Rosaline walked down the busy street with purpose, she was heading to a job interview with a prestigious business firm, she had been dreaming of working for this firm since she could remember; her father worked for this company for 30 years before he retired and now it was her turn. She was looking down at her phone checking a text from her father so she didn't see the man in front of her; the collision sent her phone up in the air, luckily the man had quick reflexes. He plucked the phone out of the air just as it started its descent to the ground, he reached out his hand to steady Rosaline before she could fall backward on her butt; she looked at him with a bit of wonder and astonishment. She looked him up starting from his sneakers going to his well-defined legs to his chiseled chest and finally landing on his gorgeous model-like face, he was smiling at her and still had his hands on her shoulders to steady her. She could not find the words to speak so she just kept staring at him with wide eyes; after about a minute of silence between them, the man decided to say something to make sure she was all right.
"Are you alright miss, I didn't mean to bump into you like that, I guess I should watch where I am going"
"I'm alright, I wasn't paying attention either, no harm no foul right", she said with nervous laughter.
"You almost fell and I was able to save your phone, so that's good" he handed her the phone in his hand.
"Oh thank you, my life is in that thing, if I lost it I would be quite lost", she reached out to grab the phone and their hands touched.
All at once, she began to see images of a woman standing in a back yard, there was a basket of clothes next to her and a clothesline in front of her; a man comes out from the house and walks right up to her and puts his arms around her waist, he then leans down and kisses the woman on the lips. the woman has to stand on her tiptoes to reach the man's lips; she can feel the man's lips as if she were the one kissing him; the man looks down at the woman with love and adoration on his face.
"Have I told you how much I love you lately"
"Yes, but I love when say it, so please say it one more time"
"I love you, Sarah Marie Franklin"
"I love you too, John Daniel Franklin", the woman had so much love in her voice.
Just as quickly as the vision came it was gone and Rosaline was back to reality, she didn't know what just happened but it felt like she was accessing a memory of someone else's life; she snatched her hand away from the man and began walking away from him fast.
"Wait, what was that, did you see that too?", the man ran after her."
"I don't know what you are talking about, I have to go now", she sped up.
"We should at least exchange numbers and talk about this later"
"No thank you, I don't want to talk to you again", she kept on walking.
"Sarah stop", the man yelled out.
Rosaline stopped walking but she did not turn around, she had a feeling that things were going to get weirder the longer she was around this man; when he called her by the woman's name from the vision, she felt a twinge in her gut that made her want to go back to him. She could not understand why she felt drawn to him and that scared her so much; her mind was racing with thoughts of what could be happening and she tried to rationalize what could be going on with her and this mystery man. She still had not turned around and she was contemplating just starting to walk again but her legs would not move and her mind was telling her to stay where she was. Soon enough the man walked up behind her and put his hand on the back of her neck; once again she was back in the vision only this time she was in a new place, she was standing in a kitchen holding a baby in her arms the man came up from behind and wrapped his arms around her. She could feel the love pouring off this man into her; the baby cooed up at them both and she smiled down at him stroking his head gently and singing a lullaby to him.
The scene was like something out of a movie; the happy little family that she didn't know could happen in real life, she didn't like the way she was beginning to feel so she broke the connection and moved away from the man, a look of fear on her face.
"Why did you do that? What the hell was that? Who were those people?", her mind was going a thousand miles a minute.
"I had to know if it would work, I think we just accessed someone else's memory, maybe they were from a past life, I think we need to go somewhere and talk about this", the was trying.
"I don't believe that, there has to be a logical explanation for what just happened, like a mass hallucination or something"
"Then why are we the only ones who were affected?"
"Who said we were?"
"Well I don't see anyone else stopping on the street or looking distressed like you are"
"I'm not distressed, I just have someplace to be right now and I can't be late, just leave me alone"
"I don't think I'm supposed to do that, I think we were meant to find each other, let's just go somewhere and talk"
"No, I refuse to believe this is happening and I don't want to talk to you about anything"
"You can't just walk away, we need to figure this out", the man grabbed her hand again, and once again she was thrown into a memory that was not her own.
This time she was an old woman lying in a hospital room, she was surrounded by lots of people, some who looked like the man from a previous vision and some that looked like this version of her; she did not see the man from before but she somehow knew that she would soon. She could feel the love of her family surrounding her and this made her feel happy inside to know that she was loved and well taken care of, she could feel that someone was waiting on her on the other side of death. One of the adults closest to the bed began speaking to her and told her that it was ok for her to go and that they knew their father was waiting for her to come to him, she looked up and smiled then took a shaky breath and the memory fades to black. She once again snatched her hand away from the man, anger was etched all over her face, however, the man had a look of sorrow on his face for a brief second. It was like something clicked in the man's mind and he knew something she didn't and this time when she walked away he didn't try to stop her; she went home to process what just happened and how she felt about it.
