The Time Capsule

Greg

“No one fucking told me I had to share a ride with him!!!” that’s the first thing Selena says as she walks through the door with James not far behind.

“You’re the one who decided to take a layover in New York!” James retorts, dropping his bag.

Amber glances up at me with a worried look, “can we un-invite them?”

I chuckle and shake my head no before standing up. “Hey you two, how was the flight?”

“this jerk wouldn’t leave me alone.”

“she wouldn’t shut-up the whole time”

Once again the nagging started, but was quickly interrupted when my mother entered the room. “oh good! Everyone’s here! Selena, darling, should I postpone dinner while you visit Riley? Or will you be doing that tomorrow?”

Visit Riley? What’s my mom talking about? Selena’s eyes widened along with Ambers. James slowly turned to Selena, looking quite angry.

“You stayed?”

Selena ignores his question, “I’m tired from the flight, so I’ll just go tomorrow. Dinner can be on time.” My mom nods and heads back to the kitchen before giving the two new-comers awkward hugs.

“You stayed?”

“It’s none of your business.”

“To hell it’s not! You fucking stayed to help that kid!”

“That’s my job James! I help people!”

James lowers his head, “you put yourself in danger though.”

“okay! Why don’t you guys go unpack?” Amber offers, stepping in between the two of them. They both grumble some reply and head up to their rooms. “I’m going to duct tape their mouths shut if that continues.” Amber says, leaning against the wall.

I pull her into a hug, kissing the side of her head, “that’s their way of showing their affection,” I tease.

She sighs, “Sadly that’s probably true. I just don’t understand. It wasn’t that long ago James had proposed to her at the airport.”

Amber had a point. What was James playing at? He obviously learned his lesson about the effects of treating Selena badly. So why was he back to fighting with her constantly?

“Why don’t you go and talk with Selena, help her cool off some. I’m sure it was just a long flight over here.” Amber nods and gives me one last kiss before heading off to Selena’s room. I decided to use this time to talk with James, might as well try to get something out of him.

“you okay?” I ask, standing at the doorway. James was turned with his back to me and jumped at the sound of my voice.

“dude! Don’t sneak up on me like that.”

I laugh and take a couple more steps into the room, “sorry. Now explain to me what’s going on? Cause last time I checked, you were head over heels for her.”

“well that back-fired, didn’t it?” James responds quite rudely. “You and Amber kept pushing us and look where that got us? Selena once again hates my guts and honestly, I’m not too fond of her right now.”

“we told you not to propose to her and yet you did so anyways. So don’t blame that one on us James.”

“If Amber wasn’t so keen on fixing everyone’s problem-”

“you asked for our help James! You wanted to win her heart! All I’m trying to figure out is what changed?”

“life. Okay? Not every story has a fairytale happy ending. It’s not always so perfect Greg.”

I sigh and run a hand through my hair. How could it be so difficult to get this guy to understand? “I’m not trying to force you to have a fairytale ending James. I just want you two to be happy and I know that if you guys continue to fight like this you will both feel regret for the rest of your life. Is it too much to ask for you guys to be civil?”

“apparently it is.”

“It’s the holidays, so at least pretend to still be in love with her. That’ll make this week a hell of a lot easier.”

Before he could say anything in response, there was a loud yelling coming from down the hall. It was obvious that Amber and Selena were fighting over this too. “so you hate her now?” I ask.

James glares at me, “I’m not too fond of her for saying no.”

“what did you expect James? She lives in Florida. She has a job there, friends, a life. And you just thought she’d up and leave all of that?”

For a split-second, a mere moment, I saw a smirk playing on his lips. But that quickly disappeared and was switched to his pissed off look. “Amber did it for you.”

“Amber chose on her own to move down to California. Against what I told her actually. That was a completely different situation. Plus, I didn’t propose to her!” I almost add in ‘yet’ but decide against it, not wanting the conversation to switch to me.

“yet.” James adds, smiling a bit.

“what?”

“you haven’t proposed to her yet.” He explains, “that’s why you want Selena and I to get along. Because you don’t want Amber to look back at the day you proposed and remember another fight that went on between us. You’re a sneaky guy, and to think I almost agreed to try and act civil.”

“James, don’t be an ass. Yes! I admit, I am planning on proposing to Amber. But your relationship with Selena has nothing to do with it. Amber and I kind of just laugh at how blind the both of you are.”

I watch amusingly as James tosses down a shirt he had been putting away. “we’re not blind! We admitted our love for each other!”

“and had a very, very, very short little fling before separating only to return to start bickering like an old married couple once again.”

“Just give it up Greg. We’re obviously not meant to be together.”

Oh my goodness could this guy get annoying. Does he not see what I’m trying to get across?! “I don’t care about that! Damn it James! I just want this proposal to go smoothly and I’m pretty sure with you and Selena fighting constantly-” I don’t even finish my sentence, instead I just shake my head and turn around.

But the sight behind me wasn’t much better than the one I just turned from.

“what do you mean by ‘proposal’?” Amber asks.