Not This Time

Nina: September 30, 1987

     Jon and I had just married and were spending our honeymoon in a private villa in Fiji. He loved tropical places, and I loved what he loved, whatever made him smile.
     "I hope you don't mind losing that bathing suit," he told me as he opened the front door for me.
     "Why's that?" I laughed, sashaying toward him.
     His voice was dangerously low as he pulled me to him and answered, "Because as soon as we get in the water, it's coming off."
     He kissed me then, so even if I'd wanted to argue, I couldn't have. I guided him outside, giggling at my awkward attempt not to break the kiss. I made it down one step off the porch before I pulled away to watch where I was going. He held my hand across the white sand, every once in a while tugging me back to him when I'd excitedly stride too far ahead. I let go of his hand at the edge of the water as I splashed forward into the waves.
     When I turned around, the man I'd married was nowhere to be seen. There were no footprints, even. He was just gone. I stepped back onto the beach and looked both ways along the shore, until I realized that I didn't even know what he looked like. I didn't even know his name.
     I held up my hand and stared at the ring on my finger. The marriage had happened, but the man was absolutely gone from my mind. I remembered there being a man, but not who he was.
     When I looked back up, I was no longer in Fiji. I was in a large, dimly lit room filled with people who were all holding drinks and it smelled obnoxiously of beer.
     "You've been drinking too much," Matt's voice muttered over my shoulder. I turned with a start, expecting to see him there, but he was nowhere too. My cheek felt a little tingly. "Come on," his voice continued, "We've got to go! Displacement could rain down at any minute!"
     I searched and searched, but there was no one familiar. I couldn't even find a door to get out. I wandered around that room, ignored by everybody. My cheek had begun to sting at this point, perhaps more as the seconds passed. It couldn't have been that long, but it felt like hours before I heard Matt's voice again.
     "Wake up!" he snapped.

     My eyes fluttered open and I realized that I'd been dreaming. The brightness surprised me. When my eyes adjusted, I discovered that I was in a hotel room and that the curtains were drawn. Oh. That made sense.
     "Come on, Nina," Matt urged again, leaning over me from the side of the bed. I squinted and blinked again as I sat up slowly and looked around. Matt seemed impatient to get me out of there. I couldn't even identify where I was.
     "This isn't my apartment," I mumbled. I brought my hands up to rub my eyes. The light pouring in through the window looked like the afternoon kind of light. "What time is it?"
     Matt scoffed and glanced at the clock. I followed his gaze before he could announce the time. It was 12:20pm. I didn't usually sleep until noon, did I? I couldn't remember. Swinging my legs slowly to the side of the bed, I tried to remember what I'd been up to the night before. My head hurt. The only logical conclusion I could make was that I was hungover.
     "It's time to get out of here," Matt insisted, motioning impatiently for me to get up out of bed, "On a date way later than you're supposed to be here."
     I looked over at my suitcase. Oh look. "I've been traveling," I stated. I couldn't tell if it was a realization or a question. I could vaguely remember going to concerts, though none of the music was coming to mind. Matt seemed fidgety and nervous. His gaze shifted rapidly between me, the door, his watch, and world outside the window repeatedly and in no particular order. All I could seem to recall of my travels was a blur of hotel room doors, tons of people, and one wild dance to Def Leppard. Even though I couldn't remember how the night ended, the vague memory brought a little smile to my face.
     "What are you smiling about? Come on!" Matt demanded, finally stepping away from the window toward me. He pulled me out of bed and to my feet as he went on. "Displacement is going to start soon! I've been monitoring history books to make sure nothing has changed so far, but I'm expecting something big to fall out of the sky any time now. You've been here way too long."
     I frowned, bringing a hand to my aching head as I just barely found my balance. "Why didn't you bring me home sooner if I've been here too long? I complained, looking back over at my suitcase and then down at my sleep clothes.
     "It's so difficult to find you when you're traveling!" Matt retorted. I was struck with a moment of deja vu, like I'd heard those words before. Matt grabbed my hand, still talking. "And the few times I did find you, you were trashed and combative because you'd been partying!" He pulled me around the bed, right past my suitcase, toward the bathroom.
     "My clothes!" I protested as he dragged me past.
     "No time!" Matt declared as he hurried me into the bathroom and then into the waiting Triple T. He was just about to step into the time machine with me when something came over his face. "Right!" he turned his wide-eyed gaze to me and announced, "I almost forgot!" He stuck his hands in his pockets for a moment. There was a soft sound, but I really wasn't sure what it was or that I hadn't imagined it. I wouldn't have put it past myself, the way my head was hurting. Matt pulled one hand out of his pocket and pointed at me. "Stay!" he commanded.
     I pouted and then scowled at him, but didn't talk back. With that, he left the bathroom to do whatever he'd almost forgotten. I crossed my arms and shifted my weight. He had time to do whatever he was doing but I didn't have time to change clothes?
     As I shifted again, impatiently, my foot nudged something. I looked down and picked up the box. It looked sort of like a Band-Aid box. Even the image on the front almost resembled a Band-Aid. Then I read the top. The words "Forget Strips" spanned the width of the box in big blue letters. That term definitely rang a bell, but I couldn't think of where I knew it from.
     Hesitantly, I turned the box and searched for anything that might help me figure out where I knew it from. What I found was the directions for use and some before-use warnings:

