Chapter 9 Chapter Nine A Long Day

When he walked into the gate of the newspaper office, Andrew decided it was better not to change his old habits.He needs to get out of the situation a little bit and think about it before deciding what to do.He had read several science fiction novels about time travel when he was young, and he remembered the troublesome consequences of rewriting history without authorization. All day long he had been preparing for his second trip to Argentina, which he had already arranged in his previous life.Nevertheless, he decided to exercise his right to change hotels once, after the hotel he stayed in Buenos Aires left a bad impression on him.

He chatted briefly with his colleague at the next table, Freddie Olsen.Out of jealousy, Olson kept pushing him with writing committees, or outright trying to compete with him for stories. Andrew clearly remembered the reason for their argument, because it happened in the past.He is determined to take the initiative in action. As for the order of the world, forget it, let it go.He dismissed Olson with a few words, to avoid disturbing the director of the writing department who was working in a glass cage, lest the director demand that he apologize to the idiot in front of all his colleagues.

To put it simply, it was Andrew's decision to act regardless of his previous methods.Walking back to his desk, he thought to himself, he'd probably crushed some insects on the Riverside Park lawn on his morning run for the past two months... no, next month, he corrected himself idea. Thinking that he could change the course of things, Andrew couldn't help feeling better.He hasn't proposed to Valerie yet—he should have proposed to her three days after Valerie told him about the trip to Buenos Aires, and he hasn't broken her heart yet, so there's no need to ask Her forgiveness.If he is likely to end his life in a pool of blood more than sixty days later, then this trip back in time cannot be said to be completely useless to him.

When Valerie called him at 18:30, he did the stupid thing and said he was going to see her at the cinema before she even asked. "How did you know I'd suggest going to the movies?" she asked in surprise. "I don't know," he stammered, clutching a pencil tightly, "but it's a good idea, isn't it? Unless you'd rather go to a restaurant for dinner?" Valerie thought for a moment and accepted the suggestion to go to dinner. "I'm going to make a reservation at Omen Restaurant." "You are so sweet tonight, I thought the same way just now."

The pencil broke in Andrew's palm. "It's like that some nights," he said, "we'll see you in an hour." Then he asked about their health check, although he already knew the answer to that question. "There is no inspection today," Valerie replied. "The officer in charge of the inspection encountered a car accident on the way. I will tell you in detail when I have dinner later." Andrew put down the phone. "If you don't want to arouse suspicion, then you should be more careful next time," he said aloud to himself. "What suspicion?" asked Freddie Olsen, poking his head over the partition that separated his desk from Andrew's.

"Tell me, Olsen, did your mother ever tell you that it's bad manners to eavesdrop outside the door?" "I don't see any doors, Steelman, you're such a perceptive person, don't you ever realize we're working in a wide open environment? You just have to keep your voice down. You Thought it would be fun to listen to you?" "I don't doubt that at all." "Okay, what does this soon-to-be-promoted reporter want to say?" "What do you mean by that?" "Oh, well, Steelman, everyone here knows that Stein is your protector. What else do you want, no one can fight the writing committee."

"I know that your talent in the field of journalism often makes you doubt whether you belong to our industry. I don't mean to attack you, but if I am as incompetent as you, I will have the same doubts about myself." "Strange! I didn't say that at all, Steelman, don't be any more stupid than you normally are." "What are you talking about, Olsen?" "Stillman, Stein, they're all pretty much the same breed, aren't they?" Andrew watched Freddy intently.He had noticed that in his previous life—thoughts of this kind had struck him as absurd, and he was not yet used to thinking about them—this time the argument with Olsen had occurred earlier in the day, probably around the time Olson When Livia Stein was still in the office.Now, however, she had left half an hour ago, like most of his colleagues, ready to head home around 6pm.The flow of things, under the influence of his actions, began to change, and Andrew concluded from it that it would be a big mistake not to take advantage of this opportunity.So he slapped Freddie Olsen hard, and Freddie took a step back, his mouth gaping open in surprise.

"Damn it, Steelman, I'm going to sue you," he threatened while rubbing his cheeks, "There are surveillance cameras everywhere on this floor." "Go ahead, don't hesitate, I'll explain to others why you got slapped. I'm sure this video will be a hit on the Internet." "It's not going to end like this!" "You're right! Well, I still have an appointment, and you've wasted a lot of my time." Andrew grabbed his coat, walked towards the elevator, and made a demonstration gesture to Freddy who was still rubbing his cheek.In the descending elevator, Andrew yelled at his colleague again, but he figured he'd better calm down before going to see Valerie, or he'd have to figure out how to explain to her what had just happened. Annoyed.

