A Time for Love

Part 2: Day 18 -1969

I'm surrounded by hippies. They walk up and down the sidewalk. I gather pretty quickly that this isn't Halloween. 

"Thank god" I mutter to myself. "These people I can handle."

It's in that moment I see Edward. 

He's much older, and his eyes have formed a squint that many English people acquire after staring into the sunny fog for too long without glasses. 

He looks at me from afar as if to determine if he recognizes me. Then, believing his suspicion wrong, he turns  away. 

I wait just long enough so that I can follow behind him without getting caught. It's hard to push through crowds, avoid cars, and keep track of his turns. I follow him, watching as he stares at the apartment in front of him. Then he stops, goes in, and closes the door behind him. 

"Daddy!" screams the children. 

I watch from the window as two kids, a boy and a girl, run up to hug their father. 

"How are you doing darling?" coos a woman's voice. 

A blonde woman with an apron steps from the kitchen, planting a kiss on his cheek. 

I turn from the window. The sounds of their conversation turn into a hum as tears fall down my cheeks and my heart thumps hard through my chest. 

"You're so selfish" I whisper to myself. "To think that Edward would continue to love you after you've been so clearly loved someone else. You can't use people to ease your own loneliness."

I stomp from this town, refusing to look behind me. I go to the only place I can think of.

...

A young man with glasses greets me on my way in. 

"Hi. You probably don't know me. My name is Annie..."

"Reston Livingston" says the young man. "My father has written of your case. You're one of the time travelers he got to interview. Come in. Would you like some tea?"

What was once a government office has turned into an academic study. 

I stare at the pictures on the wall of Dr. Livingston and his son. The father went on any travels.

"He died" says Preston. "He was hiking up Machu Picchu and then he got lost exploring a tunnel that he was not supposed to. Says he wanted to learn more about inter-dimensional beings."

"It seems like the concern about time travel is very calmed down now. There was nobody hunting me down in my own time - even though there's a Cold War going on."

Footsteps pounded down the stairs

"Jamil" says Preston. 

Jamil stares at me before taking my hand. He presses the rim of his sliding glasses back up towards his nose, grinning. 

"You found another time traveler? That's so cool man" he says, walking to the kitchen and pouring coffee into his cup. He then sits down in front of the tv. 

"If you are all being this nonchalant, I better go" I say. 

"No! Stay!" protests Preston. "We send people on missions. Time travel has become very convoluted. Every agency, both Communist and Capitalist, destroys it's own records before beginning a new decade. We also have reason to believe that highly advanced agencies exist, so we aren't so worried about the Cold War anymore. I could send you on another mission."

I nod my head, then sit down with Jamil to watch the tensions between Israel and Palestine on the news. 

"We'll send you there" surmised Preston. "There's some shit going on over there."