The Soul Mate Initiative, part 2

***

Nine o'clock hits and I return to my room practically in tears.  I have spent the entire day walking avenues of bookstores, record exchanges, and coffee shops, going to all the versions of haunts Jack and I frequent at home, and I didn't see him once.  Now I'm going to a party that he might not even be at either.  It's true that Elliot will probably make him go, but he'll spend the whole night hiding on the ship.  I'm tired and upset and the last thing I want to do is go to the party and fail again.  My three days are almost halfway up, and Jack doesn't even know my name yet.  It's starting to feel like fate that I can't make any progress beyond a hello or a scattered word.  This whole thing is supposed to test to see if we really are soul mates.  Jack was able to pass; what if I can't?  Something is trying to tell me that if given the opportunity to fall in love again, we wouldn't.  There's no reason it should be this difficult just to swap names.

Regardless, I start getting ready for the party.  The dress I was wearing the night we got engaged has been packed, and it gives me hope that tonight I might really make some progress after all.  I shower and slip the navy blue, ruffled number on, toss my hair up, and throw on a little bit of makeup.  I look like I did for the special dinner we'd gone to, when we went for a walk afterward and he got down on one knee.  Yes, I feel good about tonight, my discouragement slipping away down the shower drain with the sweat of the day.

I walk to the ship and make my way inside.  It feels and looks a celebrity party:  women are walking around in beautiful dresses and men in pressed suits, waiters offer drinks and appetizers, music is filtering through the entire ship, and all is lit by glass chandeliers that I didn't even notice on the trip over.  There's a guest book waiting to be signed at the entrance, and as I'm scribbling my name down, I notice the signature printed neatly above mine.

Jason Fornes.

Oh no.

Gary floating around is bad enough, but it can't compare to knowing that Jason Fornes is here, and his presence doesn't even make sense.  He wasn't even in my year, but I'd known him since high school, and he'd been after me just as long.  It wasn't a crush like Gary's had been, easily dismissed and moved on from.  No, Jason had literally stalked me for the better part of a year.  It wasn't until I threatened to call the police that Jason had finally left me alone.  I could get rid of Gary with enough effort if it came down to it, but I wouldn't be able to do it with Jason.  If anyone would get in the way of Jack and I, it would be him, out of sheer force.

I want to turn around and go back to the hotel, but I can't.  More likely than not, Jack is somewhere on the ship.  It's big enough that I'm afraid I won't be able to find him; it's big enough that maybe Jason won't find me either.

That's when he calls my name.

"Cassandra Connors, I thought you might be here," Jason calls out, approaching me from out of the thrall of guests.  He's sharply dressed and is putting on his suave, debonair act that had once made me think he was too much of a gentleman to do anything uncouth.

"Hi," I say curtly and walk to move past him, but he places his hand on my shoulder and holds me firmly in place.

"Now, now, there's no need to be rude," he chastises me smoothly.  "I know for a fact that you're not that kind of woman, are you, Cassandra?"

Everyone called me Cassie or Cass, and I didn't mind when people called me Cassandra, at least not until he did.  He made it sound wrong and tainted, like he was letting my name slither over his tongue, like he enjoyed the taste.  I feel like I could vomit.  I know he can't really hurt me here, but I'm too used to being afraid of him.

"I'm not being rude, I just don't want to talk to you."  Again, I try to push past him, but he doesn't budge.

"What do you say we go find a place to sit down and talk?" he says, his hand moving from my shoulder to my forearm.  His grip is tighter now.  "We haven't talked in a long time, and I think we should catch up, don't you?"

"No, I don't think so."  I try to kick him in the groin but he twists my arm around so I'm out of reach.

"You've gotten feistier since we last talked, Cassandra.  I'll have to decide if I like that."

"Leave me alone!" I scream and someone spots us.  It's Gary.

He comes running over and pushes Jason away from me, pulling me into his own arms, which don't feel much better.  If anything, they feel less threatening, but they still feel wrong all the same.  Jason backs up a few paces but he doesn't leave.  In fact, he looks more steadfast than ever, like he could kill Gary if he had to.