Sitting at the bar at the Japanese sideboard in Soho, Andrew had a hard time concentrating on what Valerie had to say.He thinks this is probably because he already knew the content of the conversation in advance.As she told him about what he had been up to that day, he wondered how on earth he could use the situation to overcome his absent-mindedness. He feels a bitter regret that he has been making fun of the financial industry.That is to say, as long as he has paid a little attention to some relevant information before, he can make a small fortune now.If he could remember where the stock market was going over the next few weeks, something he'd experienced all along, he might be able to cash in on his savings.Unfortunately, nothing bored Andrew more than Wall Street and its business.

"You're not even listening to me. Can you tell me what's on your mind?" "You just told me that Lichlis, one of your favorite horses, has severe Achilles tendinitis and you're concerned about whether he'll see him through his last few days in service; and that the officer... damn, I Forgot his name . . . the officer who rode it would probably take a long time to get used to if you took his horse off." Valerie looked at Andrew and didn’t speak. "Why," Andrew asked, "isn't that what you just told me?" "No, that's not what I just told you, but that's what I was going to tell you. What's wrong with you today, did you swallow a crystal ball at breakfast?"

Andrew forced a smile. "You may be more absent-minded than you think. I just repeated what you said. Otherwise, how could I know this?" "That's exactly the question I want to ask you!" "Maybe it's because you were thinking too hard about these things, so I heard your heartfelt voice, which shows that we really have a good heart." Andrew said with a charming smile. "You called my office, and it happened to be Sam who answered the phone, and he told you these things." "I don't know any Sam, and I can swear to you I didn't call your office." "Sam is my assistant." "Look, I don't have any crystal ball at all, and I was going to say his name was Joey, or something like that. Shall we talk about something else?" Andrew suggested. "What about you, how was your day?" This question made Andrew fall into deep thought. He died while running in the morning, and then woke up a mile away shortly afterwards, and what is even more surprising is that he returned to two months ago.From this moment on, he was reliving a day that he had already had—a day that was almost identical to his past. "It's a long day," he replied meaningfully. "My day is so long that I feel like I've lived it twice!" The next morning, Andrew found himself and the director of the writing department alone in the elevator room.Olivia was standing behind him, but Andrew could see in the reflection of the elevator doors that she was looking at him strangely, as if to announce bad news to him.Andrew waited for that moment to come, and he smiled. "By the way," Andrew said as if continuing the conversation just now, "Before that fool Olsen came to inform me, I slapped him well before leaving last night." "What did you do?" Olivia exclaimed. "I thought you had heard how it happened. To be more honest, I thought you had known about it." "Why are you doing this?" "It has nothing to do with the newspaper, please rest assured, if this reckless guy wants to sue, I can take full responsibility." Olivia pressed the stop button, and then pressed the button on the first floor, the elevator stopped going up, and then began to descend. "Where are we going?" Andrew asked. "Go get a cup of coffee." "Coffee, I'm here to treat you, but there's only so much I have to say." Andrew replied when the elevator door opened. They sat down at a table in the cafe.Andrew ordered two glasses of mocha, and bought a ham croissant by the way. "That's not like your style," said Olivia Stein. "It was just a slap in the face, nothing malicious, he deserved it." Olivia looked at him, and it was her turn to smile this time. "Did I say something strange?" Andrew asked. "If you are not in this position, I should teach you a good lesson and tell you that such behavior is unacceptable in the newspaper office, and it is likely to be kicked out. But now I can't do it." "why?" "Because I really wanted to slap Olsen with my own hands." Andrew held back his silence, and Olivia continued: "I read your supplementary section, which is very good, but it is not enough. To publish this report, you need something more concrete, some irrefutable factual evidence ... I guess you may consciously Toned down the tone of the report.” "Even if I do this, what good will it do?" "Because you know you have a big exclusive news, and you don't want me to have all the information at once." "You can help me think of some really weird ideas." "I have begun to learn to understand you, Andrew. In exchange, I accept your request that you can leave for Argentina again immediately. But in order to prove that the money was not wrongly spent, you must satisfy my curiosity .You've rediscovered the traces of the man, haven't you?" Andrew looked at his boss for a while.Ever since he was a journalist, he had learned not to trust anyone.But he also knew that if he didn't reveal anything, Olivia would never allow him to go to Buenos Aires again.And, as she had guessed, at the beginning of May, his investigation was far from over. "I don't think the general direction of my investigation is wrong." Putting