Lifetime

Seeking the Third

I dreamed of a faceless man for the rest of the week, waking up nervous on that Saturday, my heart thumping quicker and hands clammy with anticipation. Today was the day. I wondered what the pull to him would feel like now that I was aware of the prophecy.

My morning started with breakfast at the cafe down the block from our apartment building. Faye could tell that I was on edge as I moved through the day, especially attuned to the feelings I had with every person I interacted with. So far the new guy moving in down the hall, the barista who rang up our order, and the man who introduced himself during breakfast didn't spark anything out of the ordinary.

"What's up with you today? You're just like that night we had too many energy drinks so we could finish our Harry Potter marathon." She laughed, the straw to her iced coffee poking out the side of her mouth.

I shrugged, a part of me always wondering if I should tell her about the prophecy whenever she inquired about my dating life, but deciding it was too complicated and nuisanced to explain. "I'm just a little nervous for our date tonight." I gave her a partial truth. I was nervous and had been imagining more than any other option that my date would be the one.

"Don't worry, if it's a disaster you'll have me there. Lee met him at the basketball court. Apparently he's really tall and crazy smart." She smiled, referencing the type of guy I told her I was interested in when we first met. I honestly didn't know my type, unsure of if my soulmates would have any consistent similarities or if they'd be starkly different from one another.

We finished breakfast and did a little shopping before heading back to the apartment. While we were in the elevator of our building, our hands full of bags, my phone started to vibrate. I fumbled around, shifting most of my items into one hand as I pulled it from my pocket, my forever favorite person's smiling face on my screen.

I answered, nestling the phone between my shoulder and ear as we headed down the hallway to our apartment, Faye handling the keys while I talked.

"Hobe!" I couldn't hold back the wide grin that spread on my lips. It had been so long since I heard his voice, the text updates we were sending back and forth starting to grow old.

"Sel," he paused like he forgot why he called, "I didn't realize how much I missed hearing you."

I excused myself to my room, setting my bags down on the floor and flopping onto the beanbag in the corner of the room. "I miss you too, punk. Where are you now?" I wondered.

"Osaka for a couple of days. How's your day going?" He asked, revealing his intention for calling. He was checking in to see if I'd met my next soulmate.

I chuckled, leaning back to stretch my neck. "It's been fine, just a regular old boring day so far, but I am going on a blind double date later so there's still time." I silently hoped that I would somehow be proven wrong, that a tiny bit of magic would make it so that I didn't find another soulmate connection tonight. I imagined that if I didn't I'd find myself on a plane to Osaka the next day.

He went quiet, the sigh he gave in response and silence that followed making me ask. "Are you upset with me?"

"Of course not. I'm upset about the entire thing. It's why we should have never–," he cut himself off. "I shouldn't have called, but I couldn't stop thinking about it. I knew it would feel this way. It's why I kept it a secret from you for so long, and now every time a date comes I'm going to wonder." He rambled.

The pain in his voice brought me to tears, our fears coming to fruition. "I'm sorry Hobi. I don't know what to do." It all felt impossible. I didn't understand how I was supposed to connect with someone else tonight when every part of me was with him.