"Get away from her!" Gary commands, shielding me.

"Is this a boyfriend, Cassandra?  I thought you didn't want to date," Jason coos, the sneer on his lips belying his tone.

"He is not my boyfriend and neither are you!"  Gary's arms had squeezed me tighter when Jason said boyfriend, like he felt he should step into that role, but they loosened when the same word came out of my mouth.  He's still holding me close though, enough that I'd literally have to pry myself away from him to make a getaway.

"I never said I wanted to be your boyfriend, Cassandra," Jason replies.  "I only ever said I wanted you."

"Leave.  Right now," Gary orders again.  He releases me and pushes me protectively behind him, prepared to fight Jason.

"I can't go far," Jason says.  "And neither can she.  If you haven't noticed, we've pulled away from the dock."

What?  I didn't know that the ship was actually going to sail for the party:  I assumed it was going to stay at the dock and people could come and go as they pleased.  If Jack isn't onboard, I've come for nothing and I'll lose the next four hours stuck here, trying to evade Jason and possibly Gary as well.  I'm starting to panic.  I need to find Matt.  I know for a fact he's onboard.

"Goodbye for now, Cassandra," Jason says, bowing to me before disappearing into the well-dressed crowd.

"Are you okay?" Gary asks, turning his attention fully on me.  He tucks a piece of hair behind my ear and places his hands on my shoulders.  I tell him I'm okay, but I'm shaking, so he's unconvinced.  He offers to take me to find a place to sit down and relax and that he'll get me a drink, but I don't want him near me either.  There's only one person I want to be with right now, and I don't even know if he's nearby.

"I can't leave you alone," Gary says, "not with that creep running around."

"Then help me find Matt Kemp."

Gary looks disappointed.  "Why him?"

"Because I'm supposed to be with his group," I lie. "I was running late and we got separated."

"Are you sure you don't want me to stay with you?"

"Yes!" I cry, wishing he would just leave.

"Okay, okay, then let's go find him."

***

Matt has to convince Gary that it's okay to leave me in his care before I'm left to my own devices.  Gary wanders off and Matt does too soon after, leaving me by myself at a dining table in a well-populated section of the ship, so I'm not too worried about having to deal with Jason again.  If he returns, any scene that I might make would not go unnoticed.

I have to leave this area though if I want to find Jack.  In fact, I might have to roam the whole ship, but the second I leave here, I put myself at risk of running in to Jason, and there's no telling what could happen.  I might even run into Gary too, who will feel the need to guard me protectively for the rest of the evening.  As long as I'm staying in the main throng of the party, I won't find the two people I'm trying to avoid, but I also won't find the one that I want to see.

As I pick at a dinner roll, I decide that this is another test.  They're trying to see if I would risk my own safety for Jack- if I would willingly put myself in harm's way to get to him.  I put the roll down and leave because the answer to that question is, I would.  Besides, Jason and Gary would expect me to be in a place with lots of people.  By pulling myself away, I might actually be decreasing my chances of seeing them.  Whatever the risk, I have to find Jack.

There are a few people milling around the different decks, but most people are inside at the main party.  A few couples are making out in what they suppose are secret hideouts, and the rest are people stepping out for a smoke.  There's no one I recognize, for better or worse.

I can still see the shoreline in the darkness, lit up periodically by the lights from hotels and other places, but it's definitely too far to swim.  I'm filled with doubt again that Jack isn't on the ship, and I decide he's in the hotel watching television or he's sitting on the beach under the stars.  I decide that he must be anywhere but near me.

I go up to another deck and there's even less people up here, but a few are still strolling around or lighting up.  The music is faint up here, and I can't even make out the song, only that there is music playing.  About thirty feet ahead of me, sitting on a bench with his hands between his knees, is my Jack.

His suit is disheveled and his shirt partway unbuttoned, his tie draped across his shoulders.  He doesn't want to be here but now he's stuck, just watching the shore, waiting for it to come close enough to walk on again.