down the coffee cup, he gave in. "So, as your article suggests, you suspect that man was involved in the transaction?" "It's hard to say what's going on. Many people have been involved in this matter and it's not easy to figure out their relationship. For most Argentines, this topic is still heavy. Since we are now talking privately , I would like to ask why you are so obsessed with this investigation?" Olivia Stein looked at her reporters. "You've found him, haven't you? You've found Ortiz?" "Maybe... But I agree with you that I don't have enough material to publish this report. It is for this reason that I have to go again. But you haven't answered my question yet. You have no objection to the question just now, do you?" Olivia stood up, indicating that he could finish his bread alone. "In this matter, you have absolute priority, Andrew, I need you one hundred percent. You have a month, but no more." Andrew watched his boss walk out of the coffee shop.He suddenly thought of two things.Olivia's threat can be completely ignored, he knows that he will fly to Buenos Aires at the end of the month, and then complete the investigation there.Olivia had cut him off in the middle of the conversation, and there were two chances he should have thought about it before he spoke, thinking about what she was eager to know but didn't know yet. The reason, on the one hand, was that he had no memory of how he had given her the supplementary report, whether it was in this life or in the life that ended at Riverside Park last time.On the other hand, he's pretty sure he's never had this conversation with Olivia before. Back at the office, Andrew thought maybe he shouldn't have slapped Freddie Olsen the night before.From now on, he should be more vigilant and try not to change the course of certain things.Andrew took advantage of the rest time to go shopping on Madison Avenue, and he stopped in front of the window of a jewelry store.Although he is not yet well off financially, he has more motives for proposing marriage this time than the first time.He thought it ridiculous that he hadn't presented the locket when he knelt down to propose at the Marriott. He walked into the store and looked carefully at the window.His attitude should be clearer, no one can change the course of things so easily.Although life has its own order that cannot be easily changed, Andrew easily recognizes among the other ten rings the one that Valerie later chose when they came to buy rings together.At the same time, he had no doubt that the ring at that time was not bought in this store. He clearly remembered the price of the ring.He even clearly remembers that when the shopkeeper tried to convince him that the ring was worth twice the listed price, Andrew retorted in a tone of affirmation: "The diamond in the ring is less than 0.95 carats. Although it looks brilliant at first glance, its style is old, and the inclusions in it mean that it will not be worth more than half of your asking price." When he and Valerie came to buy the ring then, Andrew just refuted him with the owner's own words.He remembered the scene vividly because he was so moved by Valerie's reaction.He waited for her to pick out a ring of better quality, but Valerie tried it on her finger and told the shopkeeper that she thought it was fine. "So I think there are only two possible explanations," Andrew went on, "either you're reading the label wrong, which I don't blame you for, it's as thin as a fly's leg, or you're trying to knock me Pen. Your behavior makes me want to write a report exposing fraud in jewelry stores, which is a pity. Did I tell you that I am a reporter for the New York Times?" The shopkeeper took another look at the label, frowned, and admitted in confusion that he had indeed made a mistake, and that the ring was only worth what Andrew said it would be. The deal was done, and Andrew left Madison Avenue with the lovely little jewelry box in his coat pocket. The second thing he bought that day was a small compound padlock with which he intended to lock his drawers. The third is a mouseskin notebook with a rubber band.This notebook has nothing to do with interviews and investigations. He wants to use it to record another investigation about himself: to find out the identity of his murderer within fifty-nine days and prevent him from achieving his goal. Andrew walked into a Starbucks cafe.He bought something to eat and sat down in an armchair, thinking about all the people who might want his life.Such thinking made him uncomfortable.How much of a failure had his life been to warrant such a reckoning? He wrote down Freddie Olsen's name.One never knows how far an office colleague can take things, or where jealousy can lead him.Andrew wanted to reassure himself that Olson was just a jerk, and that he had never really done anything in his last life. It was only after reports about the sale of children that he received a few threatening letters.His reporting apparently disrupted the lives of some of the American families involved. Children are sacred, and all the parents of the world will say that, and they may do anything to protect their offspring, even to kill. Andrew asked himself what would happen to him if he adopted a child and a reporter revealed that he may have been unknowingly involved in the child trade, that his child might have been stolen from his biological parents Do? "I might die hating this guy who opened Pandora's box." Andrew muttered. What