6.

Christine Evans awoke just before seven on the morning of the twenty sixth of May 2018 to the sound of an incoming phone call. Her friend Karen Devlin one way or another had made a very odd discovery. Now, only a few hours after waking, Christine sits in a diner just after midday on May twenty-six, 1984 with a guy she could not have known prior to having ever entered such a place, a guy she had seen earlier sitting alone at the diner counter with a coffee.

'Oh, by the way, my name is Evan' speaks this lone or now not so lone coffee guy.

'Christine ...'

'Nice to meet you, Christine.'

'You too, I guess.'

'You guess?'

'Yeah well, I had not planned on getting to know anyone here.'

'Really? So, I guess, you are new to town, and you are only passing through?'

'Eh, something like that.'

'Oh mysterious, and in more ways than one.'

'Yeah, you are quite mysterious too, in a way.'

'I am?'

'I would say so.'

It is difficult for Christine to sit here in this moment. Her immediate thoughts, besides those that come with sitting across a table from a handsome stranger from a time long since passed, are with Karen. Why did Karen come back to this time so soon, and on her own? Perhaps for the same reason Christine did though it had been Christine who had suggested that they leave. She can't help but wonder as to why Karen was chatting with that other fellow. She did appear to be chatting to him of her own free will. Nothing untoward seemed to be occurring between them. There was no arguing as far as Christine could tell; if anything, it appeared as if they knew one another.

Then there is this conversation Christine is having with this Evan fellow. This conversation is occurring in 1984; surely such a conversation will do little if anything to alter the timeline leading all the way up to 2018, but who can say for sure? What if this Evan guy is supposed to be somewhere else doing something important and the conversation with Christine is preventing him from being at that somewhere else?

The same thought could be applied to what Karen is doing. What if her current actions do something to alter the timeline? With the way Karen had been speaking earlier, she is only too aware of her actions here, or is she? If she doesn't want to chance altering the past, then why has she come back? Indeed, why has she been here on multiple occasions?

'So, what do you do when you are not in diners having lunch with strangers?' asks Evan with a cheeky grin on his face.

The question and how it is asked, makes Christine smile, and it takes her away from over thinking the situation she currently is in.

'Ah, I work for a woman's magazine, covering whatever topics I am asked to cover, nothing special or anything like that but it pays the bills.'

'Is it a big magazine? Would I know of anything you may have covered?'

'Highly unlikely, it is all small time, nothing worth bragging over. So, what do you get up to when you are not treating strange women to ... lunch in diners?'

This brings a moment of laughter after which Christine finds it difficult to remove the smile on her face; her inhibitions are definitely beginning to fade.

'Not to dull the mood or anything but I am a lawyer and I'm not from around here. I actually have a friend's house all to myself while I am in town. Perhaps when we are done here, we can go do something, maybe show me places you like going to in town?'

'I don't know about that ...'

'Could be fun ... you could leave a message with the waitress for your friend if that is what you are worried about.'

'... Sure ... what the hell? Why not? There used to be a rather large public Aquarian center that my parents used to bring me to when I was a kid. I'd imagine it's around ...'

'Used to be?'

Christine is unsure as to what to do next. She can't lose grip on the moment like she almost did just there. She has to keep an eye on what she does and on what she says but still, spending a little time with this handsome stranger can't come with much consequence, can it? Yeah, that public Aquarium may be long gone in 2018 but in 1984 it is a place that is next to being something quite new.

It will be twenty years from this date that a young girl will get to know this place quite well. It had always been kept well right up to when such a time came that there was no option but to close the place down but right now the place indeed looks brand new. It looks so bright too and different somewhat as well. If she had not mentioned this place, then would her companion have come to see it?

So odd for Christine to be here now as an adult when she had been so used to coming here as a child, so odd too to see it as it was more or less brand new rather than a place that had been around for twenty or so years.

Christine passes the first two or three tanks not paying very much attention to them. 'Mostly different kinds of Cichlids in those tanks, nothing special really' she says. 'They most likely would be what most people would have in home tanks or tanks in shopping centers and places like that.'

Evan follows Christine and listens in a kind of silent awe. He wasn't really expecting this. Of course, he knew he was coming here from the chat he had with Christine at the Diner but when he made the suggestion that they go do something together he didn't think it would be to somewhere like this nor did he expect his companion to be quite the expert.