"Hey," I call out, alerting him to my presence since he hasn't spotted me yet.

He looks over at me.  "Hey.  Fancy meeting you again."

"Not much of a party person myself," I say, my heartbeat thundering in my chest.

"You're dressed up quite nicely for someone who calls herself not much of a party person," he observes with a wry smile.  My heart skips a beat before taking off again.

"Thought I'd fit in with the crowd," I reply, hoping he'll invite me to sit down next to him.  "You look like you dressed up for the occasion too, you know."

"My brother made me come," he says, just as I'd supposed.  "I was going to ditch after ten minutes, but then I realized I'd have to swim to do it.  So, here I am."

"You've got a long wait before you can get back."

He stretches his arms and legs and then slumps.  "Oh I know.  I'm here for the long haul.  I wish I would have brought a book or something."

"Would some company do the trick?" I offer.  I'm taking a risk by making the suggestion; if he's decided he wants to be alone, I won't be able to convince him otherwise.  I have to hope that I've made enough of a likable impression that he'll let me stay with him.

"Are you the company?"

"Only if you say yes."

He smiles and slides over on the bench to make room for me.  "Then yes."

I'm trying to hide my happiness in, but I know that I must be smiling from ear to ear.  He doesn't say anything, but he must notice.

"I'm Cassie, by the way," I get to finally say.

He extends his right hand towards me.  "Jack.  It's funny that it's taken running into you four times in the past day and a half for that to actually come out."

"Yeah," I laugh.  "I tried at the concert, but you didn't hear me."

"I thought you were trying to say something, but I couldn't tell.  I got pulled back in before I could find out."

Someone starts calling my name.  As a matter of fact, whoever it is has started screaming it, slurring the second syllable into gibberish.  I'm not sure where the sound is coming from until I spot Matt and Ashley stumbling towards us.

"Cassssehhh, whatcha doing out here?" Matt asks, trying desperately to keep both he and Ashley on their feet.  He notices Jack sitting next to me before I can respond.  "Ohhh, I see.  Well I will leave you to talk then, Casssehhhh."

Ashley waves at Jack and the two wander off again as unexpectedly as they came.

"That's my friend Ashley," Jack observes, pointing at the drunken girl who's now puking into the sea.

"Yeah, I guess she's dating my friend Matt now."

Jack shrugs.  "Hm.  That's a relief."

"Why's that?"

"She couldn't understand that I wasn't interested in her.  Glad to see she's got someone else to occupy her attention.  Is he a good guy?"

"One of the best."  It's almost funny to hear Jack talk about Matt like they'd never met when I know them as the biggest buddies in the world.

"Good," Jack says with a nod.  "She's still my friend, and I wouldn't want her to be hanging out with an asshole."

"She's in good hands.  Except for the alcohol."

He stands up to look farther down the deck to see Ashley retching again.

"Yeah, I can see that."

We both laugh and the questions start up, asking what we do in school, where we are from, the basics.  It's like the day in the coffee shop four years ago.  Before long, we're laughing like old friends and revealing intimate details of our lives.  Hours pass and the ship pulls into the dock again, but neither of us want the conversation to end.

"If you want, come to my room when we get back to the hotel," I offer, afraid that I'm sounding desperate.  "We'll order room service and just talk the whole night."

The ear-to-ear smile he's flashing me shows I've said just the right thing.

"I'd love to," he says.  "I'm going to take a shower, and I'll be up after."

"Room 2135."

"I'll be there."

We exit the ship together, but then get separated in the crowd of exiting guests.  I'm not even worried about running into Gary or Jason anymore.  I've succeeded with my mission for the night, far better than I could have ever expected, and the night is still young.

***

The door to my hotel room is hanging open, and the good feelings about my evening disappear.  I kick the door the rest of the way open to see if someone is inside before I go.  Did Jason find my room?  Was he disappointed because he didn't find me again at the party and had to come looking for personal time?

It isn't Jason in my room:  it's Gary.

"Thank God," he sighs, quickly traversing the distance of the room to pull me into a tight hug.  "When I couldn't find you at the party, I thought for sure that guy had gotten to you."

