Raymond Reyes falls for the wife of the man he traveled back in time to replace. He's planned his mission to the minute, yet he finds himself unprepared to meet the woman all his files are wrong about. History wants to repeat itself -- Raymond is ju...
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Raymond
When Claire stepped out of the bathroom -- in a plush robe wrapped over the much more transparent one she liked to wear for her husband -- she avoided Raymond's eyes, keeping the maximum distance between them every step of her escape route. Even with him in the door frame, she managed not to touch him. He stood still, there was no point in scaring her.
Once downstairs, Claire darted to the drinks cabinet. Raymond followed her, thinking of ways to convince her without lying when the truth was inconceivable.
"What are you talking about?" she insisted. A comically large bottle threatened to fall out of her hand, as the other hand trembled on the glass that hit the table.
"You quit drinking... seven days ago," Raymond said, and Claire's eyes closed at the memory, only to widen in fear at the precision of his guess.
"How... how do you know that?"
"Just like I know that if I hadn't appeared, you would've never seriously considered drinking again."
Claire had no reaction, but at least the red cap was still attached to the clear bottle.
"Please don't start because of me," he made her let go of it.
"Who... who are you?"
Blue eyes cut through Raymond, examining all the ways he was different from Tony. He hoped her assessment would be in his favor.
"My name is Raymond Reyes. I'm from the future."
"From... the... future..."
Claire's mouth, usually a thin line, turned into a dot. She sat down on an immaculate armchair, shinning even in the dark. Neither of them had turned on the lights coming down so they depended on the ones upstairs. It was too much for Raymond as it was but Claire was not as fortunate. She probably barely saw him.
"What year?" she surprised him.
"It's not exactly explainable... Please let's just get back into bed and I'll answer all your questions." Raymond saw the scoff she was about to utter before she confirmed it.
"Please do try to explain. And fast, since you're in a hurry."
"We don't measure time as you do anymore. It's an equation -- it has parameters. But let's say a thousand years from where we are now."
Claire shook her head. "Tony, you finally went crazy enough to make me crazy. I always knew you would, I just didn't know how."
"You never drink again. Not once," Raymond underlined. In spite of everything else he had said, he thought it was the information she found most difficult to believe. There were no logical arguments, he still went with anything he could think of. "The Evaluators couldn't reach a definitive conclusion as to why, but I personally think it's because you wanted to spite your husband."
