24 now, I could feel another kind of uneasiness that I couldn’t understand. So tell me, Alex. How would you like to see her again? I finished off my drink and left after a few minutes. I couldn’t stay there, I needed to move. The Dealer’s words had gotten to me, and they were bringing with them the same flood of emotions and memories I was trying to avoid with James. I couldn’t handle this at the start of the day and I certainly couldn’t handle it now. I walked back towards my office building, keeping my hands in my pockets and my head down. It was snowing now, and the heavy snowflakes falling around me painted the world in a hazy white tint as I trudged along the sidewalk, and I could see my breath fog out in front of me. My mind was miles away from where I was, thinking about how to avoid the confrontation waiting for me at the office, thinking about Ella, and thinking about the impossible. I find a way to give them what they most desire in exchange for what they take for granted the most. Was it even possible? No, I knew it wasn’t. So why couldn’t I get those idiotic words out of my mind? Something dark on the sidewalk across the street stood out from the white haze of the snow and caught the corner of my eye, and I peered out across the street as I walked. I only managed to catch a glimpse of it for an instant before a passing truck obscured my vision, but what I saw was a glimpse of the Dealer standing motionless on the pavement across the lanes, watching me through the snow. That same smirk was on his face again, and I saw him tip his hat slightly in greeting. Then the truck passed, and when I could see to the other side again, he was gone. It had all happened in only an instant, and I thought maybe I had imagined it. But that brief distraction was all it took for something to slam into me.
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