TURN BACK THE TIME, BABE. BOOK 4. SUNNY SKIES BREAK THROUGH BEHIND THE CLOUDS

AND ALONE I'M SPARED

I read the chronic of my failed birthday party in the press. Some photo outside Country Cousins. Freddie had attended holding Mary's hand, Joe was left behind with the rest of his gay friends, as usual. Safe and sound, as David before him. He was very good at protect and hide his boyfriends. That turned us, his femenine companions, into easy meat for journalists's jaws.

It wasn't something arguable. Mary would put in front of the cameras as often as it was needed to protect him. She'd sacrificed her own privacy because she loved him and did it pleasantly. She would always be loyal to him and she was honored. She was so cool. In which moment our beautiful friendship had spoiled?

Yes, of course the guilty was Killer. Who else? She was behind each one of my mishaps. She had taken away one of my biggest achievements in the mission and the key to a good part of my success at the very beginning. I missed Mary.

Sarah had been my substitute friend, very valuable for me but after her failed engagement with John Reid, fell on a deep depression. Funnily that engagement lasted one month longer than the "official history" but at the end the denouement was the same. Queen ex-manager chose to be honest and faced his sexuality and Sarah, torn apart, decided to get away. She and John stayed friends, but her burning unrequited love needed to cool down at some distance so she had gone to United States to put some miles between he and she. We'd written each other but I hadn't the chance to have a little girl-talk as I did before with Mary or her. I was alone again in my mission.

- Elideth, do you regret not attending your birthday party?

That evening I got out of work specially self-absorbed. My main goal was getting home and get tested again. I had had one whole week of intense work and I tried to put off that moment and wait some longer to do it. Tonight would be the right time. No more waiting.

The journalists marched up to me as many times before. Why did I make headlines when I didn't even attend it?

- It must be an amazing party, yes -I smiled widely speeding up.

- Then, are you sorry? -the same stupid question.

- I'm sorry for my age. I'm a big girl now -I joked trying to avoid their dumb questions.

- Aren't Freddie and you together anymore?

There was a part of the press that had finished off our relationship and another one that kept defending it. The truth is there was a little bit of everything but in conclusion, nothing to get their teeth into.

When they insisted in the same boring and obvious questions, I chose to keep silence and slap my Gioconda smile. I didn't find out all that only contributed to feed my own myth. Unintentionally I was too vague and that kept their interest up.

- Have you fought each other? -another question.

- Good friends always fight, all the time -I said smiling.

God, a good headlines for the next day. My nice tone wasn't a good idea. I should have been satisfied only with my forced and mysterious smile.

I waved good-bye politely before jumping into the taxi and got ready to the most important test of my life.

This time I decided to prick my fingertip and use my blood in the test strip instead my saliva. Both fluids were equally good but my dramatic vein drove me to spear pitiless my middle fingertip.

What would happen if it was doubly positive? Could I go on with the mission being sick? I had to carry out a parallel treatment in 2021 and if Freddie was HIV positive, how could I get him to treat himself when nobody heard about it in the seventies?