[https://i.postimg.cc/cCxYHKmN/The-Girl-who-could-taste-time.gif]

'You again?'; Ava said. 'I thought you'd be gone by now.' She was a tall, wiry woman of forty with hard brown eyes and thinning dark hair that she wore in a severe bun behind her head.

'To be fair, you never called.'; said Eske while he came into the house.

'You know silence is also an answer.'; Ava walked him through to the kitchen: 'Tea?'

'Do I have a choice?'; asked Eske as they sat down at one end of the table. He looked around for her cat: 'Where is the little...'

'Tyche. Tyche, that's her name.'; said Ava absently from where she stood over the stove stirring something. As soon as it started boiling, she poured out two full cups and brought them both across the room.

'The goddess of fortune and chance.'; he replied after sipping his tea. His gaze had been wandering about, still looking for the small beast.

'I see you know your mythology.'; said Ava.

Eske took up his cup again but didn't drink: ‘When you are married to someone called Nona Anna Perenna, you better learn.'

'Oh my, that is a very specific name.'; observed Ava. 'Very unique.'; Ava gave him a look that made him wonder if perhaps this wasn't just another way to keep score in some game only she knew how to play. Her expression was so enigmatic that he decided not even to try guessing what she might mean.

'Ava, I came here to...'; he stopped himself before finishing because he realised he would say too much or not enough.

They were silent until Ava spoke up again: 'You came here to convince me to join your made-up paradise. To be my salvation at the near future of the end of the world.'; she smiled then added: 'And there are two reasons why you don't accept my answer. First, you don't understand how someone can refuse the hospitality of paradise, and second, you don't like to lose. You hate it. You can't bare the idea of losing control.

He nodded without speaking: It was all true, but he couldn't tell her everything, not yet anyway. 'Help me, Ava, to understand.'

'Tyche.'

'Beg your pardon? I don't understand.'

'The first time you came, you invited me. You spoke about me. But I'm not just me. It's Ava and Tyche. You had my whole data-whatever. But nothing about her. So, I guess, two things happened here, you didn't consider that my cat is part of me. She is my partner. My only family. And second, to have committed such a huge faux pas with me, I guess wherever big shots are behind your organisation, don't consider animals as part of the chosen ones.'; she paused then added: 'So, please help me understand why you want to save me when you don't know who you are saving? What do you get out of this besides losing?'

'It's not a matter of winning or losing.'; Eske put his elbow on the table and held his head down:'Fuck!'

'You really didn't think about it?'; Ava was surprised. 'You didn't know I had Tyche?'

'It wasn't on the report. The person who did is so fucking infatuated with you that he didn't see the obvious. And it is too late to check your cat's T-DNA. Even if I send a sample today, it won't arrive in time. I could have arranged things if you had told me the first time I came. Oh, what the fuck!'

Ava's face was calm as always, but her eyes betrayed her emotions: surprise and hope. 'You would arrange it?'

'Yes! Ava, it wouldn't mean we could accept her even with a T-DNA result. And animals and plants rarely have a T-DNA lower than 3%. We only allow passage to everything below 0.9%. But yes, if you had told me, I wouldn't have let that too chance. Because with her result, I could tell you exactly the probability for her to be in another timeline.'

She stared at him for long moments: 'Then you know my decision. It is final. I won't abandon her.'

'No,' Eske agreed reluctantly: 'But I am sure you will reconsider.'

Her smile was sad: 'If you think so, go ahead. But I won't.'

'He is a really nice guy, Vihann. He sacrifices everything, his sleep, time, and nonexistent social life so that everything works. I'm honestly not even mad that he failed such detail, but it reminds me to give that guy some serious time off.'; after a moment, Eske tried to find words. 'Ava, listen...'

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

'Don't..., is not his fault, mine, nor yours. It is what it is.'

'You both would have been...'

'Maybe, who knows? Next time...'

[https://i.postimg.cc/Wb5cqpgb/0308-The-Ava-Incident.png]

Eske was defeated. He arrived home, took his shoes off in the hall and entered the apartment: 'Baby, I'm home.' But he did not hear a sound of a greeting. No voice came in return: 'Nona?' Instead, an unnatural silence lay over the house. A sort of unearthly stillness hung about it all. Eske sensed something wrong and started to look around for some explanation until he arrived in the kitchen and found his wife sitting on the floor next to the fridge.

'Did you hear me?' said Eske, startled. Nona looked up, and she nodded slowly as if in response. She had been crying while her husband stood beside the doorway, dumbfounded by what he saw before him. 'Why are you crying?'

She didn't reply and dug a pickle into what looked like whipped cream and shoved it right into her mouth: 'Mouth full.'; she tried to say.

'What are you eating?' asked Eske incredulously. His eyes were wide with amazement at this sight which could scarcely be possible or even conceivable.

Nona swallowed and answered: 'Pickles and whipped cream. You want some?'; she grimaced, her face almost ready to cry.

'No, baby, I don't. Why are you crying?' Eske's tone indicated that he couldn't believe what he had heard, mixed with genuine concern.

'I don't..,' replied Nona sadly, swallowing down another pickle and trying to smile through the tears. 'I don't want to share.'

'It's okay...'; said Eske, uncertain. He kneeled next to Nona, who seemed so sad and miserable and put his arms around her shoulders. 'Why are you sad? Did something happen? Did you have another time event?' He thought he knew why she would be upset since she always got depressed after these strange occurrences when they happened.

She shook her head: 'We don't have strawberries. So I tried with pickles, and it is really good.'

Her words made Eske laugh nervously: 'Okay...' And he hugged her close against himself: 'Baby, please don't be mad if I ask you this, but..., do you..., you are taking your meds, right?'

'Why? I'm just eating pickles.'; Nona smiled, but tears were falling from her cheeks.

'Baby, you are eating pickles with whipped cream, on the floor and crying. It is okay if you forgot or didn't want to take them. Just tell me. I promise I won't be mad.'

But Nona only sobbed louder: 'That is so unfair!' Her face contorted strangely as she cried out: 'You are the one who gives them to me every morning! What do you think I do? Spit them?'

'Okay, okay, I'm sorry, I just had to ask...'; Eske stroked her hair. 'Don't be mad at me.'

'I'm not mad, and I'm not sad. I can't stop crying!'; Nona wiped away her tears and sniffled.

'What about we take a shower, dress in something cosy and watch a movie?'; suggested Eske anxiously.

'Can we eat chips and tiramisu?'; she asked.

Eske laughed again: 'Of course, anything you like. Hum, I'm missing an ingredient. Do you mind taking a shower while I pick it up really fast? Then maybe we'll get everything ready.'

'Sure thing.'; she agreed.

Eske stood up from the floor, wore his shoes back on and walked quickly toward the front door. He hurried past the street with a hasty pace until he arrived at a pharmacy.

'Good evening, how may I help you?' greeted the pharmacist cheerfully.

'Yes, hi. Do you sell pregnancy tests?' Eske blurted out without realising he heard a new number coming out of Nona. They were not number nine.

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