Ben's Day

After some of the comments I got the first time around, I made some pretty substantial edits to this chapter mainly in the second half. Part of the reason for my delay in posting a new chapter being that I wasn't satisfied with the job I did on this one. Hope you all like it!

*

Ben found a sandwich place nearby the hotel that had excellent reviews, and it was just as good as advertised. The two of them finished their food pretty quickly, and then just talked, for what turned out to be nearly three hours, and managed to keep their hands off each other the whole time, both of them knowing that there would be time for more of that later. Again, Ben was struck by how thoroughly he was attracted to her—every time she smiled or laughed, or used some strange Irish slang, he felt like he was basking in the warmth of her personality, like he couldn't help but want to be near her all the time. She talked about her friends, her work, Irish politics, her favorite shows—and Ben found himself hanging on every word despite himself. When the conversation turned to him, Ben felt like he had nothing to say, but then was surprised to find that she was just as interested in him as she was in her, asking him about the details of his work as if she were genuinely interested in the world of marketing solar panels, and when he started talking about his favorite games, his favorite food—anything—she was deeply and genuinely interested. Their connection felt so strong, so real, that Ben was having a hard time working up the courage to telling her what he had planned to tell her all day about the time loop. Surely there could be a better time? He didn't want to ruin everything.

As they were finishing up, around four in the afternoon, Ben texted Tomm.

B

Hey. When do you want to get drinks? I'm also up for dinner—I've got a friend I'm bringing too.

T

Sounds good. The more the merrier!

T

I could meet you somewhere in an hour

T

Maybe two

T

If you're looking for drinks and food, I'd say

Solomon's Bar And Grill

is a good bet.

T

The Stable

is also supposed to be good. I've never been, but I have a friend from school who works there. It's a bit pricier.

Ben had been about to suggest that Tomm come have drinks at the hotel with them, but remembering Tomm's whole deal with Colette, he changed his mind. Tomm was a good guy, why not play matchmaker for him again? Besides, now that Ben knew he was trapped in a time loop, he could afford to get some of the nicer drinks on the menu.

B

Let's do

The Stable

at 6.

T

Ok. Sounds good.

"So, what's the news, like?" Ashling asked as he looked up from his phone; they were still sitting in the sandwich place, and thankfully, judging from the woman working on her laptop a few tables down, this wasn't the kind of place where you wore out your welcome too easily.

"We're meeting my friend Tomm for drinks and dinner in two hours. It's a short walk from here. Nice place, good food."

"Not the hotel then?" she asked with an exaggerated pout, rubbing her leg against his under the table.

"We'll make it back there. Don't worry," Ben said with a smirk, "The real question is what do you want to do for the next two hours?"

Ashling smiled back, knowing what they were both thinking, but then shook her head.

"We're going to have a fecking amazing night—let's not overdo it. Are there any nice museums in this city? Maybe we could go to one of those, like?"

Ben tried not to let his disappointment show too much.

"Don't worry, I don't plan on sleeping much tonight, like!" Ashling chuckled, winking, "but we can't just do

that

all

day

too. Besides, I

like

you. I want to do things with you, not just

to

you, like."

Ben nodded.

"I guess you're right. There's a couple museums—and a pretty cool aquarium that I went to once when I was a kid."

"Ooh yes, let's go there, like!" she said, bouncing excitedly, "I love marine life. When I was a little girl I always wanted to be a marine biologist. Never had the grades for it, but I still love it!"

The frigid walk to the aquarium took about thirty minutes. The suggested admission fee was a bit on the pricey side, but Ben's relationship with money being what it was, he barely even noticed. Inside, the place was surprisingly just as fun as he remembered it—made even more so by Ashling's seemingly encyclopedic knowledge about everything inside, which she shared with such unbridled enthusiasm that Ben couldn't help but get swept up in it. The two of them managed to spend a whole hour not tearing each others' clothes off—though they did give in to their desires a little bit in a few of the less-trafficked corners of the darker rooms, kissing and desperately groping at each other while the otherworldly scene of sharks and octopuses and colorful fish flitted around behind the glass around them.

When it was finally time to head back outside and meet up with Tomm, the two of them were both practically steaming with anticipation for the night to come, but they held off, heading towards The Stable while Ben told Ashling about his friendship with Tomm—neglecting to say anything about Tomm's history with Vic.

