I generally don't try to make friends with people at department stores so I didn't pay any attention to the fellow shopper, at least until she said 'Hello'. At that moment I looked up. 'Hi' was the best I could do. A person who I never expected to see again, certainly not in the middle of a gigantic Target store, was standing right there in front of me. She tried to say something else but I essentially ran in the other direction. I had done my best to forget about her, although the memories still return with alarming regularity despite the fact that I hadn't seen her in over three years.

She and I shared an off and on relationship for a little over a year. We didn't get along all that well, except in bed where she could stop a clock, but we did enjoy ourselves. During that period I became terribly attached but certainly didn't inform her of that. The extent of the attachment was actually recognized only after things had ended. Over the last couple of years I have made half hearted attempts to find her that always ended in futility. I was quite sure that she had left the state for some reason or another, now I know that she has not. Indeed, we used to live on opposite sides of the city but her presence at an otherwise non-descript department store leads me to believe that she is closer to me than before.

In the intervening years I have gotten married, changed jobs, bought a house, etc. My present life is relatively excellent and a reasonable person would have no desire to throw it all away over what is most likely a warped fantasy inspired by the quality of the sex alone. I am not yet convinced that I am a reasonable person. I know that I will try to find her, much more seriously than before. If I am successful there will be a monumental decision to be made and I am unsure of whether or not I will be able to follow what I know is best.