Chapter 5 - Closing Time

Cara lay on her back, limbs spread out on her bed and sighed staring at the ceiling. She’d spent half the night and all of her morning like that wondering what was going on and how to fix it.

“I must be going insane if I think a free toy at the end of a meal is twisting the past and my present.”

She held the monkey over her head and stared at it. The red talisman dangling from its hand.

“Didn’t the waiter say you were supposed to bring good luck?”

She paused a moment.

“Wait, what did the waiter say exactly? I can’t remember.”

She put the monkey down and grabbed her phone. She’d half expected a series of messages from Emily demanding to know why she’d run off, but she hadn’t received anything.

“Did I reset things again last night and to Emily I didn’t have any reason to run off because Alex the second…and probably the third…doesn’t exist anymore?”

She shook her head to brush away her frustrations and sent Emily a text.

Can you meet me at that same restaurant for lunch today?

She tossed her phone aside and began to get herself ready. After a reinvigorating shower she threw on a pale pink sleeveless dress and some walnut shoes.

A quick check of her phone to confirm Emily was coming and she was off.

In her haste she practically smashed into a man walking past her front door along the side walk.

“Whoa! You ok?” The man asked as he grasped her shoulders and helped her balance after she nearly bounced off him.

Realizing he was unusually close, he quickly let go and backed away. He scratched the back of his head, his fingers lost in a sea of gold as he smiled awkwardly.

Cara watched his all too familiar movement.

“Sorry Alex the fourth, I don’t have time for this!”

She turned and began to walk away.

“What? Wait! Who are you and how do you know my name?!”

Too dumbfounded to follow he just stood there, hand outstretched towards Cara as she walked down the street and turned the corner without a second glance.

By the time Cara got to the restaurant Emily was already there waiting. She was wearing an emerald top, her favourite colour, along with a pair of black slacks. As the light caught Emily’s hair Cara thought, and not for the first time, that Emily’s girlfriend was a lucky woman.

“Thanks for coming!”

“No problem, I happen to be free until my shift later. But why do you want to eat here again? It was good, but we were just here a few days ago.”

“Yeah, sorry about that. That’s actually why I wanted to come. I have some questions for the waiter.”

Emily entered the restaurant as Cara held the door. “The waiter?”

The place wasn’t very busy yet so they were able to get a table quickly.

“Yeah, the guy who gave me the monkey. Oh wait, you said it was a black girl. Or was it an asian dude? I am having a really hard time keeping track, let me tell you!”

“You brought me here to ask about a monkey? You mean that little guy with the black thingy on its head? The one that redhead gave to you while faking a British accent?”

“Yes! Well, no, not black…but yeah! Ugh…basically I just need to talk to whoever gave us that monkey and get them to repeat what they said. You don’t remember do you?”

A wry smile came across Emily’s lips. “Being your friend is never boring Cara. This for one of your stories? Anyway, all I remember is that she said something about good luck. Did it work? Have you gotten lucky?”

Emily winked at her own double entendre.

Cara hung her head. “I can’t get past the first meeting with any Alex lately.”

“Any Alex? That slang? Or do you have a thing where you only date guys with that name?”

“It’s not on purpose, trust me.”

As she spoke the waiter arrived. She was short and couldn’t have been out of high school.

“Is this the right one Emily?”

Emily’s eyebrow popped up questioningly. “You seriously don’t remember? Yeah, that’s her.”

“Can I take your order?” The girl asked hesitatingly, confused by the conversation’s mention of her.

“You gave me Mr. Monkey, right?”

“Uh, excuse me?”

“The toy monkey. With some kind of talisman.”

“I’m sorry…I don’t remember…”

“Is that the one you gave the wrong prize to?”

A voice boomed from near the kitchen as a middle aged, red haired woman called out. By the look of her, she was this waiter’s mother.

“Oh right! I did give someone the wrong thing!” She turned back to Cara. “Did you want the real prize? It’s a bird. Not sure we have any left from the promotion though.”

Cara looked at mother and daughter. “No, I don’t need anything else. One weird monkey is enough. What I need to know is what you said when you gave it to me. Do you remember?”

