Now where did I put my hairbrush…

I know it’s here somewhere.

Sighing, I turned around to look at all the surfaces in the hotel room. Desk, bed, nightstand. Nothing. It’s not anywhere.

My stomach knots. How can I possibly go outside looking like this?!

I frown, taking a steadying breath and sit down on the bed.

As I stare out the window at the streets and the overpass, I make a mental note of how everything looks. I know I’ll want to remember everything someday.

I look down at my phone and my heart skips a beat as I see the time is already 2:30 pm.

I’m probably late.

Suddenly, the fear grips my heart again. The anxiety I’d been feeling for weeks about this very moment….

What if he doesn’t recognize me, what if I don’t recognize him? What if there’s nothing between us anymore. What if… we’re just too different now? No longer Ravina and Theo, but total strangers.

Sighing, I force my heart to calm down.

No, come on, it’ll be fine. I mean, this isn’t really the first time you’ll be seeing him in five years. You talk on the computer often enough, and he did come back for that one summer… it’s been a while though.

Been a while since I’ve seen that boy.

I resort to just running my fingers through my shoulder-length hair, smiling slightly as I realise that Theo probably hasn’t seen me since I let it return to its natural color of dark brown. Hmm… how times change.

I grab my phone and my purse, putting my dark red coat on and trying to pinch some color back into my cheeks.

The elevator ride down to the lobby was bearable only due to the little kid and his parents riding with me. He smiled at me from behind his mom’s knee, looking like the pictures I’d seen of Theo as a child…

I winked at him and he giggled.

I took a big breath in as I went outside into the warm May air. The sidewalk was busy with people on their way, presumably, back to work after lunch.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

I looked down at my phone to find the text Theo sent me yesterday about where to meet him.

He’d been living in a small town just outside of Seoul for the last three years, teaching at a Waldorf School during the weekdays.

He’d be meeting me at the train station at 3:00, since he said that was the fastest way to get to the city.

The map on my phone said I could walk there, which I was glad about. It was beautiful here. The trees were just starting to bloom, and everywhere you looked there seemed to be more and more buildings that touched the sky.

I wondered halfheartedly if I’d ever actually spend any significant amount of time here. I certainly enjoyed learning the language.

As I passed by another couple holding hands, I wondered if Theo would ever want to move back here.

As far as I’d heard his family no longer needed him to work for them. And just as well. He seemed extremely happy teaching.

When I checked my phone again, it was 2:50. The train station was just a few blocks away now…

My heart sped up again.

Theo. I was about to see Theo for the first time. Really see him, not just in pictures.

I realized now, I was more excited than scared.

As I went into the station I looked around. Long wooden benches here and there where people could sit, reminding me of church pews a little bit.

There were a few monitors on the wall that I assume said when the trains would be arriving and leaving. There were a few English words I could pick out here and there. The times were in English. I found the one that said 3 pm. There was only one.

Through the sound of people chattering, and announcements over the intercom, I also heard what I assumed was the sound of a train approaching.

It was distant, but clearly getting louder…

I checked my phone again compulsively, and it said 2:58.

Oh my god, this was really happening-

My heart raced. Where do I stand? Do I sit? For the love of God… can I really do this?

I find myself standing awkwardly by the wall, nearly wedged in a corner as the train pulls up to the landing and the doors open.

Immediately people start pouring out, and I decide I’m glad I’ve tucked myself away back here, so I don’t get trampled on…

I was 24 years old, and still 5’4. The universe really did me dirty.

I manage to shake my wandering thoughts aside, as I think I see Theo-

But no, it’s not him. It’s just some teenager with his friends.

Theo doesn’t look like that anymore, I remind myself.

Silly Ravina.

I’m suddenly remembering the abandoned train car at the edge of Eugene, just past the old liquor store. Damn, I haven’t been there in a while. I wondered if Theo remembered that too. Surely he did, right?

“Ravina?”

I’m jolted out of my own head by a voice. It sounds familiar, but not quite…

When I look up, I almost want to cry.

“Theo?” I say, hope burning in my heart.

He smiles, “It’s me. I’m home.”