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Elin

Parque Nacional, Portugal, October 2021

With her mind still churning over her conversation with Clio, Elin goes back to the search she’d started on Zeph, looking for something, anything, that might either back up or disprove what they’d discussed.

But all she finds are variations of the same stories: the closure of his restaurant, the injuries to his chef.

It’s only on the third page of results that a headline piques her interest.

Have they called it quits?

The subheader is equally intriguing.

Has dancer Romy Hernandez called it quits with her relationship with fiery chef Zephyr Dosen?

Romy .

Clicking into the article, Elin scans the text.

Last night, Romy Hernandez was seen walking arm in arm with fellow dancer Stefan Elder looking very cosy. Does Zeph Dosen know what his girlfriend is doing in her downtime, or has he already shown her the door?

Her gaze drops lower, to the photograph.

A man and woman both in sweats and high-tops, walking down a street, arms loosely threaded together. The man is bending his head slightly towards the woman, smiling as if he’s found something she’s said funny.

It’s hard to get a read on either of their faces – the man’s is in profile, and Romy is holding her arm up, shielding her face from the camera, but what Elin can see of it – the eyes, part of the mouth – looks familiar.

Elin keeps scrutinising the image, and while she still can’t place her, the uncomfortable feeling lingers that she’s seen her somewhere before.

She needs to find another picture.

But as she types Romy’s name into the search bar, hundreds of photos appear. Daunted by the sheer number, Elin clicks on the first that clearly shows her face – a close-up of Romy sat outside a café – and peers a little closer.

A sudden jolt.

For a moment, Elin thinks the physical similarities are nothing more than superficial – her brain glitching, desperately seeking a connection – but as she takes in the bones of her face, there’s no doubting it.

It’s her.