When the Rain Stopped Falling

Chapter 9: A Thousand Restless Days

Chapter 9.1: One Hour

“Do I know you?” I asked the man who stood beside me. Like me, he was drenched and looked so helpless. No one can’t miss the idea that he was a poor homeless man. “Do I know you?” I asked once more, this time a bit more firm and assuring. He was muttering something like a prayer, repeating and repeating words that doesn’t make any sense to me.

“My name is Nikolas, who are you?” for some reason I felt an urge to introduce myself.

“Bah! When the rain stopped falling...when the rain stopped falling,” the homeless man’s familiar smile grew wider and wider as he repeats the phrase continuously.

“What would happen when the rain stopped falling?”

“That means the rain will go back in heaven soon now,” the homeless man answered. I thought of what he answered for a half a second trying to understand the meaning of it but in the end I shook my head out of pity. Nonsense. He might be out of his mind. “You!” he surprisingly pointed at me.

“Me? What about me?”

“If you can re-live an hour of your life, what would it be?”

“An hour of my life? Do you mean if I can travel back in time?”

“Uh-huh”

“Well first off that’s impossible. Travelling back in time is impossible,” I snapped at him. I can’t believe I’m having such a conversation to an old crazy man.

“But time is relative. Time only exist when there is an observer, isn’t it? And you! I saw you! You’re a great observer. You can travel back in time if you could just remember”

“Remember?”

“Yes. You can travel back in time when you’re feeling nostalgic. If you could remember your memories, you can travel back in time,”

I realized that he was talking poetically not in a literal manner. Or is he?

“If I could go back in time,” I said slowly as my brain generates an unbelievable idea, “if I could go back in time, I would go back to the time I met my wife,”

Chapter 9: A Thousand Restless Days

“Oh you should be careful eating that,” Nikolas or Cole, whomever he is conversed. “It has 520 calories and contains an abundant amount of fatty acids such as-”

“I think they got it bud,” Jasper interrupted him. Cole indeed talked a lot of things about Science and stuff but he still haven’t opened that he met me last night.It’s as if he didn’t know me at all, like he’s a completely different person. I was still staring at him intently to check if he really was Nikolas of last night. And yes, he is. But sort of not. He is Nikolas physically but he's not the umbrella guy I told Leslie about.What is happening here?

“So how’s your toothache” Leslie asked Nikolas.

“I could say that it is better now, thanks for asking,”

“You know, Cole here really slept the rest of the day like he said he would,”

He slept the rest of the day? That can’t be. “Nikolas, I mean, Cole, do you remember when you started to sleep?” I asked him. I knew for myself that need to get answers.

“If you refer to the exact time I slept, it was about 8:30 a.m. in Greenwich Mean Time or 4:30 p.m. in Manila time.”

“So you didn’t know about the rain last night?”

“Definitely an unconscious person would not have any knowledge about the alterations in atmospheric weather whatsoever hence my answer is a no.”

No. That doesn’t add up. If he was sleeping at that time then I shouldn’t have met him. It was about 5:00 p.m. when I met him. He must be lying, but why?

“Speaking of rain, I think it’s already drizzling out there,” Leslie pointed out the window and she was right. Drops of rain had been dripping on the glass pane. “I told you it’s going to rain, Elois,”

“Yeah,” I agreed and then I suddenly remembered Nikolas’s jacket on my bag. If Cole is Nikolas from last night, then he shouldn’t have a jacket right now. This gave me an opportunity. “Does anyone of you has a jacket right now? I feel a little cold.” I particularly looked at Cole.

“Yes, I do have a jacket. Interestingly, my jacket’s aesthetics is fan-based to Desmond Miles of Assassin’s Creed.”

“Even if Cole has a jacket, I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t share it with you,” Jasper informed.

“Affirmative. I would not disagree. Dermatological fungal infection is at risk every time a person shares their garments” To me he sounded like a robot disguised as a human. Oh no. What if he’s a robot who imitates the real Nikolas. I digressed that idea.

