Future Problems

"Help yoursel-" Carol began before Dexter raced past her and into the bathroom, slamming and locking the door behind him. Curiosity getting the better of her, Carol walked up to the door and pressed an ear to it, her face growing concerned as she heard soft moaning. "I hope he's alright, he sounds like he's got some stomach problems."

"Carol..." Karen began as she led the future woman away from the door, "In this era where there's no law saying that wearing clothes is illegal, there's only one reason a teenaged boy would lock himself in the bathroom in this situation: He's getting his rocks off."

"Off of what?" Carol asked innocently.

"No, I mean he's **** the chicken? Spanking the monkey?"

"Well, that's not very nice. And he seemed like such a sweet guy, too."

"He has a date with Ms. Rosey Palms."

"WHAT?! Oh, nobody cheats on my baby sister and gets away with it!"

"Oh for Pete's sake!" Karen said in annoyance. "He's a naked eighteen year old guy, in the hotel room of the girl he just banged, and surrounded by three other woman who are also butt ass naked! What the hell do you THINK he's doing in there?!"

"S-Sophie!" Dexter's voice croaked just loud enough to be heard from behind the door.

Sophie blushed scarlet, but couldn't help but smile a little. Even with the three other women in the room, Dexter still singled her out.

"Oh..." Carol said, finally connecting the dots. Once she finally came to realization, her eyes went wide as her face went pink. "Oh. Okay, that makes sense."

"So, Sophie," Cindy said as she sat next to the girl, "you and Dexter really like each other, huh?"

"Oh, 'like' isn't even the right word! I've only known him for an hour, and already I feel like we were made for each other! He's the only guy I met that didn't mock my body. He even called me beautiful... And he meant it!" Sophie sighed lovingly with a goofy grin on her face as she laid back on the bed. "I am madly in love with him! And he loves me too!"

A few seconds later, she shot right back up with a look of horror on her face. "Oh no. I'm a complete moron!"

"About loving someone?" Cindy asked in confusion. "Sophie, falling in love doesn't make you an idiot."

"It does when the guy you're in love with is from three hundred years in the past!" Sophie whimpered, "I don't know what to do. I want to be with him, but I... I can't."

"Oh, Sophie..." Carol said softly as she sat down next to her sister and wrapped her arms around her in a hug.

"If I stay here, I could accidently mess up the timeline." Sophie continued, "And I can't take him with us back to 2347! What if he's someone important in this point in time?!"

"He could be a complete nobody." Karen suggested, chuckling nervously at the glares from Carol and Sophie.

"What Karen means to say," Cindy said, "is that you don't know if that's true or not. I mean, for example: If you two took me back to your time, nothing would probably change because I didn't do anything big enough to effect the future."

"What about that restaurant idea you've been having for years now?" Karen asked, "You know, the one with the private dinning rooms that people rent with the recliners and TVs to give a "dinner and a movie experience'?"

"Shut the hell up right now!" Carol gasped in shock, jumping to her feet and staring at Cindy. "You're the founder of Lunch N' Lounge?!"

"'The found-' Wait. My idea actually worked?!"

"'Worked'?!" Carol asked with a chuckle. "Would you say that the future Number One Restuarant in America for the past two hundred ninety-five years in our time, with over three hundred seventy-eight million locations nationwide and an additional three hundred worldwide, was an idea that 'worked'?"

"Wow." Cindy and Karen said, completely stunned.

"See?! That's exactly what I'm talking about!" Sophie said, "Who knows if Dexter is important to our future or not?! He could be the ancestor of the inventor of the time device. Or the direct ancestor of the woman who put The Nudity Act into effect!"

"Or our ancestor..." Carol said, looking a little green.

"First off, you and I have had our family tree hammered into our memories since our respective childhoods, so we know that is mercifully not true." Sophie said in annoyance, "Second, even if that was true... Please don't put that image in my head!"

"Sophie," Cindy began, "maybe you should tell him that -"

"Tell him what? That I'm from the future?!" Sophie asked with a sarcastic laugh, "Let me ask you something: Did you, Karen, or Margot believe Carol when she told you that she was from the future? No! Two of you thought she was nuts and wanted to ditch her at the first chance you got, and the other wanted to take advantage of her because she thought Carol was stupid and crazy!"

Sophie felt tears well up in her eyes as she hung her head. "If I tell him the truth, I'll lose him..."

"And if you don't tell him, you'll lose him." Carol said in a comforting yet firm voice, sitting back down next to her sister. "And it will hurt even worse."

Sophie looked up again, ready to argue. However, the more she thought about Carol's words, the more she realized that her older sister was right. She merely sighed and hung her head as the sound of a sink being turned on and off in the bathroom was heard. "What'll I do?"

"Sophie?" Dexter asked as he finally came out of the bathroom, causing the four women to look up at the concerned young man holding a wash rag in front of his manhood. "Sophie, what's wrong?"