Chapter 14 #2
As if the gods of fate are shining on him, Wicked Game by Chris Isaak begins playing through the car’s speakers.
The melody sends warmth through Sergio, as he immediately pictures Jeremy skating to the music in the forefront of his mind.
He checks his watch. Hopefully, if today goes well enough, he’ll be able to catch that image in real life this afternoon.
But if he wants that to happen, he needs to get to work. So with the music drowning out any extra voices in the car, Sergio turns his attention back to Henry. “Okay, here’s the plan,” he says softly. “I need you to do some digging for me today.”
“Okay.” Henry looks at him and nods. His lips are set in a hard line, and his eyes are wide as he waits for instructions. He looks as serious as a five-year-old can while being given directions.
“See if you can find out from your dad why your mom hates me—”
“Hey, Dad!” Henry yells before Sergio can finish giving him the instructions. “Why does Mommy hate Uncle Sergio?”
“Uncle Sergio! Wake up!”
“Oof … morning, buddy.”
“Hiss …”
“Okay, Henry, let’s try this again,” Sergio says to Henry while they ride in the backseat of the car with Wicked Game playing over the speakers and keeping Holden and Adrien from listening in to Sergio as he works to temporarily corrupt his nephew.
“Try what again?” Henry asks, confused.
“Our secret plan.”
“Oh! Right!” he says with a hard blink.
“Now listen carefully. This is important. Okay?”
“Okay.” Henry looks at him and nods with wide eyes and his lips pressed in a hard line.
“Once me and Uncle Adrien leave you and your dad to go skiing, you need to ask your dad why your mom hates me. Can you do that?”
“She doesn’t hate you,” Henry assures.
“She might not,” Sergio says. “But we need to know for sure. Can you do this?”
“I can do this!” Henry says louder than necessary. He hits Sergio in the nose when he thrusts two very enthusiastic thumbs up high above his head. Sergio’s vision blurs, and his eyes start to water.
“You can do what, Henry?” Holden asks from the front seat.
“Ask you why Mommy hates Uncle Sergio.”
Sergio, clasping his aching nose, groans into his hands.
“Uncle Sergio! Wake up!”
“Oof … morning, buddy.”
“Hiss …”
After breakfast, in the car, the radio on and playing the song Sergio can’t escape, Sergio looks at Henry and says slowly once again, “Alright, Henry. I need you to listen to me very carefully.”
“Okay.” Henry looks at him and nods with his most serious face.
“Once me and Uncle Adrien leave you and your dad to go skiing, you need to ask your dad why your mom hates me,” he says, then adds with haste, “Not before. Alright?”
“Alright,” Henry agrees.
“What are you agreeing to back there?” Holden questions.
“Nothing!” Sergio yells out before Henry can ruin the groundwork he’s laying … again.
“Well, that didn’t sound suspicious at all,” Adrien says.
“Yeah …” Holden catches Sergio's eyes in the rearview mirror. “You’re not turning my son against me, are you?”
“I would never,” Sergio says, holding a hand over Henry’s mouth.
From the top of the mountain, eager to get back down to the bottom so he can find out if Henry has anything to report, Sergio takes a deep breath and says to Adrien, “Adrien. You know I love you, but I think it’s time for you to stop working for me.”
“Are you firing me?” Adrien asks, his face lighting up in a genuine smile.
“Afraid so,” Sergio says, gives him a salute, then skis off, taking the slope in wide swoops and curves, enjoying the momentum he builds while his day so far goes according to plan.
It’s funny; now that he’s found some success on the ice thanks to Jeremy’s daily lessons, his skiing has improved as well.
He’s more balanced and more aware of the subtle movements in his legs and how they can change the trajectory of how he skis.
He’d never thought the two sports would or could correlate.
The only thing he ever thought they had in common was that in both sports, falling on your ass at some point was a guarantee.
But even that was different, as falling on ice skates meant hitting your ass on ice laid over hard concrete as opposed to landing in fluffy piles of cushioning snow if you went down on skis.
The connection he’s made makes him wonder if Jeremy ever gets on skis.
He supposes not. It’s likely something he’s given up to maintain his broader health and to keep him able to do the things that he does love.
And as much as Sergio would like to see Jeremy’s wind-blown cheeks soaring down the slopes beside him, Sergio has to admit that Jeremy looks far too lovely on skates to ever give that up completely if he doesn’t have to.
“Did you guys have fun?” Holden asks them once Sergio and Adrien make it to the bunny hills.
Sergio doesn’t get a chance to answer as Henry is already calling his name. “Uncle Sergio! She doesn’t hate you!” he shouts, then zooms down the hill in a perfect miniature replica of his father’s crouched skiing stance before flipping over forward to a stop.
