The Greatest Gift

Dominic pulled his thin black tie, stretching it over his grey button up, and shifted in his chair repeatedly. He cleared his throat and scratched his chin with his pinky nail; Dominic brushed his hair back with two fast swipes of his hand.

“Nervous?” The man sitting across from him asked. He sat at a wide desk with his name engraved on a plate, bordered with a gold line around the words “Liam Whitner.” Liam looked under his eyebrows at Dominic, half-pitying him. “It’s just a job interview.”

“I know,” Dominic wiped his palms on his pants, exhaling nervously. “Right.”

“Well then,” Liam reached to his right and grabbed a stapled set of pages with a host of questions on them. Liam flipped through the first page and paused. “Mhmm…” he said to himself, studying the questions. “Oooh…”

Dominic straightened his posture and try peering over the page to see the questions; Liam’s reactions daunted Dominic. “Erm, before we begin, where is the nearest toilet?”

Liam had just set his bifocals on the bridge of his nose when he pulled them off and held them upright by the arms. “Do you need it now?”

“No,” Dominic said quickly. “Just... for when I do.”

Liam chewed on the arm of his bifocals for oral fixation and stared curiously at Dominic. “Right then. Down the hall, past the stairwell,” Liam pulled the glasses arm from his lips and placed the glasses back over his eyes. He looked at the questions. “Start with your full name.”

“Dominic Knightly.”

“Age?”

“Twenty-seven in two weeks.”

“Birth date?”

“In two weeks… the sixteenth of July—”

“The year,” Liam glared at him.

“Right. The sixteenth of July, nineteen-ninety four.”

“What’s attracted you to become a biomedical engineer, Dominic?”

Dominic swallowed hard. Beads of sweat formed on his neck; this was the big question, he thought. Dominic wiped away the sweat – he suddenly stopped and saw how slimy his palm was and then thought for a moment about how gross it was. He looked up at Liam, who was still waiting. “Whyyyy… do I want to be a biomedical engineer? That is a great question, there, Liam. May I call you Liam?”

“No.”

“Right then. Well,” he clapped his hands together, searching for anything, really. He held his breath, Liam leaned forward in anticipation. There was silence. Dominic fluttered his lips. “Pfft… I’m really, really sorry. I’m not normally like this.”

“I’m sure,” Liam said sarcastically.

“I’ve just always wanted to get in the medical field, I’ve always wanted to be a scientist of some sort. I did make good grades in school as you can see on my…” Dominic tried reaching forward on the desk to reference his resume; Liam stared at Dominic. “On my… right there… anyway. Look, I feel that I’m right for the job, I’ve just fumbled about here – truthfully, I didn’t expect to even get this far!”

“You didn’t expect to be offered this job?” Liam clarified.

“No! No – what I meant was that I, just, didn’t anticipate things would go so quickly – wait, are you offering me the job?”

“No.”

“Right then.” Dominic pressed his hand against his mouth and took a deep breath. “Be honest with me, Liam. I’m not going to get the job, am I?”

“Highly unlikely,” he said frankly.

“Could you do me two things? A very quick two things.”

“What?” Liam permitted.

“Firstly, would you tell me what attracted you to biomedical engineering?”

Liam flinched in surprise, furrowing his brow. “What made me want to become one?”

“Yes, exactly.”

Liam rubbed his broad jaw and thought for a moment. He began to smile. “I’m attracted to the idea that I can provide the tools that will enable doctors and other scientists to save man. Knowing that they’re the real heroes out there, operating on tumors and cancers and amputating unfortunate limbs – and all credit to them – but they need the proper tools to save lives. The technology to give someone a second chance. And I’m quite fond of that sort of thing, robots and prosthetics and such. I assume, really, I’m ultimately attracted to having a small hand in saving lives.” Liam nodded to himself. “That’s quite good, isn’t it?”

“Inspiring.”

“If only you had said that.” Liam joshed.

Dominic bit his lip. “On that note, my other question is where is the toilet, again?”

“Down the hall, past the stairwell.” Dominic stood up from his chair and walked to the door of Liam’s office. He pulled the knob when Liam called out. “Dominic,” Dominic turned around. “Don’t bother coming back.”

Dominic felt a fire rise inside of him. He smacked his lips and walked away.

