Tom scanned his social media accounts idly while he waited for Bill to pick him up. Bill texted him a moment later saying he was outside. Tom opened the door and was a bit taken aback by the cold early spring wind. He hadn’t even thought about getting a jacket! He quickly closed the door and ran back to his room, grabbing a black hoodie off the stack on the floor before running back out the front door. He slipped it on and headed down the path to where Bill’s BMW was parked outside.
He opened the passenger door and sat down. “Good morning, Bill,” he said, reaching his hand across for a handshake.
Bill was a bit older than Tom had been originally, in his mid-40’s. His hair was black with tinges of gray, and his receding hairline was fairly obvious. He was a bit overweight due to his age and mostly sedentary lifestyle, and he currently wore a look of extreme shock as he looked down at the ginger teenage boy that sat across from him.
“T…Tom?!” Bill said incredulously, slowly reaching out to return the handshake. “Is this some sort of joke?”
“I told you I was a teenager, man,” Tom replied wryly.
“I mean, yeah, I guess I was just expecting something…I don’t know…older…You look so young!!” Bill started backing out of the parking space, still glancing over at Tom in shock.
“Yeah, the host’s body was 16 years old, but we apparently had a really high brain connection which made the whole process incredibly smooth and everything…It’s been quite an experience,” Tom said, running his hand through his hair absentmindedly.
“Oh, I imagine,” Bill replied. “It’s definitely going to take some getting used to. But as long as you can continue to work claims the way that you did before, I don’t see any reason or concern to have it affect your job. Anyways, how does Mexican sound for lunch? There’s this little hole-in-the-wall restaurant I’ve been wanting to try for a while, and I thought it would be a good place to grab a bite to eat.”
“That sounds fine to me!” Tom replied, his stomach growling at the thought. Mexican food would be good…Tacos, burritos, enchiladas…his mouth was watering at the thought.
“So, how has it been, adjusting to such a younger body?” Bill asked.
“Eh, there’s a lot to take in,” Tom replied, looking out the window. “I think Alice is really struggling to come to terms with it…” his thoughts drifted off as he got distracted by all of the scenery that rolled by in the drive. As they went down the street, they passed a skate park off the road where several teen guys were skating. Tom watched briefly as they drove by, loving the different tricks and flips that the guys were trying. Some of the guys even looked a bit familiar. He turned his head as they passed it, trying to get a better look.
“TOM!” Bill called from the driver’s seat, reaching over to gently nudge him with his right hand.
“Huh?” Tom said, turning back around and looking at Bill, who glanced at him for a moment before returning his vision to the road. “I’m sorry, Bill. Did you say something?”
“I was asking how Matt’s doing with all the changes,” Bill replied.
“Matt’s doing pretty good,” Tom replied. “We spent some time together yesterday afternoon, and it was actually really fun. In some ways, we hadn’t connected like that in a while. I think me being closer to his age physically is actually going to have an improvement on our relationship with one another.”
“That’s good!” Bill replied, as he moved the car into a turn lane. He pulled into a parking lot for Herrera Family Mexican Grill. He found an empty parking spot and parked his car. “Have you ever eaten here before?” he asked.
Tom looked at the restaurant that they had pulled into. He had a very strong experience of déjà vu, but he was fairly certain that he hadn’t ever eaten there. “No…” he said, a bit uncertain. “At least, not that I recall…”
“Well, Greg from Finance said that they’ve got really good fajitas, so I figured it would be a great place to try out,” Bill said, getting out of the car.
Tom got out of the car as well. He started to look to the floor for his skateboard, then realized that he didn’t bring it. *That’s strange,* he thought. *Why would I have a skateboard?* He shook his head and then ran his hand through his hair, walking towards the restaurant.
“You know,” Bill said as they entered the restaurant, “We might have to talk about you getting a haircut before you return to work.”
Whatever else Bill was saying, however, was completely lost on Tom. As he entered the restaurant, he was immediately taken by the enticing spicy smells that surrounded him from the entrance. The bright and colorful restaurant was filled with people and mariachi music playing through speakers in the ceiling. Tom realized instantly why he had the feeling of déjà vu in the parking lot, and a new feeling that was a mix of excitement and dread filled the pit of his stomach as he realized that the restaurant they had just entered was the same one that he had dreamt of the night before, the one from the pictures of Miguel’s birthday. Before he could fully process anything further, a voice pierced through his shock.
