Chapter 20
I open my eyes to a bright morning, an ultra-modern bedroom and an alarm clock tune ringing me awake. I moan slightly in protest of the unwanted sound and of the light gushing from the window.
“Are you awake?” Arthur asks me as I stir.
“Ehm…I had a strange dream…you were my professor and we were…somewhere,” I mumble.
“Gosh. Where the hell have we been?” he asks.
My eyes slowly open.
“Where the hell are we now?” I reply, suddenly feeling as if I was supposed to be elsewhere.
Arthur jumps up.
He’s still recognizable, and yet there seems to be something different about him.
“Why do you look so strange?” I mumble, still half asleep.
“Me? Strange? What do you mean where are we now? This is exactly where we are meant to be,” he replies, bugging his eyes.
Of course, this is our bedroom, our alarm clock, and the man beside me is my husband.
“Yes, but yesterday night we were somewhere else,” I insist.
“I don’t know if I want to go back there,” Arthur says gloomily, almost talking to himself.
“Were you not happy?” I ask.
“Happy, yes, and unsettled. And so were you. Next time we’ll get the volunteers to step in the time machine,” Arthur states.
“Sure, but-” I start.
“Stop. Next time we’ll get the volunteers to step in the time machine,” Arthur cuts me off.
I am determined to get Arthur to come back to the monastery with me, but this is not the right time to argue.
“Very well,” I reply.
“Very well,” Arthur mechanically repeats, and springs off the bed.
I look at him without speaking.
“I’ll call them now, I think we can get started today,” he says.
“It’s 7 a.m., Arthur,” I try to reason.
“Two of the guys are academics, and all academics are morning birds,” is Arthur’s stubborn reply.
When Arthur is in his hyperactive mode communication with him is ineffective, and I head to the bathroom ruminating my irritation in silence. I personally selected the volunteers, and the time machine should become a commercial product. That’s the goal, and yet I cannot accept the idea of someone other than Arthur and myself stepping in it.
I have let myself steam under a flow of hot water flow for a long while, when Arthur steps in.
“Hey there, are you still alive?” he laughs.
“Do you need me?” I reply curtly.
“As a matter of fact, I do. I got a hold of three of our volunteers, and we’re starting the trial today. Come on, get out of the shower and let’s have breakfast. We’re getting our guys in the machine in one hour from now,” Arthur says briskly.