"Hey babe..." says Luca, who is sitting at the window spot.

"LUCA?" exclaims Daniella. He smiles and looks at her quizzically.

"It's you..." she observes.

He chuckles. "It's me. Here, let me help you with your stuff..."

He takes her purse and carry-on and places them in the overhead compartment for her. Daniella looks at his shoes: Adidas.

"You're wearing Adidas," notes Daniella.

"Of course, I am! So are you! What else would I wear? Want the window seat?"

Daniella nods and they switch spots.

"What took you so long anyway?" he continues.

"I... I was signing the... pink slip."

"Pink slip?"

"The cargo slip?"

Luca looks confused. "We didn't check-in any cargo."

"But like we did?" asks Daniella.

"But we didn't... unless you did? I don't recall that happening this morning."

"Okay... but like if that was the case, why did you let me go to the cargo counter?"

"I didn't know. You just said that you'd be right back."

A rush of adrenaline streams through Daniella's body as she hears out Luca. She understands everything he is saying and is confident that he is telling the truth as this is his reality and not necessarily hers, but his words are beginning to irritate her somewhere.

"So then you just.. boarded without waiting for me?"

"The gates were going to close."

The audacity of this man. "So you were just going to leave me at the gate and what? Hope for the best? I was knocked out, Luca!"

"You fell down again?" He asks with a particular irritation.

"I whacked my head pretty badly! I literally got up super quickly and I wasn't that far away... how did you not see that?"

Luca shrugs. Daniella is bothered by his inability to understand her position. At least the Lukes she has encountered appeared to have some sort of an understanding.

"Whatever..." concludes Daniella. She retracts her attention away from Luca and redistributes it to the window as the plane takes off.

After several hours of tense silence between the reunited couple, Luca rests his head on her shoulders. "Hey," he whispers as he nuzzles his head. She doesn't respond, so he tries again. "Hey..."

Daniella smiles as she looks down at him. "Hey."

"Whatcha looking at?"

"The sky."

"It's just clouds, isn't it?"

"Yeah, but I like watching them evolve over the course of the flight. For example, it was dark and cloudy when we left, but now it's clear."

"That's a good sign, right?"

"Yes... but-"

"-Good! Why don't you watch a movie instead?"

"You make a point..."

Daniella smells an extremely strong perfume that grows stronger and stronger. She looks through the aisle and finds The Stewardess approaching them. "Hello, hello! Would anyone like a drink?"

"I'll take an Arnold Palmer," answers Daniella.

"And you sir?" asks The Stewardess.

"I'll... take a glass of champagne," answers Luca.

"Great! I'll be back with drinks!"

As the couple watches The Stewardess and her corresponding scent disappear, Luca brings his attention back to Daniella.

"Arnold Palmers, huh?"

"Yep."

"That's a first. You always drink champagne."

"I.... don't feel like drinking champagne right now."

"But you never turn down an opportunity to drink."

Daniella grows agitated at the comment. "Why does everyone always make it seem as though I'm some sort of party girl alcoholic? Because I rarely drink... unless there's something I'm missing. Is there something I'm missing?"

Luke is baffled by her question. "Are you okay? You seem a little on edge..."

Daniella takes a deep breath. "I... I don't know."

"You wanna talk about it?"

She shrugs. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Try."

"I've been thrown into a series of loops and scenarios in which getting home has been anything but easy."

Luca nods. She takes it as her cue to keep talking. "I've dealt with rewinds, telepathic dogs, combative little girls, giant talking teddy bears, and so many head injuries that I'm afraid I need to get an MRI as soon as we get home.. that is... if we do get home..."

He nods again and lets the explanation simmer into his mind. He begins to chuckle. The chuckle evolves into a laugh and the laugh erupts into a cackle as The Stewardess serves them their drinks.

"You know, maybe it's a good thing that you're laying off the alcohol."

Daniella is agape. "I'm sorry what?"

"That sounds like a really nasty trip."

"You mean a dream?"

"Yeah, that. Sounds like the alc's been hitting you hard in the subconscious."

Daniella raises an eyebrow at Luca. "What?" he asks.

"I'm pretty sure that's not how alcohol works."

"Hey, you never know these days." retorts Luca who indulges in his champagne. Instead of continuing to engage in the madness, she turns her attention to the in-flight entertainment. She selects Inception as her choice of film.... perhaps she'll learn a thing or two from the film.

"Well, well, well..." The Universe says to Daniella. "Someone looks unhappy."

"No sh*t." telepathically responds Daniella.

"I thought you wanted to go home."

"I do."

"I thought you wanted to be with Luca."

Daniella stays silent as she tries to come up with a response.

"You sound sorely disappointed."

"More like dissatisfied."

"Isn't it the same thing?" asks The Universe.

"I suppose so...."

"Missing your husband?"

"I never said that."

"You didn't have to." An awkward silence ensues between the two. The Universe clears her throat and continues. "You know, I could get you out of this if you want, all you have to do is just say the word."

Daniella shrugs. "Let me try to finish this one out just for the sake of finishing."

The Universe sounds omnipotently uneasy. "Are you sure about that?"

"Are you hiding something again?"

"We literally just had a conversation about this, Daniella. All I'm asking is if you want me to end the loop."