“Daniel!!!” An older Hispanic woman came from behind the hostess stand and ran up to Tom, instantly pulling him into a hug. “¡Gloria a Dios! Miguel ha estado muy preocupado por dónde has estado los últimos días….Lo siento…sorry, I forget myself. Miguel has been worried sick about you the past few days! Come in! Come in!” She quickly walked Daniel in, holding on to him firmly and motioning for Bill to follow her. “Hello!” she said, not wasting a moment’s breath. “My name is Maria Herrera, and this is my restaurant. My youngest son, Miguel, is Daniel’s boyfriend. Is this a friend of yours, Daniel?”
Bill looked utterly confused by what was going on. Tom was mortified at the experience. He tried to find his voice but felt totally embarrassed.
“I beg your pardon, Mrs. Herrera, but I believe you may be mistaken,” Bill said, recovering more quickly than Tom could. “I think you may have mistaken my co-worker for his host body. You see…”
Before Bill could continue, Mrs. Herrera ushered the two of them back into the kitchen, which was a bustle of activity as cooks and servers made their way preparing food and taking it out into the restaurant. In the middle of the line, one of the servers looked up and met Tom’s eyes. Tom blushed instantly as he felt his dick harden at the sight of Miguel, who looked incredibly handsome in his server uniform.
“¡Mijo!” Mrs. Herrera said to Miguel upon entering. “¡Mira quién vino a verte!”
Miguel looked utterly stunned at Tom’s appearance, which his mother clearly took as shock over Danny’s extended disappearance. Bill still had a look of confusion on his face, and Tom was fairly certain that his own face now matched the color of his hair.
Tom finally found his voice. “Umm…Mrs. Herrera…Miguel and I need to discuss something with you…privATEly…” his voice cracked in embarrassment.
Mrs. Herrera looked utterly confused by the responses of the three men. She sighed, muttering to herself in Spanish. She motioned for Miguel to follow her and walked Tom to an empty table in the corner of the restaurant. She sat down on one side, and Tom sat down opposite her. Bill slid in next to Tom, and Miguel, still looking utterly confused, sat down next to his mother.
“Daniel, what happen to you? Are you okay? And mijo! You’ve been pining over Daniel for the past week! Are you not happy to see your boyfriend?”
“Well, Mrs. Herrera,” Tom said, “It’s not exactly what you think…” Tom began to explain the Mind Store Machine Project to Mrs. Herrera, who kept interrupting with numerous questions. She also had chips, salsa, and drinks brought to their table for them to snack on while Tom explained everything. Tom found himself enjoying the incredibly spicy salsa, which again was not something that he was used to eating.
“So, you are saying that you are businessman, and that your brain is in Daniel’s body?! Aye! That’s loco!!” Mrs. Herrera said, shaking her head in disbelief. “But do you remember me at all? Do you have any of Danny’s memories?”
Tom paused for a minute, uncertain of how to answer the question. Part of him wanted to tell her the truth and explain that he did clearly still have some of Danny’s memories, but he was also concerned about how Bill might respond to that as well. He finally said, “I have had some dreams that I think have been influenced by Danny’s memories…I was actually hoping Miguel here might be able to help me sort through some of these things…We were actually going to meet later this afternoon to discuss it. But I did come here with my boss to discuss things related to my job. I had no idea that it was your restaurant! I’m so sorry for any awkwardness I may have caused you or Miguel…”
“Stop,” Mrs. Herrera said firmly. “You are always welcome here, no matter who you are. This place was always a safe place for Danny, and I see no reason why it cannot also be a safe place for you. I am sorry for bothering you during your lunch.”
“It’s no bother,” Bill responded. “It’s actually quite an honor to meet the owner of this establishment. I’ve heard great things about this restaurant!”
“Co-owner, actually,” Mrs. Herrera responded. “My husband and I both run this place. I must get back to the kitchen. I have already been gone too long. Mijo! Come with me. Daniel…err…I mean, Thomas, I look forward to speaking to you more later, and I hope that Miguel can help you with everything with Danny’s memories. Come, mijo!”
Miguel had remained completely silent through the whole conversation, purposefully avoiding Tom’s eyes. “I’ll talk to you later,” he mumbled, following his mom back into the kitchen. Bill stood up an slid into the booth across from Daniel. Within a few seconds, a waiter came out from the kitchen and brought them menus to order from. After they had put in their order, Bill looked across the table at Tom.
“So, that was pretty awkward. I forgot that your host body was local. I guess it’s inevitable that you would run across someone else who would know you. But what are the odds that it would be your host body’s…boyfriend? Is that weird for you?”
Tom blushed at the response, chewing on his straw unconsciously as he thought how to respond. “I haven’t really thought too much about it,” he lied. “I mean, I’m engaged to Alice, and I definitely still love her, so I guess my brain has overwritten any homosexual thoughts that Danny previously had.” He hoped Bill hadn’t noticed the erection that he has been sporting just sitting across from Miguel throughout his discussion.
