that? It hurts so bad to be rejected.
George got up and followed his younger self back to the previous table.
"How'd it go?" Tommy asked.
"Not good," George said solemnly, slumping back down and crossing his arms on the table and resting his head on his arms to cover his face.
"What did she say?"
"She said 'yes'." George said sarcastically. "What do you think she said? She said she doesn't feel like it."
"Hang on a second, I'm going to go have a talk with her and see if I can't straighten things out."
"No, don't do that," George pleaded.
"Don't worry, it'll all be fine."
Tommy got up and walked over to Marie.
I wonder what Tommy actually said to her.
George decided to leave his younger self's side and go over to the table with Tommy and Marie. But because what they said wasn't part of his actual memory, he wasn't able to hear their conversation. He was only able to see their lips moving.
Damn, I wanted to know what they said because whatever it was it made Marie decide to go out with me. They're shaking hands…I don't remember seeing them shake hands. What is this? What's going on? Well, now Tommy is calling me to come over, that much I remember. But what did he say?
You and I will be together
As long as we remain true
As the days go by we'll last forever
Because I will always love you
Our wedding day…we were twenty-eight and our lives were finally getting started. We had just finished saying "I do" and the ceremony was going smoothly. But then you ran off. We were sitting at the dinner table enjoying our meal and having a good time, why did you leave? They dinged the glasses with their spoons and we kissed. It was passionate and romantic. Sparks were flying everywhere. And then you whispered "excuse me for a moment" to me and you left. They dinged and you were gone. But this is the part of my memory moments before you leave. Where's Tommy? He's not at his table…
George ran around his memory looking for Tommy, bumping into invisible barriers every so often until he saw his newly wedded wife glance over at an archway leading to the lobby. George looked over and saw Tommy peeking through the archway, signalling for Marie to go there.
"Excuse me for a moment." Marie whispered to George.
No. It can't be. What could Tommy possibly want with my new wife on our wedding day? What could this mean? She wasn't…cheating on me… Was she? She was always so loyal. She couldn't be having sex with another guy on our wedding day. She was so nice, there was no way she could be that cruel. Besides, she was only gone for five minutes. Unless Tommy is just fast… No. I refuse to believe that she would cheat on me; especially on our wedding day.
We danced to that song. It was our first dance as husband and wife. It was amazing. There was no way Marie was cheating on me. But…come to think of it…this wasn't the first time something like this happened.
And when I look in your eyes
There was the day when I proposed to her. She inexplicably left for ten minutes.
Do you know what I see?
There was our 50th wedding anniversary…
I see they're wide and full of surprise
And even after Tanya was born… She told me she just had to move around to work off the excess weight…
And colours of blue and green
This can't be right.
George opened his eyes and looked at Tanya.
"Sing it again, please." George begged.
"No, dad, once is enough for tonight."
"But something weird is going on. Something I never noticed until now and I need to go back into my memories and figure it out." George said.
"But I don't want to sing it again." Tanya complained. "I'm tired."
"Wait," George said. "There's another version of the song. Do you remember that? I taught it to you when you were ten."
"Yes, dad, I remember."
"Please, sing it for me?"
Tanya sighed and said, "Very well."
Everyone says that you and I
Really make a good team
And if they said that was a lie
I would surely scream
I'm back at the carnival…but…something feels off. I feel different. Like I'm free to move around. Wait.
George walked over to where Tommy was standing and put his hand on Tommy's shoulder. It didn't go through Tommy but actually landed on his shoulder.
No way. Can I actually interact with this memory? I mean, Tommy didn't seem to notice my hand on his shoulder, but still…it didn't go through him. Can I go beyond the borders?
George quickly ran as far as he could and wasn't stopped by the barriers like he was before.
The alternate version of the song…they must be altering the way I can experience my memories. Now I can find out where Tommy goes.
Young George and Marie hugged and kissed each other and looked really happy. Tommy smirked and walked away, but this time Old George followed him.
