Chapter 1

It was raining so heavily that afternoon the streets looked like rivers. As I hurried out of the subway station, I noticed a young man standing beside an elderly man, who I assumed was his grandfather. They were trying to share a tiny umbrella, but it wasn't doing much. Without thinking, I walked over and offered them mine.

"We're okay," the young man said with a smile.

I smiled, stepped back into the rain and shouted, "I love the rain!" before running off into the crowd.

It was one of those random moments of kindness.

About a week later, while scrolling through Reddit, I stumbled upon a post titled, "To the girl who gave me her umbrella outside the subway…" Curious, I opened it.

No way. The world couldn't possibly be this small… could it? I thought to myself.

Curious I replied. "I think that was me,"

Within minutes, he sent me a private message.

"I can't believe I found you."

Neither could I.

Over the next week, we talked almost every day. He was funny, thoughtful, and surprisingly easy to talk to. It felt like one of those unbelievable stories about two strangers finding each other because of a single random act of kindness. Looking back now, maybe I wanted to believe the world worked that way.

Eventually, he asked if I'd like to meet for coffee. I agreed.

The café wasn't far from the same subway station where we'd supposedly met. I arrived a little early and stood outside checking my phone when I heard someone behind me.

"Hi there."

I turned around.

A man I'd never seen before smiled at me.

"Sorry… do I know you?" I asked.

He chuckled.

"It's me."

I frowned.

"The umbrella guy."

But no. That wasn't him.

That wasn't the young man I'd given my umbrella to.

This was someone else.

A completely different person.

He noticed the confusion on my face and slowly stepped closer. Instinctively, I stepped back.

Something about him felt wrong. His smile was too wide, too calm, like he'd been imagining this moment for a very long time.

"I'm going to have so much fun with you," he said softly.

My heart sank.

Every instinct in my body screamed at me to run.

I turned & make a dash.

But before I could.

An arm locked around me from behind as a cloth was pressed tightly over my mouth. I fought with everything I had, but the strange chemical smell hit me almost immediately. My vision blurred. My legs buckled.

As the world around me dissolved into darkness, memories of that rainy afternoon came rushing back.

I remembered that there had been someone else.

Standing several metres behind them on the subway.

Just… watching.

Watching me.

Watching the young man and his grandfather.

Watching me hand over my umbrella.

Watching me smile.

In that moment, every impossible coincidence suddenly made sense.

The Reddit post.

The messages.

The coffee date.

He had never been the man with the umbrella.

He had simply been standing far enough away to watch the entire exchange.

He knew I'd remember that rainy afternoon.

He knew I'd believe him.

He knew I'd reply…

Before everything went black was his voice whispering into my ear.

"I've been waiting for this for a long, long time."