**[PART ONE](https://peakd.com/hive-199275/@kemmyb/a-date-with-shadows-part-one--eah)**
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The traffic is unusually heavy as I step out of my house, cars flashing past me like blurry figures in chaosland. My heart races with a mix of fear and excitement. I can't stop thinking about the kiss Greg and I shared in school. Come to think of it, I've not submitted my assignment to the lecturer. 

I pause for a moment on the sidewalk, my head throbbing on the left side. What subject is the assignment again? The sound of a car slowing down beside me distracts me. It's a cab.

“Ma'am, you need a ride?” Someone asks from behind me. I turn and smile at the middle-aged doorman who stares at me uncertainly. Weird. He points to the cab. 

“Yes, please. Thank you,” I reply as the driver exits his cab and opens the passenger door for me. “Where to Ma'am?” He asks, glancing at me from the rearview mirror after he's seated. 

“Crafts Café Deli, please.” I fasten my seat belt and look up when the car doesn't move. The driver is staring with a slight smile. “Is something wrong?”

“Uh, it's just…the place you mention was sold and the new owners changed the name to The Portico Café now. Is that…?”

“Sure. Take me there.” I answer quickly to avoid any more awkwardness and sit back in silence, my brain running around in circles. The café is no longer Crafts Cafe Deli? I must have missed that tiny detail somehow….argh. I press the tip of my fingers to my temples to ease the throbbing pain…

“Ma'am, we're here.” Pain forgotten, I look up at the café. It looks the same from outside. I get out of the cab and walk into the coffee shop, oblivious to the driver's persistent calls of “ma'am, ma'am” because my eyes are desperately searching about the slightly crowded café for Greg.

He's not here yet. I take the table close to the glass window so I can watch him whenever he walks in. I raise my hand and order a latte. 

A few hours later, my behind feels numb on the chair and my feet are slightly swollen. I'm tired of sitting so I use the restroom and resume my seat by the window. It's almost evening and the café is quieter now. My heart is pounding and I'm close to tears. *Did Greg forget about our date? Why is he not here?* The waitress approaches me with a kind smile and I try to return it, but my cheeks wobble—a muscle thing. I gasp and press both my hands on my face to hide it. “Ma'am, are you okay? Are you…expecting someone?”

I nod. “Yes…Greg Massey. He's supposed to meet me here.”

“Will you like another latte while you—”

“No, she won't be having anymore coffee.” Hendricks blurts as he walks towards my table, tall and imposing. “Mrs Massey!” My eyes widens at the sight of my caregiver in the strange café. He's angry, a little flushed and sweaty but I'm more concerned about the strange environment I'm in. *How did I get here?*

Then I remember and my face crumbles. The waitress is pale and apologising profusely to Hendricks who must have explained my situation to her. My caregiver stretches a hand towards me. I hold his hand and whisper, “He didn't come, Hendricks. Greg didn't show up.”

“Yes, he did,” he replies to my confusion.

As he helps me into the same cab that brought me to the café, my memories fall into place. Greg did come for our date. We were happily married for many years and then he passed away a few years ago. 

I glance up at Hendricks beside me. “I'm…sorry. I was going to call you but forgot. I wanted to come here…. to see Greg one more time.”

Hendricks nods with a sympathetic smile. “I was terribly worried that I'd lost you. Thanks to Peter,” he cocks his head towards the cab driver, “I heard him complaining to the doorman that you didn't pay him and made him bring me here. Are you alright?’

“I'm fine. A little sad… and afraid.”

“I’m here now. Let's get you home and into bed. You need some rest.”

I start to mutter repeatedly. My name is Sharon Massey and I love my husband, Greg. It may sound ridiculous but I'll do anything to hold on to some sense of myself and the life I've lived. 

The End.

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