Acme Time Travel Incorporated - Volume 2

The Olde Swan Pub – Clacton

Barney felt very nervous. His day had been a bit of a roller-coaster journey. Monica had crashed into his office, made horrifying allegations, and he had not only managed to calm her down, but he had even managed to ask her out for a date.

Well, it wasn’t a date really. It was more of a business meeting. But that was why he was so nervous. He knew that Monica really wanted to talk to Gabriel, to assure herself that he wasn’t a bad guy. But Barney was really concerned, himself.

He didn’t think that Gabriel had somehow taken Ginny away against her will, or that he was mistreating her in any way. But he was worried that Gabriel didn’t have any money. And he was worried that Gabriel wouldn’t answer the phone. Finally, he was worried about the little thing that Gabriel had said on their last conversation. The bit where Gabriel had said something like “if I get back”, and then had changed it to “when I get back”.

Barney stood in the Gents toilet, looking at himself in the mirror. He wanted to look his best. Alright, Monica might have only agreed to meet up with him because he was going to try ringing Gabriel, but he sort of hoped that she would have agreed anyway. He thought that she looked quite lovely (well, after they had had tea and she had calmed down a bit). And he knew that he was quite a bit older than her. She was about 50 he thought, and he was 63. Still, he liked to think that his age made him more distinguished ... made him quite a catch for the more discerning lady.

He suddenly realised that he hadn’t asked her if she was married. Given that they were having a business meeting, it hadn’t really seemed an appropriate question, but now he felt a bit foolish. For all he knew, she might turn up with her husband. He resolved to sit down, and when she turned up he would be quietly drinking a pint of his favourite beer. Then, if she was with somebody else, it wouldn’t seem like he was making a big deal of the evening anyway. It would look like he was just sitting there, having a quiet pint and reading a paper.

He thought that he had better see if there was anything lying about that he could read.

. . . . . . . .

At 8 pm the door of the pub opened, and Monica came walking in. She was on her own. She had on the same beige gaberdine coat she had been wearing earlier at his office. She had black boots, with a slight heel. He thought that she looked very smart, very nice. The pub was empty, so she saw him immediately. He saw her smile in his direction, and he jumped up from his chair and ushered her towards his table. He pulled out a chair for her and pushed it in behind her as she sat down.

“Good evening, Barney,” she said.

He thought that she was trying to avoid chuckling, and he hoped that he wasn’t looking foolish.

“Can I get you a drink?” he said.

“A small glass of white wine,” she said. “Dry if they’ve got it.”

Barney looked over at the girl behind the bar. She was smiling. She had obviously heard the order and turned to get the drink. She signalled to Barney to sit himself back down.

“I was wondering if you might bring someone with you tonight,” Barney said, immediately wishing that he hadn’t said it.

Monica looked confused.

“Do you think I needed to?” she said.

“Well ... I’m not sure that you really believe that Gabriel and I aren’t the bad guys.”

Monica suddenly looked very serious.

“I don’t believe that you are the sort of guy I accused you of this morning, but I still don’t know about Gabriel. That’s why I want to talk to him. I am still worried. I want to talk to him personally.”

Barney looked worriedly back at her.

“I’m worried myself,” he said, “but I’m worried because I don’t think they have any money. If I had known they were going to just set off somewhere, I would have pulled some money together to give him. But he didn’t tell me, and ...”

Monica looked over at Barney. She could see the honest worry in his eyes.

“You’re a very kind man,” Monica said, and she patted the back of Barney’s hand as it laid on the table.

Barney looked down at Monica’s hand as she patted his own.

She took her hand back, saying, “so shall we try giving Gabriel a call?”

“I guess that’s what we are here for,” Barney said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out his mobile phone. He clicked through his contacts and found Gabriel’s number. He took a deep breath, then clicked on the number. It started to ring.