else can parents do if they know their children will find out the truth sooner or later because the reports are public?To break each other's hearts and send him back to his original family?Or live in a lie until he's an adult and accuses you of turning a blind eye to such a deal? How many American parents have been caught in such a painful situation?But in his profession, only the facts have the right to speak, and his job is to expose the truth. He crossed out Olson's name in his notebook and made a note of the task of rereading three anonymous letters. Then he started thinking about a new trip to Argentina. The autocratic rulers of 1976-1983 did not hesitate to send assassins to foreign countries to murder anyone who opposed them and anyone who might expose their crimes.Times have changed, but certain ways of thinking are deeply ingrained. His investigations there certainly touched more than one interested party.This is more or less possible if past members of the military, such as the head of ESMA3, tortured or killed those who secretly disappeared in secret concentration camps somewhere. In another of his notebooks, Andrew wrote down a list of people he became suspicious of during his first investigation.Apparently, the material acquired on the second trip has not yet appeared here.He'll be more careful when he gets back from Buenos Aires. "Just like always, you only think about your work," he said to himself, turning the pages of his notebook. What about Valerie's ex-boyfriend?She never mentioned him. The two years of living together cannot be erased so easily.A guy who gets his girlfriend from someone else is likely to go straight to violence. Searching in his mind for all the people who might take his life, Andrew lost his appetite.He put down his plate and stood up. On the way back to the office, he rummaged through the jewelry box in his pocket, trying to suppress a hypothesis that had just popped into his head. Valerie would never do that. "But are you really so sure?" Such a sentence suddenly popped up in his subconscious, as if a gust of wind had made his blood coagulate. On Thursday of the first week of his resurrection—and there was a chill whenever he used the expression—Andrew was more desperate than ever to get back to Buenos Aires, and he sealed the deal. final details of the trip.Ultimately he backed away from changing hotels, where he encountered certain people and events that were crucial to his investigation. The barmaid, a girl named Marisa, gave him the address of a café where old members of the People's Revolutionary Army (ERP) and members of the Montoneiros group who had survived the prison centers met.They are few in number.She also introduced him to one of the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, whose children were kidnapped by army commandos and never seen again.In defiance of the authoritarian regime, these women have been pacing the sidewalks of Plaza de Mayo holding signs with pictures of missing children for more than a decade. Marisa is sexy as hell, and Andrew cannot remain indifferent to her charm.The beauty of Argentine women really lives up to its reputation. At 11, Simon called and asked him to have lunch with him.Andrew doesn't remember the appointment.Maybe the content of their conversation will not be remembered until dinner time. When Simon told him about the woman who had called him the night before—whom Simon had met when he went to a winter sports event—Andrew remembered that there was nothing meaningful about this lunch.Simon has fallen in love with a woman who is far more attractive than her sense of humor.Andrew just wanted to get back to his own story as soon as possible, and he interrupted his friend to tell him mercilessly that he was just making fun of himself. "You told me this girl lives in Seattle and she's coming to New York for four days, right?" "Yeah, she chose to let me show her around the city that day." Simon replied, looking happier than ever. "Next week, we'll be sitting at this table again, and you'll be grumpy and tell me you've been scammed. This girl is just looking for someone like you to hang out with and help her for three days. Pay the bill and provide her with a place to live. Every night when you come back to your apartment, she'll leave you alone and go to sleep quickly with the excuse that she's too tired. The only thank you you'll ever get is the day she leaves Kiss you lightly on the cheek." Simon opened his mouth in surprise. "Put me aside?" "Do you want me to draw you a picture?" "How do you know all this?" "I just know, nothing else!" "You are jealous, what a tragedy." "Your Christmas holiday ended five months ago. Have you heard from her during these months?" "No, but anyway, it's a long way from Seattle to New York..." "Believe me, she just flipped through her address book again, and then stopped her gaze on the letter P. P is like the initials of a person who has been cheated, my Simon!" Andrew settled the bill.The conversation brought his thoughts back to the Christmas period, and he recalled a little accident when he was coming out of the Charles Street Police Station the day after the holiday, when he was run over by a car.Investigative journalism was within his reach, but investigating crimes required professional competence.The help of a police officer, even though he has retired, is likely to be of great use to Andrew.He looked in the phone book for the number the Pilleg officer had left him.