GROUNDHOG DAY mixed with SIXTEEN CANDLES and a splash of DOCTOR WHO. A boy forever reincarnated as himself meets his soulmate for the 200th time, but can she solve the puzzle and break the curse to make herself his last?
*****
Martha Beckett's life...
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James pulled into a strip mall. They passed a nail salon then parked in front of a restaurant with a blazing red neon sign in the window proclaiming 'SUSHI'.
Martha's excitement was hard to contain. "Are we... I didn't think..."
"What? That we hillbillies had heard of sushi?"
"No, I mean... Oh, this is awesome!" She unbuckled her seatbelt before James had turned off the engine. They got out of the car and he followed her in.
"Irrashaimase!" the staff shouted. A line of four seat tables ran the wall on Martha and James' right. A sushi bar glowed on their left.
Martha found a seat at the bar and James took the next. She ordered two yellowtail sushi and a spicy tuna roll. He ordered tuna and salmon sushi and a California roll. Behind and above the chefs was a television. The Chicago Bulls were playing the Los Angeles Clippers.
"Check it out," James said and motioned to the screen. "Your team's playing my team."
Martha stopped eating and stared at him blankly.
"What?" he asked.
"I grow up with the greatest franchise in all of sports and you think I'd choose to be a Clippers fan?" she scolded.
"Who are you talking about... the Kings?" he teased.
"Shut up, you know who I mean."
"Oh, the Lakers," James said. "So... did that make you feel better after we crushed you in '91 – telling yourself they're the 'greatest franchise in all of sports?'"
"Are you serious?" Martha felt the argument become gloriously heated. "Magic was old. Worthy was old. Kareem was gone. Congrats on crushing the Elden Campbell led Lakers."
"Go ahead. Say it."
Martha dipped a yellowtail in soy sauce, stuffed it in her mouth, and savored the moment as the wasabi traveled her sinuses. She swallowed then stated, "They never would have beaten the Lakers in their prime."
James scoffed and shook his head. "But no one played defense in the 80's! It's half of the game – and no one played it – not until the Pistons. And then what happened?"
Martha rolled her eyes and took another yellowtail.
"They beat the Lakers with Kareem – swept them actually. And then the Bulls beat the Pistons. Transitive property... Bulls over Lakers."
Martha shook her head vigorously. "Nope. Sorry. Using math in a sports debate disqualifies your argument." She reached across with her chopsticks and lifted a piece of tuna off his plate. "And you forfeit one of these." He relented with a slight smile and shake of the head as she ate his sushi. She shrugged and spoke with her mouth full of rice and fish, "I d'oh mate the roos."
