The Difference of the Future

Chapter 5

He walked uncertainly as unpleasant thoughts flooded his mind. He couldn't shake off the nightmare he had dreamed. He wasn't sure what it was; maybe it wasn't even a nightmare. Everything seemed so real. One thing he was absolutely certain of was that he had lost his job. But life goes on. Always. It doesn't wait for anyone, not even a lonely former Walmart employee. There were the doors on the right side of the hallway, just as the guard had told him at the entrance of the building. 

And it said clearly, "Public Library of Greatorror Villa." He tightened his tie and decisively reached for the door handle. The door clicked. Butterflies fluttered in his stomach, and in that moment, he forgot what he had planned to say, how to introduce himself. But he didn't have a chance to fully open the door because he felt a strong force behind him, pushing him inside. He hit the door, heard a thud from the other side, and clumsily fell next to it. He grabbed his throbbing head and looked towards the exit. But there was no one there.

"Oh!" a voice came from the other side.

He saw a girl on the floor, and next to her, two spilled coffees.

"Oh my goodness! I'm so sorry, I don't know how this happened... I'm really sorry for hitting you with the door!" he stood up and reached out his hand to help her. He collected the cardboard cups and looked at their emptiness.

"I feel terrible... Let me make it up to you with this coffee. This should never have happened..." Then he had a flashback – as if this had already happened before. And then he remembered that he "dreamed" this back at work. At his now former job. Although he wasn't sure how to describe that experience, his eyes were wide open, and now he saw this scene, from the future, he now realized...

"It's alright... It could happen to anyone," she said with a smile, lightening the situation and lessening his internal guilt.

"Thank you for understanding, thank you so much! By the way, I'm Max," he said, extending his hand with a sense of relief that he hadn't embarrassed himself further and worsened the situation.

"I'm Konny, nice to meet you."

"Well, Konny, let's go get some coffee then, before I mess something else up," he said shyly but determinedly, smiling as they approached the coffee machine.

"Are you always this clumsy, or just on Mondays?" she asked cheerfully.

"Well... I don't know... usually only before meeting a beautiful girl," he replied, scratching his head. They both blushed.

"Ah, I see. Is that so? Haha."

He took three coffees and unconsciously followed her. He didn't question the third coffee. They started talking about the new taste of coffee with lemon and mint as they reached a table. There was nobody at the table.

"Hmm... That's strange. My friend Veronica was here. We were looking for a certain book, you know... Where did she go..."

"Maybe she went to the restroom?"

"Well I would have definitely seen her if that was the case. The restroom is right by the coffee machine. I couldn't have missed her... Oh, look at the book on the floor, man! V surely wouldn't leave it like this. Something must have happened..."

"But what could have happened? I mean, we're in the middle of a library. It's not like someone kidnapped her or something? Hahaha"

As he said this, an image appeared before his eyes. He saw a crimson vortex and a girl with purple glasses being sucked into it. He noticed it was right next to the book they had found earlier. The vision abruptly ended, and in the background, he saw Konny frozen. Everyone in the library was frozen. He felt like he couldn't escape from this strange moment; he felt trapped - alone, in blurry nothingness, just now, when he had met such a charming girl. Was it possible that all of this was happening to him of all people?