“What I said?” The girl looked at her mother. “What was it you told me to say mom?”

Exasperated, the mother looked disappointingly towards her daughter. “Forgot already? Too busy practicing accents for your audition again, weren’t you?”

The girl looked away guiltily.

“You were supposed to tell them that the gift is for luck and the talisman is to purify bad thoughts!”

“Bad thoughts?” Cara wondered.

“Where did you get the prizes from anyway mom?” The girl asked.

“Who knows? It was your father’s dumb idea. Go ask him in the kitchen. Probably fell off the back of some truck. Except for that monkey one you weren’t supposed to give away. I think he’s broken. His headpiece kept falling off! Besides, your father swiped that one from some shrine in the park. What am I going to do with that man?…” She shook her head sadly.

Emily looked over at Cara. “Is this…really why you came here?”

“Believe it not, yeah.” She smiled. “And I think I got what I need. Let’s eat!”

Looking confused, but happy her friend got what she needed, Emily turned to the menu and the pair had a good meal before leaving.

“Thanks for indulging me Emily.” Cara waived goodbye.

“Just make that next story worth reading and that’s good enough for me.” Emily waved back and they parted ways.

Finally back home, Cara walked into her study.

“So has this really been all your fault Mr. Monkey? You and all your bad thoughts?” She picked up the toy and was shaking her finger at it while puffing her cheeks.

“Let’s see if this helps.” She pulled the red talisman from his hand and wrapped it back around his head.

Satisfied for a moment, she noticed the talisman was already beginning to slip a little.

“Sorry little guy, but you and I both know you need this.”

Cara reached across her desk and grabbed some glue. The white liquid pooled over the monkey’s brow matting his fur as she pressed the talisman into his forehead and waited for the glue to dry.

She gave it a tentative pull.

“Good. Nice and stuck. So no more funny business!”

She looked over at her virtual reality headset. “I hope this works.”

Sitting down she slung the machine over her eyes. Before turning it on she made sure the monkey was back in his usual place, but tilted him a little so the newly affixed talisman still brushed against the circuits of her machine.

She pushed the power button and began her journey back to the Caroline.

This time she tried to observe as much as possible from the same perspective as her very first trip.

Everything proceeded exactly as she remembered. The small band of attackers closing in on the wharf. The solitary man in front of her checking his watch.

Like the first time, she found herself looking down the barrel of a gun aimed at the man. But this time the assailant didn’t pause. Didn’t move to avoid Cara.

His finger pulled the trigger and she watched the bullet fly at her, and through her, striking the man behind her in the back of the head as if she wasn’t there.

The rest of the scene unfolded as expected and she slowly pulled the device off her face when she was done.

She couldn’t help but notice that no glow came from Mr. Monkey.

“Did that set things right? I better check with Emily.”

She quickly texted her friend, thanking her for lunch. But the speedy reply surprised her.

What lunch? I haven’t seen you all week!

Cara stared blankly at her phone, but as she thought about it more it actually started to make sense.

“Right! If everything is back to normal, I never went to dinner with Emily and had no reason to drag her there again today.”

She grabbed her purse and headed out her front door, determined to check in with her friend.

But standing outside of her house as she exited was someone she hadn’t expected to find.

“Alex the first?!?”

“The first?”

“You’re here! Actually here!”

Standing there was the very first Alexander McLeod she’d met. Brown hair rippling in the breeze. He was holding some kind of take-out box and Cara glanced at it questioningly.

“Well, I had a really great time the other day but you never responded to any of my texts. At first I thought I got ghosted.” A sad smile crossed his handsome face. “But then I remembered you said you often get lost when writing and forget to eat. So I took a chance.”

He held up the take-out a little higher as he shrugged bashfully.

Cara placed her hands on his cheeks and gazed into his peridot eyes.

“You have no idea how glad I am to be able to see you again. Though the other versions of you were really nice too.”

Before Alex could question her odd statement Cara stood on her tiptoes, leaned in, and kissed him.

He quickly decided any questions could wait.