“It kind of feels like a prank.”
“If anyone is being pranked, it’s me.”
Holden lets out a slow whistle. “I wish I’d come up with this. It’s a great prank.”
With his head buried in between his hands, Sergio says, “Trust me, I wish you had, too.”
“Okay, so let me try to get a handle on this. What you’re telling me is that today feels exactly like yesterday, even though you weren’t here yesterday?”
“No. I’m telling you that I have woken up here for months on end on a perpetual Mobius strip of New Year’s Eves and I’m the only one who notices.”
“Like a time loop?”
“Yes. Exactly like a time loop.”
Holden shrugs. “Damn. That’s crazy. We don’t even have a hot tub.”
“A hot tub!” Sergio screams, drawing the attention of everyone around them, including Jeremy, who has arrived and is waiting for Henry to finish running to him.
“Yeah, you know. Like that movie!Hot Tub Time Machine.”
“Trust me. It doesn’t equate,” Sergio says, realizing once again that he’s talking to a moron.
“Oh!” Holden exclaims. “Maybe this is more likeGroundhog Day?”
“I think that’s a better correlation.” Sergio takes off his gloves and rubs harshly at his face.
“Yeah! Right? Like how Bill Murray had to repeat the same day over and over again to learn how to be a better person or something.”
“That is my current goal,” Sergio says, his eyes on Jeremy and wishing he could see what their tomorrow could look like if he could get everything he needs to get right to see it.
“Good on you, mate. I never thought of you as someone who made New Year’s resolutions.” He claps Sergio on the shoulder and continues to push them along towards the lodge. “I hope you’re hungry. This place has a great turkey burger.”
After lunch, exhausted and only halfway through this version of today, Sergio lets out a sigh in the car beside Jeremy as Jeremy pulls away from the lodge.
“What was all that about with Holden earlier?” Jeremy asks him.
Sergio takes a deep breath and lets out another sigh. He stares at the tall, snow-covered aspen trees as they speed past them. “It’s hard to explain.”
“Try me,” Jeremy says.
He takes his eyes off the trees and turns to look at Jeremy’s profile. There’s a soft smile on his face, and Jeremy chances a quick glance back at him. When they make eye contact, Sergio recognizes sympathy in his eyes, as if he’s the only one who seesthe weight pressing down on Sergio’s shoulders. The result has Sergio feeling like he can trust him despite how vulnerable he is feeling right now in his exhaustion.
“You really want to know?”
“Only if you want to tell me. But you seemed pretty frustrated back there.”
Sergio takes another deep breath, and with it comes a flood of deep exhaustion. If he were in the car with anyone else, he’d open the passenger door and fling himself out of it in order to start this day over faster. But it’s Jeremy here with him, and Sergio wants to savor every minute he can get with him. Even if Jeremy will never remember all that he’s done for Sergio over all of these days.
“Frustration doesn’t even cover it.”
“So what’s the problem, then? Maybe I can help.”
Sergio rubs his face with his palms some more. If he keeps this up today, he’ll have nothing left to rub at until tomorrow. “Fuck. I don’t even know how to explain this without sounding crazy.”
Jeremy looks over his shoulder and flashes him a quick smile before taking his attention back to the road. “I have an open mind. Take your best shot. Surprise me.”
“Well, if you insist,” Sergio says, then takes another deep breath before diving into his saga. “So here’s the thing. And like I said, you’re going to think that I’m crazy, but I swear to you I’m not.”
