Happenstance 1

She was here, the owner tells him.
Disquiet, disbelief. Who? He asks again. Yes, it was her – the one you saw – the café guy says. She just left.
His first feeling was one of being wronged. Violated, in a hundred ways. If he missed her, why did he have to know it? Why would the café guy have to know his story? Why would someone else, who did not pine for her, who did not deserve to see her, get the vision that was his alone? Why would someone who could not tell the sight of her from the vision of her, have to see her?

He ran out – looked around. The metropolitan traffic mocked at him with its crowded emptiness. She was not there; or worse, she was there – melted among the ordinary. He would not know her unless he saw her in the setting of the café…

While walking back, he remembered that he had forgotten to thank the cafe guy.