Space Age Love Song

Epilogue: But on a Wednesday, in a Café, I Watch It Begin Again

I am in a café, busy finishing up a report for class I'll be teaching tomorrow, when I notice some guy eyeing me. I am sitting on a high stool and he is sitting directly across from me, in a much lower seat. He has a book on his lap, but I catch him looking up at me. He notices that and he puts his gaze back down. It's not really me, but I find myself awkwardly carrying my laptop and iced coffee down to his table. I ask him if the seat in front of him is taken. He barely looks at me and shakes his head. I settle down my things and he is still busy reading.

"I know this is weird, but you look so familiar to me," I tell him and it's true. He has a face that I've seen before. He closes the book, but I notice that he has his finger to mark the page. "You don't own a bookmark?" He looks at me confused when I say that so I point to the book he's reading. "Oh," he says and chuckles. I don't know why but hearing him laugh caused a feeling of pang to my heart. I ignore it. "I don't own bookmarks."

"Are you from around?" I ask. "I'm almost always in this coffeeshop, but this is the first time I see you here."

"No," he answers. "I'm not from around here. I just moved, actually."

"Really? Where?"

"In that condominium a short walk from here."

"The one with the 7-Eleven on the ground floor?"

"Yup."

"Hey! I live there!" He only smiles when I tell him that. "We're probably neighbors."

I reach my hand and introduce myself. "I'm Tay, by the way." He takes it and I feel a pleasant sensation of electricity when our hands touch. "I'm New." His name struck something within me and it feels like I know him, but I can't remember how.

"Tay? Tay?" he calls. I notice that I am still holding his hand and I let go. I feel my face blush. "Sorry. I just had a déjà vu moment." He smiles and says, "Did you know that there's a theory that says that when we have a déjà vu moment, we've swapped consciousness with our parallel versions?"

"Parallel what?" I ask, chuckling softly.

"Parallel versions. Basically our doppelgangers, but they live in a parallel universe out there."

"Why do you know all this?"

He picks the book from his lap. The title cover is gibberish and I wonder how he can read that. He says, "It's all in this book."

Have you ever had that moment? When you saw your life flash right in front of you? I experienced that right there. With his weird book in front of him, he smiles at me. His face glows, like stars in the night sky. I feel another pang in my chest, but it's different. I know his smile will be the first and last thing I'll see. I know that I'll grow to love hearing his laughter and that I will always try to elicit that from him. I know that I'll recognize his face through touch alone. I only just met him, but I know deep in my bones that I will love New forever.