I look at you and see a life we haven’t lived yet.

Not imagined. Not hoped for.

Certain.

I look at your face and feel this quiet pull…

like I’ve known you longer than I should.

Like I’ve been waiting without realizing it.

I look at you and want to be the reason you laugh,

the reason your shoulders drop after a long day,

the reason your eyes soften when the world feels too loud.

I look at you and picture a future that feels strangely familiar.

A home. A table. Conversations that don’t end.

Your world folding into mine like it was always meant to.

I look at you and feel fearless.

Like with you, I’d finally stop second-guessing everything.

And then I look at you…

and remember I don’t even know your name.

I look at you as you walk past me,

two strangers pretending not to notice each other.

Just coffee. Just silence. Just timing.

I look at you when you glance back—

and for a second, something passes between us.

Something real.

But then I look at you walk out the door…

and drive away with someone else.

And just like that,

we become nothing more than strangers at the coffee shop.

I look at you as you walk in again.

Same place. Same time.

But this time, something is different.

I look at you as you move closer,

and I can feel it…

that invisible line between us getting thinner.

I look at you when you smile—

not polite, not distant.

Intentional.

I look at you as you walk toward me,

close enough now that I can’t pretend anymore.

You ask for my name.

And for a second…

I forget how to speak.

“I’m Marion,” I say, barely above a whisper.

I look at you as your smile grows,

as you start to say yours—

and then she walks in.

I look at you glance toward her,

the same woman from before,

the one who drove away with you.

And I feel it—

that quiet collapse of something that never even started.

Until you turn back to me and say,

“Marion… this is Laura. My sister. We just moved here.”

I look at you.

Really look at you this time.

And everything changes.

I laugh—soft, relieved, a little embarrassed.

“Hi, Laura.”

I look back at you, steady now. Certain.

“Are you single?”

You smile.

No hesitation this time.

“Yes.”

And just like that…

we’re not strangers anymore.