The restaurant was warm and cozy, just as Ben remembered it: dimly lit with dark wood walls and deep red curtains, the subtle smell of fresh baked-bread and a fragrant mix of herbs and spices filling the room. A few couples and small groups were spread sparsely throughout the place, it still being before the usual dinner rush.

"Table for two?" the Colette asked as they entered, her French accent unmistakable.

"Three actually," Ben responded casually, "Unless he's already here? Tomm Fisker? Are you Colette? He said he had a friend who works here."

"Of course! Tomm! You must be Ben! Enchanté!" She hugged him immediately, kissing both of his cheeks before turning to Ashling with an almost imperceptibly less-friendly smile, "and you are?"

"Je m'apelle Ashling," Ashling responded in what was, as far as Ben could tell, perfect French, before reaching down to squeeze Ben's hand visibly, "Je suis un copine de Ben."

Colette's eyes flashed with delight as she heard her native tongue, her momentary suspicion of Ashling somehow quelled, and the two of them embraced and kissed, exchanging a few more phrases in French that Ben couldn't hope to follow.

"Tomm is here, right this way! I don't know if he told you, but we are classmates, and, as he calls it, 'study buddies," she said, dropping the 'h' in 'he' and emphasizing the second syllable in both of the words in 'study buddies' so that it sounded more like 'stuhDEE bohDEEZ.'

Tomm was waiting for them at a table just around the corner from the door. As they approached, he looked up from the menu, doing a quick double take as he saw Ashling at Ben's side. Colette saw the look, and turned around abruptly to go deal with something back at the front of house.

"Hey, Ben! And you must be...?" he asked, recovering, standing up and offering a friendly hand and charming smile to Ashling.

"Ashling Grace. Ben and I just met today, on the bus—but we really hit it off, like. He's been telling me all about you but he didn't tell me his friend was

such

a ride!" she said with a flushed smile as they sat down.

Tomm gave Ben a blank look.

"She's telling you you're a dreamboat, Tomm," Ben explained, trying not to let his jealousy flare up—she was just being charming, probably.

Tomm blushed.

"Well...ah...thanks. Ben didn't even tell me...well he didn't even tell me your name. So Ben, does this mean you and—"

"—Yeah Vic's out of the picture," Ben stated, "I'd rather not talk about it."

Tomm's eyes went wide, but he nodded. Ashling put a comforting hand on Ben's shoulder, which Tomm seemed to take note of as he took a sip from his water.

"So...it's good to see you, man!" Tomm said, finding his stride, "How long's it been? A year?"

"Yeah, just about," Ben said nodding. "How've you been?"

Over the next half hour, the three of them ordered their food and talked. After the first couple loops, Ben had already heard most of what Tomm had had to say, so he was finding hard to be really interested in the conversation, but Ashing's charms seemed to be just as potent on Tomm as they were on Ben, and the two were quickly getting along famously—so well in fact, that Ben couldn't help but start to feel a mounting dread that she was falling for Tomm. The meal was excellent, as before, though Ben was a bit too distracted to notice. It wasn't until Tomm got up to use the restroom that Ashling assuaged his fears.

"So does Tomm

know

that French girl's into him like, and he's not interested, or what?" she asked in a conspiratorial whisper.

"He's clueless," Ben said, "Tomm's always like that. All the girls love him, but he can't see it unless they throw themselves at him."

"I can see that. I mean, Jesus, he looks like he's Chris Hemsworth's younger American cousin or something, like. He should learn to ask for what he wants. Maybe we should do something about that?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well...d'you think he likes her, like?"

"Yeah. I'm pretty sure he just thinks he doesn't have a shot."

"I'll tell her then!" Ashling stated, then leaned in close, "By the way—I hope you don't mind all my flirting! I'm not trying to be a slag, I'm just...well I'm so horny I could start fingerin' myself right here, like. I can't wait till we get back..."

Ashling had put her hand against his chest as she leaned in to say that, and as she pulled away, she slid it down his chest and abdomen to his thigh, giving it a teasing squeeze before pulling back and catching Colette's eye and flagging her down. They had a brief conversation in French, which included a few excited, incredulous whispers from Colette, before Tomm sauntered back from the restroom.

"Ah, here he is!" Ashling said, "We were just talking about you, like!"

Tomm looked back and forth between the two women.

"Nothing bad, I hope?"