His concern completely flies over my head, and I feel invaded instead.  "How did you get into my room?"

He releases me and I can see he is embarrassed.

"I took your room key when I was in here the other day," he admits.  "I was going to use it to surprise you, but... I'm glad I took it though.  I wouldn't have been able to check up on you otherwise."

Again, his worries about my safety are the furthest thing from my mind.  He took the room key that I thought I'd lost at the concert so he could get into my room when I wasn't there.  He's crossed a boundary that even Jason hasn't.

"Leave.  Right now."

"Cassie, I don't understand why you're so angry."

He must be joking.  "You can't imagine why I might be angry?"

"All I've done tonight is look out for you," he says, trying to explain it all away like it's a simple problem. "If I hadn't, who knows what would have happened."

"Right now, I feel more scared of you than I do of Jason."

This hurts him.  "Cassie, really.  I didn't mean for it to come off like that.  I only wanted you to be safe.  Really.  I'm sorry I've upset you."

He looks like he could cry, and I'm in danger of believing that he really meant well and that this was all a misunderstanding, but the fact remains that he stole from me so that he could get to me.  It's unforgivable.

"I don't care why you did what you did," I reiterate.  "You need to go."

I think he's walking for the door when he stops in front of me instead.

"Cassie, I really am sorry.  I did it because I love you."

It's not only this latest revelation that catches me by surprise, it's not that his lips are suddenly crushed against mine:  it's that when I'm finally able to free myself, I realize that Jack has been standing in the doorway and he has seen the whole thing.

"I've come at a bad time," he mutters.  He's angry, but he looks sad as well.

This was another test.

And I failed.

Jack's already walking back down the hallway, Gary is questioning who Jack is, and I'm ignoring him, trying to catch up to Jack.

"Jack!" I call after him, hiking up the bottom of my dress to catch up to him.  He isn't turning around but is quickly walking to the elevator.  It's taking too long for him though, so he gives up and goes to the stairs next.  As he pushes open the door, he finally turns back to me.

"You played me this whole time," he spews.  "And to think-to think I-"

"To think what?"  I'm sure I already know what he's going to say.

"And to think I thought there was something special about you."  He exhales a bitter laugh.  "Sucks being wrong."

"Jack, I didn't play you!" I moan, but it's too late.  He's heading up the stairs now, and even though I'm running after him, when he gets to his room, I'll be out of luck.  "I'm not with that guy!  I don't even like him."

He hesitates on a step for a moment before continuing.

"That's funny," he says.  "I find you kissing a guy who says he loves you.  Clearly, I've misunderstood this whole thing."

"You have!"  It sounds like an insult, but there's no other way to put it.  "He stole my room key and got into my room, and he's been trying to get me to go out with him, and he kissed me but I didn't want him to.  I pushed him off.  Didn't you see that part too?"

"That's some story you have there," he says, going through the door to his floor.  It slams in my face, but I keep going, catching him just one more time before he goes into his room.

"Please!" is all I can get out.

"Goodnight, Cassie," he says, closing the door on me.

I start knocking, but I already know he won't answer.  My knees fail and soon, I'm on the ground in front of his door, sobbing.  There's no way to undo what's been done.  I've failed.  They said they'd pull me out if I passed, but they won't even give me the courtesy of pulling me out for failure.  No, I have to live out what remains of my time.  It's after three in the morning, which means I'm just over halfway through the three days.  I accomplished so much in the first half, but how can I reverse the damage that has happened in the last hour?  He isn't even close to loving me; he despises me.

Eventually I fall asleep there, my head against his door.

***

Around 8 A.M., a member of the housekeeping staff wakes me and tells me I can't stay there.  I beg her to let me stay, saying it's my own room and I got locked out, but she doesn't believe me, saying I should go to the desk if I need to be let into my room.  I continue to protest, but she shoos me off, and I have nowhere to go but back to the room that I really am locked out of, since once again I don't have the key.

