Chapter 2- Refusal and Acceptance
Claire rapped her knuckles against the wooden door. Inside, she heard a slightly airy voice call, "Yes, yes, come in."
"Hello, Dimitri." Claire said, smiling as she walked in. Not twenty minutes ago, he had been a man with overlong hair, and a hollow face. Now, she was staring at the younger Dimitri Allen, his one bit of wavy bang covering his eye, and his face still young and eager…the only thing that hadn't changed was his overlong hair!
"Ah! Claire, you received my letter then, I presume. Please, have a seat, would you care for anything? How have you been lately?"
"Yes, Dimitri, I received your letter, and some water would be nice, thank you, and I've been feeling slightly shaken, but slightly better now," she said, answering his string of questions. She settled down in the plastic chair, and sipped the water Dimitri had gotten for her. "So, the letter…it said something about a time machine?"
Dimitri's eyes lit up. "Yes. You see, the blueprint orders you've been bringing to us, they were all solely for the construction of the machine itself. We had to rely on some of our trusted colleagues for the technical aspect of it. But, Claire…we need to see if it actually works. Before the corporation I mentioned in the letter comes, we need to do a practice demonstration. For that, just a simple object won't do, we need an actual, living person."
He paused, and she sucked in a breath. "What…what are you trying to say, Dimitri?"
"Claire, I would like to request that you assist us in this experiment. That you help us prove time travel is not indeed impossible, as so many have labeled it." The look in Dimitri's eyes was so determined, so strong…almost on the verge of insanity.
Claire felt herself tense up. That look, she thought, I never realized how passionate he was about this. I agreed because…I myself was interested in the very idea. But…I must do what I came here to do. "Thank you for…that incredible offer Dimitri. But, I don't think I'll be able to accept it, I'm truly sorry."
His face fell, and for a moment, he stared at her, almost as a child waits for their friend to say "just kidding!" after they deliver impossibly horrible news. "B-but…Claire. Do you even know what this could do for us? Me, you, Bill, we could go down in history! The first people ever to create an actual working time machine!"
She sighed, almost wishing she hadn't come here at all. "I know, Dimitri, but as glorious as it sounds, I have to decline. You might think it's perfectly fine, but who knows? What if a wire is loose or there's one small problem in the system during the experiment? It could turn into a catastrophe…the whole thing could…it could literally blow up!" she put a little more emphasis than she would have liked on the last two words, but she had made her point clear, and caught Dimitri's attention.
He walked around the desk to stand right next to her. He took a hold of her shoulders, and said, "Claire, please. This is so important. If you saw how much money these people are offering us for this one demonstration—"
"Money? So that's what this is about, you don't even care about who helps with the demo, do you?" Claire's face flushed as she continued, "All you care about is the media coverage and money, that's the only things you've talked about so far, not how this could affect anyone else. As long as you get you're fame and fortune, who cares who gets hurt during the process!" She pulled herself away from his grasp, "The answer is no Dimitri, good day!"
She stormed out of the office, "Why didn't I see this sooner?" she spoke angrily to herself, "all he ever cared about was his benefit!" You know that's not true, a voice in her head said to her, he was the first one to try and stop Bill and save you that day, remember? She just shook her head, "What's done is done. I accomplished what I came to do." Then, she smiled. The explosion would never happen; it would never have the chance to destroy so many lives. Now, she and Hershel could spend all the time they wanted together.
"Oh it's just beautiful, Hershel!"
He gave a little chuckle as she pulled an elegant stopwatch from the box. "Picking out the right present can be quite the puzzle."
Claire smiled, and replied, "Well, lucky for me, every puzzle has an answer. Isn't that what you always say?"
"Yes, well," Hershel said, then paused to take a sip from his wineglass. "I've been thinking…"
"Go on."
"If I were to, get the teaching job then we…" he trailed off, almost embarrassed to continue.
"I'm listening, Hershel, tell me about these plans of yours!" She was eager to see if he would actually say what was on his mind this time.
He looked a little surprised, like he assumed she had just been half interested. "Oh, 'twas nothing! Now, let's eat before our food gets cold."
"Hershel, that's no fair. I want you to tell me what you're thinking, cold food or not."
He just looked at her, then spoke quietly, "Claire, I…I love you, so much. If I were to get the teaching job, I might actually have enough money to buy a real house instead of the simple flat I have at the moment. I'm afraid, however, that it would be awfully lonely if I were to live there by myself. Would you…consider joining me?"
Claire was filled with a delightfully warm feeling. Up to this point, she and Hershel had lived in separate flats, and occasionally, they would stay at each other's homes (they had an extra bedroom set up for this purpose.) but now, they could actually live together, and the thought made Claire extremely happy. "Oh, Hershel I think that's an excellent idea!"
"Wonderfull! My, I feel much better having that off my chest." He smiled, "now, let's eat; the food has already become lukewarm!"
She smiled, and as she began to work on her plate, she thought to herself, this is turning out to be better than I expected! Honestly, can anything possibly go wrong?