This is so weird. How am I able to see this? This wasn't in my memory.
As Tommy headed over to a car, he was greeted by someone else George recognised to be Lindon; an old colleague of Tommy's that George had met a couple of times.
"So?" Lindon asked.
"She's good," Tommy said, "she's really good."
Good? What does that mean? Like, sex? No. It can't be. Maybe I'm just not understanding what he's talking about. But…what else could he be talking about?
"She's got him fooled, that's for sure." Tommy said. "Hell, if I didn't know any better, she'd have me fooled, too."
They both laughed and headed to Lindon's car.
What are you talking about?!
Every night when I get scared
Because of the scary storm
I will always pretend you're there
Keeping me safe and warm
The wedding again. Good, this is what I want. Now I can find out the truth with my own eyes. I may be old and rusty, but I still deserve to know if my wife was cheating on me this whole time. I spy with my little eye, Tommy signalling my wife to follow him. Now I'll find out. But…do I really want to know? I mean, I do. But at the same time, even if she was cheating on me, she was still my wife and made me feel loved. We spent our lives together and she's gone now. I don't know if this is even something I want anymore.
I have to make up my mind fast, she's leaving. Well…okay. I'll follow them and find out myself, but even if she was I won't let this change my perspective on her. She was still my wife and I still love her even if she is a cheater.
George quickly ran out of the archway and followed Marie and Tommy to the lobby.
"I'm sorry to interrupt your dinner," Tommy said, "but my work called me and there's an impromptu meeting that I have to attend. So I wanted to give this to you now."
"You could just give it to me later." Marie said.
"Unfortunately, tomorrow morning I'm leaving for a couple weeks because of work, so I feel it's necessary to give it to you now so you don't feel like I'm backing out of this."
Tommy handed Marie a cheque.
A cheque? For what?
"A thousand dollars…" Marie said reading the amount on the cheque out loud.
What?
"Just like I promised."
Promised? What is this?
George ran away back to the celebration. He started banging on the table in front of his younger self to try to get his attention but it was no use. Even though his fists were actually hitting the table, it wasn't causing any kind of disturbance.
You have to get out of this. You have to divorce her. I don't know what's going on but it's worse than cheating!
And far away, lost in my mind
I will think of you
Near or far, you're always so kind
And that is why I love you
This is it. The day I asked her out. Now I will find out what's going on. Now I will know what made her go out with me. What d
irty deal Tommy and Marie made. This is it, after this I want to be done.
"Hang on a second, I'm going to go have a talk with her and see if I can't straighten things out."
Yes, good, go do that. I want to know what you said.
Tommy got up and walked over to the table Marie was sitting at and George followed.
"I heard you don't want to go out with my friend, George."
"Okay." Marie said.
"Why not?"
"I don't know, I don't feel like it."
"Well, maybe I can sweeten the dating a little bit."
Marie stopped reading and looked at Tommy.
"What do you mean?" She asked.
"I mean I'll pay you."
"Why would you do that?"
"Because, I don't know why, but George feels like you're the only girl in the world that can make him happy and he's my best friend. I would do anything to help make him happy."
"So how much did you have in mind?"
"I was thinking a hundred a month, every month that you two go out. If he proposes I will give you an extra five hundred for saying yes and if you two get married I will give you an extra thousand on your wedding day."
"Wow, you really thought this one out."
"I sure did. What do you say?"
"Where are you going to get the money from?"
"My family is rich, don't worry about it." Tommy said, holding out his hand. "So what do you say?"
No…don't do it. Not like this!
"Would it have to be forever?"
"I would prefer it to be. But you can choose to end it at any point, if you really want to. I will just stop paying you."
"Okay, deal." Marie said after a brief moment of thinking it over. She then took Tommy's hand and shook it.
No! Please! No! Oh dear God, no! Our whole relationship was a lie! I want to get out of here.
If, for a day, you should find yourself away
From my arms holding you
"George, please