I walked briskly and entered the shop again. It was full of people. I tried casually to find a place to sit. While doing so I was also looking for an unattended bag or anything appearing to be disowned.
My first instinct was to just go and ask the shop's Lost & Found. I had almost walked up to the service area when I realized that I didn't know what I'd tell them I had lost. Saying I'd lost what I couldn't remember wasn't very convincing and it would appear suspicious — especially when I'd been in contact earlier. I turned around and decided it was wise to ask them only after I had tried on my own.
When I finished touring the crowded shop, I had managed to find an empty high stool to sit and had spotted an idly sitting handbag next to a hipster couple at a table. It was a small slinged rucksack styled unisex carrier-bag that was placed against the wall, away from where the guy sat, so it must not belong to him. The girl across him had her little one on the table next to their food.
I did find another contender, but I was less convinced about it. It was a business briefcase that rested idly against the large glass window. There were people around it, but none of them stood closer or seemed too attached or concerned for it — hence I deduced it did not belong to them. However, the case appeared arguably too masculine and big for me to own. I thought about it. Then, as if to re-confirm who I was — while sitting on the high stool I swung around to check myself against another reflection. I saw myself to be a very feminine, attractive hip-youngish female dressed in what appeared to be upmarket, fashionable attire. So there was no doubt that I would not have carried that big, ugly briefcase.
I sat and kept an eye on the hipsters to leave so that I could pounce on the handbag. There was chatter all around me. The guy next to me was on a laptop and wore large headphones. On my other side, a bunch of teenagers in private school uniforms played with their phones, food and tablets... while talking loudly, they would then realize they were getting too loud, then suppressing their giggles to be less loud, then again chatting their way back into loudness.
I stole as much information I could from the screens and speeches around me, hoping for a trigger to go off in my mind. I could recognize the songs being played in the background. I was familiar with what the guy was browsing on the web, and the tumblrs and instagrams and tweets the teens were fooling around with. I just had no context of the information. I was familiar with the events I read up from the newspaper I had picked during my handbag reconnaissance, but I couldn't remember how I knew all of it. If memories make who we really are, I had no recollection of who I was, because I had none of those. All I had was just knowledge and awareness.
The hipster couple appeared not to be in any kind of rush at all. I didn't want to wait too long, so I decided to approach them.