Dominic walked in the restroom and looked around. No one else was there. He opened a stall door and locked it, standing perfectly still. He then took his hands and balled them into fists, then placed his left arm over his right and crossed them over his chest. Dominic closed his eyes and held his breath. One. Two. Three. Pop!

Dominic pulled his thin black tie, stretching it over his grey button up. He leaned back in his chair coolly.

“Nervous?” The man sitting across from him asked. It was Liam.

“No. I feel quite good, actually.”

“It’s about time someone walked in with your confidence,” Liam admitted. Liam reached to his right and grabbed a stapled set of pages with a host of questions on them. Liam flipped through the first page and paused. “Mhmm…” he said to himself, studying the questions. “Oooh…”

Dominic sat there and watched him flip through the daunting questions, this time unphased. Having just used the rare gift of time-travel, Dominic was sure this go at it would be smooth, now completely aware of the coming questions.

Liam put on his bifocals and looked at the first question. “Start with your name.”

“Dominic Knightly.”

“Age?”

“Twenty-seven in two weeks. Nineteen-ninety four.”

“Wonderful. Tell me, Dominic, what’s attracted you to become a biomedical engineer?”

Dominic leaned back and sighed fondly, as if he was recounting a plethora of joyful memories of biomedical engineering. “Oh, there are dozens and dozens, Liam – is it alright if I call you Liam?”

“Certainly!”

“Good. Well, Liam, I have to say that… I’m attracted to the idea that I can provide the tools that will enable doctors and other scientists to save man. Knowing that they’re the real heroes out there, operating on tumors and cancers and amputating unfortunate limbs – and all credit to them – but they need the proper tools to save lives. The technology to give someone a second chance. And I’m quite fond of that sort of thing, robots and prosthetics and such. I assume, really, I’m ultimately attracted to having a small hand in saving lives.” Dominic smiled. “At least, that’s what I believe.”

Liam had removed his glasses and held them delicately, shaking his head in total admiration. “Marvelous. Marvelous! I had no idea anyone felt the way I do about it.”

“Oh, is that how you feel, too?”

“I couldn’t agree more with what you’ve said. Marvelous! Well, Dominic, we have loads of questions left to go, but I think you and I both know this interview will end with a handshake.” He smiled proudly, his cheeks balling up and closing his eyes. Dominic smirked.

Dominic opened the door of his flat and tried composing himself, straightening his smile and leaving no expression. Rachel leaned over the kitchen counter and saw Dominic down the hall. “Hellooo!” She hurried over to him. “How’d it go?” She kissed him on the cheek while she waited.

“It went…” He leaned against their couch, pretending to be upset. Then he looked at her and a smile washed over his face. “I got it.”

“You did?!” She jumped up and down. “Ah! That’s wonderful!” Rachel threw her arms around him excitedly. “I mean, of course you got it, that’s not what I meant in asking if you did – it’s just… already?”

“I really nailed it, darling.”

“Well, you do have a knack for always saying the right thing.” Rachel walked away and lifted a finger. “This calls for a celebration.” She opened the fridge and grabbed two beer bottles. She pulled a drawer out and took out a bottle opener, snapped the tops off. Rachel scurried back to Dominic and handed a beer to him. They clinked glass, taking a swig. “I must say, Dom, that things like this always seem to go your way. I’ve never figured it out.” The oven behind them beeped, announcig the proper temperature had been reached, and Rachel returned to the kitchen.

“What do you mean?” Dominic asked as he sat on the couch. In truth, Dominic hadn’t told Rachel of his unique gift to travel through time. The ridicule of trying to explain such a thing worries him immensely.

“Well, it just seems that no matter what you do or whatever you try, things always turn out the way you want, I suppose.”

“Oh, that’s not always true.”

“It is – it is, don’t try and argue with me. What about the time we went to America to visit Stacy and Curt and – do you remember? She desperately wanted to catch a baseball at the Dodgers game, as if her life depended on it.”

“Yes, and I did actually catch one for her–”

Rachel spun around and placed her hand on her hips, “Dom, no, you didn't just happen to catch one. You were on the entirely other side of the stadium fetching us... what are they, those Dodger Dogs? And the ball flew up and sailed right towards you! It's some kind of luck of knack or something you have.”

“Rachel, darling, that was just good timing, that's all.”

Rachel bent down and shoved a pan in the oven, calling out to Dominic. “Do you remember when your father came over for dinner a month or so ago – he’s coming again tonight – so, surprise, I’d like you to shower and dress up a bit.”