“Have you talked to Alice about it?” he asked.
“No, I just found out about it last night, and I haven’t seen her since,” Tom replied. “I’m not too worried about it, though, because as I said, it’s nothing to be concerned with.”
“Still, don’t you think she has a right to know?”
“I mean, I do plan on telling her! I’m just not going to stop everything and inform her of something that really doesn’t have that much importance. We’re still trying to figure out intimacy with my body being so much younger.”
“Actually, we need to discuss that,” Bill said, changing the subject. “I’m a bit concerned about how your current look might affect your interaction with customers.”
“I thought you said that you were fine with it as long as I could continue do my job!” Tom replied, getting annoyed at Bill’s constant reminder of how young he looked.
“Well, that’s true, and I am not concerned about it, but what I am concerned is how our customers might respond to it. I mean, would you want to take insurance advice from someone who looks like they haven’t even graduated high school?”
“If they fucking knew they what they were talking about, I would!” Tom said, his anger escalating.
“Whoa, dude. Calm down,” Bill said, putting a reassuring hand on Tom’s shoulder. “I’m not saying that you have to give up your job or anything. I’m just thinking we should ease you back in slowly, just to make sure that everything’s okay. We had already lightened your workload a couple of months ago due to your chemo, so I think we should continue with that for now, let you continue to work a bit more behind the scenes, and we’ll ease you back into customer interaction. Does that sound fair?”
Tom sighed, feeling like his headache was returning. What he wouldn’t give to have a hit from his pipe right about now. Wait, no! That wasn’t right. He ran a hand through his hair. “Yeah, that’s cool,” Tom said, relaxing back into his seat.
Their food was soon brought to them, and Tom looked excited at the beef enchiladas with mole sauce that was before him. He dug into the spicy dish and greatly enjoyed the taste. A part of his mind reminded him that he really enjoyed this dish, even though he also knew that he had never had it before today.
As he continued to eat, he realized that Bill was talking about some of the new policies at work, but he found that he was quickly distracted by the business of the restaurant. He could feel a strong familiarity here. He saw several of the servers and realized that most of them at least looked familiar, although he couldn’t begin to tell you their names or their backgrounds.
“Tom, are you even listening to what I’m saying?”
Tom realized that he had completely turned his head to look around the restaurant, completely ignoring Bill. “I’m so sorry, Bill,” he said, turning to face his supervisor. “It’s just weird. This place is just so familiar and yet at the same time, there’s so much I don’t know…”
Bill looked at him a bit concerned. “Should I be worried about you? Are you sure you’re going to be okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine,” Tom reassured him. “I just feel like I had a really important dream, but I can’t remember any of the details, but it still leaves you with this weird feeling of déjà vu that makes things be familiar even if you’re not sure why. I’m still adjusting to things.”
“Well, do you think you’ll be able to report for work on Monday?” Bill asked.
“Yeah, I don’t see why not…” he paused for a moment. “But wait, I guess I need to get my license transferred over first. I’ve got the paperwork and stuff to do that, at least, I’m pretty sure I do at home. I have, like, this huge stack of papers to go through, but I’m pretty sure I have stuff to get all of my IDs and everything transferred over.”
“Well, that’s fine. Take your time. We’ll still be here whenever you’re ready.” Bill paused as he called the server over and asked for their check. The server responded and explained that Mrs. Herrera had said that their meal was on the house, and that they didn’t owe anything.
“Well, please tell Mrs. Herrera thank you from the both of us,” Bill said, with Tom nodding in agreement. “Are your ready to go?” Bill asked.
“Actually, if you don’t mind, I want to stay here,” Tom replied. “I’m pretty sure I can get a ride home without any problem. But I need to think about some things, and I’d like to remain here for a bit.”
Bill cocked his head to the side and raised his eyebrow. “Well, all right. Your choice. Give me a call if you need anything, Tom! I hope you get everything figured out and we see you back to normal in a few days.”
As Bill left, Tom remained seated in the chair, nibbling absentmindedly at the top of his straw while running a hand through his shaggy red hair. His mind was torn. Part of him wanted to go talk to Miguel and apologize profusely for any stress he had put on the young Mexican teenager, while another part of him wanted to sneak out back and smoke his pipe…But then he realized he didn’t have his pipe. *And even if I did, it’s not like I WANT to smoke it. Not really. It’s just the kid’s stupid addiction.*
He leaned back, sighing out loud in frustration at the whole situation. His train of thought was derailed, however, when someone slid into the booth across from him. He looked up to find the handsome face of Miguel sitting across from him, a small smile on his face…