TO USE: Write subject that you'd like to forget on the open face of the Forget Strip PRIOR TO PEELING the strip away from the paper. Once peeled, stick the adhesive side onto the forehead, directly above the eyebrows. Keep yourself distracted from the subject on the Forget Strip for the next ten minutes and then remove the Forget Strip. Wash hands thoroughly after use. Supervision recommended.

WARNINGS: Do not use this product if you are pregnant or planning to become pregnant. Do not use if you are nursing. Do not use if you have a brain condition, AD/ADHD, or Anxiety. This product is not intended to block abstract thought, subjects involving extreme emotions, or psychological trauma associated with physical trauma. Store at room temperature. Keep out of reach of children.

     I glanced at the open bathroom door for a fraction of a second before turning the box over and looking at the front again. I'm gonna have to get a Forget Strip for you! came Matt's voice from my memories. The thought crossed my mind that he might have used one of them on me. It made my stomach turn even entertaining the idea that Matt might do something so horrible. How could that even possibly benefit him?
     I shook the box and, upon hearing nothing, took a peek inside. Empty. Maybe he hadn't used one on me. What had we been talking about that I remembered those words he'd said? I closed my eyes and struggled to remember, shaking my head when I couldn't. Matt stepped into the time machine and quickly started hitting buttons to set course.
     Vworp Vworp
     "I see you found the Forget Strips!" Matt said, finally turning to me.
     "What were you doing?" I asked, ignoring his statement, "What took you so long?"
     Matt seemed surprised by my question for a moment and then shrugged. "I forgot I'd picked something up and I needed to put it back. I was trying to remember where I'd picked it up from so I could put it back in the same place," he explained. I frowned at him and narrowed my eyes suspiciously. "I promise I was rushing, but I had to leave it!" Matt defended.
     "Yeah? And why do you have this?" I challenged, holding up the Forget Strip box.
     "I thought you might be interested!" he answered without pause, "Remember? In 1984. We were talking about the Revitalight and I had mentioned those?"
     My frown softened a little. Oh right. That's what it was. I remembered having that conversation...before a concert..I think. That felt like ages ago. It was at least three years ago; I probably would have had trouble remembering that even if I hadn't been drunk partying for the last year. The sick feeling in my stomach twisted into guilt for thinking so poorly of Matt. I didn't know why I was so suspicious of him.
     Ding!
     "So why's it empty?" I asked more gently as the doors slid open, "If you wanted me to see it?" I asked, but I knew the answer.
     Matt smirked a little, following me out of the Triple T. "Come on, Nina," he chuckled. I mouthed the words with him as he reminded me, "You know I can't bring technology back from the future!"
     I nodded lazily and dropped the box on my bathroom counter before continuing into my bedroom with a disinterested, "Yeah. I guess I forgot." Matt was quick to grab the box. I could only presume he had tossed it back into the Triple T before following me, because he didn't have it in his hands when he appeared from my bathroom.
     I glanced past my bed at the clock on my nightstand, which told me in was 9:12 in the morning on

July 1, 2010

     "Nina!" came Emma's voice from my living room. I was half way to my bed when she came prancing through the door. "You're back! We should go get some brunch!"
     I was so tired, the only thing I wanted to think about was my pillow. I couldn't even turn the offer down, though, before Matt did.
     "It's not even ten yet!" he protested.
     "So? Breakfast then! I can call Penny!" Matt held his hands out to either side in defeat and looked over at me for my opinion. Emma looked my way too. There was so much hope in her eyes, as if the three of us getting breakfast together would just absolutely make her day. I pursed my lips and let out a sigh. I couldn't say no.
     "Okay," I relented, "Let me get dressed."
     Emma clapped her hands excitedly as Matt guided her from the room so that I could change clothes. I pulled out a pair of jeans and stepped over to my windows to look out on the street below as I changed into them. Good ol' New York. It never changed. The world had gone on as if I had never been gone and nothing had changed. And so would the 80s. Nothing would change, nobody would miss me, and no four-year-olds would be meeting Hitler because I was home now.
     Somebody outside laid on their car horn for a half a minute and I smirked. Yep. Home sweet home.