“What’s he coming over for?”

“To celebrate your job!”

“You weren’t even going to wait to find out if I had it before you invited him over?”

“No, you know why? Because things always go your way! And as I was saying, when your father was over last, do you remember when he was doing his Mick Jagger impression?”

“I was trying to forget it, thank you for resurfacing my trauma.”

Rachel snickered, joining him on the couch. “Your father can’t dance to save his life – now, he tripped on the rug, right? You snatched him out of the air.”

“Of course! What, do you think I was supposed to let my father fall and crack his head open?”

“I watched you, Dom. You reached for him before he fell.”

“It must’ve just looked like it.”

“Dom, I saw. Your hand was moving before he began tipping over.”

“That’s impossible. I’m rather proud of my reflexes, Rachel, it must’ve just looked like I was there before.”

Rachel shook her head in amazement as she joined him on the couch. “There’s something about it that wasn’t quite right. It’s like you saw something, or some premonition flashed before your eyes and you – without question – reached out before he fell. All that to say, I’m not surprised, really, that you got the job because you have a supernatural knack for things to go your way.” She looked at him endearingly.

Dominic ate his dinner slowly while Rachel held her fingers around a wineglass filled with Merlot as Dominic’s father, Bill, sat sideways in his chair with his left leg folded over his right. He had a red ponytail and vehemently reinforced the myth that as one gets older their nose and ears grow bigger. His head was rather large and his body was rather small, so he looked almost like a lollipop with his large head and small, thin frame with lanky arms. Bill had a delightful cockney accent that Dominic was fortunate not have acquired. He was rather flamboyant and used his hands to tell his stories.

Bill sat closer to Rachel than he did Dominic; he tapped her arm as he spoke. “He was really quite good at it, dear.”

“No, I wasn’t,’ Dominic denied.

“Oh, absolutely—” Bill touched Rachel’s arm once more and held it. “Did Dom ever tell you he was in a local horns competition?”

“A what?!” Rachel burst into laughter.

“Yes, the local horns competition.”

“Oh, God. Daaad!” Dominic groaned

“Wait, wait, wait! What is a ‘horns competition’?” She couldn’t finish the sentence without laughing.

Bill pointed at Dominic, as if he was asking his favor to help him recall what it was. “It was an annual – was it annual? – a local gathering with children all over performing on their horns.”

“What do you mean horns?” Rachel asked enthusiastically

“Basic horns – trumpets, trombones. Wasn’t one of your mates – didn’t he bring his tuba?”

“Franklin played Tuba. Ugh, he was absolutely terrible at it.” Dominic covered his face out of second-hand embarrassment.

Bill leaned forward energetically towards Dominic. “You two were inseparable that day. Your trumpet and his tuba, marching about the competition like a duo.” He shot back and leaned towards Rachel, touching her arm. “Our Dommy was a splendid trumpeter.

“I can’t believe you never told me you played trumpet!” Rachel scoffed at Dominic.

“It wasn’t important! I wasn’t good at it either and I haven’t played since grade school!”

“I’ll tell you what, dear—” Bill said secretly, leaning almost completely off his seat towards Rachel; hardly any part of him remained on the chair. “He placed fourth.”

“You plaaaced in the local horns competition?!” Rachel was flabbergasted. Dominic buried his face in his sleeves, shaking his head incessantly, wishing he were dead.

“Out of every trumpeter – Dom, you placed fourth, didn’t you?” Bill asked for clarity.

Dominic took his fork and raked it over his dinner. “Yes… Yes, alright, I placed fourth. Not first! Not even top three, mind you!”

“But that’s – wow,” Rachel praised him ironically. “The fourth best trumpeter at the local horns competition.” She gasped. “I was unaware I was married to such an artist!”

“Oh hush, you two!” Dominic reached over and pretended to swipe at her. Bill laughed a delightful nasally laugh.

“Fourth place. Fa-a-ancy.” Rachel teased one last time.

Bill sighed contently. His smile suddenly dropped at a last minute thought. “Out of five trumpeters.”

Dominic looked at Bill rather confused. “What?”

Bill re-crossed his legs, swapping right over left, and then placed his forefinger against his top lip. “Yes, if I recall, there were only five boys who even showed up with trumpets.”

