Chapter 24
“Janis, this is making me really uncomfortable,” Ben whispered, leaning against the partition of the changing room stall.
“Oh, you want me to give you some privacy?” Janis began backing out of the stall, hands raised in an appeasing gesture.
“No, not the changing,” Ben said, “though yes, I wouldn’t mind a few minutes alone. I mean, being you, and seeing Addison out there—”
“Oh yeah, that one threw me,” agreed Janis. “I had no idea she was here today. Of course, I hadn’t met her yet at this point…” She gave a casual shrug. “It’s no biggie, though. Relax.”
Ben wasn’t going to relax.
“This dinner tonight is going to be difficult,” Ben continued. “I have this awful feeling it’s all going to blow up in my face.” He grimaced. “Last time I saw a past Addison, I kinda screwed things up.”
“I know—I saw.” Janis smirked. “You might not have a reset button this time, but you do have me—and I learned from the best! Just try not to say anything stupid, and only reveal what Ziggy thinks you should.”
“And Ziggy… has opinions on this kind of thing now…” Ben said, brow furrowed.
Janis nodded. “You don’t remember either?” She frowned, looking at him like a therapist looks at a patient.
Ben shook his head. “I caused the changes, right?”
“Yeah, but don’t sweat it. Sam’s changes ebbed into his memory over time; yours will too.” Janis brushed aside her bangs. “Addison, on the other hand… I don’t know. But hey—maybe that just means you can’t really screw up with her this time because she won’t remember any of it.”
“Hmm, that’s something I didn’t consider,” Ben mused.
After taking a moment to worry about his fiancée, he carefully unzipped the sequined gown, his mind moving to more pressing concerns. “Hey, Janis… am I gonna have to kiss Kat?” He grimaced.
Janis shifted uncomfortably. “Uh… maybe? I would prefer the teen version of me kissing her, of course.” She stroked her chin. “But… I also don’t want you screwing around with my old love life, and if that means kissing her if you have to, you’d better. You shouldn’t need to go any further than that, though.”
“That’s a relief,” Ben said as he lowered the dress straps and looked at the hologram expectantly. “Now, uh…”
“Okay, I get the picture,” said Janis, taking a step back and disappearing into the wall, adding: “You know, I don’t even wanna think about what my Dad did with this kind of invisibility around changing rooms.”
Ben chuckled as he disrobed, hung the dress, and changed back into Janis’s street clothes. This version of Janis was so irreverent and carefree. Maybe he’d done the right thing after all. And if he could help her with her prom, maybe the resulting Janis would be even happier.
* * *
Addison upended her glass of wine as she sat on the floor of her apartment, flipping through old photo albums. It was a bizarre mixture of moments she remembered fondly, and ones she had no connection to. Photos of her and her mother smiling, her and Janis smiling, her and Sam smiling. Moments that must have happened in everyone else’s memory, but not her own.
Was it selfish of her to feel so resentful towards Ben for doing this to her? To her Mom for things that she must not have said and done in this timeline? To Janis for a past adversarial relationship that now never happened?
She poured herself another glass, before slapping shut the albums and dramatically casting them onto the coffee table.
She hadn’t been this furious since the morning after her engagement party, when she’d trashed this same apartment after watching Ben’s video message. She felt just as lost, too.
There was a knock at the door.
Addison wasn’t sure if she was ready to see anybody. She took another large sip of wine before opening the door a crack, enough for the chain latch to strain.
It was her mother. She grimaced—of all people, it had to be the one person for whom she didn’t know what to say at all. From her perspective, she hadn’t seen or spoken to this woman in years.
“Hi, Addie,” Sammy Jo said in a soothing tone. “I don’t want to force anything, but from what I heard from your Grandpa, I think maybe we should talk. I understand if you want to be alone, but…” She leaned toward the gap in the door. “Well, I feel like we need to get to know each other again, seeing as both of us have a different memory of the other.”
Addison blinked back tears. It was true, she supposed. Everyone else had just lost their version of her, just as she’d lost her version of them.
Slowly, she closed the door and unlatched the chain, before opening up again.