When I go downstairs, I find that for better or worse, my door was left somewhat ajar in the wee hours of the morning.  Thankfully, no one is waiting for me this time, and everything looks as it did when I left to go to the party.  At least Gary had the good sense to be gone when I got back as well as leave me a way back into the room, but I don't even want to give him that compliment.  I think I could kill him.  In fact, I might try to since I can't go to jail for something that isn't really happening.  I hope I never run into Gary again in the real world, but I wouldn't remember my hatred even if I did.

I catch a glimpse of myself in a mirror on the wall when I walk to the bed, and I am a mess.  My face is streaked with tear lines filled with mascara, my hair is a bird's nest, and my dress has seen better days.  It's just a reminder of how the night had seemed like a success until the end, and I start crying again.  I have three hours until checkout, and I intend to spend them all bawling into the too firm pillows of the hotel, dress and all.

Soon after my fit has started, someone knocks on my door.  I have the good sense to know that it isn't Jack, and I hope that Gary has the good sense to stay away.  It might be Matt, but I don't want to see him.  It could be Jason, and I am tired to fight him away.  I pull myself out of bed and open the door to find a housekeeper asking if she should come back later or if she should come in now.  I struggle to be polite and I tell her to come later, but I'm more forceful than I need to be when I slam the Do Not Disturb sign on the handle when she walks away.  I immediately return to the bed.

10:30 appears on the clock and I finally rise from my place, bleary-eyed and exhausted.  I shower quickly and hastily, really only concentrating on removing the ruined makeup, and then I shove all my possessions into my suitcase before realizing there's no point to it.  For good measure, I dump everything out again on the floor and on the bed and leave, checking out with only the clothes on my back.

The lobby is crowded, filled with all the classmates who waited until the last moment like myself.  I know it's useless, but I examine every face and every body, praying that Jack is just feet away and is willing to reconsider what had happened in the dead of night.  I spot Gary near the door, and he sees me as well, but he only tosses me a wave and a half-smile before leaving.

There's a picnic scheduled on the beach and a movie being screened on the ship, and while I don't want to do either, I opt for the movie, hoping to find a seat in the dark room where I can curl up and mourn.  When I get there, it's crowded and loud and the movie is the first one Jack and I ever went to.  I barely make it through the opening credits before I'm crawling over people's knees to make an escape.

The ship won't set sail until five o'clock, and I have nowhere to go until then, at least nowhere that doesn't remind me of Jack or leave me exposed.  I imagine a credit card in my pocket and intend to go check back into the hotel for a few hours, but nothing appears there.  I walk out of earshot of the picnic and try to find a secluded place, but it's a busy tourist area and there's people almost every place I look.  I just want to go home now and live out the last few seconds I have of remembering that I lost Jack- that we weren't meant to be.

I wonder where he is right now.  He might be in the movie or maybe he's walking the ship, trying to avoid the bench where we bared our souls to each other for the first time in this life but the second in the course of history.  He is thinking back to where it went wrong and is trying to tell himself that it was just a mistake.  He found me interesting and he felt comfortable with me, but it wasn't a relationship.  He's thinking he's lucky he found out the truth about me last night instead of pursuing something only to find out that I was with someone else and was just flirting with him for the fun of it.  He's cursing my name right now.

There's no place on the beach that affords me any seclusion, and I know there's no place off of it that will benefit me either, but I go back to the streets again.  I go in and out of all the stores I visited only hours before, hoping to catch a glimpse of him once more, to see him a final time before we forget each other forever.  I wonder if the real Jack is able to see what's going on in here and is ashamed of me.  He was able to prove his love, but I couldn't.  Does he feel like I was only ever a waste of time?

I spot him through the window of the coffee shop sitting alone at a table, coffee untouched while his chin rests in his right hand.  There's stubble on his face and bags under his eyes:  I know it means he didn't sleep last night and didn't feel like going out this morning.  Could one night of talking to me do so much to him?

He looks out the window and spots me, staring for a few moments before looking back to his coffee.  I didn't wave or smile, but it wouldn't have made a difference if I did.  I linger at the window a few more seconds, hoping he will look again, but I leave when he doesn't.  I go back to the ship and to our bench to wait.  Hours pass and then we start moving.  I leave my spot twice to use the restroom.