“There were only five trumpeters and you only beat one!” She took a sip of her wine.

“Come to think of it, I believe you only placed fourth because the other boy’s brother pranked him and swapped the trumpet in his case with a plastic lightsaber.”

Rachel spewed wine across the table, sputtering her lips and spraying wine on Bill. “Oh God, I’m so sorry!” Rachel apologized while giggling.

“Don’t you worry about it, dear, it’s only a shirt,” he forgave her, dabbing the stains with a napkin. He smiled rather pleasantly, given the circumstances.

Dominic placed his fingers on the bridge of his nose and sighed dejectedly. “Dad, you mean to tell me the only reason I didn’t place last was because the other boy played a lightsaber instead of a trumpet?”

Bill looked up at the ceiling for a moment, then whipped his head back down and looked at Dominic. “I suppose you really weren’t all that good, were you?” Bill slapped the dinner table and laughed hysterically.

Dominic gave in and laughed too. As he laughed he realized how much joy there was at the table between him, his father, and his wife. He smiled gratefully, letting the moment sink in.

Bill wiped a tear from his eye with his forefinger. “Your mum loved that you played an instrument,” he sniffed, and let out a final laugh. “She was the one that put you in that horns competition. She’d tell me that she thought if you just practiced enough you’d eventually liked it.”

“I hated trumpet.”

“Oh, I know, I know. I told her many times. But I believe she really wanted a piece of her in you, and that’s all she thought you had like her.” Bill traced the rim of his wineglass and frowned a little, trying to mask it with a smile. “Except everything right about you is from her. She would’ve been proud of who you are, Dom.” Bill leaned towards Dominic and placed his hand on his arm.

Rachel smiled sweetly at them. “Bill, shall I clear your plate?” she asked as she stood up from the table

Bill shot back and looked up at her. “Only to make room for desert – dear,” he reached out and tapped her arm quickly, “the food was absolutely scrumptious.”

The evening had turned into darkness as Dominic walked beside his father down the stairs. Bill held his hands up to gesticulate each and every word he spoke. “So how many times did you actually interview for the job, Dommy?”

“Six times.”

“Six? You traveled back in time five times to get this interview right?”

“It should’ve been only four but I wanted to tell him off once,” Dominic confessed.

“Weren’t you prepared at all for it? Did you not feel… confident or – or…” Bill couldn’t finish his thought, but Dominic knew what he meant.

“I didn’t want anything to go wrong, that’s all.”

They reached the bottom of the stairs and walked down the neighborhood street together. “Well, son, you’ve got to try still. This gift that you and I have, this ability to travel back in time and change things, shouldn’t excuse us from giving a damn, d’yaknowwhatimean?”

“I do give a damn. I give a great deal of damn’s, as a matter of fact.” Dominic’s voice rose slightly. Actually…” Dominic stopped walking. Bill planted his foot and turned to face his son. “Dad, do you remember last time you were here when you performed as Mick Jagger?”

Bill took his pinky and scratched under his nose thoughtfully. “No, I don’t.”

“You don’t remember when you danced as Mick Jagger in my living room?”

“That does sound a bit like me, though, doesn’t it?” Bill admitted. He began to chuckle. “He’s actually quite easy to do, really,” Bill explained as he suddenly placed his hands on his back so his arms stuck out like a chicken. He began pointing and waving his hands, clapping them obnoxiously.

Dominic realized he was embodying Mick Jagger right then. “Oh, God – Dad, please stop.”

Bill strut around the pavement like the famed Rolling Stones front man, belting into the night. “It’s just a shot away! It’s just a shot away! Waaaaar children!”

“Alright, alright, alright!” Dominic put an end to the impersonation.

Bill fixed his hair and breathed heavily. “Come to think of it, yes, I do remember. Well, that was quite fun. Why do you ask?” Bill smiled innocently.

Dominic didn’t smile back. He was slow to speak. “Do you also remember when you tripped?”

“Well, I hesitate to say no but I’m quite prone to falling, aren’t I?” Bill said comically. “I’ve always been the clumsy sort.”

“You tripped and hit your head open.”

Bill instinctively felt his head, feeling around his scalp. “I’m quite sure I didn’t. I suppose that’s the irony isn’t—” Bill suddenly looked Dominic in the eyes. “Oh. I see.”

