Back To The Viper Page 2

  The waiter started to the bar. During this time, Peggy was nervously looking at the door of the restaurant. The table they were sitting at overlooked the whole place. Ashley picked a margherita pizza and while waiting for the waiter to come back saw Chad, who was just coming in.

  “Honey, how are you?” They kissed and he took a seat next to Ashley.

  Peggy was looking at him, beaming. Chad gave her a questioning look and she offered her hand hastily.

  “Peggy Brazwick, nice to meet you. I’m a friend… uhh… colleague of Ashley’s.”

  “Chad Keeney, nice to meet you.” He shook her hand. “That’s interesting. This is the first time in ten years there’s been an outside person on our meeting.”

  “That’s the way it is! Traditions change. Tell me how you’re doing? How’s Martin?” Ashley asked him.

  “I’m fine, and so is Martin. He got mad that I didn’t go to watch him during his dress rehearsal, but I had no choice. My friends are above all else. And how are you doing? How’s Briana?”

  “How do you think? Plaguing her mother all the time.” Ashley sighed and took a sip from the drink that had just been served.

  For a while, there was silence, but soon Peggy broke it.

  “Chad, do you like the theater? I’m dying for Broadway.”

  “What a coincidence! So am I. What’s your favorite musical?”

  “The last one I watched was Cinderella, but Legally Blonde remains my favorite.”

  “Martin and I last watched Kinky Boots – Billy Porter performs remarkably…” Chad had to interrupt himself to answer a phone call. “Hello, I’m listening! Will you excuse me, ladies? I need to make a personal call,” he said, moving a bit farther from his cell phone. He stood up and Peggy’s gaze followed him. She was starry-eyed.

  “He’s so cute! Is he single?”

  Ashley laughed.

  “Chad? He’s gay! Didn’t you get he was referring to his boyfriend when we were talking?”

  “Really?” Peggy was disappointed. “Too bad. He didn’t mention Martin was his boyfriend.”

  “What else could he be?” Ashley thought, but didn’t say anything. After a while Craig, who was coming straight from Cisco’s office, joined them. Once again, Peggy was disappointed to learn Craig was married. Only Wayne remained. Around nine o’clock, he finally arrived.

  “What’s up, bro?” Craig greeted him warmly.

  “The flight was delayed; the plane took off at around seven instead of at six.”

  “You should take earlier flights. Look what time it is!” Craig said, displeased.

  “Now, look at him! It takes you no more than fifteen minutes to get here, and I’m coming all the way from Los Angelеs. I wonder why we always only take Craig into account and meet in San Jose. It’s inconvenient for the others, too. Chad, Ashley, it takes you at least an hour to get here, doesn’t it?”

  “Wayne, get something to drink before you eat us alive,” Chad suggested.

  “You came here by plane?” asked Peggy, who until now had been only sitting and staring at Wayne, the way cats stare at their prey.

  “Wayne’s come from LA,” Ashley explained.

  “And who are you?” Wayne asked. Although he had seen her already, no one had introduced her to him.

  “Peggy Brazwick, a friend of Ashley.”

  “The friends of my friends are my friends.” Wayne shook her hand.

  The meeting of The Jackal’s members wasn’t any different from their previous meetings. Everyone was talking about their everyday lives. Craig said that he was responsible for Cisco’s investment business, which was worth millions of dollars, and that he was under great pressure. However, he boasted about becoming a father for a second time very soon. Wayne, for his part, told the others about the most extreme stunts he’d performed that year, about the famous actors he knew personally, as well as about some popular actresses he’d flirted with. Chad complained about how boring it was to photograph models all day long, but also proudly announced that photographs of his had been published in National Geographic. He and Martin had been to Barcelona, where Chad had taken the photographs he’d later sent to the magazine. Ashley was the only one who wasn’t involved in the conversation and who was saying nothing. Wayne, who found her behavior odd, asked her: “Ash, how about you? How’s the little girl?”