After about a few hours of processing, she had not figured out her feelings about the events that happened earlier in the day, her father had called a few times but she just let her voicemail pick it up because she didn't want to have to explain why she missed her interview. She was getting hungry and the only thing that would make her feel better was pasta with shrimp and chicken, it was her ultimate comfort food whenever she was feeling not like herself or needed a pick me up. After finishing making the food she called her friend Alicia whom she knew would tell her the truth no matter what, she dialed the number but no one picked up which was strange she always answered when she called. She heard a knock on the door, she assumed it was her father coming to check on her but when she opened the door it was her friend, she was holding a few bottles of wine and had a serious look on her face like she knew her friend needed her right now.
"I had a feeling you might need this right now", she holds up both bottles.
"This is why you are my best friend, you just know me so well"
"Well duh, we've known each other since we were 14"
"Ok, so why did you really come over here?"
"I really did have a feeling that might need me, so I got up and got some wine and headed over here"
"I'm glad because I have had a crazy day and I just want to sip wine and forget for a while"
"Then let's get to it and pop some bottles"
They spent the rest of the night drinking and eating while they talked about everything from childhood to past relationships, and somehow the conversation got around to weird encounters with men. Feeling that they were tipsy enough, she told her friend about what happened earlier in the day with the stranger, her friend thought it was funny. She thought her friend was messing with her so she just laughed it off; Rosaline started laughing to figuring it all sounded crazy in her head, she would let her friend continue to think it was a funny joke for now and in the morning she would try to find the mystery man. By the end of the night, she and her friend were a little drunk, she knew her friend could not drive home so she had her crash in her guest room; there was water and aspirin on the nightstand when she left for bed. The next morning came and she was feeling like hell, she knew she had been drinking but she was not sure if she told her friend about the stranger yet, so when her friend came stumbling into the kitchen looking for food she asked her about last night.
"I know we talked last night, but the conversation is a bit blurry"
"Yeah we did, you tried to get me with this silly story of a mystery man and past life stuff, you almost had me"
"Right, it was all a joke, I heard it on a show I was watching a few days ago"
"What show? It sounds fun, I might check it out"
"Oh, I can't remember the name right now, ill text it to you later"
"Ok, I am starving and I have a headache from hell right now"
"I think there is some pasta left from last night, help your self"
"You are an angel right now"
They reheated up the leftover pasta and made a pot of coffee and discussed their plans for the day; Alicia had to work and then was going on a blind date that night, while Rosaline was going to call and reschedule her job interview and then just hang at home the rest of the day. With food now eaten, they said their goodbyes, and Alicia went on her way home to change and get ready for her day; rosaline on the other hand had a hone call to make but before she could she had another knock on her door. This time it was her father coming to check on her, she had been ignoring his calls the other day and he began to get worried so he decided to pop over and make sure she was still alive. She was not surprised at all that he was here; she knew he would want to know why she had not answered his calls, and seeing her in person guaranteed an answer; she lead him to the couch so they could have this long drawn out conversation about her missing the interview.
"I know you are mad at me but I had a bit of a weird day yesterday"
"I am not mad, I am disappointed, this was a big deal for me, my daughter working at the same company I worked at for years"
"I get it"
"I don't think you do, it's not like you to be irresponsible like this"
"I know, I just have a lot on my mind right now"
"Like what, you don't have a job right now, what could you have to think about?"
"You're right, it just thinking about this potential new job, how my life is going, and this mystery guy I met there is a lot to think about right now"
"What mystery guy? are you seeing someone?"
"what no, it's nothing"
"It's isn't nothing if it's got you thinking, so tell me what it is"
"Ok, do you believe in reincarnation and soul mates?", she felt stupid for asking.
"Depends, is that what has you so distracted?"
"Forget it, clearly I am crazy, let's talk about something else"
"I will not forget it, have you met your soul mate already?"
"You say that like it's a real thing"
"That is because it is a real thing, I was starting to worry, it never takes you this long to find him"
"What do you mean, this long? Reincarnation and soul mates are not real"
"They most certainly are"
Her father began to break down how her family was part of a group of people whose souls continuously come back after death and when they find a connection with another person their souls become connected so they can find each other in the next life. According to her father, her parents had been together for centuries, finding each other each time they come back; he told her that she and her siblings are always born in the same order each time they are born. Her head was spinning with the information her father just told her, she was sure he would call her crazy but instead, he just confirmed everything she was thinking and made her feel less crazy about her life and how it got turned upside down. Her whole life was some sort of twilight zone episode and she was not sure when the credits were going to start rolling; she just wanted a chance to choose for herself instead of feeling like her life was planned without her. Now that she knows that everything is real, her next step is to try to find the stranger from the other day, she and he have some things to discuss, like whether or not they would continue this loop or break it.
Read more on kindle vella link below
https://www.amazon.com/kindle-vella/story/B09NW5XS8B