A Waste of Time

How had she put it? Oh, he remembered. She didn't want to get married but she wanted to stay with him. She wanted him to ask again later when life was going better with something. He'd forgotten what. It didn't matter anymore. Those problems and those goals no longer existed. Just like she no longer existed. He'd accidentally wiped them from the universe.

But hey, at least his mother was alive. Yes, his mother was alive and well. Only instead of being the saintly model of kindness that his father had always told him about, she was a hateful crabby bitch who had to always get her way and who gossiped about everyone in town. She was trying to drive his father to an early grave.

Smoking. What the hell? His father wasn't supposed to be a smoker. He was supposed to have given it up long ago. Now, instead of dying in a plane crash while flying on an airline that no longer existed, he was going to die of cancer.

George knew all of that would sound funny to people if he told them. It would sound like something that might happen if you tried to make a deal with the devil. If anyone knew how much money he had, he would become famous as the richest person in the world. But in exchange the woman he loved had never been born and his parents didn't know who he was because he also had never been born.

From the drawer next to the bed he pulled out a page from a letter he'd written to himself.

"There is no way to fix it." the letter said. "I've already tried and I only made things worse. Look after yourself and let the world do the same."

There was no going back. He was trapped in this world. He'd made his bed and now he had to sleep in it. He put the page back in the drawer next to the driver's license he'd brought with him; the license that prominently displayed his name as 'George Arbor'.

...

The lunch took place on the back patio. George grilled some chicken and some shrimp and the two ladies said they both just loved the view. Zoe was especially impressed that there was a pool with a glass side that looked out over the lake.

"I wish I'd brought a swim suit." Zoe said.

"If you ask, I'm sure George has something you can borrow." Anna mentioned.

"You ladies are welcome to go upstairs and look. I don't know what all my ex left."

"What was her name?" inquired Zoe.

George was silent for a second. "Um ... Candy. Yeah, she was always buying things." George lied.

"And she never knew how to take the tags off apparently." Anna added.

"Why did you guys break up?" Zoe asked.

"Um ... well, it was my fault."

"How so?"

"It's a long story."

"I'd love to hear it."

"Zoe, don't intrude." Anna said.

"It's ok. The reason Candy broke up with me was I asked her for some things that were outside her boundaries."

"Oh, so sad." said Zoe. "But maybe you can call her and apologize."

"No, she's gone."

"Did you like her?"

"I guess but ..."

"Then call her. Give it a try."

"Zoe, leave him alone."

"Anyway," George said so he could change the subject. "Lunch is ready. Eat up."

"Say, why don't you have a private chef?" Zoe asked.

"I'm sorry, George." Anna apologized. "My little sister is a little rude."

"It's not rude. I don't know. I've never had a private chef before, or a maid or a butler. I just figured I could do without."

"So you just stay here in this huge place all by yourself?"

"Well, I do go outside. I like to drive around town and meet people."

"A handsome man like you, I bet you break all the ladies' hearts when you leave."

"Zoe!"

"Oh, come on. Even you're in love with him."

"Well, thanks for saying I'm handsome. I'm not sure everyone would agree with you but thanks."

Anna got the topic on something else, primarily asking advice from George on what to do with all her money. He didn't have a lot of specific money tips other than don't be stupid with it.

"I have bankers, lawyers, and accountants looking after most of my money. I can go get the money but what to do with it once I have it, I'm really still learning that myself."

After eating, George was bringing their plates inside and he promised to bring some beer out for them. While the two sisters were alone they had the chance to speak privately.

"I see what you mean. He's dreamy."

"Hey, he's mine."

"He just wants to be friends with you."

"Come on. You can't steal him. You're supposed to be helping me."

"I can't help you if you keep trying to kill the mood."

"What mood?"

"I was working my magic and you kept interrupting."

"What you were doing wasn't going to work on him. I already told you what he was about."

"Well, if he wants to see two sisters doing each other we better give him what he wants."

"No. I have a plan. I told you, you won't have to actually do anything."