Towards the end of the return trip, Matt finds me.

"Where you been?" he asks, his hands shoved in his pockets.

"Here," I say.

"Weren't you sitting there last night?"

"Yeah."

Matt squints, trying to remember details of last night that became lost in a haze of alcohol.

"Was Jack Harrison with you?"

My heart hurts.  "Yeah."

"Stalked him out again, huh."

I can feel the tears forming in my eyes.  "Something like that."  The waterfall spills out down my cheeks.

"Whoa, Cassie, what's wrong?" Matt sits down next to me.

"I messed up," I sob, my chest heaving harder than it has this whole time.  "I wanted Jack to go for me, and it went all wrong."

"You just met the guy.  What could have possibly happened?"

I tell him everything about last night and he listens dutifully, placing a comforting hand on my shoulder when I can barely get the words out.  I expect him to make some snide remark how I shouldn't be so upset about a fling that hadn't even existed until two days before, but he surprises me.  It's not that what he says is un-Matt-like, it's that it's too blatantly worded to not be significant.

"You guys clicked like soul mates or something," he says.  "He wouldn't have been that upset by what he saw unless you already meant so much to him."

I could swear he's trying to tell me that I haven't failed yet, but what does it mean?  How can I fix things?

"Do you think I still have a chance?"

"Yeah," he says, "but I wouldn't wait.  You give him too much time, and he probably won't think it's worth it."

Matt is stressing the time limit.  He wasn't just put in here as a friend and as my ride, and it has taken me this long to realize it.  He's been my guide through this whole thing, helping me, removing obstacles and pointing me in the right direction.  He knows I want to give up and that I think I've already failed, and he wants me to know that I haven't.

"What should I do?" I ask, hoping he has an answer.

"Find him before we dock.  The second he gets off, he can go anywhere."

I'm already off the bench before he's even finished his sentence.  I will find him, and somehow, I will talk to him and tell him everything and get him to give this whole thing one more chance.

***

Matt has to carry me off the ship because my legs have given out.  Everyone is staring at me:  the hysterical lump cradled in Matt's arms.  I couldn't find Jack.  I searched every inch of the ship, every corner, asked people if they'd seen him, and did it all twice over, but no one knew where he was and there was no sign of him.  Somehow, I passed him by, and now he's walking off the ship too or maybe he's already walking to his car and is preparing to drive away.

The car ride back is silent.  Matt doesn't try to say anything now.  Even my guide doesn't know what to do.  He drops me off at the simulated version of my house and leaves.

Jack lives on the other side of town.  I've never walked it before, but today will be the first.  It's midnight before I reach the house that might not even be his in this reality since Matt doesn't live with him.

All but one window is completely dark:  on the top floor in a window to the right, the glow of a television is bobbing through the black.  It's Jack's window, and it's open.

I haven't had anything to drink since the party, and I've spent much of my time since then crying, so his name is hoarse and quiet when it comes out.  I'm sure someone ten feet away wouldn't be able to hear it let alone inside the house on the second floor.  I say it again and again until I'm sure that either he is asleep or he doesn't live there.

"Jack.  Jack.  Jack."

He never comes to the window, but the front door opens and he comes out into the night.

"How'd you know where I live?"

"I asked someone."  Telling the truth wouldn't help me.

He is unfazed.  "Why are you here?"

"Because I have to be," I say, too scared to move forward without an invitation from him.  "I can't let what we've started end over a mistake."

He looks me up and down as he chews on his upper lip.  He can't decide what to do.

"Come on," he says finally, heading back into the house.  "No sense in standing out here all night."

The inside looks like his real home, right down to Matt's belongings mixed in with Jack's, but Jack doesn't pay them any mind.  He takes me into the dining room and offers me a seat and asks if I'd like something to drink.  He brings me a glass of water and sits down across from me, his hands folded on the table.  I feel like I'm being interrogated and maybe I am.