Sammy Jo held up a bottle of wine, the same type Addison was drinking. “Hope you still like Merlot.”
Addison stepped aside, allowing her mother entry.
“Merlot is just fine, Mom.”
She took a seat on the couch, and Sammy Jo sat beside her, but not so close that they were touching. Moments passed without either speaking. Each of them carefully studied the other.
Sammy Jo finally stood, moving to the glassware cabinet and getting herself a wine glass, before returning to pour some of the wine.
“So… we usually do this kind of thing on weekends,” she finally said, before taking a short sip. “Sitting and chatting. Drinking wine, maybe grazing on a charcuterie board.”
Addison nodded silently, feeling like she was dreaming. The surreality of all of this just was not going away.
“You remember a timeline where your grandfather never came home… is that right?”
Addison took a long drink from her glass before nodding.
“Oh boy,” her mother said under her breath. “I guess a lot must be different, then. I wasn’t in a good state in the days before he came home.” She licked her lips, straightening her back. “I wasn’t… dead, was I?”
“Dead?” Addison repeated, alarmed. “No, no. You were fine, all things considered. It’s just… well, we weren’t on speaking terms.”
Sammy Jo almost choked on her wine. “What?! W-why? Addie…”
“It was… a difference of opinion,” explained Addison. “I joined the Project revival to be the leaper, against your wishes. You were positive I’d be lost in time forever, just like Sam. I said you could either support me or get out of my life. And, well…” She finished her drink. “…You made your choice.”
Sammy Jo covered her mouth. “So that’s why you looked so shocked to see me this morning.”
Addison stiffened as her mother pulled her into a hug.
“Addison,” Sammy Jo murmured into her ear, “you have to believe me that that isn’t who I am now. Okay? And I’m so sorry you had to go through that.” She loosened her grip, letting Addison pull away. “The way things happened this time around, I supported your choice all the way. Of course, when Ben leapt, it threw a wrench into the works.”
Addison let out a snort. “You can say that again.”
“And you know, your Grandpa is one hell of a mediator,” Sammy Jo continued, “so if we had gotten into a fight, he would have had us crying and hugging it out in no time. He really made all the difference…” She trailed off, peering wistfully down into the deep red wine. “And I come to find out it was all thanks to that fiancé of yours…” She smiled. “You picked a good one, Addie.”
Addison sighed, rubbing her temples. “I just don’t understand why the retrieval brought Sam back to his time, but not Ben back here.”
Sammy Jo put her glass down on the coffee table, and grabbed Addison’s hand, sandwiching it between hers.
“All’s not lost, Addie.” She looked deeply into Addison’s eyes. “Sam told me a secret a long time ago. That a retrieval only works if a leaper is ready to come home.”
What? Addison’s eyes widened.
“I know what you’re thinking, sweetheart,” Sammy Jo continued. “You’re thinking that Ben should want to come home. Because you’re here, waiting for him.”
Addison looked away. “Well, yeah.”
“But Ben is so much like your grandfather. He’s too… good.” She picked her glass up once more, taking a sip. “He wants to save everyone. And he’s afraid.”
“Afraid?”
“Afraid that by coming home, he’ll lose his chance.”
Addison brought her knees to her chin as she took this in. It was true that since he’d leapt, Ben had shown himself to be a genuine… well, hero. When Addison had been planned as the leaper, she viewed it more as a job. The idea was that after each mission, they would bring her back. She’d be able to clock out. She’d had no interest in, nor intention of, getting stuck out there like Ben was.
But, perhaps, Ben knew that if he ever got home, she’d be taking his place as leaper. And so, somewhere deep within him, he didn’t want to give it up.
Addison looked over her knees at her apparently loving mother—so different to the deeply unhappy person she’d known—and reached a hand across the couch, entwining it with hers.
“I think I get it, Mom…” she said softly. “Ben and I might need to have a talk. Thank you… for telling me that.”
“Of course.” Sammy Jo smiled. “Addison, I love you and I’m proud of you. Don’t ever forget it.”
Addison hadn’t heard those words from her Mom since… well, she wasn’t sure.
This really isn’t the Mom I knew.