Daniella shrugs again. "Can I at least finish this one and then we can talk afterward?"

The Universe lets out a hesitant exhale. "Mmm-hmmm. Whatever you say...I'll see you in a bit."

Daniella is unnerved by The Universe's tone.

"Hey! Hey! Universe! What's that supposed to mean? UNIVERSE!!!!"

Once again, there is no response from The Universe... which begins to make Daniella rather nervous. "Oh no... What have I done now?" Daniella asks herself as she continues to watch the ever so fitting trippy film of her selection. Luca, of course, peeks over at the film.

"Inception? How fitting," he observes. Daniella, taking off her headphones, turns to him with a horrified look. "That's not funny," she responds.

"I'm kidding!" Luca pauses for a second and takes in his girlfriend's stern facial expression. "Look, I'm sorry about earlier. That wasn't cool of me to do... I'd do anything to make it up to you, sweetheart."

That pet name brings an involuntary twitch to Daniella's left eye.

"Sweetheart, your eye..."

The same eye twitches again. This time it's particularly strong.

"What about it?" asks Daniella.

"It's twitching."

Daniella sighs. "Of course it is... Luca?"

"Yes, Sweetheart?"

Daniella feels an even stronger twitch to her eye which is almost painful.

"Give me your champagne."

"Are you sure-"

"-Yep. Give it to me."

Luca gives her his flute and is surprised to see Daniella chug the whole thing in one sitting.

"You want another glass, or-"

"-Nope."

After they land and perform the typical arrival routine, Luca and Daniella finally begin to leave the terminal. A dog cuts through their path. There's something about the dog that feels familiar to Daniella...

"Come here, baby girl! Come here to mama!" is echoed through the airport. Luca smiles at the sight, which Daniella momentarily glances at... That is until a shade of fuschia catches her attention. Daniella shakes off the disorienting sight as she spots a dark maned woman with pink lipstick.

"Only a few lucky women in the world could pull off that specific shade of fuchsia" Daniella thinks to herself. "Wait, wait, wait, wait. I've had this mental conversation before. Am I having another deja-vu?"

Daniella continues to rewatch the scene:

"Aw Dani, I missed you too! Who's a good girl? I love you, I love you so much! Did you miss me? Where's Daddy?" asks the girl with the pink lipstick.

"That's literally impossible. Luca is right h-"

Daniella's sentence is suddenly cut off by the sight of a tall 5'11", leanish shaggy-haired blonde man who joins them.

"Babe! He looks just like me!" observes Luca, who checks out his doppelganger from head to toe. "Except he's wearing fricking Skechers. SMH." which makes Daniella laugh out loud.

"Luca! Baby! I was starting to think the dog came alone to pick me up!" the beautiful young woman says as she lazily throws her arms around her partner.

"Babe! He even has the same name as me!" exclaims Daniella's Luca as he continues to eavesdrop.

"A tall, lean, blonde, man with a spicy common name? What a small world..." sarcastically retorts Daniella out loud as she is slowly but surely growing horrified by the second.

"What the hell is going on?" Daniella asks herself as the scene unfolds itself a second time in front of her. "Something feels off... I messed up something, didn't I? I'm not supposed to be here, aren't I? Oh f**k, Universe, what did I do? I can't even blame you this time around since you.... you did offer me a way out... Wait. No.... this is why, isn't it? Are you f**king kidding me? Why didn't you just say that there was a glitch in the system? Wait, that makes no sense like at all... " Daniella pauses and regulates her breathing. "WHAT'S GOING ON? THIS IS SOOOOO OFF!"

Luca nudges her to keep watching the couple as they watch the happy couple and their dog leaves the airport. "Aw! It's like a Kodak moment!" admires Luca. He notices Daniella's paling expression on her face. "Babe? Babe? You okay?"

"Mmm-hmmm." Daniella frantically nods.

A series of loud, abrupt hyperventilation-induced screams attract the couple's attention, along with the rest of the airport. Daniella can't tell who it is, but she can deduce that the source of the sound is female. The voice continues:

"WHAT. THE. F**K!!!! F**K!!!!!!!!!!!!! SOMEONE GET ME OUT OF HERE... GET ME OUT OF HERE... GET ME-"

Daniella's mind twists into a pretzel knot. Her eyebrows follow suit as her eyelids flutter like a library book. Luca notices her strange condition.

"Babe? You okay?" he asks.

"That's.... those... those... that's.... that... that... that... what? huh? This wasn't supposed to happen... That's not what happened? I.. wh- I was... Hmmm.... huh? What? Oh my god, oh my god.... what... what did I... What did I do?" stutters a seriously fried and frazzled Daniella whose eyes have grown extremely huge within seconds of hearing her own words.

Did she seriously reenter the loop? Is she multiple people? What in the world is going on.

The outburst is followed by a loud concrete thud and a ton of commotion as passerbys huddle around the person, who probably fainted.

Daniella and Luca look in the direction of the crowd forming, which instantly inspires to do the same. Daniella makes her way through the huddle into the center of the chaos, only to find herself. The other Daniella opens her eyes and makes eye contact with this present Daniella, instantly making both Daniellas collapse simultaneously.

To be continued... 

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

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