Behind the Mask - A Sequel (of Sorts) to A Star Is Born

A Chance Encounter

A Chance Encounter

As it turned out, my life in the coffee shops wasn't completely anonymous. I swear it wasn't by intent, but my apartment was just a few blocks away from where Sarah and her daughter Olivia had moved after her divorce. One day, I was in my usual hangout when Sarah came in. We must have both had a moment of confusion, because each of us stared at the other, assumed we looked like someone we once knew, before we each shifted our eyes away to process the question.

But then Sarah's head snapped back, and she said, "John!" We spent the better part of the afternoon hanging out by the lake, watching the seaplanes take off and land as we caught up on our respective lives. I let Sarah do most of the talking, while my mind raced to compose a narrative of how I had ended up in Seattle. She took me through the divorce, her move back to where she had grown up, and her rise through the ranks at Amazon, where she was now a corporate exec in their government relations division. I didn't directly ask, but there was no mention of a new man in her life.

I think we talked more that day than we did in all of high school. When my turn came, I told her about life in Beijing, mainly to distract from my lack of a good reason for being in Seattle. Then I decided to stick as close to the truth as I could, lest she see through me somehow. I admitted that I had gone on leave from my job, and told her I was going to take a year to see if I could turn my music hobby into something more.

I chose to interpret Sarah's initial response — a smile — as supportive. But I couldn't help but think that someone who had her life so together must have wondered if I was a flake in the midst of a midlife crisis. Fortunately, before she really had a chance to react, Olivia chimed in. "I want to be a musician. Did you know there is a song named after me?"

A rush of emotion flooded in. I had changed the name of my first song about Sarah to "Olivia" because I had read an article noting it was the top name for girls born in 2008. If Phil was were worried about the song giving away our secret, what better way to avoid the problem than to make it an ode to any of the 12 million Olivias currently living in the U.S. But hearing this sweet girl talk about the song I had written about her mother was too much for me to maintain my composure, and I excused myself, pretending to find a restroom.

I took a few minutes to pull myself together, and realized I needed to stop while I was still ahead. I offered Sarah my number and said we should get together again soon. She smiled, and said count on it.