All our lives

Chapter 25

Feeling equally scandalized and rattled, Jon still couldn't say which scenario was worse. The one where Richie was banging his daughter or the one where Richie was banging him. Both made him shudder violently, repulsion painfully tightening his stomach. The first one had been just a stupid idea, a really stupid idea, and yet his mind couldn't stop wondering if a universe where something so crazy and absolutely sick did in fact exist.

"Oh God, oh God..." he cried feeling he was about to puke. How the hell had he thought of something so abominable? Even if he knew there had to be circles where they had never met in their youth and they had never seen the other's kids growing up, the idea of one of them seducing the other's child was repulsing.

And just like that, playing hide and seek between the sheets with Richie became the lesser evil. But how in the world was that possible? What were the chances that two, from what Jon knew, straight to the core men to turn out gay? That was one hell of a question to be added to an already long list of questions he had no answer for.

A subtle aroma of coffee invaded the room and, with a last shudder, Jon left aside that question and followed the delicious scent. It led him to a modern kitchen and to a coffee machine that announced with a short clink that the miraculous drink was ready. It didn't cross Jon's mind that Richie must have left the machine working just for him in what could be a morning ritual. He simply poured himself a cup and then found his way to the front door.

The weather was indeed nice and Jon stepped outside feeling the sun gently warming his face. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Where the hell was he? There were tall palm trees on both sides of the road trees, but that detail, although quite specific, didn't tell him much. There were a lot of places where palm trees were common. New Jersey was not one of them though and an inkling suddenly crystalised in his mind. One he didn't particularly like.

A car was parked in the driveway and Jon moved closer so he could see the license plate better. It totally matched his thoughts but he still couldn't be one hundred percent sure he was actually there. So he went on the street and checked another few cars parked along the sideway. All had California numbers. All. That couldn't be a coincidence.

"I followed him here," Jon mumbled, astonished. "I fucking followed him here!" he repeated, furious this time, feeling one step closer to the point where strangling Richie was inevitable. What could have possibly brought Richie to California in this universe escaped Jon's mind, though. In their real lives more than twenty years had passed since Richie had moved to the sunny coast of America, so it was only natural to associate living here with his friend's wish.

"With your husband's wish," a voice whispered in his head, correcting him, and he felt the coffee dangerously tumbling in his stomach.

A neighbour greeted him smilingly, obviously wanting to chat some more, but Jon didn't even properly excuse himself and turned back to the house. His theory was wrong again and this universe, although not quite as expected, was nothing but fucked up. A kind of fucked up that he needed explaining.

Since Richie and he were together and both alive and kicking, the wisest thing Jon could do was to go back to the previous circle as soon as possible - because even as soon as possible could be too late giving the state in which he had left that Jon - and then try something else to reach a circle that was more similar to the original one. The forever forbidden one. But curiosity was bigger than any rational thought and Jon was already deep into a scavenger hunt for any clue about this life of his to take into account the dangers of a prolonged stay.

He was back in the living room now and Jon noticed there was a laptop on the coffee table. He felt that his quest for finding useful pieces of information was about to go faster with that device and he pounced on it, almost spilling the hot liquid from his cup on it in his rush to gain access to the almighty Google. He hadn't had much luck with the phones, but maybe the laptop would prove to be a friendlier device.