I remember the day we met. Not to sound corny or cliche, but honestly, it felt like love at first sight. Like the moment was meant to be.
It was at a little get-together my family had put on for my 21st birthday. I didn’t question why she was there. All I could focus on was, well, her face. She was beautiful. And to think that she wanted me of all people. It was damn near intoxicating.
We danced the night away to a live cover band of The Beatles, and the entire night felt like a fantasy come to life.
Nobody seemed to recognize her, though. All night, it was just me and her, staring into each other’s eyes underneath the clear night sky. No interruptions whatsoever.
When the party began to wind down and people started to go home, we both agreed that she should stay the night with me.
Together, we jetted back to my apartment while I tried to focus on the road and not the sweet nothings she whispered into my ear.
When we arrived, it wasn’t some kind of “straight to the bedroom” situation. We actually cuddled on my couch for hours, watching Supernatural and laughing at the cliches before dozing off in each other’s arms.
Unfortunately, the next morning I had work. So when I woke up, I was fully prepared to ask her to let herself out and assure her that we would see each other again.
However, the first thing I noticed as soon as my eyes opened was the fact that I was alone on the sofa. The second thing was the smell of breakfast that permeated my nostrils and made my mouth water.
I found her in my kitchen, hair messy and wearing my T-shirt as she scrambled eggs.
“Good morning, cutie,” she smirked. “I hope you don’t mind, I figured I’d make you some breakfast. Consider it a thank you for letting me crash here last night.”
I groggily stared down at the serving of eggs and bacon. She was really making this hard. To my pleasure, though, once she handed me the plate and planted a kiss on my cheek, she was pretty much already out the door.
“Sorry, I don’t wanna be rude, I just have work,” she announced hurriedly. “I’ll see you tonight.”
Before I could respond, she was gone, leaving me to quickly wash the dishes and rush out the door.
Though we hadn’t exchanged numbers yet, which, dumb, I know, at around lunchtime my phone began to blow up with texts.
“How’s your day going, honey?”
“Working hard?”
“What’s for dinner tonight?”
At this point, I was starting to get a little freaked out.
Not knowing what to do, I blocked the number. So much for love at first sight. I was clearly wrong.
However, when new texts started to appear from a new number, I knew that something was definitely wrong.
“Haha, did you block me?”
“You silly goose.”
“We’re gonna be together forever. You can’t get rid of me that easily.”
At this point, my heart was pounding. I responded firmly, but politely.
“Look, I had a really good time with you last night. I just don’t think this is gonna work out. I wish you the best, and I hope you find the person for you.”
The texting bubbles popped up and stayed on the screen for a few minutes. Finally, a response came through.
“We can discuss this when you get home.”
Unfortunately, before I could reply to that insane remark, my boss walked by and I had to put my phone away.
The day went on, and by quitting time I had received hundreds of texts from this newfound “lover.”
“I chose you.”
“We’re gonna be together forever.”
“Don’t you remember?”
“I’ve always been here for you.”
Obviously psychotic, right?
But what pushed it straight into horror movie territory wasn’t the words. It was the images. The selfies.
A photo of her in the back row at my high school graduation.
A picture of me at the DMV as I was receiving my license.
My tenth birthday.
However, the image that will haunt me the most for the rest of my life…
Was the selfie of her, smiling underneath a face mask, in the delivery room on the day of my birth.
Her appearance hadn’t changed once. She hadn’t aged a day in 21 years.
And as I stared in utter terror at what she had sent me, a new message appeared beneath the photos.
“We were meant to be.”
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