"But what if I do? We better start practicing so we don't look stupid in front of him."

"No. Cool your panties and just follow my lead."

George came back and while they were each drinking and relaxing Anna pulled out a photo from her bag.

"I don't know how you'll feel about this but I searched. Look! I think I found a picture of your father at my mom and dad's wedding."

George was startled a bit. She handed the framed picture over to him and he looked at it.

"Is that him there?" Anna asked as she pointed to a man.

George's eye scanned the image of all the guests who were there and he remembered their faces even if he didn't know all of their names.

"Wow, that has to be him." Zoe said. "You look just like him."

He looked down at the moment when he was already damned but just hadn't known it yet. George smiled a soft smile and then lied. "Yes, that's him."

"You still never said how he knew our parents." Anna remarked.

"Nor will I."

"Such a mystery." Zoe added.

Anna ignored her sister's comment. She was more focused on George. The photo seemed to make him sad so she put it away. He missed his father. She got the conversation away from that and she searched for a topic that would be fun and also get George to open up about relationships.

"You know, I actually never watched it until recently." he said in response to her asking about the tv show 'Friends' she used to watch when she was little.

"Not a fan?"

"Just never had the chance before. But I sat and binge watched all ten seasons. I think it sort of went down hill after season five but it was good." He did in fact like the show. It didn't exactly make up for losing the perfection that was the Star Wars prequels which were arguably the best films ever made and having them replaced with whatever that crap starring Jar Jar Binks was supposed to be. But within the show Friends itself, it was ok.

"Six was good, too."

"Yeah, but nothing beat that whole secret thing in season five. I went back through the previous seasons to see if there were any hints to those two getting into a relationship. It sort of added a whole extra layer to the beach episodes."

"I know what you mean, but don't forget about the flashback one. Her in the towel and he was holding her. We should have all seen it coming."

"Yeah, and there was that." he agreed. "I also liked the alternate future stories."

Anna said she did too. She was so happy to finally crack him open. "And you know," she added; "even then those two got together. It was almost like it was meant to be."

"Well, the writers sure meant for it to be."

"You can't fault a tv show for being a tv show. It does make you wonder though, like if you had a time machine and went back and changed things, how it would all be different." she said.

"It seems to me that they use time travel too often in movies." he said.

"I guess, but I usually don't get into time travel movies. Except that one with the car. 'Back to the Future'. That one was cool."

"Ah, but it was wrong. Time travel doesn't work that way. There was some scientist who actually did all the math and everything and figured out that all of the things they put in movies that have time travel, they're all wrong."

"Well, yeah, cause time travel isn't possible."

"But even if it were, it wouldn't work the way they put it in the movies. For instance, if you knew what the winning lottery numbers were and you went back to buy a ticket, you'd still lose."

"Really? How so?"

"When you travel in time, you're not just going to a moment in time. You always have to be at the most recent moment to exist. So when you go back in time you erase all of the events that would have happened after that moment. The entire universe resets to that moment in time and then there's another random throw of the dice."

"I don't understand."

"So, let's imagine you threw some dice and you came up with the number eight. Then you got in the time machine to watch yourself throw the dice. You'd see yourself and the dice but the number probably won't be eight. And even if it is eight, maybe the last time it was a 2-6 eight and this time it's a 5-3 eight."

"That can't be. How?"

"Because, when you went back in time to before you threw the dice, you erased that dice throw from ever happening. So the results of a dice throw will always be random. Even if you could go back in time, you still could not predict the future because that future you'd be predicting would have been destroyed and a new future would be written in its place. Everything that is random, remains random."

"But if I erased it from ever happening then I wouldn't remember the way it happened the last time. When I threw the dice again and it changed, my memory would change."

"No. It doesn't work that way. You'd still remember the previous throw because there are no magic tentacles that can go into your mind and change what you know. The time traveler is non contingent."

"What does that mean?"

"It means, if you went back in time and killed your great grand father, you'd still exist. There is no such thing as a paradox."

