Page 54 of Ideal Life

“What?”

Talia looked around. The other women were clearly trying to eavesdrop, although she was pretty sure they couldn’t hear her over the churning of the water.

But then she remembered, So what? She might not have the watch right now (she hadn’t known if it was waterproof), but the instant class was over, Talia could go to the locker room and rewind all this. None of the women would remember anything Talia said.

“All right, it’s Aqua Zumba time!” Didi declared as she switched to a new playlist, this one like salsa music at 0.25x speed. “Let’s move those hips, ladies, and get sultry!”

The women whooped as they started to dance very slowly in the pool. The movements were languid in real time but felt fast and sexy to them, which put a smile on Talia’s face despite the conversation she was smack in the middle of. Making people’s lives better was what drove her, and she had a heightened appreciation now for what Didi did with aquarobics.

Vera sashayed with the class, but her attention was all on Talia. “What do you mean you undid it all? And how could kissing Sam be a mistake? You’re destined for each other.”

Talia took a deep breath. “Okay, what I’m about to tell you is going to sound a little nutty, but bear with me. I have a watch that can rewind time.”

Her mom blinked. “I don’t understand what that means. Is this a new Ideal Life product?”

“No, it’s not new technology… I’m not sure it’s tech at all. I have no idea how it works. It just does.”

She explained everything—when the watch had first appeared after an 11:11 p.m. wish, how it allowed her to go back up to twenty-four hours to redo things, and how she’d used it to improve her meeting at Omni and to buy stock before it quintupled.

“But then yesterday, I kissed Sam at his bookstore. He didn’t kiss me back, and I panicked and spun the knob on my watch to undo it, so he doesn’t know, but I can’t forget it. So… what do I do?”

“Oh, baby.” Vera stopped water dancing and hugged Talia. “I don’t understand about the watch, but as for Sam, I’m sure you just caught him off guard. He loves you.”

“He doesn’t, Mom. Not like that. I threw myself at him, and he just went rigid. It was humiliating. And the other thing is, Sam knows about the watch, but he’d made me promise that I would never change his life with it. But now I have. I broke that promise, and I can’t tell him.”

“Are you sure about that? I think Sam would understand.”

Talia shook her head. Maybe he would. But maybe he wouldn’t.

She didn’t want to risk their friendship, and telling him would expose her on two fronts: breaking the promise and making a move on him that he had no interest in reciprocating. Any scientist worth her salt would see that the results of the kissing experiment were negative.

Didi shot both Talia and Vera an I don’t see you Aqua Zumbaing look. Vera immediately started sashaying again. Talia did so with a lot less enthusiasm.

“I guess it is what it is,” Talia said of the whole kissing failure. “Thanks for listening, though. And for believing me about the bizarre watch. It did feel better to think through the situation out loud.”

“Of course, sweetie,” Vera said. “But, um…”

“Yeah?”

Vera puffed out her lips in the kind of frowny smile that moms give their kids when they’re in tough positions and the moms want to—but can’t—help. “I know you’re usually private and keep your feelings close to your chest. So it’s okay with me if you rewind this conversation once we’re out of the pool. I’m aware that means I’ll forget about it, and I’ll also lose this really lovely time I got to spend with you. But you don’t have to feel bad on my account for erasing this, okay?”

Talia thought of the watch in the locker room. “Rewind this? Are you sure?”

“Positive.”

Talia power-water-walked over and hugged her.

From the pool deck, Didi shook her head; she’d given up on Talia as an unteachable student.

Vera squeezed Talia back. “Just one favor, honey.”

“Anything.”

“The next time you decide to rewind, do you mind buying some good stock for your dad and me?”

Sam

Jenny and Roger Chang arrived at SFO on Monday morning. Sam picked them up and brought them to the lighthouse, since they wouldn’t be able to check in to the Ritz-Carlton in Half Moon Bay until the afternoon. (How much had they sold Sunshine Cakes for?? But regardless, Sam was happy for them. They’d worked literally every day of their adult lives without a break. They deserved the Ritz and more.)