  “She’s very well; already rides a bike and draws… I… can’t complain; I’m alive and kicking.”

  “Is your daughter four years old?” Craig asked her. “Mine is turning three next October. Let’s get together some day with the kids!”

  “It’s a great idea, but I work a 2/2 job. I guess the weekends are the only time when you don’t work?”

  “Sometimes I work Saturdays, too,” Craig laughed.

  “Okay, we’ll figure it out…”

  “All right, but why do I find you more serious than usual?” Wayne interrupted her. “Has anything happened?”

  “No, nothing. It’s just…” Ashley continued with bitterness in her voice. “Today I remembered it’s been ten years since our live showcase at The Viper Room and…” She sighed. “I realized that my life is so different from the dreams I once had for myself.”

  “You know, I was thinking the same earlier today. I found an old photo of ours and we all look so young, happy and smiling in it,” Craig added. “Life has changed us so much!”

  “I, too, often ask myself what would have been today if the producer had liked us…” Chad began, but was angrily interrupted by Wayne.

  “Please, just don’t bring up that subject, not today!”

  “It’s exactly because today marks ten years since our live showcase that we need to talk about it! What else could we talk about, our various affairs?”

  “Now, now, boys, let’s not ruin the evening! There are ladies present,” Craig interfered.

  “What producer are you talking about?” Peggy asked whispering. Ashley only waved her hand, meaning it was a long story. She didn’t feel like giving explanations now.

  “Chad,” Ashley began, “you know, I’m asking myself the same.”

  “Back then the audience just didn’t like our song. That’s all,” Wayne replied curtly.

  Ashley ignored him and went on: “Fate is generous to those who are stubborn and persistent in their efforts. If we had swallowed our egos and kept looking for our road to fame, perhaps we wouldn’t be having this conversation now.”

  An awkward silence settled in, though it was apparent that the rest of the band shared her opinion. Wayne was the only one sitting sulky and displeased – his ego was hurt.

  “As a matter of fact,” Ashley resumed, “have you noticed that the song “Burn” by The Dragon’s Circle that’s been all over the charts now is quite similar to our “Where is Your Lover?””

  “Okay, but what does this have to do with our case?” Wayne persisted.

  “Well, what would it have been like if we could have sung “Where is Your Lover,” changing it a little so that it resembled “Burn?” Do you think that the producer and the audience would have liked it in that case?”

  The others became thoughtful. After a while, Wayne broke the silence. “Ash, what’s the matter with you?”

  “Just imagine if somehow it was possible for us to go back in time; wouldn’t that be great?” added Peggy, who had been silent until now. “I bet the producer and the audience would have fallen in love with your song!”

  “That’s just bullshit. There’s no way we can go back in time, thank God.” Wayne laughed. “It’s impossible!”

  Chapter 6

  “Latte and cappuccino, here you are. Here’s your change – two dollars and sixty cents. Have a nice day and welcome back to Starbucks.” Ashley had just attended to yet another customer when she saw her old friend, scientist Harry Neil, coming into the café. “What’s he doing here?” she thought and smoothed her skirt. She had hated the idea of wearing a uniform since her teenage years, and now she had to wear one every da
y.

  “Harry,” she yelled.

  He looked around nervously and came closer to her. Harry had quite a peculiar appearance: he wore glasses too big for his face that almost touched the tip of his nose, he had curly, medium-length hair, and was dressed in a funny shirt with a pattern of oranges and bananas. To top it all off, he always made nervous hand gestures as he spoke. Ashley was used to him, but people who saw him for the first time would get slightly baffled.

  “What’s up, Harry? What brings you here? I haven’t seen you for a while.”

  “I came… for something important, uhh… I’d like to ask if you’re willing to test an invention of mine. I tried it myself, but I’d like someone else to try it, too.”

  Harry Neil taught physics and chemistry at Belmont’s local school and had invented several machines that Ashley proudly used. One of them was a little USB device that connected her to wireless networks without a password and then, of course, a special software that allowed her to use the web without the distraction of ads, which were growing in number every day.

