What she said next was the icing on the cake. She broke offthe kiss and whispered into his ear.
“I want to go home with you tonight.”
Secretly, Kent had been almost hoping this would happen. Theoffer was a million times more tempting than her previous one, that of a tripback to her flat above the chip shop a quarter of a century later. It did, however,raise a bit of a moral dilemma.
Despite him and Debs not exactly having a marriage made in Heaven,he had never slept with anyone else since they had been together. Now he wasbeing given the opportunity on a plate he had to ask the question. Did this countas being unfaithful?
He convinced himself that it was not. Firstly, all this wasn’teven taking place in the same universe as the one he normally inhabited.Secondly, it was 1994 here, he was seventeen, and he had not even met Debs yet.So, could sleeping with Kay now be technically classed as cheating? He knewthat in some people’s eyes it would be, regardless of the unusual circumstances,but then those people were always getting on their moral high horses oversomething or other.
He had to think about the here and now. He was with thisgorgeous girl who was clearly besotted with him, they had had a fantasticevening and this moment was never going to come again. If he didn’t go homewith her now he would regret it for evermore. There was no way he could letthis moment pass.
As the song came to an end he cast aside his doubts, tookher hand and said, “I want you to come home with me, too.”
Hand-in-hand they walked home through the warm summer night.
He didn’t have to worry about sneaking her into the housewhen they got home. It was close to midnight and downstairs was in darkness.Putting his fingers to his lips, he slowly turned the key in the lock and theycrept up the stairs. As they reached his bedroom door they heard the sound ofthe toilet flushing from the bathroom and his father cursing. Before the bathroomdoor opened, the two of them were safely ensconced in his room.
It seemed he was going to get to use his double bed afterall. As for condoms, he didn’t have to worry. She had come prepared and broughther own.
Perfect Day
May 2007
Back in the 21st century, the angel winked knowingly at Kentand said, “Good time?”
“You know I did,” replied Kent. “I’m guessing you werewatching. Bit of a voyeur at heart, are you?”
“Don’t fret, I looked away when things started heating up,”replied the angel.
Kent was relieved. He wasn’t in the business of putting on asex show. Fortunately he had been so caught up in the moment with Kay that it hadn’tcrossed his mind at the time that the angel might have been watching. Perhapsthat was just as well: it might have put him off his stroke.
“I saw you were having a bit of a moral dilemma about it atone point. Well, don’t worry, I’m not going to tell anyone what you got up to.What happens in Universe 2.0 stays in Universe 2.0, right?”
“Right,” said Kent.
“So have you finally got all this revenge stuff out of yoursystem?” asked the angel. “All this righting wrongs is very entertaining but itwasn’t really what I had in mind when I gave you this opportunity. It’s beenmore like watching someone work their way through the seven deadly sins. Let’ssee now, we’ve had greed, avarice, lust...”
“Yes, I have,” said Kent, interrupting him. “Got it out ofmy system, that is.”
It was true. He had well and truly stuck it to two of hisgreatest enemies and that had satiated his desire for revenge, even if it hadn’tbeen real. The incredible encounter he had enjoyed with Kay had also gotanother monkey off his back. It had helped to quell a long-held belief that hehad missed out on the amazing sex that everyone else seemed to be having intheir teenage years. Last night’s experience had far surpassed any other sexualencounter he had ever had. It had been the pinnacle of his sex life, his ownpersonal gold medal moment. Even if such an experience never came again he couldgo to his grave happy now that he hadn’t missed out.
“Well, I’m glad you enjoyed it,” said the angel. “Just incase you’re interested, Glen did eventually recover from his troubles. Not intime to get to the ball, though. I ran the universe on for a few days to see ifhe figured out you were responsible, but he never did.”
“He got what he deserved,” said Kent. “I’m not a vindictiveperson but if anyone ever needed a dose of karma, Glen did.”
“I agree,” said the angel. “Shame about your dad, though.”
“What about my dad?” asked Kent.
“Oh, it was just the carton of orange juice that you alsolaced with laxatives. He drank it when he got in from work and spent the entireevening on the toilet.”
“Whoops,” said Kent. “I forgot about that.”
“It doesn’t really matter,” said the angel. “It was all inthe other universe after all. Consider it collateral damage. Just goes to show,you can never plan these things too carefully. Imagine if you had been trying tokill Glen with real poison. By taking out your dad, too, you’d have brought thepolice straight to your door. Even a policeman of your abilities could have workedit out!”
Kent decided to change the subject. The dig at his policing skillshad irked him and yesterday was done and dusted as far as he was concerned.What he wanted most of all now was to spend some quality time with his family.
“Moving on, I know where I want to go tomorrow, and it fitsin with your
