She smiled when she heard Charlie use her name. “Charlie Manning… or should I say ‘Doctor’ Charlie Manning? I have to say, I didn’t expect that Joseph’s best and oldest friend would be the man who literally wrote my textbook… you took me by surprise.”

“Your last name, Ricu…?” Charlie asked, “You kept it?”

With the dish set on the table she removed the glass cover allowing steam and warmth to flow outward from the roast in the center of the table. She then covered her mouth with one hand when she laughed. “No, my name was Ricu over a year ago, I have to say I was a little disappointed that you never returned my call, but I didn’t forget that the famous Charlie Manning stopped by my store.”

Charlie blinked several times as he struggled to cover his dismay, “Ah, yes so… when did you two meet?”

‘A year?!’ Charlie shouted in his head.

“Yeah, I stopped in a few days before she was going to present her thesis and saw your book on the counter, we got to talking, she mentioned that you came in once and she didn’t know it was you until you’d left. I told her I knew you, and helped edit your book.” Josef looked a little smug.

“I called him a liar.” Mileva laughed goodnaturedly and sat down, tugging the chair under her while Josef took the wine from off the table, yanked out his swiss army knife from his pocket and unfolded the corkscrew section to remove the cork from the bottle.

The cork squeaked while she picked up the story, “He bet me a date that it was true, and I agreed. He told me to flip to the copyright page and there was his name. For good measure he even flashed me his identification before he even bought anything.”

“Oh… wow, that’s quite a story.” Charlie said, then Josef stopped twisting the cork.

“Oh no, that isn’t the end.” Josef added, “See then she still didn’t believe me… skeptics… am I right?” He rolled his eyes, “It wasn’t until I picked out the same bottle of wine you did and told her what you’d bought, that she believed me.”

“Oh… wow.” Charlie replied and his confusion only deepened.

“Yeah, you were my wingman even without being present.” Josef smacked Charlie on the back, knocking the smaller man forward a little bit.

“Not so rough man, I’m not in the best shape these days.” Charlie said and rubbed his back melodramatically.

“Heh, sorry.” Josef grinned and then pulled the cork out with a satisfying ‘pop’.

“Big oaf.” Mileva said with a smile of affection, “Anyway, on our date, he helped me prepare and revise my presentation and… things went from there. Before we knew it, we were engaged, then married, you were gone and… then you were back and you were still gone. My husband was… hurt, by that, and to be honest, even though nothing happened between us, so was I.”

“Dear, could you get the glasses?” He asked, and the blonde woman paused for a moment.

“Oh, yes of course…” She got up in a jerking motion to her feet and went into the kitchen.

“Josef… I’m really sorry…” Charlie said again with sincerity while Josef untwisted the brown mushroom cork and put away his Swiss Army knife.

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“Charlie… look… we can’t undo that, but you’re like family to me, we’ve known each other for a long time, and for a crazy long time you’ve been… not right. You know me, man,” Josef put his left hand down on the etable with his palm up as if to accept something, “I don’t pry into people’s business. But that hurt a lot. And shouldn’t I at least know why?”

“Yes.” Charlie said and snapped his mouth shut.

“You should.” He added, then looked up at the big easter island head of his towering old friend. “But… before that, let’s just pretend none of that happened. Just let’s enjoy this, I’ll tell you the truth.”

“And Mileva?” Josef asked.

Charlie’s lips sealed tight for a long reflective moment while his friend only focused his eyes down on him.

“If I don’t tell her, you’ll tell her whatever I tell you, won’t you?” Charlie asked, and Josef nodded immediately.

They listened while within the kitchen the noise of things being rearranged came through the closed door.

“Yes. Since we’re being honest, early on she worried that you weren’t coming because the two of you flirted once. She thought you might have been bitter or something. She wondered if you might be one of those ‘Nice Guys’.” Josef added extra emphasis on the last two words.

Charlie shook his head, “Never.”

“No, no, I know. What kind of dedicated loser gets bent out of shape or bitter because a woman turned him down or went out with a friend of his or… whatever?” Josef and Charlie could both laugh a little at that one.

“I know you better than that, you’re a good man, not just a nice one who isn’t as nice as he thinks he is.” Josef said with grave seriousness, “I told Mileva as much, but a pretty one like her has always had issues with ‘nice guys’ so of course she thought-”

Charlie raised a hand to chest height with his palm out, “Say no more,” he interrupted, “I get it. Believe me, I understand. I owe you both an explanation, and I… yes, she’s impacted too, so maybe I should tell you both…” he slumped, “It’s a lot to carry around anyway.”

“What’s a lot to carry around?” Mileva asked when she backed into the dining area, pushing through the swinging door while holding three glasses upside down in her hands.

“My reasons… I owe you both an apology, and an explanation.” Charlie replied and cleared his throat, “I’ll give you both… an apology now, and an explanation later, all I ask is that we… just for now, for this evening until then, pretend none of that happened. Just have a nice evening. This isn’t going to be easy for me to talk about, and if it isn’t too much to ask, I’d like to enjoy myself for a little first. Is that… is that alright?” Charlie asked while Mileva approached and set the glasses down at each seating position.

Mileva and Josef traded dubious looks, but Josef shrugged, “A few hours more won’t make a difference, is that alright with you, dear?”

She matched the gesture. Her small, slender shoulders were as casual as his. Mileva’s clothing was as casual as her attitude, a yellow sundress with thin straps over her pale skin, and short white heels on her feet. A thread of envy raced through Charlie’s veins that was so strong he almost forgot the bizarre situation with his ‘lost time’.

“I guess… sure, that’s fine. Whatever it is must have been something else.” Mileva pursed her lips for a moment then said, “First we have a good evening, then we get good answers.”

“Then we have a plan, so why don’t I pour the wine, dear, why don’t you handle the food.” Josef suggested.

“Fine, but I do need some help with a few other things in the kitchen, would you?” Mileva asked, and Josef stood up.

“You don’t even need to ask.” He said and stood up. “Charlie, just a moment.”

“Sure thing.” Charlie said while his friend stood up and pushed the dark wood chair back under the table.

As soon as he was alone, Charlie folded his hands into his lap and stared down at them. His fingers were shaking as if he were caught in a blizzard. ‘Can you really do this? Can you tell him… ‘them’ the truth? I could just tell them I was responsible for a death… they don’t have to know…’

Then outside the window he heard it, a group of children running, the city was very much a ‘college town’ in a lot of ways, but in the way most bustling places were, there was a healthy mix, and lots of young families lived in the area.

‘Josef is Josef… he’ll want a big family… if I just tell the usual lie… but what if Mileva wants children too, what if they… would they bring a child into a doomed world? Would ‘anyone’ do that?!’ He asked, and even raged inside his own head.

‘No… nobody would do that, nobody anywhere would ‘ever’ want to do something so insane…’ Loathing surged through him and he closed his fingers into fists. ‘I have to tell them… swear them to secrecy, but I have to tell them. They at least can understand what I’ll say.’

‘Maybe it will even feel good… maybe it will be a relief no matter what happens after that…’ Charlie thought, and forced himself to turn his despair into resolve, ‘I can’t save the world, but I can at least prevent something else from going horribly, horribly wrong.’

‘I owe them that much.’ He admitted, and then his tight clenched fingers unfolded, and his hands lay open, a deep sigh of relief burst from his lungs, like a weight being lifted, or like he’d set down a heavy burden carried for far too long.

Then Charlie stood, and decided to do his part as the guest, and poured three glasses of good, if not fantastic, red wine for them to share.