Flashback

"Hey Dad I'm just...going into my room." Eleanor told her Dad nervously. When she looked over he was passed out on the couch reeking of cigarettes and she realized that she had nothing to fear because her parents simply didn't care. She was in her early teen years at the time and she had a secret that she kept for more than a year now.

Or should she say a secret someone.

Eleanor suspected she would be there from entering her room through the unlocked window, and as she opened the door to her room she saw this secret someone on her mattress, recognizing her right away from a glimpse of her dark brown hair, mint green highlights, and her big and clumsily placed glasses on the edge of her nose. And then she took in her favorite part of this secret someone: her infectious smile.

"Hey Ali...sorry I took so long. Had detention again." Eleanor rolled her eyes."But you know what entertained me as I had nothing to do for those 30 minutes?"

"Don't ruin the moment by saying something inappropriate Ellie." Ali narrowed her eyes but a playful smile revealed itself on the corner of her lips. Eleanor tossed her backpack away and leaped onto the mattress and crashed into Ali. She felt every positive emotion within her light up like a Christmas tree: in many colors.

Her bisexuality was something she had been aware of since early junior high, and she had told nobody since then except her secret lover. It was easy to keep their relationship a secret since her lover was homeschooled. Ali was the one thing that kept her selfishness in check. They cuddled up together on the mattress as reruns of Friends played on her low quality TV.

She wasn't aware that she and Ali were running out of time. They hoped things would be perfect forever.

But they wouldn't be.

Michael's POV

"NO! STOP!" I pulled the handle on one of the train doors and I felt horror surge within my human body as the train zoomed away the moment I let go of the handle. I had to be able to torture these four humans for at least six months to avoid retirement. Of course I wanted to torture them for a thousand years, but now I didn't even have Jason, one of the people I needed for this to work.

There was no hope of going after them, Janet was a mainframe and that meant I couldn't stop her without the button. And once she and Jason leave the Good Place, there was no way of chasing after them since me and the rest of the Bad Place staff were unable to leave said place. There was only one more thing to do.

I had to contact the Tyrant.

Eleanor's POV

"It's you!" Me and the mysterious woman shouted at the same time with our pointer fingers facing each other. The people around us in the pizza parlor looked at us in shock and disbelief, and several of them ran out the door. What was the big deal?

"You're the woman with the voice!" The woman exclaimed.

"And you're the woman with the..." Beautiful hair? Beautiful skin? Rockin' bod? "...um, looks."

"But how? How do we know each other?" She asked. "Do you think we crossed paths while we were alive on Earth?"

"I don't think so, I'd think I'd remember someone like..." You.

"This is going to sound absurd but...do you think we're soulmates?" The woman asked. "My supposed soulmate almost never talks to me...unless you're really invested in your soulmate."

"Oh no! Michael accidentally dumped a Bad Place guy on me and is changing him out for my real soulmate named Chris Leon." I explained. "But I've dated guys and girls in the past, have you?"

"Just guys, but I've found women attractive before. I've just never..." felt this way before? "I'm sorry! I didn't even introduce myself! My name's Tahani Ah-Jamil. And you are...?"

"Eleanor Shellstrop." I introduced myself to the beautiful woman that I wanted to know better. "And you make a great point about us being soulmates. I mean, why else would we have visions of each other?"

"Exactly!" Tahani agreed.

"I'll talk to Michael and maybe next thing you know...we could be living together!" I gave a genuine smile and Tahani booped me on the nose. I'll admit...I felt the spark ignite when she did that. Like it was just a fraction of the amount of touching that I wanted from her. No, a sliver.

But what would she think when she finds out that I'm from the Bad Place? Will she still like me the same or will the mutual interest that was building up fizzle out?

We both walked out of the pizza parlor in opposite directions and I saw a man with really dark skin and glasses looking lonely by himself. Normally I'd dismiss him as another person that just has to 'Suck it up, we all have problems,' but he looked really lonely. I would go as far as to say he looked sad.

So I began to walk in his direction.

Jason's POV

Was this a prank show? First I have some old guy tell me I'm dead, then I'm set up with some older dog lady as my 'Soulmate,' then some pretty lady named Janet takes me in a train and we take off with no idea of where we're going. And it seemed like she wanted to be in a relationship with me.

Not that I had any complaints.

"Alright, now that I have the train set to bring us to the gated entrance to the Good Place office, let's talk!" Janet gave a very cheery smile that made me smile back just as happily. She walked to my seat in the train and sat next to me. "Do you remember me?"

I shook my head in disappointment. Janet's smile never faltered as she projected a screen from her eyes. I heard a wedding remix play as the screen went down a flight of stairs where I was dancing before I stopped and tore the arms of the tux that I was wearing. I watched the whole wedding play out:

Was I so stupid that I forgot my wedding day? But I didn't even know that I had one!

As the screen was loading more memories, Janet began explaining more things. Like that she wasn't a human at all, she was an informational system for the neighborhood that we just escaped. She told me some things that were crazy! Like that I was in the Good Place for several months before Michael took our memories when we realized that it was a Bad Place.

And now, we were heading to the real Good Place where Janet would be welcomed. And hopefully, I would be welcomed there too.

"Well Jason? Do you love me still?" Janet asked as soon as all the memories finished playing and the screen disappeared from her eyes.

"Of course!" I gave a big smile and I was unsure of my answer till Janet kissed me.

And then I remembered.