A Misplaced Rebirth: Our Secret

“So you really were reborn?”

“Yeah. I fell asleep in the car when I was forty, and woke up at seventeen.”

“What was your first thought?”

“To run. In my previous life, I loved you for over twenty years and spent just as long feeling exhausted. You were always hot and cold. You said, ‘It’s fine,’ but inside, you were afraid of everything. I’d had enough.”

“Then why did you still audition for Only You?”

“Because I couldn’t let go. I told myself I’d just take one look. But then the door opened and you walked in, and I completely fell apart. All the memories from my previous life came rushing back, even more intensely than the first time.”

“But you realized I wasn’t quite the same in this life?”

“Right. You’re more forward, more possessive, and you don’t hide your jealousy. You weren’t like this in my previous life.”

“That’s because I’ve had a certain dream since I was little. It was always about you, the you from your previous life. So I’ve always known I was waiting for someone.”

“Did you find them?”

“What do you think?”

“In this life, I don’t want to keep guessing. I don’t want to hear you say ‘It’s fine’ or watch you shoulder everything alone. If you’re afraid, tell me. If you feel uneasy, say so.”

“Then let me say something I never said in my previous life: I love you. I was so afraid of being a total creep and scaring you away. But in this life, I don’t want to hide it.”

“That’s more like it. You owe me for what you put me through in your previous life, and you can pay me back little by little in this one.”

“You sure know how to keep score.”

“I’ve been keeping score for two lifetimes.”