Be back in time

As soon as soon as she walked in the door she knew that something
was wrong, She could smell dinner and that meant one of two things - 1.
Some criminal had broken in to her house with the evil intention of
cooking themselves a delicious meal with the contents of her cupboards,
or 2. Jez was home from work and had something important to say.



Since the contents of her kitchen cupboards consisted only of
a packet of Chow Mein super noodles and some cornflakes it made theory
1 seem unlikely. Theory two was confirmed when Jez entered the
hallway.
"You're early, it's not ready yet" he said.


"I always finish early on a Friday, and what's not ready?"
She replied, playing the dumb blonde, he'd be very upset if he knew
she'd already guessed what his surprise was.


"Come on, I've got a surprise for you" he said as he dragged
her through to the dining room. Kat put in the performance of a
lifetime, not even Gwyneth Paltrow could have feigned more
surprise.
"A meal for me?! Oh how wonderful!" she said as she surveyed the well
laid out table, even the best silver cutlery had been called into
service. "It'll just be a few minutes." And off he scooted back into
the kitchen.


This was bad she thought, this was really bad. Kat could tell
he was nervous,perhaps he was going to pop the question, the question.
Was she ready for marriage? Well they had been together for five years,
okay so they didn't live together yet, but that was only really to
please her mother, the traditionalist. However she did like her space,
but Jez spent so much time over here anyway it probably wouldn't make
much of a difference. "I wonder if we'll have it at a church or the
registry office, I wonder if Susan could do the catering, we must have
the flowers from that little shop in the market???.
Wait! What the hell am I doing" she thought. "I've got us flowered and
fed before he's even asked! He's got to ask though, what else could he
have to tell me unless??. Oh no he wouldn't, he couldn't be that
childish, he wouldn't want to break up just because I said he was a-bit
of a messy eater. He's not even that messy really, it's just spaghetti
he has a problem with."


Jez came back in with two plates laden with food. A lamb
roast with all the trimmings. This was serious. Normally his idea of
cooking a meal was putting something from Kwik Save into the microwave
for 20 minutes, but this must have taken ages to
prepare.


As thy ate they chatted about nothing in particular, what
Kat's day at work had been like, next door's dog crapping on the lawn
again, and what was on tv that night.
They got through the entire main course and he never said a word about
his big announcement, Kat began to doubt that there even was a big
announcement. Perhaps he was just being nice and she too cynical,
thinking he always had an ulterior motive.


It wasn't until dessert arrived that the truth began to
emerge. Chocolate Fudge cake and ice-cream, her favourite. It was at
times like this that she began to wonder if the old saying was true,
that chocolate was really better than sex.
At least with a Mars bar you can get something like ten minutes of slow
delicious pleasure, as opposed to five frantic ones in the back seat of
a car. Typicallyhe broke the news at the most inconvenient time just as
Kat took a rather large bite of her cake, smearing it over her face as
it fell off her spoon. "Oh no!" thought Kat "here he is about to ask
for my hand in marriage and I've got a chocolate moustache!"
Jez's hands were trembling as he reached across the table to take hold
of Kat's. The candles on the table were flickering, Jez pressed the
remote and the hi-fi sprung into life playing Eternal Flame, her
favourite song. The moment was perfect. It was all she'd ever dreamed
of, well except for the chocolate moustache of course, which was
hastily disposed of by furious rubbing with a
serviette.


"Darling I have something to tell you" he said.
Hang on a minute she thought, tell? don't you mean ask? You don't
tell
someone you're going to marry them.
"I've got to go away for a while, on business." Kat's world came
crashing down, her scream of disbelief accidentally blew out the
candles, Jez quickly killed the music. "That's not what you're supposed
to say!" she shouted,barely holding back the tears of
disappointment.
"Kat? What's wrong? I don't understand?" said Jez.
"You were supposed to ask me to marry you, not tell me you're going to
waltz off on some business trip!" she replied.


"Let me explain?."


"Explain, explain!" She replied " What is there to explain,
you build up my hopes with a fancy dinner, and the romantic music and,
and??.." She'd run out of things to say but she was still damn
angry.
"But it's not what you think" said Jez
"How long?" Asked Kat
"Well I leave tomorrow and will technically be gone for three years
but??."
"Oh that's just great, thank you very much. Three years, you expect me
to sit and wait for you for three blood years!?" She was fired up now,
for once in her life she knew she was totally in the right; she had
every reason to be angry. How could he just put their whole
relationship on hold whilst he went off enjoying himself for three
years? Selfish bastard! She knew just who to blame for it as
well.


