Time and Space - part two

San Francisco is a small city, but how could she possibly run into him twice in two days? A two-minute read

Feb 07, 2024

This is the second half of Time and Space. If you missed the first half, it is HERE

Sometimes it is hard to know where you are. What you are doing.Where you are going. What time it is ...

The library seemed like a good place to pass some time on a rainy day in San Francisco. She’d been browsing in the Mission branch all afternoon, off the map, without a compass. She wasn’t looking for anything in particular, just leafing through pages of this and that This is the best way to be in a library, she thought. You never know what treasure you’ll find if you leave your mind open to possibilities.

She flipped through two or three Rendells, over in the mystery stacks. No. She put them back. She wandered over to the arts section and pulled out two large, illustrated tomes. There, through the opened space on the shelf, she saw Jason. What the hell? she thought. San Francisco is a small city, but, seriously? The Mission isn’t even his neighborhood. How could I possibly run into him twice in two days? Wait! Has he been following me? Did he follow me here so I would talk to him?

Jason?

Oh! Alice! Wow! What a coincidence. What are you doing here?

I just came in for a burger and fries.

A … what? Oh … right. Very funny.

You been stalking me?

Stalking you? No! Why would you say that? Wh … why would I do that?

It’s just odd that I have run into you two days in a row.

Yeah, I know. Crazy, right? So … how you doing?

I’m okay. You’re letting your beard grow. Looks good.

Yep. And I cut off my hair finally. Making a change in the new year. How about you? What’ve you been up to? It’s been a while.

Me? Uh, well … I am writing now. Yeah … I’m writing. A lot. Working on my novel. I did a couple of short stories, a few poems. I am out there now, putting in the time, doing the work. So… yeah …I’m a writer. Writing, that’s about it. You?

It’s me, Alice, you know, nothing exciting, the usual, still working at the print shop and hanging out over at Clancy’s on Haight. Thinking of buying a bicycle. Hey, would you want to go get something to eat? There’s Lulu’s just up the street. You got time?

Mm … I don’t know … yeah, okay, I could eat. We could catch up, I guess.

Yeah. You can tell me what you have been writing about … or whatever. I’ve really been wanting to talk to you. I’ve been missing you, Alice.

I miss you too, sometimes. No, hell, that’s not true. I miss you all the time, actually. She put the art books back on the shelf and took hold of his sleeve.

Sometimes it is hard to know where you are. What you are doing. Where you are going. What time it is. And sometimes you figure it out.

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