  “I’d love to, but first you have to tell me what it is.”

  He hesitated and then said: “Come to my lab at eight tonight, and you’ll find out. Are you okay with the hour?”

  Ashley nodded. She wanted to know more about his discovery, but Harry had already left. He had the habit of not saying hello and goodbye.

  “He’s been acting really strangely and mysteriously recently,” she thought, but decided to take part in his experiment. She was scheduled to work until nine in the evening, but it was no problem for her to call her boss and think of an excuse to leave earlier. One of the few pros of her current job was how understanding her employer was. If he hadn’t been, she would have surely quit a long time ago.

  Ashley’s daily routine was monotonous and boring. But the idea that her band could perform a new version of its song had already nestled in her mind. After their meeting, she had wished for the universe to find a way to take her ten years back in time to their live showcase. Back then she had been a rising star, the band had been breaking through, and Wayne had managed to set up a live showcase at Hollywood’s most exclusive club, The Viper Room. The future had belonged to them. If anyone had told her back then that ten years later she would be a single mother serving tables at Starbucks, she would have laughed in their face. Now, however, she didn’t feel like laughing.

  Ashley finished work an hour and a half early and drove to Harry’s place in Belmont. She had no idea what kind of an experiment it would be, but she knew Harry well enough to trust him. He explained the essence of the test briefly: she was only required to relax and follow his instructions. Then he would inject her with UTST (Unique Time and Space Travel) – the chemical compound he had discovered. Soon after that, she would be able to choose a time and space into which she could be transferred.

  “UTST? What’s in it?” Ashley asked curiously.

  “Galbulimima belgraveana and Homalomena leaves and my special top secret ingredient. There are no side effects; at least, I haven’t noticed any myself.”

  “And what’s this special top secret ingredient?”

  “I’m sorry, Ash, that’s confidential.”

  Ashley frowned and Harry had to reassure her: “I promise there is nothing dangerous in it.” He raised his hand and announced ceremonially, “I swear by my mother.”

  Ashley had nothing else to do but trust him.

  “Okay, Harry, let me see if I’ve gotten it right: while I’m lying on the bed relaxed, you’ll inject me with the chemical compound. When it starts working, I’ll be able to pick the time I’d like to go back to, right?”

  “Precisely so.” Harry smiled at the simplicity with which Ashley had described the work that had taken him a year.

  “And the whole time my mind will be somewhere else, my body will lay here motionless on the bed?”

  “Well, yes, yes,” he confirmed, squeezing his knuckles nervously.

  “And what if I want to cancel the experiment? How do I do it?”

  “Just make your mind focus on the sensation of your body. That will bring about a physical reaction such as the movement of your legs, and then I’ll inject you with an anti-compound. You should wake up a few minutes after that.”

  Ashley sighed and lay down.

  “Now close your eyes and relax. Riiight… Imagine that your whole body is growing heavier. Your arms, your legs,” Harry instructed her.

  After a while, he injected her with UTST and Ashley felt really strange. It was as if her whole body had turned into a balloon filled with air under pressure. After a few seconds, she no longer felt her physical body. For a moment, she became unconscious, and when she came to her senses she saw she was in a white room with several doors in it. She wasn’t anxious, but she wondered which door to open. She pressed the handle of the closest one and found herself in a vast, brightly-colored meadow with beautiful and sweet-smelling flowers. Butterflies were fluttering to and fro and she could hear birds singing. She began to jump around joyfully, enjoying the wonderful fragrance that surrounded her. She remembered what Harry had told her:

  “When you want to go to another time or space, just think of the year and the place and you’ll get there.”

  Ashley paused in the middle of a path and thought about where she wanted to go. She was afraid to peek into the future, so she decided to go back in time. What was the moment in her life when she had been happiest? Undoubtedly, that was the moment when her daughter Briana had been born. But she didn’t feel like experiencing the birth pangs all over again. She went further back in time mentally and visualized in her memory The Jackal’s first rehearsal. They had still been students back then and had played all day long during the summer. She recalled August 2003, and in the next moment, she found herself with the rest of the band in Wayne’s garage.