"It's that flippin' institute" she said "They're always
coming between us"
"I'm taking part in this big experiment they're running. It's a great
honour to be even asked"
"You could've said no!"
"The pay packet for this one is going to be enormous!"
"Why does it always come down to money with you? God knows what
they'll
do to you at that place. They might end up frying your brain out, money
won't be much good to you then"
"I wanted the money so I could give you the best wedding ever"
"Oh I see, but I have to wait three years for it." Kat had never felt
so angry in her life.
"Well I'm not prepared to along with your little plan. As far as
I'm
concerned it's over between us. You'll have to find someone with
a
little more patience than me." Kat stormed out of the house and sped
off in her car, leaving a dumbfounded Jez.


It wasn't until she'd been driving for fifteen minutes that
Kat realised she hadjust walked out of her own house. She should have
kicked him out. "Why is it I always think of the right thing to do
after I've done it wrong" She thought.
She drove around for hours in the dark and empty streets of the
city,
speeding through red lights and scaring the odd drunk as she tore past
shop windows.


She shouldn't have been so rash, she should have let him
speak but, as
usual, she had just launched headlong into an argument. She didn't mean
to break up with him, he was after all doing it for her. "I'll make it
up with him in the morning" She thought "I can't go back tonight
though, I have to stand my ground for now"
She drove into a supermarket car park and settled down for the
night,
intending to buy him a present to say sorry when it opened. He'd be
happy with a box of Brazils.
She hardly slept, it just kept going round and round in
her head "He should have discussed it with me first. Given me some time
to think about it."


She was woken the next morning by the sound of an old
man,bringing the trolleys out for the day, tapping on her window. Kat
jumped at the
sound and screamed when she saw the old man peering in on her.
Convinced in her half-waken state that he was about to attack, she
grabbed a can of mace that she kept in her glove compartment, and was
about to spray him when she noticed the window was closed. The only
thing she would have succeeded in immobilising would've been herself.
It was then that she saw the clock on the dash board. It was 8.15. Jez
would be going to work soon and she had to make it up with him before
he left. She tossed the can aside and started the car. "Bloody
druggies" Muttered the old man as he watched Kat go screeching out of
the car park.


She reached home in record time. The signs weren't good
though, Jez's carwasn't on the drive. She went into the house and
shouted, but there
was no reply. She'd missed him. "Oh the lazy git didn't even bother to
do the washing up" She thought as she surveyed the kitchen. Then she
saw the note attached to the fridge.
It read
"Dear Kat,
I'll understand if you want to finish with me I know it was wrong
and I should have told you earlier, I was too scared of your reaction.
I'm truly sorry I upset you last night but you didn't give me a chance
to explain. So I promise to give you all the details when I come back
tonight. See you in three years!


Love


Jez"


"I don't get it" thought Kat She wished more than ever now
that she'd listened to what he'd had to say. A thought struck her,
perhaps he'd gone back home! They're wasn't enough time to get over
there but she could still ring him. She stood there praying that he
would answer but after three rings the machine kicked in asking her to
leave a message. He didn't have to be at work until 9 so where was
he?
"Richard!" she thought "he's bound to know what's going on" Since he
worked with Jez he was probably the only one who really did know what
was happening. She dug his number out from her address book and
dialled. This time she was rewarded with an answer.


"Hello?"
"Richard, it's Kat. I need to find Jez. Do you know where he is?"
"Why, what's wrong?"
"I really need to speak to him. We had an argument last night about
some
experiment he's in and now I can't seem to find him. What the hell is
going on?"
"Christ! You mean he's not told you?"
"Look, all I know is that Jez is going to leave thinking we're
finished. Now I have to find him. Please!" She was almost in
tears.
"Jez is taking part in a time travel experiment Kat. We're going to
send him back to the first world war for three years to do some
research. But listen, you don't have to worry
because????.


Kat didn't hear the last bit of the sentence, she was already
out the door and getting in her car.