“Here I have one,” Jasper shared me his red jacket that he drew from his bag. I noticed Leslie smiling at me and I think I know what she’s thinking because of her obvious eye movement from Jasper to me. I disregarded her assumption for now.

“Thank you,” I said as I awkwardly wore his jacket. We resumed eating our meals but I still can’t shake off the weirdness that’s happening here. Once again he’s lying. Why is he implying base on his actions that we haven’t met last night? Am I such a mess yesterday that he regretted meeting me? If that’s so, he must be really a jerk. Maybe he’s like a one-night stand date maniac. But still, I have to try once more. I recalled that his school ID is still on my hands . I’m sure it’s one of a kind and it’s very important to him. I’m sure he would admitemember last night if I’ll get the chance to open it up to him.

“Hey look at my ID!” I voiced out. I clumsily took my ID from my bag and showed it to them.

“You look so happy in there,” Jasper said.

“Can I see all of your ID’s? I’m really curious to see them,” Leslie and Jasper, without second thoughts complied and showed theirs. Their picture revealed the resemblance I was looking for, such as their thick eyebrows and curvy lips. I waited for Cole’s ID but he doesn’t seem interested in my request. “How about you Cole? Can I see yours?”

“Why would I?”

“Excuse me?”

“Why would I show you my identification card? It seems very illogical, suspiciously unethical even, since the objective has not been disclosed.”

“I just wanted to see how you look like in your picture, maybe compare it to what you look like in real life,”

“The validity of your objective is irrational. If my identification card shows a picture of myself that can be contrasted to how I look today, then the purpose of which becomes obsolete, correct?”

“Just give me the damn ID!” I thought to myself. Instead, I suppress my reaction by simply frowning at him.

“Oh come on, bud. Just let Elois see your ID.”

I concluded that Cole is playing dumb even though he’s really smart. I could tell that something is different about this Cole and the Nikolas I met last night. First off, the way Cole talks is very pompous unlike Nikolas who talks normally and sounded like Jasper, sweet and tender. Second off, he has a different vibe. Nikolas shows warm familiarity. Cole is a weird stranger. This leads to third difference- Cole seems to avoid the evidences of last night’s events. He doesn’t want me to open that his jacket and ID is still in my possession. For what reason though? It could be that this Cole really has no idea about last night. Maybe he has dual personality. Maybe Cole and Nikolas are two different people who is sharing the same body. Well that’s totally absurd but the way Cole or Nikolas is acting right now, I might as well guess.

“Shoot! I’m going to be late in my class!” Leslie freaked out disrupting my deep thoughts. She ate her remaining burger which was I think is still good for five bites but she managed to consume it by shoving it all in her mouth. “Mmm-per,” she talked while she chews “com’n”

“What I’m coming too? Jasper seem to have understand what she had just said like an idioglossia since Leslie nodded. Jasper sighed but he stood from his seat. “We have to go. I hope we could do this again,”

“Yeah. Elois, are you going to be okay with Cole?” Leslie asked just as she finished masticating her burger.

“We’ll be alright,” I lied. My mind is going berserk now. I demand an explanation from Cole and I’m not gonna stop until he tells me what’s his deal. Without Leslie and Jasper, I thought I could finally interrogate Cole one on one. “I think Cole is a good company,”

As soon as the siblings scooted off of the building, I stared at no, I take that back, I glared at Cole. He was about to take another bite from his burger when he saw me and froze. His eyes widened enough for me to finally see the white of it. “You were lying.” I confronted him.

“Okay, you got me. The burger they ate only contains 490 calories. In my defense, I only-”

“What are you talking about? I meant about the jacket,”

“Sorry but I do not see any falsity or disparity at any degree on my statement about the jacket.”

“Is that so?” if I would talk senses into him, I better level up my game. I have to outwit him. “Can I see the authenticity of your claim?” I set the bait. He may be smart but he’s still a guy. And one thing I learned about guys from my dad is that guys love to showcase their pride at all times.