"But how? Why? That doesn't make sense."

"When you send something back in time, you're essentially making a copy of it that is completely disconnected from the other version. You could send a letter back in time to yourself and then you could watch yourself write the letter but before the new letter had a chance to get sent back in time, you burn it. According to the movies, the letter that went back in time would burn up too but in real life, nothing would happen to it. The two letters are actually completely disconnected from each other."

"So you could send money back to yourself and spend it twice."

"You could but you'd get busted spending bills that had the same serial numbers on them. A better idea would be gold. You could melt that down, no one would be any the wiser and you'd actually be doing humanity a service since gold is useful as more than just money."

"So a time traveler would be one of the ultimate good guys."

"No, he'd be a really, really bad guy. Every time he went back in time, by erasing everything that had happened up to that point, he'd be killing untold millions of people. All the children born during the time he erased would now likely never be born and instead those parents would get different children if those parents even got together at all."

"Oh, and that would be bad."

It was an intense moment between them that was capped in silence as they both looked at each other. If only she could just figure it out, he thought to himself. But how could she? It was so outside her normal existence.

The moment only ended when Zoe came over to them. "I'm so sorry to interrupt your friendly chat," said Zoe; "but I wanted to ask if I could go swimming."

"Sure." George said. He was about to get up and show her into the house where there were a selection of bikinis she could choose from. However, before he could do anything, Zoe sprinted off to the changing room by the pool.

"I'm so sorry about her." Anna said to him. "She's just not used to this kind of lifestyle. She might be a bit overwhelmed."

"It's ok. I'm happy we could all get together and be friends."

"I know that. And I know you really want to be friends. And I don't want to pressure you. It's just something to think about, but you know I'd like to be more than just friends."

"I know. And I'd be lying if I said that hadn't crossed my mind too but maybe there's a way for us to be more than friends but not ... um ..."

Just as he was trying to say that, Zoe emerged from the changing room naked. She stood by the edge of the pool just long enough for the other two to notice her and then she dived in. Anna had an embarrassed smile.

"I'm so sorry." Anna said. "I'll go get a swimsuit for her."

George let her go and she went up the elevator. She started looking through the selections and she found something for herself and her sister. She didn't waste time changing up there. She got back down as fast as she could.

Outside on the back patio she found that her sister had gotten out of the pool and was sunbathing naked on one of the reclining beach chairs. Anna silently apologized to George as she passed him to go have a quiet conversation with Zoe.

Anna whispered to her, "Put this on before he kicks us out of here."

"Relax. He likes it."

"No, he isn't that kind of guy. Now get dressed."

"You should get nude too. Then we can make out in front of him."

"No way. That's not what you're here for."

"Yes it is."

Anna shook her head. "I'm not making out with my sister."

"Why not? I'm not pretty enough for you?"

"You're just supposed to be here, like in the background. You're drawing too much attention to yourself."

Zoe just rolled her eyes. She got up from the chair and then dived into the pool again without putting on the swimsuit.

Anna put the two piece on the chair and then went back to George for damage control.

"I know what you're going to say." he said.

"I'm so sorry for her."

"It's ok. If she wants to go skinny dipping, I don't have a problem with it. I just wish you'd told me that was on the menu."

"I'm really sorry."

"It's ok. Enough with the apologies. You're going to make it weird. We're all friends and if seeing your sister naked is what I have to endure to have a good friend then I guess it's worth it."

"Thank you. I mean it. Thank you for everything you've done for us."

"Don't worry about it. We're friends and hopefully we'll always be friends."

"I agree." said Zoe as she swam up to the edge of the pool. "And maybe we can, I don't know, add benefits to that."

"What do you mean?"

"Benefits. You know. Friends with benefits."

George did not know what she meant so he just nodded. "Ok. That would be ok. Benefits. Sure. For you and your sister."

"Can't we start with just me?" Zoe asked.

"Just to be on the safe side, we better make it for everyone."