"Let's start with last night," he says stiffly.  "Who was the guy?"

"We used to be friends," I begin.  "His name's Gary.  He got a crush on me a while ago, and I didn't like him back.  The first night in the hotel he came by and he told me he would do anything for me to go out with him, but I said no.  I didn't realize it, but he stole my room key.  When I came in last night, my door was open, and he was in there waiting for me.  He said he took it originally because he wanted to surprise me, but then he used it to check up on me because I ran into someone at the party who was even worse than he is."

"And who might that be?"

"A guy that stalked me for a while.  I think he was going to kidnap me if Gary hadn't showed up and stopped him."

Jack looks almost nervous.  "Good thing Gary showed up then."

"It seemed that way, yeah," I say.  "When I disappeared with you the rest of the night, he thought that I was in trouble.  He went to the room to see if I'd come back.  Then he told me he'd been so worried about me because he loved me.  I guess you know the rest."

"Yeah," he agrees.  "You waited outside my door all night.  I heard you crying."

This surprises me; I didn't even think he knew I was there.

" I was going to let you in so many times, but I kept telling myself no," he continues.  "Eventually I went to let you in, but you were gone.  I figured you'd given up, so I did too."

"The housekeeper yelled at me," I say, and it sounds almost ridiculous so I can't help but let out a weak laugh.  "She made me move."  He laughs too.

It goes quiet.

"You know," he says finally, "I never connected with anyone the way I did with you that night at the party.  I've never told anyone so much about myself."

"Me too," I whisper because my voice refuses to go louder.

"It almost seemed like fate that we met, you know?" he says.  "With how we kept running into each other and everything.  It felt like it was meant to be."

My heart is beating quickly.  "Do you really think it was?"

He takes a long inhale.  "Yeah.  Yeah, I do."

I smile wider than I've managed this whole time and my eyes cloud over with happy tears, but when they clear, Jack is gone.  In fact, the entire house is gone.  There's a bright light in my vision and it's gradually clearing, forming the white room and the chair and all the equipment.  The male in the lab coat is starting to unhook me from the machines and the woman is turning various knobs and switches to the off position.  On the other side of the glass window, the real Jack is watching.

"Did I pass?" I ask.  I see Jack nod through the window, his smile stretched far over his teeth.

I'm finally unhooked and I literally run from the white room into Jack's waiting arms.  He hugs me and kisses me and murmurs a thousand I love yous into my ear.

"I knew you could do it," he says in between kisses.  "I know what we have is real."

I'm too happy and too relieved to speak.  Now that I am really in Jack's arms, I can't even bear how ecstatic I am.  We can go back to our lives now, but not before the woman who brought me to the house comes up, smile on her well-manicured face.

"Congratulations, you two," she says, shaking each of our hands.  "And best wishes for your engagement and marriage.  We're going to take you two back home now.  The memory alteration will happen during the ride.  You two will be traveling separately, just as you arrived.  I'll give you two another moment before we leave."

"To think we'll never know that any of this happened.  I don't know how I feel about it," I say, trying to wrap my head around this entire experience being erased.  I lived out almost three days in the span of fifteen minutes, and I will never have any recollection of it.  For better or worse, I will never know that Jack and I fell in love a second time.

"I think I'm okay with it," Jack replies, giving my hand a squeeze.  "I'd rather not remember that I had to win you a second time."

I can certainly understand that.  "Was it hard?"

He contemplates his answer before responding.  "Yeah.  It was really hard actually.  How about for you?"

I sigh in relief.  "Brutal."

He kisses me on the forehead.  "But it's over now, and now we know we'll have each other forever, right?"

"Right."

The woman comes back.  "It's time," she says and leads us outside to where two cars are waiting.

"See you soon," I say, kissing him.  "I love you."

"I love you too."

"Always?"

He pulls me close.  "Always."

We get into our cars, this time in the front seat.  There's only the driver now, no need to guard.  When we get to the top of my street, the driver parks the car and we both get out.

"Close your eyes, Miss Connors," he says.  "You're going to feel a slight pinch."