'Some Angelfish and Catfish' continues Christine moving along then stopping at the sixth tank on her right-hand side. 'Oh look, lots of GloFish in this one. Aren't they awesome?'

'How do you know so much about fish?'

'As I kinda said to you earlier, I spent a lot of time in a place just like this one when I was a kid. I was lucky that I had a mum and dad who had no problems bringing me here. Used to go with friends too until the place closed down. I love tropical fish, all the different colours and how different they all can be.'

'Lucky you, my parents were fairly strict, maybe not overly so but they made sure I applied myself, they made sure I studied. They are the reason why I am a lawyer and a good one at that, so I guess I can tank them for that ... get it ... tank them as in ... never mind.'

She smiles. 'Yeah, parents can do that ... oh look ...' and off goes Christine being distracted by the contents of another tank. Evan follows not minding in the slightest being right where he is.

7.

The public Aquarium is such a large place that it can take some time to get all the way round and that would be at a pace not allowing for added time to stop and view what is on display. With all that size too, there are more than one or two cafeteria areas are restrooms along the way so guests can indeed take their time while visiting.

Christine and Evan stop at the first of the cafeterias they come to for soft drinks and stop too they do at the third such cafeteria for coffee and sandwiches. Chat continues freely as if they each have known the other for some time which is not the case at all. It is all so natural that neither notice the passage of time and one almost forgets the time detail completely such is how the day is going. It does take some time before a realization hits. It has come to be a little after six, a little after six. ... How did this happen?

Christine can't be here. What was she thinking? She needs to get back home; she needs to get back to her own time. And this is what Christine tells Evan without giving him the details that he cannot possibly know. She suggests, no she demands that she should get back to the Diner. Preferring to spend at least a little more time with his lady companion and with that want to possibly delay the ending of this coming together, with a further want for more as well, Evan says he will take her wherever she wants to go.

To the Diner it is and not a word is spoken on the way back there. Christine's thoughts have got the better of her. And as if the way she feels isn't bad enough then a real problem makes itself known upon the return to the Diner.

'No ... no, this can't ... no ...' she says out loud.

The Diner is shut. What the heck is this? A sign states due to a gas problem we needed to close for the evening, will re-open for breakfast at 7.30. No, this can't happen; Christine needs to get to that storeroom door. She cannot stay in 1984 until half past seven the following morning.

'It's alright' says Evan seeing how distressed Christine looks. 'I am sure your friend has gone home. You can meet her there, right? Or meet up with her here tomorrow? ...'

'No, we can't. You see, we are not exactly from around here.'

'Oh, I see. Do you have a way to contact her?'

'Not exactly, right here is a kind of meeting place.'

That is not exactly true. There is no 1984 meeting place for Christine and Karen. Karen may not even be aware that Christine had come back through that door, and Christine has no way of knowing as to if Karen is still in 1984 or as to if she returned to 2018. Cell phones too are not a common thing, it's not like a call can be made or a text sent ...

'What are you going to do now?' asks Evan.

'Wait, I will wait right here for my friend.'

'This place is not exactly in the center of town. I am sure it can get pretty lonely and pretty dark pretty quickly.'

'There is nowhere else I can go. Karen has the money ...' Christine was almost going to say the 1984 money.

'I am staying in town; I have my friend's house as I said earlier for as long as I like while he is away. There would be no problem for you to stay over, there will be no funny business, I swear.'

Christine looks Evan in the eye and after a moment or two Evan continues. 'We could stay here for a while to see if your friend returns, if not, I can bring you to where I'm staying then right back as early as you like in the morning.'

What else can Christine do other than agree to this? Forty-five minutes pass before the two leave. Morning comes and Christine sits in a living room chair considering the possibilities that the previous day was no more than a dream. It is six o'clock in the morning and Christine had been lost in thought.

No, she had not been dreaming, in order to dream ... one must first sleep. She had time to think though. Feeling as she currently does along with the thoughts of her own actions made sure she remained seated. The previous day could not have happened, but it has. Last night could not have happened but it has. What has she done ...?

Some of her clothing is still on the floor and so is some of his but he is nowhere to be seen. She gets up and ready then is on the way back to the Diner by herself.