Anna tried to think of what to say next. Was this guy really worth it? She looked at him. Yeah, he was. She snapped her head to the pool and looked at Zoe push herself off the wall. Ok. Whatever. Ok. Maybe if he just got the threesome out of his system one time then he'd be comfortable being with just one woman. She could do that for him this one time.

Anna asked George if he minded if she went swimming as well and hinted that she'd even go skinny dipping for his enjoyment. He didn't object so she got undressed in front of him and then splashed into the pool with her sister. Anna swam around a bit so she could get used to the water and then she went to her sister to have a word.

"Hey, I have a plan." Anna said.

"Another plan?"

"Listen. You know how in movies, when there's a fight the actors aren't really hitting each other. It's just pretend. We could do that for George just to get him to open up."

"Fight?"

"No, idiot, like kiss or something."

"I know, I was just playing with you."

George was looking over at his sisters. He had to agree that he did like the sight of two sexy and beautiful women in his pool. He just wished they were women he could actually do something with instead of the daughters of his biological parents. He liked the fact that Zoe was there. Sure, she'd initiated the skinny dipping thing but with her there that had to mean there was zero chance of anything sexual happening.

Anything sexual like the two sisters kissing while they were both naked in the pool.

Oh ... wait. What were they doing?

He couldn't see everything but that sort of looked like they were making out. Oh shit. Well, that was bad. And it was totally George's fault. And this wasn't just a matter of Anna digging him cause then he could just tell her no and hope those feelings went away. Now his sisters were digging on each other. Plan backfire much?

Ok, he could fix this. It wasn't the end of the world. He could fix this.

Option 1: Go back to before either of them were born. Yeah, he couldn't do that to them.

Option 2: Go back to before he arrived here and then just avoid them. But then he'd have to do all that work to establish an identity all over again.

Option 3: Go back to before that dinner date with Anna. But then there would be two of him walking around and that would mean he'd have to establish an identity for a twin self and his other self might not want to share money or resources. He could kill his younger self. No, that would be a really terrible villain thing to do.

Option 4: He could send a message back to his younger self instructing him to stay away from his sisters. That was a very hard choice since it sort of felt like suicide. Sure, the younger him would still be there to live his life but that younger self would not be him as he was now. The him of now would die with everyone else.

Now he knew why his previous older self waited until he was on his death bed to start sending messages back. Still, the message options seemed the best. In his mind it just seemed the neatest with the least amount of work. He just hoped it didn't hurt when he and everyone else was ripped apart quark by quark along with the rest of the universe.

No, wait. That wasn't a choice at all. Then he'd be gone and he'd just be trusting the damn machine to work right without him in it. So what if his sisters were making out. Was that enough to erase more than a year's worth of time from existing? The fucking time machine wasn't a toy. He'd learned that the hard way and here he was about to fuck everything up again.

Ok, so Option 5: Wait and see how this plays out. Don't run from your problems. Take responsibility and move on with life. If things got too bad then the other options were always still on the table. No need to rush to rash action when he literally had a reset button. Well, the thing was actually a dial that you turned but it was the same idea.

With that mindset, George readied himself when the two women swam to the part of the pool that was closest to him and asked him to tell them which one of them was the cutest. He said he couldn't possibly choose and so they got out of the pool and started to do sexy poses for him. He tried to explain to them that that sort of thing wasn't needed but they both just acted like they really wanted him. It would be easy to say no if they were just random women or if they had been sisters that he'd grown up with. But that wasn't the case. He actually really did want to be sexual with Anna and Zoe was also really nice.

He was almost ready to give in. He was almost to that moment. But thinking and thinking and thinking had sort of sapped his energy. He told his sisters to enjoy the pool and help themselves to anything else they wanted in the house. As for George he was going to go upstairs and just lay down for a bit.

Anna was very disappointed when she saw him go to the elevator and disappear. She wanted to blame Zoe but she sort of felt like it had been her own fault. It was so obvious that he wanted to give in and just fuck her. What was wrong with the guy.