“Excuse me? Are you in clear doubt of my jacket?” Cole took the bait.

“Well Cole, you know, the moment you said that you’re jacket is fan-based garment of Assassin’s Creed…” honestly I don’t know what Assassin’s Creed is “I highly doubted its existence,”

“Amazing. I guess that is only logical. I haven’t showed you any evidence whatsoever so you have all the rights to question. Very scientific, Elois.” I grinned victoriously as Cole methodically searched his bag. Now I get what Jasper meant when he said it took him a year to get adjust. “This is quite strange,” Cole claimed. Gotcha!

“Strange? Hmm, let me guess, your jacket is not in your bag,”

“Correct. Again, amazing. Perhaps your non-verbal deduction ability is enhanced.”

“No, that’s not it. I know that your jacket is not in your bag because you’re lying, you piece of nutbag!” I hope his verbal deduction skill is alright so that he could have an idea how pissed I am. I can’t handle my frustration any longer, so I walked out before I can do something scandalous. I pulled out his jacket from my bag and shoved it into his chest. “By the way, I’ve already seen your ID, here!” I slammed his ID on the table “you make me sick. Here I thought you were a very nice guy,”

“How did you acquire all of this?” he asked with an obvious face of shock-his pupils dilated.

“Maybe you’re too smart that it made you crazy. Fine for the sake of it, I was alone in the park by 4:00 then you came by and covered me with your umbrella. The you gave me a towel and your jacket, along with your ID, then-”

“Then what?”

“We went to your favorite place, that’s it!” I told him before I finally stormed off.

How can a person forget so easily? I pondered about this all day and even now as I ready myself to sleep, I still want to know the answer. I’ve learned that humans have perfected the art of making up stories to fill their insatiable hunger to make sense of everything around. So far, I made four. One- he is a plain tad jerk who only tricked me. Two- he has a short-term memory problem. Though, I highly doubt it since he’s a “genius”, as Jasper described him. Three- he has a split personality. Things like that happen in real life, right? And four- someone casted an Obliviate spell into him. I facepalmed myself in annoyance. Of course, the most plausible story is number one.

Leslie, again, was the first one to sleep. She seemed so tired when she got home. Another thing that bothers me is that she said she was glad that I’m opening up to her and Jasper. She said I’m being more talkative and involved. Apparently, I don’t know how to react to that once again. Honestly, I don’t want to get too talkative, to get too involved because I’m scared.

I was about to drift into sleep as well when I heard light knocks on our door. At first, I thought I was just imagining it but when I confirmed that I heard it for the third time, I knew that there was someone behind the door. 11:35 p.m. Who knocks on the door at at 11:35 p.m.? People should already be sleeping. I groggily walked towards the door and opened it just a little for me to peek who it was.

“Are you awake?” I didn’t answer. “Come on, you promised me a second date, remember?”

“Cole, what are you doing here?”

“I’ve come to see you,”

“Really? After what you’ve done earlier? You feigned ignorance that you know me and now you’re telling me to remember our second date? You really are messed up.” I was about to close the door back when he stopped it with his foot. He was quiet for a moment.

“I’m sorry, Elois. But you have to listen carefully to what I have to say, okay?” Again I didn’t answer but I know for myself that I wanted this explanation. “What I would tell you is the absolute truth. This is not crazy, this is entirely plausible.” Cole sounded different now. Not in his voice but the way he speaks- slow and enveloping. He sounded like the Nikolas I first met. “For years, I’ve studied all the things I have to know in order to be successful. It took me a thousand restless days to make this any sooner, 2197 days to be exact. And finally, I’ve achieved it. Elois, honey, everything you are and everything about you, I have adored it for the longest of time and so I will continue to till my final breath. Listen, Elois, I’m not exactly the Nikolas you’ve talked to earlier. At this moment, I’m Nikolas Yamazawa 16 years from now. I’ve come from the future to see you and I’m your future husband.