The Institute of Chronology was about twenty-five miles away. The
traffic at that time of the morning wouldn't help either. Kat just knew
that she had to be there. She couldn't let him leave without saying
goodbye. The situation was getting crazier by the minute. She knew they
were doing some pretty weird stuff at the institute but time travel?
She thought they used apes for those kind of tests.


It was over an hour later that she pulled up in front of the
huge
building of the Institute of Chronology. She hoped that she wasn't too
late. Richard was waiting in the foyer for her.
"What are you doing here?" She asked.
"When you put the phone down on me I guessed this would be where
you'd
come" He replied.
"Then take me too him" She said, urgency in her voice.
"I'm sorry Kat but you can't go in, it's top security. No-one gets in
without a keycard." Kat couldn't believe that she'd come so far only to
be stopped by his bureaucratic twit. She'd never liked him, especially
since he tried to put his hand up her skirt at last years Christmas
party.
"Well" She thought "Crazy situations require crazy actions"
"Okay Richard. I'm sorry for barging in like this" she said and with
that she ripped the keycard from the chain around Richard's neck and
ran towards the lift. Richard grabbed his neck in pain and staggered
over to the reception desk, he hit the security alarm. It wouldn't be
long before the area was swarming with guards.


In the lift Kat searched the listing for the right floor,
there were offices, labs even an observatory but no sign of the Special
projects office that Jez had often talked about. Then she saw that at
the bottom of the panel was a Keycard terminal, she swiped the stolen
card through and the doors closed as a pleasant female voice said
"Special projects Floor"
Kat's heart raced as the lift started it's journey. She was scared, not
only for herself but also Jez. The first world war was one of the most
dangerous places in history, he only had to be caught in a bombing raid
or hit by a bullet and he'd never come back. He'd be stuck 60 years in
the past, dying alone.


The ping of the lift broke her concentration. She stepped out
into a corridor walled with glass. On the other side she could see a
large workshop with a large metal ring apparatus in the centre of it.
The place was crawling with people in white coats. A countdown could be
heard over the loud speaker system. "19,18,17, initiate vortex, 15,
14"
Kat watched, amazed as the metal ring glowed and then a kind of red
mist
formed in the centre. A large wind whipped up and she could see
papers
being blown everywhere. The countdown reached 5 and from a crowd
of
people out stepped Jez, dressed in a soldiers uniform and carrying
a
briefcase. Kat began to thump on the glass separating them, calling out
his name, but it was no good, all attention was focused on the swirling
vortex in the workshop.
Kat raced down the corridor, frantically searching for a door to get
in.
"Perhaps wearing stiletto's wasn't such a good idea" she thought.
She managed to find a door at the end of the corridor. It too was made
of glass. She swiped the card through slot but nothing happened. She
began thumping on the door, hoping that somehow it might miraculously
open if she willed it. She had to get in there. Then it struck her, she
took of one of her stiletto's and hurled it at the door, which
collapsed into a thousand pieces.


The huge whistling wind from the vortex hit, almost deafening
her. She
raced inside. It was too late though, he was already gone. The vortex
began to close, shrinking until there was nothing but blank space
there. After all her effort she'd still lost him. She stood in the
middle of the ringed apparatus frantically looking around for him,
maybe he'd changed his mind, maybe he'd seen her.


A crowd of white coats was gathering behind Kat, all
muttering and wondering who she was. She span round to face them.
"Bring him back, please!" she shouted. They just stared at, not knowing
what to say.
Richard entered the workshop and ran over to her.
"Kat! Are you okay?" he asked.
"Don't come anywhere near me" she spat "You should've let me in."
"No you don't understand" said Richard "If you'd let me explain earlier
you wouldn't have had to waste all this effort. Jez is travelling
through time, he can return to any point in history, he can also go
forward to any point in the future"
"What do mean?" Said Kat
"I mean he can come back just a few minutes after he left. Three years
would have passed for him but for us time will have moved on just three
minutes"


The vortex suddenly appeared again alive with it's swirling
mist and colours. Jez staggered from the vortex, his uniform torn and
his face cut, but he was alive, that was the important thing. He smiled
as he saw Kat and made his way over to her, arms outstretched for a
hug.
Kat raced over - and slapped him. "You forgot to do the washing up last
night!"