Colette gave him a giddy, flushed grin, and then stepped up to him, her face level with his chest, looking up to him. Tomm's eyes widened just as she popped up on her to tiptoes and kissed him once on the lips, smiling even wider, and then giggled at his dumbfounded grin before going back to the front of the house. Tomm watched after her, mouth agape, blushing himself.

"Did she...is she..."

"She likes you, Tomm," Ben stated, rolling his eyes before laughing; Ashling joined in.

"I never...I didn't..."

"You never do, Tomm. It's some kind of reverse miracle that you of all people can't tell when a girl likes you, when eighty percent of women take one look at you and start undressing you with their eyes," Ben chuckled.

As Tomm sat down again, he looked back and forth between Ashling and Ben questioningly. Ben just nodded, while Ashling made a show of licking her lips and waggling her eyebrows, looking Tomm up and down, while under the table her hand was pressed against Ben's thigh, squeezing it hungrily. Tomm blushed even redder.

They talked some more—though Tomm was a bit distracted now, always looking around to see if he could catch Colette's eye as she showed other parties to their tables—and Ashling was starting to lean into Ben, having trouble keeping her hands off of him. When they were finally getting ready to leave, Ben got a text from Juliet, of all people.

J

Hi Ben. I'm sorry to bother you but I need to know. You said something on the bus about Vic doing something with a guy named Harry?

J

I know it's probably not great to ask you for details, but I've been dating a guy named Harry recently

J

And after I heard you say that I just can't stop thinking about it.

J

Do you think it could be the same guy?

Ben sighed. She hadn't believed him much last time—and she wouldn't remember next time—but he did have something that might convince her. Why not? Quickly tapping through his phone to the folder from the last loop, he attached the audio file that he had recorded of Vic admitting to everything and sent it in a text to Juliet.

B

It is the same Harry. I know it's a long recording, the bit about Harry's at the end. Sorry.

Ben the silenced his phone, not particularly interested in hearing about the blowback from that particular situation, just in time to hear the tail end of Ashling explaining about their hotel room.

"Yeah we're staying at a hotel called the Windham or Windlass or something. I hope you don't mind! We just...well I'm leaving now on a flight tomorrow night, and Ben and I..."

"The Windlam? Damn, how did you two afford that place?"

Ashling looked a bit confused, and turned back to Ben.

"Ben actually paid for the room. Why is it expensive, like?"

"It's a long story. I got a good deal," Ben lied, not wanting to go into the details.

"Yeah, there's a really nice bar in the lobby too, like," Ashling continued, "In fact—once Colette's off her shift, maybe you want to take her out to the bar at the Windham, like? It could be a double date!"

Tomm grinned a big grin.

"I'll ask her."

"She'll say yes. She get's off at eleven," Ashling responded confidently, "see you then!"

Ben was surprised at Ashling's suggestion—he had gotten the impression that she wanted some alone time between them as soon as possible—but then he saw on his phone that it was still only eight pm. They had three hours to themselves before eleven, plenty of time for some one-on-one time. Just thinking about it, Ben's pulse quickened.

The two of them left The Stable hand in hand as Tomm went over to ask out Colette. Just as the door was closing, Ben spotted Colette nod and blush and wiggle with excitement, jumping up on her tiptoes again to give Tomm another kiss.

"So," Ben said as he and Ashling leaned into each other for warmth, trekking back towards the hotel, "playing matchmaker much?"

"They're just

soooo

cute, like, both of them," Ashling said, "she's been aching for him for fecking

months

too, like, I could tell."

They walked in silence for a few more minutes, before Ben decided to just try and get it out.

"I've got a weird question," Ben started diplomatically, "have you ever seen the movie Groundhog Day?"

"With Bill Murray, like?"

"Yeah."

"Yeah. It was one of my dad's favorites. It's a good film."

"What would you do if you were like him? I mean, trapped in a single day, reliving it?"

Ashling shot Ben a glance and smiled despite the frigid cold.

"Depends on the day like. If it was today, I don't think I'd mind it so much. Not for a while anyway—I met you, I ate good food, went to aquarium, got fucked in a changing room stall..."

Ben blushed.

"Ok, ok. But just think about it. You might not meet me every time. Maybe you'd sit in a different seat or something, and something completely different would happen."

