Terrence pays the price (END)

In the months that followed, Terrence tried to retain his memories of what had happened that night. He didn't talk much with Wyatt or Damien. Kayla and Kat were distant. And Jan was out of his life altogether.

As the days ticked by, Terrence lost faith that the evening had even happened the way he thought it had. Had he really had sex with Emma Watson? In public, as part of some kind of weird game show? Had he actually ... impregnated her?

Jan was gone, and that seemed to be proof of something, but Terrence grew increasingly unclear as to what was a memory and what was a fantasy.

He scoured the internet looking for information about an upcoming Emma Watson movie, or any news about her being pregnant, having a baby, or any of what he thought had happened. But there was nothing. In fact, there was surprisingly little public news about her, especially considering what an international celebrity she had long been.

Terrence knew when nine months had passed. He wondered if somehow he would hear from Emma, hear from her management or handlers. Did she get pregnant? Did she have a baby? Was he part of the world? But nothing.

The days and weeks continued to go by, and eventually, Terrence abandoned his pursuit of information. None of his friends from back then spoke to him anymore. He got drunk once in a while and tried to tell stories at a bar about hooking up with Emma Watson, but of course, no one believed him.

About three years after that fateful night, there was news of a new Emma Watson film getting a small release at limited independent cinemas. The film was called "Noah." Terrence vaguely remembered something about Noah, the ark, the Biblical stories -- was that the subject of the proposed film?

The movie house closest to Terrence that showed the movie was about a four hour drive away. But he made the trip. He bought the ticket. He sat in the theater. He watched. He kept waiting for something about Emma Watson's character getting pregnant, having a baby. It was all supposed to have been so real.

... but it didn't happen that way. There was no pregnancy. There was no sex. There was no baby. Just a highly stylized film about a sliver of a Bible story.

Terrence stayed at the theater and watched a second showing of "Noah," wondering if he had slept through something, if he had zoned out and missed a critical scene. But he hadn't.

What was it all for? What was the point of the auction house night? What actually happened there? Terrence's mind was flush with questions. But he had no contact with Damien anymore. Kat and Kayla had stopped responding to his texts. Wyatt had moved to Europe and wasn't really on the grid at all.

When Terrence got home that night, he decided to text Jan. He didn't know what else to do. He was confused, upset, losing his sense of purpose in the world.

[I don't know what to say, except that I'm not trying to get back with you or anything. I'm just ... writing to say hello, I think.]

Days went by, but there was no response. He sent another message.

[Jan, it's Ter. Come on, just let me know you're doing okay. That's all.]

But again, no response. Several more days. So Terrence tried once more.

[Hey at least just tell me to fuck off or something, just give me some closure.]

Later that afternoon, Terrence heard the ping of an incoming message.

[sorry, i dont know who you are so i think you have a wrong number]

[I'm Terrence. You're not Janette?]

[no]

[When did you get this number?]

[like a month ago. sorry i dont know who janette is]

[What's your name?]

[noah]

[Wait, what? Seriously? Your name is Noah?]

There was no reply.

Terrence stared at the text exchange with "Noah" every day, waiting, hoping for another message. But no more messages came in. He couldn't bring himself to reach out again. He couldn't understand the weirdness of the coincidence of the memory, of Jan, of the movie, of Emma, of Noah ...

He stared at his phone. He stared out the window. He watched the sky as it began to rain.

THE END.