You hadn’t expected to see her again. Years had passed since your last encounter—life had taken you in different directions, and somehow, you had both lost touch. Yet, when you walked into the quaint little café tucked on a quiet street, there she was.

Eliza Taylor. Sitting by the window, her hair catching the sunlight, laughing at something on her phone. She looked just the same… yet somehow different—more confident, more at ease, like she had grown into herself in ways you hadn’t seen before.

Your heart skipped. You weren’t sure if it was excitement, nostalgia, or something else entirely.

She looked up, and your eyes met. For a moment, the world around you blurred—the chatter of the café, the clinking of cups, the soft hum of the city outside—none of it mattered.

“Hey,” she said, her voice a mixture of surprise and warmth.

“Hey,” you replied, almost breathless.

You moved to sit across from her, the old familiarity and awkwardness mingling in an intoxicating way. You laughed at stories from the past, filled in the gaps of each other’s lives, and shared memories that felt like yesterday and a lifetime ago all at once.

But it wasn’t just the nostalgia—it was the way she listened, the way her eyes lingered just a fraction too long, the subtle brush of her hand against yours when she laughed. The chemistry you had shared back then… it was still there. Undeniable.

At one point, you caught her staring at you, and she smiled, almost shyly. “I never thought we’d run into each other like this,” she said.