“Fuck,” Sergio mutters and hangs his head as he comes to a stop.
Adrien skis past him and takes over Sergio’s usual task of lifting Henry back up onto his feet as Holden claps Sergio on the shoulder and says, “He gave you up pretty quick.”
“Yeah, I should know better than to trust a five-year-old.”
Turning to face him, Holden asks, “Why do you think Rose hates you?”
“It’s a pattern I’ve noticed over the last few days.” Sergio sighs.
“Days? You only got here yesterday.”
“Yesterday to you.” Sergio digs the heels of his hands into his temples. Still muttering, he adds, “I think I’ve been here for nearly a year at this point.”
“A year?” Holden asks, scratching the back of his neck. “How have you been here for nearly a year? I picked you up at the airport yesterday.”
Frustrated and at his wits’ end, Sergio dives into it. He shakes his hands on either side of his head and looks up at the clear blue sky as he says, “It’s been a day for you, but months for me.”
“Oh, yeah. I know what you mean. Like those long-ass days you just want to end, but they never do. I hate that.”
“No!” Sergio shouts and stares directly at Holden. “I mean, I keep waking up on the same day! Today. New Year’s Eve. And no one else seems to notice.”
“I’m still not following here, Sergio. Do you want to skip lunch with us and go back to the house? We can talk about this tomorrow.”
“There is no tomorrow. Tonight the clock will strike midnight, and I’ll wake back up today, New Year’s Eve. And your son will kick me in the balls and your wife will still hate me and Jeremy won’t remember that I kissed him.”
Holden smirks. “Oh, come on, Sergio. You can’t expect every bloke you kissed four years ago to remember you.”
Sergio throws his hands up. “I’m not talking about four years ago! I’m talking about yesterday and the day before that and the day before that and the weeks before that and the months before that.”
“That’s impossible, though.” Holden shakes his head. “You seriously only got here yesterday.”
“Yesterday to you,” Sergio repeats. “For me, it’s been several months!”
“You’re telling me that you’ve been here for months and none of us has noticed?”
“Yes!” Sergio yells out.
“Wow. Sorry, mate. That sounds like a real kick in the dick.”
“Funny you should say that because your son wakes me up with a literal kick in the dick every morning.”
“That sucks.” Holden winces. “Have you tried locking the door before you go to bed?”
Sergio looks at him and blinks, seriously debating shoving his best friend into a pile of snow.
Holden smiles at him. “I’m simply suggesting that it might help.”
“What part of ‘I wake up on the same day’ are you not getting? Even if I lock the door tonight, it won’t change the fact that I didn’t lock it last night. So no matter what, Henry is going to burst into my bedroom tomorrow morning and knee me in the nuts.”
“I thought you said he kicked you in the dick.”
Sergio balls up his fists and lets out a groan of frustration. “I can’t have this conversation with you again.”
“You’re right. It’s the same thing.” Holden concedes with his hands held up at shoulder height in defense.
Quickly, he grabs Sergio by the shoulders and looks him in the eyes with intensity.
“Wait a minute. Are you fucking with me? Is this some kind of prank? Because if it is, it’s hilarious!
You really got me on this one. I was actually concerned for a minute. ”
“This isn’t a prank,” Sergio says through gritted teeth.
“It kind of feels like a prank.”
“If anyone is being pranked, it’s me.”
Holden lets out a slow whistle. “I wish I’d come up with this. It’s a great prank.”
With his head buried in between his hands, Sergio says, “Trust me, I wish you had, too.”
“Okay, so let me try to get a handle on this. What you’re telling me is that today feels exactly like yesterday, even though you weren’t here yesterday?”
“No. I’m telling you that I have woken up here for months on end on a perpetual Mobius strip of New Year’s Eves and I’m the only one who notices.”
“Like a time loop?”
“Yes. Exactly like a time loop.”
Holden shrugs. “Damn. That’s crazy. We don’t even have a hot tub.”
“A hot tub!” Sergio screams, drawing the attention of everyone around them, including Jeremy, who has arrived and is waiting for Henry to finish running to him.
“Yeah, you know. Like that movie! Hot Tub Time Machine.”
“Trust me. It doesn’t equate,” Sergio says, realizing once again that he’s talking to a moron.
“Oh!” Holden exclaims. “Maybe this is more like Groundhog Day?”
“I think that’s a better correlation.” Sergio takes off his gloves and rubs harshly at his face.
“Yeah! Right? Like how Bill Murray had to repeat the same day over and over again to learn how to be a better person or something.”