"Well, once I'd sat next to you once, I don't think I'd bother with changing seats, like. Maybe once I'd sit with what's-his-face, Captain Gobshite, just to ruin his day, but once I found what I liked..." she said, slipping a hand around his back and giving his ass a squeeze, "I think I'd enjoy it. I mean

eventually

I'd get tired of it I'm sure, but we could mix it up."

Ben nodded. He hadn't thought of it quite like that, but it was true. This time around at least, he had had a pretty good day. He wouldn't mind reliving it.

"Ok, but what about like, other things. Would you try to...I don't know...make a bunch of money? Would you tell anyone?"

"I'd probably do that, yeah. After enough loops, why not? I mean in the film doesn't he find true love or whatever, and then the loop ends, like? Why are you so hung up on it?"

"What would you do if I told you that I was experiencing that? That I had lived this day over and over."

Ashling shot him a skeptical look.

"Well, I'd probably think you were joking, like. I mean, we live in real life, this isn't a film. I guess I'd ask you to prove it, like?"

"How could I prove it though?"

"Well, in the film he like, knows everything about everyone around him and knows what everyone's going to say before they say it, like. I'd tell you to do that. To show me."

"But I've only been through the loop five times!" Ben said, exasperated.

Ashling chuckled.

"You're starting to act a bit silly, Ben. Why is this so important, like?"

Ben sighed.

"Never mind. We're almost to the hotel."

When they got up to their room the first time, Ashling was too shocked to speak. The suite was enormous, with four bedrooms, a hot tub, a bar—it looked like something out of one of those movies with coke-fiend Wall Street executives or something.

"Sorry...I've been working my way around telling you this. I spent...a lot on the room..."

"Jesus Christ, Ben! How the hell did you afford this, like?"

"Would you take my word for it if I just told you I'm living in a time loop?"

Ashling looked his way and raised an eyebrow.

"It's a long story. It involves a lost cat of a very rare breed, and a large reward."

"How much was it?"

"A bit under ten-thousand dollars," he said, smiling nervously.

"Ten thousand dollars for a fecking cat?"

"Actually no. Ten thousand for the suite. I got twenty thousand for finding the cat."

Ashling didn't look like she believed him. Ben, realizing that the proverbial cat was out of the proverb bag anyway, went over to his backpack, which was leaning up against Ashling's—the hotel staff having brought them up when he first booked the room—and opened it up, pulling the remaining stacks of twenties out to show her.

"I know it sounds crazy, but I really did rescue a cat this morning at like four, and got twenty thousand dollars for it. I didn't tell you before because I thought it might be hard to believe, but it's true."

"Ok," she said cautiously, stepping further into the hotel room and leaning against a wall closer to him, "let's say I believe you, like. That still doesn't explain why you were willing to drop that much on a hotel room. You'd have to be

trying

to spend it all in one day to..."

Ashling paused, and then smiled.

"So you're trying to tell me you're really Bill Murray, like?"

Ben breathed out a nervous laugh and nodded.

"You've lived—or you think you've lived—this day through more than once? And you found a way to get all this money and then, since you knew it'd be gone by the time the loop reset, you tried to find a way use it?

Ben nodded again.

"Jesus, you're fecking mad, like," she muttered, almost to herself, "I don't suppose you can tell me what I'm about to say next?"

Ben shook his head.

"No. I told you outside. This is only my fifth time through. My first time getting this money or the hotel, or even spending the day with you."

Ashling smiled despite herself.

"There's no way you could prove it to me?"

"Not really. I mean, there's this weird thing on my phone, but I don't know how convincing it will be."

Ashling laughed.

"Look, you're sounding extra crazy to me, but after the day we've had, I

really

want to believe that I haven't been falling for a madman. Why don't we go sit down on one of these ridiculously fancy sofas, and you can tell me all about it. What you remember. We've got three hours 'till Tomm and Colette get here anyway, like."

Ben did. A part of him was crestfallen, having spent dinner, and all of the walk home, just waiting to kiss her, to tear her clothes off, to feel her body again. Now that he had brought up his whole time loop situation, that seemed like less of a possibility, but on the other hand, he had decided to tell her about this before—and he desperately wanted

some one

to confide in. After five times through—though admittedly he had either died or been unconscious for most of one of them—he was starting to feel like some sort of lonely creep with secret insights into the thoughts and desires of the people around him. So he told her.