Chapter 4 - You Oughta Know

“How do you now my name?”

The man tilted his head, clearly confused. The two students sitting next to them were in awe as well.

“That’s not important. Come with me Alex the third.”

Cara grabbed the man by his shirt, holding onto a fistful of it as she dragged him towards an empty table away from the students and others at the cafe.

“Whoa!” Alex gasped in surprise as Cara waved to the students, said a quick thanks, and pulled him along.

“Here. Sit.” She pushed Alex into a free chair, a little more roughly than she intended.

Still confused, but equally intrigued, Alex looked up at the still standing Cara. “I feel like I’m missing something.”

Cara collapsed into the seat opposite him. “You and me both.”

They stared at each other for several moments, Alex unsure whether he should say anything and Cara unsure of what she could even ask that wouldn’t make her sound crazy.

“Hungry?” Cara asked eventually.

“I guess so.” Alex answered cautiously.

“Sorry, I got stood up by Alex the second and never got dinner.” She quickly grabbed the menu and tried to find something to eat.

“Exactly how many Alexes do you know?” He eventually ventured, grabbing his own menu.

“And who would stand you up when you look like that?”

He said that part much more softly, noticing how pretty she was for the first time as she pushed a lock of hair behind her ear to look at the menu.

Cara missed this last statement.

“You’re the third Alexander McLeod I’ve met this week.” She pointed to an item on the menu for the waiter who appeared, a crispy chicken wrap, and waited for Alex to make his selection.

After being too bewildered to worry much about food he simply told the waiter to bring him the same and turned back to Cara.

“Three different people with the same name? And how could you know I’m named Alex too? I feel like I should say ‘there can be only one!’” Warming to conversation his words flowed more easily as he feigned a passable Scottish accent quoting an old movie.

Cara was certainly unusual so far, but something about her felt familiar and Alex’s curiosity got the better of him as they chatted.

“That’s just it…ARE you different people? Do you have any brothers or cousins or anything named Alex McLeod?”

Ignoring the odd turn of phrase she began with, Alex thought for a moment. “No brothers at all. And no cousins named Alex on my dad’s side that share the last name. You sure you didn’t just meet somebody else with the same last name? Hardly unique.”

Cara gave him a more piercing look, evaluating him. “Maybe, but how many are related to Alexander McLeod from the incident aboard the Caroline a couple hundred years back?”

“Right, that’s what caught my attention when I was walking by.” Alex scratched his chin in thought, the gesture reminiscent of an earlier Alex. “If my memory of my family tree is anything to go by, and it likely isn’t mind you, I should be the only descendant with the same name who’s around.”

“So are you the same person as the other two?” She seemed to speak more to herself than to him.

“Now I’m curious how close these doppelgängers resemble me.”

Turning back to him. “Oh, not at all actually. Different hair. Different builds. Similar vibe though, if that makes sense. And you’re just as handsome, just differently so.”

As the last few words slipped out she blushed a little and quickly took a sip of water, hoping he wouldn’t latch on to her statement.

Alex couldn’t stifle a small chuckle at her cute reaction. “And these two other, uh, handsome men. They both claim to be related to my ancestor?”

“Exactly! That’s the strange part!” The intensity of her reply made him sit back a little.

“See, you keep changing, but somehow still meeting me. But everything else is the same. Well, except what happened on the Caroline now that I think about it.”

“You lost me. How does what happened on the Caroline play a role here?”

“Your ancestor was charged with murder.”

Alex nodded as their food arrived and was placed in front of each of them.

“But then he was charged with assault.” She continued to talk as they began to eat.

“Was he? News to me. How bad was my ancestor anyway?”

“No, for the same thing.”

“Same thing?”

“Yeah, but now he’s back to being charged with murder.”

Cara took a big bite of her food, content that she had, in her mind anyway, accurately relayed the situation. Alex looked completely lost, but amused.

After a bite of his food he tentatively tried to understand. “So you’re saying your understanding of what happened with my ancestor has changed? What does that have to do with my namesakes?”

Cara wiped a bit of sauce off her cheek with her thumb and licked it, chewing rapidly to be able to speak again.

“That’s what I don’t know. The only thing that keeps changing is you.” She waved her hand up and down in his direction to indicate his whole body before pausing to think a bit more. “Well, that and the dinner I had with a friend. But that’s more consistent except for…”

She paused mid sentence.

Alex leaned in, curious where she was going.

All of a sudden Cara stood up. “I’m really sorry, I have to go!”

She rifled through her purse for some cash and threw enough on the table for both of them.

“My treat. For bothering you.”

As she turned to leave in a hurry Alex called out. “Wait! Can’t I at least get your number?”

She shrugged noncommittally. “I doubt it will stick this time, but sure.”

She hastily scribble her cell number on the back of one of the bills on the table and left quickly.

Alex nodded towards her as the waiter came to collect. “You know, I should be a lot more weirded out…but I kinda like her.”

Meanwhile Cara raced home.

There was one other thing that kept changing over the last few days.

“No…NOT changing!” She told herself as she opened her front door and quickly entered her study.

“There you ar…!” The final word died on her lips.

There was her toy, Mr. Monkey, sitting on her desk as always. But the strange talisman in his hand was glowing for a moment. Not only the talisman. Red light writhed through the circuit boards on her desk that were connected to her historical simulator.

Red light.

“I was right! Emily keeps telling me a different story about how I got you Mr. Monkey. And every time you have a different coloured talisman.”

She picked up the toy. “But you’ve always been red for me, haven’t you? I wonder why?”

By now the light had faded and she glanced at her machine, still talking to the monkey.

“Are you responsible Mr. Monkey?” She looked it in the eye. “Are you doing something to this machine? It sounds crazy, but every time I use it I see something different, both in the past and now.”

She held out the toy at arm’s length, a realization striking her.

“Wait! Are you actually changing the past? Is that why I keep meeting different Alexander McLeods? Some kind of butterfly effect? Can I never get past a meet cute because of your time bending shenanigans?”

The thought was too unreal to take seriously. But when the alternative was accepting insanity, she figured she could be forgiven for what might be a flight of fancy.

“But how do I fix it? Do I go back?”

She tentatively picked up the VR headset.

“Will you help me fix everything Mr. Monkey?” Her eyes narrowed as she asked.

Realizing she had few other options she put the toy back in the same place on the circuit board and pulled the headset over her eyes.

“I’m trusting you Mr. Monkey.” She said it with a certain amount of hesitancy as she pushed the start button.

Time passed and eventually Cara put down the headset. She had just rewatched the events of the Caroline again, but this time the man had died in a fire.

It was difficult to watch.

She looked over at the toy, disappointment on her face, and sighed.

Her eyes were cold and sharp as she stared. “That wasn’t very nice Mr. Monkey…”