Sam closed the door of the women’s bathroom, and leaned against it with a sigh.
Al was standing at a stall, inspecting the state of a toilet. “I always assumed ladies bathrooms were clean and, I dunno— fragrant or something. I guess I had it wrong. Yick!”
“Oh, there’s certainly a… fragrance… of some kind in here,” Sam said, screwing up his face.
Al looked at him expectantly. “Didn’t I tell you to get rid of Sam Junior? Now you’re out to lunch with the kid— what’s the big idea?”
“I think I’m onto something here. Ask Ziggy what the odds are of Yolanda and Zach landing work in TV with and without my help.” Sam shook his head. “I mean, the help of the other me.”
Al tapped in the data request, and the handlink responded with a squeal and blip.
“Well that’s somethin’,” he mumbled. “According to this, you’ve already got it to a hundred percent with the help of Junior. Shouldn’t you have leaped by now? Don’t tell me this wasn’t what you were here for.”
Sam peered into a mirror, inspecting the makeup on his face that it felt like he had put there years ago at this point.
“I have a feeling I have one last thing to do before I get my ticket out of this leap,” he said, giving Al a grim smile.
* * *
As Zach peeled off to return to work, Sam walked side-by-side with his young self along the street.
“So, Sam, are you far from home? When was the last time you saw your family?”
Young Sam tilted his head. “I dunno, I guess it was last summer. They’re in Indiana. Why do you ask?”
“Oh, you know…” Sam said, staring into the distance. “I was just thinking about my… Grandpa. He died recently. It had been a while since I’d seen him, and just one day I got a call saying he’d had a heart attack. I always wish I’d called him more, and visited.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” said Young Sam, looking at his feet.
“You should always make time to talk to family,” Sam continued. “You never know when it’ll be for the last time. I mean, maybe you’ll get hit by a car tomorrow after pushing some lady out of the way. Seems plausible now, huh?”
Young Sam met his eye, with an amused smirk.
“I’ll keep that in mind. Listen, I have to get back to campus. It was great meeting you today, even though it was under weird circumstances.”
“Yeah, I think getting pushed over might have been the best thing that’s happened to me,” Sam said with a grin. “Keep in touch, okay?”
And Young Sam turned a corner, leaving Sam walking alone, until Al blinked in next to him.
“Get this, Sam,” he said, barely concealing his amusement. “You’re gonna go on to date Yolanda for about six months.”
Sam chuckled. “Yeah… I think I picked up on that at some point. And I go on to call home tonight, don’t I? I talk to Mom, and Katie, and Dad.”
“You remember that?”
Sam shrugged. “I have some kind of a connection to this version of me now, so I could just kind of feel it out.”
Dad still died, but… I had a little less guilt about it. A little.
“I think it’s time. Finally.”
“Well, that’s a relief. Adios, kid.” Al gave him one of his finger waggles to bid him goodbye, and Sam leaped.