The Engagement

2. Bagels and Hot Sauce

"Hello Fiona." The man across from me says. He isn't smiling and he doesn't seem happy to see me, but he is handsome in his own way.

"You aren't Charles Milburn are you?" I ask with my fingers crossed under the table.

"Yes I am. I'm just not the Charles Milburn you're meant to meet today." He says. I have no idea what he's talking about. I remember that the man I'm meeting today is Charles Milburn II.

"Are you Charles Milburn the first?" I ask, confused. If this guy is the father then the son must be about fifteen. That's just gross.

"No. I'm Charles Milburn II. But I won't be this man for you until twenty years from now."

I stare at him blankly. Nothing he has said makes any sense and my brain hurts when I try to think about it.

"I'm a time traveller. I've come from twenty years in the future to talk to you." He continues after realizing how confused I am. I let out a chuckle and give him an incredulous look.

"I can prove it." He says.

"I'd love to see you try." I reply. He holds out his wrist to me and shows off a fancy watch full of whirring gears and ticking hands.

"Nice watch." I say.

"This is my time travel device." He says.

"It's just a watch."

"It's a time travel watch."

"A shiny watch is not proof of time travel. It's only proof of too much spare income."

"Bagels and hot sauce." He says and my jaw drops.

"How do you know about that!? I mean....those words mean nothing to me." I turn my head away from him and stare intensely at a bartender setting a row of shots on fire.

"I know what that phrase means to you. It should be proof enough that I'm more than a stranger to you." His watch starts beeping wildly. "My past self is about to arrive. We will have to cut this short. If I run into him it could be disastrous. Take this." He hands me a piece of paper.

I unfold the paper and read it:

This engagement is cursed. We can't be together.

"What's this supposed to mean?" I look up and he's gone. There's no sign of him ever being here except for the paper in my hand.

"Fiona?" A man asks as he approaches my table from the same direction as the so called time traveller did. He has the same gait as the time traveller except this man has more pep in his step. They have similar voices except my name sounds stiff coming out of this guy's mouth. The face I'm staring at now is the same as the one that sat across from me five minutes ago. This face is just as handsome with less gray hair.

"I'm Charles Milburn." He holds his hand out for me to shake.

"Oh uh yes I'm Fiona." I raise my hand and realize that it's balled tightly into a fist.
I struggle to unfurl my fingers and shake his hand. My palm is sweaty. When my skin touches his it almost burns. The heat travels through my hand, down my arm, and into my stomach. It transforms into an emotion as it travels there. It's anger.

I pull my hand away and look into Charles's eyes. The look on his face shows that he's feeling some unpleasant emotions as well. He sits down and slides his chair forward aggressively. It makes me want to slide my chair back defensively but I resist the urge.

"So you're a fitness instructor?" He asks. It sounds like he's yelling at me or accusing me of something. I look around the room to see if anyone else has noticed his accusatory yelling. No one is looking at us.