‘But you said it wouldn’t work?’ She sounds thoroughly perplexed. Which is understandable to be fair.
‘It works. The theorem works. Actually, it’s more than a theorem, it’s a fact.’
Her frown deepens. ‘You’re not making any sense.’
We’re interrupted by the arrival of our pancakes, gorgeous fluffy things dripping in syrup. Mine has a side of crispy American-style bacon; my sister’s is topped with fresh strawberries. Cesca offers the waitress an almost tentative smile. She really needs to work on her flirting game, especially if this world’s Helen is her potential soulmate. But we’ll worry about that later.
‘You really prefer them with fruit?’ I ask, pointing at her plate.
She blushes and then nods.
‘I’m sorry I always overrode your order and got you bacon.’
‘That’s okay,’ she says but there’s a catch in her voice.
‘It isn’t though, is it? Have I always been so weird and controlling?’
She stays silent as she spears a strawberry with her fork.
‘I’m sorry. I think I always felt like I had to micromanage your life. Like I was being Mum as well as your sister. But it was wrong of me and I’m sorry and I’ll try to be more chill going forward. Okay?’
She puts her fork down and covers my hand with her own. ‘I know you mean well.’
‘Yeah, but it must suck for you. Just promise me that you’ll always talk to me, that you’ll tell me if I overstep so it doesn’t become a problem and force us apart.’
‘What’s brought this on, Bethany?’ she asks gently.
I wait for her to pick her fork back up and take a mouthful of pancake. ‘If I tell you something do you promise to keep an open mind?’
She nods.
‘Okay. So, I was working on a theory of multiverse communication, right?’
She nods again and I send up a silent thank you into the ether that my sister has enough of a grounding in physicsthat she can understand this stuff without freaking out. Or without freaking outtoomuch, at least.
‘And then I solved the theorem. And I thought my career was made. Like, this,’ I tap the notebook that we moved out the way to make room for breakfast. ‘This was going to change the world.’
‘So why did you stop working on it?’
‘I didn’t.’
‘Err … you did.’
I take an enormous forkful of pancakes and stuff the sweet goodness into my mouth, using the time it takes me to chew to think about the perfect way to tell Cesca about the journey I’ve been on. But there is no perfect way, or even a passably good way if I’m honest. So in the end I just blurt it out.
‘I woke up the next day in a different universe and then the next in another, and so on, each world more and more different from this one. The divergences more and more pronounced.’
Cesca puts down her fork and wipes her mouth on her napkin. ‘Oh Bethany,’ she whispers, in the way you would talk to an elderly relative. ‘You can’t have. We’ve been having pancakes here every Saturday for weeks.’
‘And have I been acting oddly during that time?’
‘Well, yes,’ she’s forced to concede.
‘Because that wasn’t me. It was another Bethany, from another universe. She took my place and sent me spiralling back to her shitty world.’
I can see Cesca is trying to process the bombshell I’ve just dropped on her. ‘But …’ she starts. ‘We watchedLegally Blondetogether. Twice.’ She looks at me as if it’s the ultimate betrayal. ‘And you convinced me to get a tattoo.’ Her bottom lip trembles.
‘Where?’