“What’s happened now was that I caught you. But before… before I traveled back to save you, I didn’t catch you. You fell and hit your head on the coffee table and… blood poured out of you.” Bill listened in despair; pain traveled through him as he tried to wonder what it was like for Dominic to witness this. “Rachel threw herself on you and tried waking you up,” Dominic continued solemnly. “You were barely moving. I ran away and… went back in time.”

“I see,” Bill said in a low tone. “And you… did I… make it?”

“I don’t know, I ran away to fix it, to change it so it would never happen.”

Bill nodded gently, rubbing his chin as he took it all in. “Well. Thank you. I know it doesn’t cover enough of what I mean, but…”

“Why didn’t you save mum?” Dominic interjected. “You have this gift, too; why didn’t you save her?”

Bill closed his eyes. He had feared this day would come. He took his hands and stroked them along his face, falling off his jaw. Bill looked around, as if readying himself to answer the most difficult question he’d ever be asked in his life. “I did. Several times.”

Dominic blinked in confusion. “What do you mean?”

“Your mother died three times in my life.” The flamboyant and jovial personality subsided into a serious and solemn version of Bill as he spoke gravely. “She died crossing the street the first time. Some idiot was on his phone and didn’t see her. So I traveled back in time... and picked her up off the street as a surprise that day. She was very confused why I was balling my eyes out the whole drive, and I never told her. That was when you were four. The second time was actually in a car, when she hit an ice patch and fell down a cliff. So I traveled back in time and made her stay in the night, and made up some poor excuse to convince her to miss one of her dear friend’s baby showers – she was furious with me for about a month. That was when you were eleven. Finally…” Bill took his time speaking. “When she was diagnosed with cancer, I realized quickly that I wouldn’t be able to go back far enough to stop it. I felt sick. Not only because I had found out the love of my life was going to most likely die, but because I had played this game – using this gift – treating her as if I would never lose her.” Bill worked to retain the tears forming in his eyes. “That was when you were sixteen. I thought that with my gift, with this gift that you and I share, I would always keep your mum. You don’t know how many fights I avoided by simply going back and saying the right thing. But… Dom… I wish I hadn’t. I wish I had allowed those fights to happen more. We grew deeper because of it. We loved each other more afterwards. I simply dodged the hardship of life by traveling back in time to fix everything. But it wasn’t until your mum got cancer that I understood I had missed out on life entirely. The beauty of our love was because she and I were imperfect people. The greatness of our marriage was because we were committed through the trials. And the joy of being your father, Dom, was learning from you how to be a better human. There was something I had to learn, in the only way I couldn’t fix, in order to appreciate what it means to be alive. The greatest gift we have, Dom, is not this strange ability that you and I have to travel back in time and manipulate life the way we want. The greatest gift we have is life itself because we can lose it. I didn’t believe I could ever lose Allison, until it was too late. And truthfully…” A teardrop welled up and fell from Bill’s eye. “I could’ve loved her better, had I known that.”

Bill wiped his nose with his shoulder sleeve and took a step towards Dominic, who raced over and hugged him. They held each other tight.

Dom pulled away and looked down ashamed. “I’m so sorry, Dad. I didn’t know.”

“It’s alright, son,” Bill squeezed Dominic by the shoulders and smiled proudly. “You know what I loved from tonight? When Rachel spat her wine on my shirt. Remarkably funny.”

Dominic tilted his head and looked curiously at his father. “Has she done that to you before?”

“Once or twice,” Bill winked. “But tonight I won’t change it. I’ve learned to appreciate the screw ups and fumblings in life. Your mother was excellent at that. And she never even had this gift that you and I do. Imagine if that other boy had traveled back in time to keep his brother from swapping his trumpet with a lightsaber? He might’ve gotten better than fifth place, but he’d miss out on the memory of a lifetime.” Bill pinched Dominic’s cheek like a little boy. “Eventually, you’ve got to let life be. Don’t wait til the last minute to appreciate what you’ve got, Dommy.”

Bill hugged his son once more, and Dominic embraced him like it was the last time he’d hug his father. “Love you, Dad.”

“I love you terribly so.” They pulled apart. Bill lightly tapped Dominic’s chest with his fist, showing pride in his boy, and waved as he walked to his car.

Dominic returned the wave and watched his father walk all the way down the street. He took a deep breath in, suddenly realizing how beautiful the night was. Bill’s taillights shone bright red as he pulled away and drove off into the night.