Chapter 3: All Grown Up
"Are you happy?"
Tommy looked up in surprise at Lori's question. She stared at him intensely, waiting for a reply. He nodded, "Of course I'm happy," he told her truthfully, "why wouldn't I be?"
Lori shook her head, "No reason," she sat down next to him and he put away the reports he had been working on. "It's just, you could have done anything you wanted. Played professional football, joined the police, been a superhero, why did you choose to teach high school football in Pleasantville?"
"I couldn't have played football, you know that. Sooner or later someone would have gotten suspicious. They'd have tested me for drugs or something and found out I wasn't human. Besides, I like it here. This is where my family is, and all my old friends. I enjoy my job too."
"I know you do, but there's something else isn't there? Something that's keeping you here."
Tommy shook his head, "Not really," he said, "it's just that there's a lot of memories here. I don't want to leave them behind just yet. And every now and then there's still some supernatural bad guy that needs me to kick its butt all the way back to Hades." He smiled as he realised he'd said the right word for once.
"Not all of those memories are good."
Tommy looked at her, he knew what she meant and he nodded. "Enough of them are, though. Like the memory of the time I met you, or the time I proposed, or the time Merton spilled that stuff on the floor and Tim and Travis slipped over."
Lori laughed, "You're right," she said, "I just wanted to be sure you were okay."
"I'm fine," he promised, "will you be ready to go in about an hour?"
Lori nodded, and left to get changed. Tommy watched her go, turned back to his work, then thought better of it. The things Lori had said had struck a chord. He never really thought about it, but somewhere inside him he ached for the lives he could have had. If he hadn't been a werewolf he would never have had to worry about being found out. He could have been a footballer, a hero to thousands of kids. It had always been his dream when he was younger. If he had decided to leave Pleasantville in search of adventure, been a real hero, the sort that he used to pretend to be during his last year at Pleasantville High, saving the world, protecting the innocent.
But that dream had died along with Merton when he had realised that the innocent couldn't be protected. He didn't want to be responsible for hurting anyone else he loved. If anything happened to Lori he would never forgive himself, just like he couldn't for what happened to Merton. And finally the big If. If Merton hadn't died. What sort of a life could they have had together? What could they have done? He didn't know, and he wasn't sure he wanted to.
There was no point in dwelling on what might have been. His life was as it was; as he had made it through a series of decisions, mistakes and triumphs. Tonight he was supposed to be celebrating anyway. His parent's silver wedding anniversary. They had to be at the party soon. Twenty five years together, it seemed like an eternity. He wondered whether he and Lori would still be together after twenty five years. Part of him hoped so, but if things went according to plan, he was due to go back in time before that, and change things so they wouldn't marry at all. He felt a pang of regret at that thought. He almost wished he didn't have to do it, he loved Lori with all his heart, but he loved Merton too, and he knew that he had to try it, no matter what happened. When he got his chance to re-write the past, he had to take it.
