Chronicles of a Time Traveler by Doug Molitor

Author:Doug Molitor
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Third Street Press

When we got back, Ariyl was in the shower.

Sven had spent the last year gathering clothing and costumes in my size (with the help of my costumer friend Cheryll Lee), in case I needed to blend in on a visit to another past era.

For this trip, I chose black boots, a pair of black cotton slacks and an off-white linen shirt with a V-neck. No zippers, fancy stitching or visible buttons: this outfit would pass pretty much unnoticed anytime from the Renaissance onward, though in mid-twentieth century America, I might look pretty Bohemian. But with my good old flannel shirt topping it off, I looked sort of retro-grunge. I should pass.

“Sven, I don’t know what I’d do without you,” I said. “Thanks a million.”

He shrugged it off.

“I have a lot of free time, and I worry about you.”

“I’ll be fine. I’ve got Ariyl looking after me.”

The old man chewed his lip.

“What?” I inquired.

“David, you really love that girl, don’t you?”

I’d already filled him in on my fling with Kati Brumbach. He’d been very non-judgmental about it all. But now I sensed a warning coming.

“Yes, Sven, I love her.”

“The reason I ask is, sometimes an intense sexual infatuation can seem like love.”

“Sven, I know the difference. Sexual infatuation is what you have when you’re a kid. Like the first time I saw Marilyn Monroe, when I was eight.”

Sven grinned.

“Wasn’t she something?”

“Ironically Mom used parental controls to block the Playboy Channel, but it was TCM that turned me on. It was Marilyn in The Seven Year Itch. For the first time in my young life, I knew what sexy was.”

Sven gave a wistful smile.

“Did I ever tell you I saw Marilyn in real life once, when I started teaching at UCLA? She walked into the Village Theatre. Not for a premiere; she was just there to see a show. She was incredible. Two men in cars collided while gawking at her. And all I could think was, we were lucky there weren’t half a dozen crashes as she walked that one block.”

I nodded.

“The magic of film. I was born a quarter of a century after she died, but she was my first crush.”

“But real love, David, it’s more than just liking someone who has a lot of sex appeal. It’s about knowing who she is, in the depth of her soul, and accepting everything about her. The good and the bad. And her accepting everything about you.”

Sven was starting to worry me.

“What are you getting at?”

“Your lady friend Ariyl...she reminds me of Marilyn.”

“Yeah, I can sorta see that. I mean, a six-three, triple-D version of Monroe. Who can pick up a car.”

“She’s quite a woman. But how much do you know about her, really?”

“You mean, why was she with Ludlo? She told me all about that, Sven. She used to have a thing for bad boys. But after a bad boy tries to kill you a few times, you get over that. I’m not worried about her feelings for him.”

“I’m not talking about him.

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