  “Not that tonality, try G major.” Ashley heard Craig’s voice. Although it wasn’t as thick as in the present, she couldn’t mistake it for anyone else’s. He was sitting behind the drums and was following the rhythm with the drumsticks. How young he looked! She looked at her own body – how slim she was! She had gained some pounds after giving birth to Briana.

  “I’m slim again! Oh, my God! I can’t believe it!” Ashley shrieked with joy.

  The boys were looking at her, puzzled.

  “Is that your PMS, Ash?” Chad winked at her.

  “You always look great, baby.” Wayne smiled. Ashley blushed. She remembered that once she’d had a thing about him. In the present, she had long gotten over that thrill and considered him a friend only. But back then, there had definitely been something more between them.

  “Are you ready for the rehearsal?” he asked her.

  “I need the lyrics. Where are they?”

  “You forgot them already? I thought you wrote them?” Chad was surprised. “Ash, are you all right?”

  “I…I…” She wondered what explanation she could give. “I’m so excited I forgot them. You know what an introvert I am, don’t you?” She shrugged. She hoped the others would buy it.

  Chad sighed and handed her the lyrics.

  Wayne slid his hand along the strings of the guitar.

  “Ready? One and two and…” The garage filled with the sound of guitar accompanied by drums. Ashley and Chad started singing. During the song, Ashley remembered she had wanted to change “Where is Your Lover” so that it resembled The Dragon’s Circle’s popular song “Burn.”

  “Guys, how about making some changes to “Where is Your Lover?” I have an idea – let’s increase the tempo and play the song in E major.”

  Wayne looked at her in surprise.

  “Why, don’t you like its current rhythm and tonality?”

  “Yes, yes, I do, but I think in a faster tempo and in E major. the song would sound better. Please, let’s just try it.” She smiled at him warmly.

  Craig and Wayne quickly adjusted to the tempo Ashley had in mind and the song achieved was definitely
better. At the end of the rehearsal, Wayne exclaimed that Ashley was a musical genius. She hadn’t had such fun in a long time. She was infinitely happy with being sixteen years old and slim again. When they finished playing for the day, Wayne offered to see her home. They went out on the street and he walked her all the way to her house, several blocks away. Back then, both of them had lived in Redwood City. After a few years, Wayne would move to Los Angeles. He kissed her goodbye.

  Ashley stood by the front door, thinking about how much longer she could stay in this reality. Wasn’t it time to go back? What had Harry told her? To remember about her physical body and make a movement. After a while, the surrounding space began to fade – all she could see was white light. She half-closed her eyes and felt her head heavy. When she opened her eyes wide again, she was already in Harry’s lab. He was looking at her, breathless.

  “Well, what do you think?” He fired the question at her impatiently, helping her step down to the floor.

  Ashley was dizzy with the rapid change of time and her age.

  “Well, what can I say? I did go back in time. It was fun.” She examined her body. The sudden transformation from a teenager into a mature woman was too much for her. She felt giddy.

  “It’s working, isn’t it?”

  “Oh yes, definitely. Harry, have you told anyone else about your discovery?”

  “No, only you. You know I’m not very sociable.” Harry slid his hands into his pockets.

  “This might be a blessing in disguise. I know that every scientist wants his discovery to do good to people and yet, somebody could misuse it.”

  “Yes, you’re right, Ashley, and yet, wouldn’t it be great if people could rewrite their lives? Imagine how many accidents, mis-chances, or other kind of catastrophes could be avoided. And now, could you describe exactly what you experienced?”

  Ashley told him everything in detail, starting with the odd white room and the meadow and continuing with her return to twelve years back in time. Harry was listening really closely. In the end, he explained:

  “In the beginning, the compound works as a psychotropic substance – it widens the consciousness and has a slight hallucinogenic effect, but that’s okay.”