Between Then & Now // Hugh Jackman

13 // A Desperate Ask

Nothing was working out quite like how I wanted it to.

With more time on my hands, the poster finished and posted around Sydney, I'd been trying everything to find answers about the wristwatch, but I kept reaching dead ends. During Hugh's and Alana's rehearsals, I made trips to the The Rocks District, coming across a couple of older bookstores. Only none offered more insight than the first one I'd gone to.

I was beyond frustrated and felt like I was running out of options. I didn't know where else to turn. The few things I'd learned about the watch ran though my mind on a loop. I thought maybe if I pondered about it long enough something I hadn't seen before would pop out at me, but I had yet to make any connections or come to a conclusion.

I knew the beautiful stones played just as much of a role as the hands, the hidden button, and whatever personal significance was embedded in it. I only had one theory to go off of. That the initials were Hugh's. If I wanted to test it, I didn't even know the first place to look. Should I snoop through his things? That was an invasion of privacy, and he would deal with that plenty in the future. I shouldn't give him a headstart on it. Plus, there was no way he wouldn't remember owning a watch like this. So, I shelved the idea.

Getting trapped in the past was quickly becoming the only viable option. The watch held so much power but it was powerless in my hands as I didn't know how to use it. I was missing a key piece of information, and I just knew once I had it, everything else would simply fall into place.

I was getting desperate. So much that when Hugh and I met up at a quiet cafe a block away from the apartment, I planned on asking him for help. Unsure of what he could possibly know more than I did, anything was better than the morning I currently had. I need help, and Hugh was the only one who would willingly do it.

Once we're seated, each of us having our own drinks and baked goods, I brought it up.

"Hugh, can I ask you for another favor?" I tried to keep my tone light and casual.

"Of course," he immediately responded, taking a sip of his black coffee.

"Do you know anyone who can tell me more about this?" I pulled back the long sleeve of another shirt I'd borrowed from Alana to show it to him.

"Still looking to get it fixed?"

I hesitantly nod. I wasn't sure it actually needed to be fixed at this point. I was starting to think I was the problem here with my lack of understanding, but if he thought that then it would make lying to him a bit easier.

"I get it. You want it to be perfect for your grandpa for his birthday."

"Yeah, that's it," I get out slowly. I felt worse this time around keeping things from him. It was because of how close we had gotten, and though a part of me just wanted to relieve myself of this burden, I couldn't.

"I think it's sweet you're going through all this trouble for him, but I didn't realize you'd have to for a simple wristwatch."

If only it was. I wouldn't even be here if that's all it was. Except it's not, and I need to figure out how to work it and get back home.

I sighed, looking down at it. "Yeah."

Hugh frowned at how distraught this was making me. "Well, if the repair guy didn't help, how about a historian?"

I perked up slightly. Why hadn't I thought of that?

"A historian?" I asked. It was rhetorical, because I really should've figured that out a whole lot sooner. The stress of this was starting to get to me.

Hugh leaned back in his seat. "Yeah. There's this old friend of my dad's. Professor Barrington. A total expert on old stuff, especially those of the weird kind. He's your guy if you want to know more about it and get it fixed."