Chapter 5 - Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away

Chloe and I walked into the living room area after I watched Mother pull out of the driveway.

“What the hell was that? Why couldn’t I go with them?” Chloe screamed turning back to face me.

“Because you just got your ass handed to you, and you agreed to do what I said if you did.” I scolded.

She took a swing at me, which I caught with my left hand.

“Oh, did you want to keep going?” I asked with a smirk.

She kicked up her foot again and I caught it again.

“You know, if we’re just gonna keep repeating this dance every time you don’t like an order, we’re gonna get nowhere. I kept you here because I wanted to discuss things in private.” I said.

Her demeanor changed.

“You did?” She asked.

“Yeah, oh and the thing I’m gonna have you do, those orders without question, do you remember those?” I asked.

“Yes.” She hissed.

“Take off your socks and grab some lotion. I want to rub your feet.” I said.

Her face turned red.

“What?” She asked, shocked.

“You heard me. I want to rub your feet.” I said.

“Why? You got a foot fetish or something?” She asked.

“Hardly.” I scoffed. “Rubbing your feet will relax you and burn off my extra energy.” I stated. “If you don’t want to, fine. I’ll take a swim instead, and we can talk while I do that.”

“No, no. The foot rubs are fine.” She said, pulling off her socks.

To be honest, I didn’t want to rub HER feet. I wanted to rub Annie’s feet. I had been rubbing Annie’s feet since we got engaged. Don’t know how it started, but it became a ritual. It would put Annie to sleep and would wear me out.

Chloe ran off, after removing her socks to find some lotion and came back with a small bottle. She handed it to me and I directed her to sit down. I sat down on the floor in front of her and took her foot into my hand. I put some lotion on my hand and began working on her foot.

“You may not believe this.” I started. “But this is my second time around.”

“What?” She asked.

“Just what I said. I’ve lived this life before.” I explained.

“And you expect me to believe that?” She asked. “Tell me something that you wouldn’t know, unless you were an adult.”

“Where should I start? Okay, you lost your virginity 2 years ago during the summer after you turned 16.” I stated.

“Easy enough to find out.” She said.

“Okay, how about this then. Sherley has been trying to move out, because she feels neither mother nor father care, and rightfully so.” I said.

“Again, easy to figure out.” Chloe said. “Try something harder.”

“Mother has not only just burned through all our college money to take us here, but she’s also taken a second mortgage on her house, and has a boyfriend that most of us don’t know about.” I added.

“Wait, she does?” Chloe asked.

I nodded.

“Yep, she’s so into him she can’t see that he’s just using her, even though they aren’t together.” I said.

“Wait, so how’s he her boyfriend?” Chloe asked.

I shrugged.

“She sees him that way. If you wanna know for sure, ask her about Jim.” I pointed out.

“All right. So, say I believe you, say this is your second time around. Why?” Chloe asked.

“Why what?” I asked.

“Why are you living it all again?” She asked.

“I died. They gave me a second chance to live my life, find my wife and live happily ever after. I decided why not in an instant. The being that gave me the chance also told me I could make changes as I went.” I explained.

“Okay, so you get a second chance, what’ve you changed so far?” Chloe asked.

“Not much, I just arrived this morning.” I stated. “And I’ve only told you and Meagan so far.”

“So, can you show me something or tell me something that would prove you’re from the future?” She asked.

“Got a computer?” I laughed.

“Computer? Like that thing back home?” She asked.

I laughed as I switched feet.

“What?” She asked.

“That thing runs on windows 95. In the time I’m from, I’ve learned that it’s a shell program for dos and will be that way until Windows XP. In my time, we’ve passed by Windows XP, Vista, Seven and Eight to Windows 10. The next version you’ll see is windows 98, followed by 98 SE.” I said.

“Holy shit you know a lot about computers.” She said.

“Why? Because I rattled off some basic information about it? That’s common knowledge in my time, and easy enough to use your phone to search up on google.” I laughed.

“Phone?” She asked.

“Oh yeah, most people will have what’s called a smart phone. It’s a phone you carry with you that lets you access the internet, which is way different from the one you know, anywhere at any time. You can even use voice commands to search things up.” I pointed out.

“What? That’s a bit mind blowing.” She said.

“Oh? Are you starting to believe me? Because I could keep going if you don’t.” I said.

“Won’t me knowing this cause a time thing?” She asked.

“Well, I’m doubting the being that brought me back would allow that to happen.” I said.

“You know, he’s right.” Guri said as he appeared in the room.

This time Guri looked and sounded like Chris Evans.

“Guri?” I asked.

“Yeah, decided to a change in looks. What do you think?” He asked.

“Captain America. Not a bad choice.” I said.

“Oh was this the guy that played him? I wanted Thor, or Odin.” Guri said looking disappointed.

Chloe, had pulled away from me and was trying to move back further on the back of the couch.

“Chris Hemsworth played Thor, Anthony Hopkins played Odin.” I pointed out.

Guri’s appearance shifted to that of Chris Hemsworth.

“How’s that?” He asked in Hemsworth’s voice.

“Not too shabby.” I laughed.

“WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?“ Chloe screamed.

“This is Guri.” I said. “He’s the one who sent me back.” I explained as I looked at her.

“Holy fucking shit.” She said. “He just appeared.”

“Omnipotent being. He can do that, Chloe, relax.” I said rolling my eyes.

“So I dropped in to tell you that your wife got your little message and she was overjoyed to hear it.” Guri explained as I looked back to him.