just came down with the common cold, but it’s mostly gone now.” I managed a tiny fake sniff for effect.

“The common cold? Good one, sis!” Kasey faked a hearty laugh. “You know how many times I’ve heard that joke?”

“Joke? What do you mean?”

She laughed again. “Oh yeah, tell the person who found a cure for the common cold that you have the common cold. Seriously, Kelli, the joke’s so old now, but I’ll humour you because it’s your birthday.” She winked.

I faked a chuckle, while inside I racked my brain to process what she’d just said. Tell the person who found a cure for the common cold that you have the common cold. Was she serious? Did she actually mean that she’d…?

“Hey, Doc, fancy seeing you here!” A grey-haired man said as he walked past our table.

“Yes, fancy that,” Kasey replied with an exaggerated tone of sarcasm. The man continued on his way to a table of similar looking men in boring trousers, shirts and terrible ties.

Doc? I eyed Kasey curiously.

She thumbed over her shoulder in the direction the man had passed. “He says that all the time. It’s getting a tad old. Most of the staff from FutureTech Labs eat here at least three times a week.”

“Old… like the joke about the common cold, huh?” I tried, hoping to extract more information from her.

“Yeah, and the one where people tell me they have some kind of bug. I mean, it’s been over five years since my discovery.” Kasey took a swig of water from her glass.

Wow. She was serious. “Well, um… I’m very proud of what you’ve achieved.”

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