The shift happened sooner than we’d planned. I was sitting in the ballroom, and I’d just found the envelope, and that was when it happened. I wished I could unsee the letter. The love I’d had for Tina dissolved. In its wake, I was learning how to hate her. So, I closed my eyes and thought, and that was when I felt the EMPs fire ten minutes early. I wanted to take the ring box from my pocket and throw it at the chandelier.
11:50:17 PST / -:–:– BVST
None of us expected the ceremony to start at 11:50 PM PST. We thought we had time, so we were milling about. Some of us, like me, were sitting in our reserved places. Some of us were in the kitchen or at the bar. Others, like Tina, my ex-fiancé, were exiting the building, sneaking away like a thief in the night.
She probably told the security guard she’d left something in her car.
38 Special (we didn’t call him that then, that came later) had just asked me the time. I laughed and tilted my head at the digital screen above the stage.
The clocks showed two different times: 11:47:53 PM PST and 0:00:00 BVST (Bubbleverse Standard Time). The latter wouldn’t start running until we were in our new home.
The man who would be reborn 38 special in less than an hour tugged at his left jacket lapel. He had something in his right coat pocket. I figured it was a bottle of booze; it was not.
I was the only one sitting at the main table. Leaning back, I scanned the room for Tina and the engineer. Like I said, we thought we had ten minutes, so I wasn’t alarmed she wasn’t sitting by my side. I assumed the engineer was doing something or other in the control room.
Our ballroom was beautiful. There was something gorgeous to behold no matter where you looked. We’d spared no expense decorating for our four-hour party. One would expect a place designed, built, and occupied by dozens of ultra-rich people to be opulent. Ours was certainly that.
The stage sat at the front of the room and stretched from wall to wall. Bedrooms lined both side walls. There was also a full bar on either side of the ballroom. The bedrooms which we’d use for sex. (Who would want to sleep during a four-hour party?)
The full kitchen (automated, of course, as we couldn’t convince any chefs to sign up for an existence of nonstop cooking) sat at the back. To the left of the kitchen were two more bedrooms, and to the right were the control room and the foyer.
The security center (something we only needed until we shifted) was a tiny office off the foyer. There were exits on the northern side of the building as well, but accessing those was through the rear of the stage, and no one enjoyed going back there other than Fatima.
11:50:39 PST / -:–:– BVST
The thick gold stage curtain opened. I looked away quickly, telling myself I didn’t see the lambs.
We’re going to watch it? That wasn’t the deal we made.
Something had gone wrong. Several people did not know we would conduct the ceremony in our new home. They were in for a surprise, but none of us expected to watch it.
I heard the machinery powering up on stage behind the curtains. It was only supposed to last a few seconds, from start to finish, but still.
Yes, something has gone horribly wrong.
I looked around for the engineer.
I will give him a piece of my mind.
I reached over to take Tina’s hand, and then I remembered she was elsewhere. The restroom, perhaps, powdering her nose.
I felt nauseous and wished Tina would return from wherever she was.
Is she hooking up with someone? Already?
Tina and I were in an open relationship. Though, neither of us had ever dated anyone else. We discussed it and decided. Once we entered the ballroom, our understanding would be that we wouldn’t be opposed to sleeping with other people. Still, this seemed pretty early to start.
Don’t think about it. Look away.
(to be continued…)
Stories by Shawn 