Chapter 19

 

 

 

“Are you ready?” Harry asked the members of The Jackal before they lay down on the floor. Ashley nodded, aiming a look at her friends. Everyone had come. They had been surprised, though, to see Wayne there as well. Hadn’t he said just a day before that his present life was much happier than the one he’d previously had? Wayne had answered their questions evasively:

“Smart men don’t get into relationships with despotic bitches.”

Smiles had appeared on his friends’ faces.

“Now relax and feel how your whole body grows heavier. Your arms are heavy, your back, your torso, your legs, your feet – your whole body is heavy, heavy, heavy…” Harry was giving his instructions. He prepared the solution and injected each of the participants in the experiment with a dose. He looked at the clock on the wall – it was five fifteen sharp. He wondered how long the trip would take this time.

***

“All right, all of us are here in the club, right?” Ashley asked in The Viper Room.

“Yup. We are all here,” Wayne answered.

“Okay, let’s head closer to the stage and wait to be called,” Ashley instructed.

“So how are we going to perform our songs now?” Chad asked.

“The same way we did ten years ago.”

“Oh, no! Do you mean we have to make fools of ourselves again?”

“Wayne, it won’t be a bad idea for you to swallow your huge ego just for a moment!” Ashley scolded and turned her back to him.

“Man, you’re lucky you don’t have to deal with women,” Wayne whispered to Chad. “I’m seriously considering switching teams so that women stop commanding me all the time”

“No, no, don’t think this happens automatically,” Chad replied.

Soon the club manager called them up and they got on the stage. Ashley greeted the visitors, introduced her band The Jackal and started singing. The producer was listening to them closely during the whole time. At first, his sharp eyes were fixed on them, but during the second song, Ashley noticed how he was just smoking his cigar nervously and looking around. Their third song didn’t trigger particular excitement among the audience, either. When they finished, Ashley winked at the boys happily – everything was going according to the plan. They got off the stage and went to the producer. Mark Harris began to speak immediately:

“You performance wasn’t bad, guys but…” He put out his cigar in the ashtray and threw a ten dollar bill on the table. “It’s not what I’m looking for. Anyway, I wish you luck and all the best!” He rose and hurriedly made his way through the crowd. Soon after that, he was on the ground floor, exiting the club. In his hastiness, he didn’t even notice the obvious joy in the musicians’ eyes. Harris regretted having wasted several hours of his time listening to the performance of a band that didn’t seem to have any chance of becoming the next hit.

“Well, for a failure I think it was pretty successful, don’t you think?” Ashley cried joyfully and hugged her three friends.

“I suggest we celebrate it!” Wayne said eagerly, and soon after that, the members of the band found themselves at the bar.

“Not to rain on your parade, but when are we going to return to real life?” Craig asked.

“Good question, buddy. Well, I suggest we do that now. We have no other business here, do we?”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

“Let’s dance something in order to send a signal to Harry!” Ashley offered. She started dancing and the rest followed her. This attracted the attention of a few of the visitors and they could hear their approving exclamations and whistling. Ashley and her friends didn’t have time to react because the space in front of them began to fade out. In the next moment, they found themselves lying in Harry’s lab.

“A great achievement; that was a record time! The trip lasted only two minutes!” he exclaimed joyfully.

“That sounds impressive, but have our lives changed?”

“I don’t know, I need to check that.” He opened the browser in his smartphone and typed their names. Ashley, of course, was first.

“Good news, Ash! You’re not on Wikipedia!” Harry cried. After a while he added, “None of you are on Wikipedia; neither is your band. It looks like you’re completely unknown.”

“Is that good news?” Wayne asked sarcastically, but everyone ignored him.

“Should I take it, then, that we’re back to our old life?” Ashley rose and went closer to the scientist.

“Yes, I guess everything is already the way it used to be. The best way to check it, however, is to go to your homes and see if it’s all right.”

“Great idea! I’m planning to take advantage of it.” Craig rose, too. “Thank you Harry, from the bottom of my heart, and you, too, Ashley, Chad, Wayne.” He hugged them all one by one and then went outside. The warm summer wind caressed his face. He saw his old car – the Ford Mustang – in the parking lot, which was a good sign. It seemed like everything was falling back into place. He hesitated for a moment, then pressed the pedal and started. He couldn’t wait to see his family.

Craig found his wife cooking dinner. Compared to the luxurious Beverley Hills villa, his home looked modest and small, but it didn’t matter when the people whom he loved were in it.

“How is my darling?” He hugged her around the waist and began dancing with her happily.

“What’s the matter with you, sweetheart?” She laughed, but kept on dancing with him.

“We are celebrating,” he replied.

She didn’t bother asking further. She assumed it was connected with his job as an executive manager.

***

When Ashley returned to her small apartment in Redwood City, she instantly went to her daughter’s room.

“Look who’s here!” her mother said aloud, and Briana turned in surprise.

“Mommy!” the little one cried.

“That’s right, Mommy’s here with her little girl and she’s not going anywhere.” Ashley hugged her tightly, as though she were afraid somebody would take her from her.

“What’s up, Mommy? Why are you crying?”

“It’s all right, baby. Mommy’s crying because she’s happy.” Ashley wiped her eyes and looked at her mother with gratitude.

“You react too sentimentally, as usual.” Ashley’s mother gave her a critical look.

***

Chad threw the car keys onto the table in the living room. The place was quiet, so he guessed Martin wasn’t back from the theater yet. He had just sat down and was relaxing on the couch, his eyes half-closed for a nap, when his boyfriend’s voice startled him.

“Wake up, sleepy! I have a great surprise for you.” Martin sat on the couch next to him.

“Humph… what is it?” Chad didn’t move.

“My parents are coming to San Francisco for the weekend and I want you to meet them.” He smiled widely. “Isn’t that awesome?”

Chad smiled in return and hugged him. It was so nice to be at home and be himself.

***

Wayne had expected that his girlfriend Cassidy would make a scene because of his absences and the lack of attention he’d been demonstrating for her recently, but instead, she gave him a warm welcome.

“You’re really not mad at me?” he asked her, surprised.

“What for? It’s just the way you are, and I’ve accepted that.” She looked him in the eyes. “But it hurts me when you cheat on me.”

“I swear I never slept with your friend…” he began, but she interrupted him, placing her finger on his lips.

“How about we take a walk?”

The two of them went out and the cool summer wind made them feel fresh. They had the whole evening ahead of them.