Eventually, I stopped asking. Not because I no longer cared, but because I was exhausted. Exhausted from losing the same fight. Exhausted from feeling like I was competing with a woman whose name I did not even know.

So I taught myself to ignore her.

Or at least I believed I had.

Until last week.

I was waiting in line at a bakery when the woman standing in front of me turned slightly. My stomach dropped. I knew that face. Not from school, not from work, not from anywhere in my actual life.

For a moment, I honestly thought my mind was playing tricks on me. Then she turned a little farther. The same eyes. The same lips. Even the tiny beauty mark near her jaw. Older now, but undeniably her.

My hands began to shake. I must have stared at her for nearly a minute. Finally, before I lost my courage, I stepped forward.