Intermission // Van McCann

5. Elvis Presley

Van was surprised his tea was made when he came back. I offered the second mug to Bondy and Van looked at me as he drank his tea. He was thinking about how his tea tasted, no doubt calculating the tea to milk to sugar ratio. I raised my eyebrow, silently asking him how I did.

"This is spot on," he finally said. "After two years, you finally did it."

"Good because I honestly don't remember what I did," I said and Van laughed.

Bondy took a sip of his tea. "I taste love in here. Lots of love," he said, smiling at me.

Bondy and Van were all set for their meeting. They had their notes ready and they talked to each other so they knew what to say. I walked over to Iván, who was getting my outfit ready. Today I was going on a mission by myself to the Ellis Auditorium in Memphis, Tennessee on 15 May 1956 to watch Elvis Presley perform.

Iván handed me the dress. "I had so much fun making this dress. I can't wait to see you wear it," he said excitedly, holding it out for me to see.

It was a shirtwaist dress that buttoned up the full length of the dress. The dress was collared and the design was blue vertical, thin stripes. The best part was that the dress had huge pockets which I instantly spotted.

"It's a shame women's dresses don't have pockets these days," I commented.

"They're underrated, aren't they?" Iván responded. "Now get changed. And here are your shoes." He handed me a pair of dark blue flats and I took them from him.

I made my way to the bathroom and quickly changed into the dress. After I was done, I slowly opened the door and peered out. No one was in the hallway so I quickly snuck back into the lab. I was always afraid to be caught in my strange clothes. Most people don't think much of it but I did.

"The dress is gorgeous!" Iván shouted, which caused everyone to look at me. I silently cursed Iván for being so excited and could feel my cheeks heating up in embarrassment. "Come here so I can fix your hair." I pulled the hair tie out, letting my hair fall and I could see Iván frown.

"I know it looks bad. I woke up late today," I explained.

"Let me see what I can do."

I let Iván work on my hair. He put product in to make my hair cooperate and then he stuck a headband in my hair. He turned me around so I was now facing the mirror and I gasped.

"Iván, you're amazing!" I said excitedly. "It's like I came straight out of the 1950s."

It doesn't matter how many times Iván dresses me up—I'm surprised every time. If this is me with clothes I wear to go on missions, imagine how I'll react when I see my wedding dress? I'll probably break down and cry.

I adjusted the headband in my hair and walked over to the computer station to put in my settings. The Ellis Auditorium in Memphis, Tennessee on 15 May 1956 at 1930 for one hour. One hour was unnecessarily long but I wanted to watch Elvis Presley perform for as long as I could. I heard someone approaching and looked up to see Van handing me my purse.

"Have fun," he said, leaning in to kiss me on the cheek. "I shouldn't be worried that you'll go running off with Elvis tonight, should I?" he teased.

"It's me versus thousands of other girls with the same dream," I joked back, pushing a stray piece of hair out of his face. "I won't be there to see you go to your meeting but I wish the both of you good luck. Everything will be fine."

"Thanks, love."

Iván walked over to send me off and I climbed onto the time machine.

"¿Listo? 3...2...1...!" Iván pressed the button and I was transported back in time.