Finding You

HIS LOOK-ALIKE

Enya looked at her with a gentle smile, "Henry Smith, my childhood and first love." she said, putting the book to her chest to show the photo of the man to her daughter.

Nuala can't seem to grasp the new information her mother just told her. Her eyes blinked twice faster with her mouth wide open in shock. "Are you serious? I thought father is the only one, ever?"

Enya smiled at her daughter's reaction and said, "He is the one, my one true love. But Henry, Henry's my first love." Then she looked at the man in the picture again and continued, "He's my every first." touching the cover of the book gently.

Meredith squinted her eyes at Enya and asked, "Every first, huh?"

"You mean, the first date? First holding hands? First kiss?" Nuala asked, "And --" but she wasn't able to finish her question as her grandmother finished it for her.

"First s*x?" Without a second thought, Meredith blurted out.

Both Enya and Nuala's faces flushed crimson by what the elder asked. Enya hesitated to answer but she answered anyway, "Yeah.." She thought that it was okay to finally let her mother know about it since it happened 35 years ago.

"Wow!" was the only word Nuala uttered. "How old were you then?" she asked. "18? 19?" Her mother recollected the memory, "I think we're already in college back then. I believe it was before we broke up."

Nuala was really surprised at her mother for never in a million years did she think that her mother would be romantically involved with someone else except her father.

Meredith was bewildered to know that Enya and Lindon did not tell Nuala about Henry as he was a big part of Enya's life before Lindon. "You didn't tell your daughter?" then it was followed by a series of stories.

"Dear, your mother, and that man, Henry started as a friend when they were very small. His mother's very dear to me, we were classmates in a boarding school, she came from a noble family but she had to sever ties with them to be with Jude, Henry's father. And Jude is a worker at our vineyard..."

Enya smiled as those memories of her and Henry flooded her mind as clear as a crystal. As she was lost reminiscing the past, still holding the book to her chest, she didn't hear her mother's storytelling. "Oh look at your mother, she's so in love." said Meredith.

"What? I'm not. It's just that, I can't believe he really made it. He became the man he always wanted to be." Enya said, putting down the book at the table, still smiling.

Nuala giggled but stopped when she saw a familiar figure outside the window of the coffee shop. A man standing across from her.

He's 6 foot 3 inches tall, lean figure, fair complexion, and laughs while talking to the people in front of him. He was holding shopping bags in his left hand and a tall coffee cup in his right hand.

But there is something different in him. Could it be his happy face or his clean-cut-well-ironed outfit? Whatever it was, she cannot exactly point out but she was certain that he was the man she was searching for.

"Enoch?" Nuala mumbled.

Her mother and grandmother didn't catch the word she said so they asked in unison, "Who?"

"What?"

But Nuala was still stunned to answer them, so they followed the direction she was looking at.

"It's him. It's Enoch.." she said, surprised that she would see him at the mall.

"That's Enoch?" Enya repeated to confirm. Seeing the stunned reaction of her granddaughter, Meredith swatted Nuala's thigh to pull her back to reality. "Oh, your crush? Go! Go!"

Without hesitation, Nuala stood up, took the shopping bag, and rushed outside to catch the man but it was too late. He already walked out of the exit door, got in his car, and left.

She was downhearted to see the man slowly disappear.

Meanwhile, earlier today, Flynn woke up a little gloomy, as today's the 8th year that the Smiths were going to celebrate Beetha's birthday without her. He said his prayers and wished his mother a happy birthday.

When he went down to the kitchen, he saw his father doing an online class with his student from the other side of the state. He was discussing European Art History, he was wearing his rectangular rimless eyeglasses with a pen and notepad next to his laptop.

Flynn slowly walked to the dining table with a smiling face and waved to his father.

Scrunching his face, Henry just glanced at him to acknowledge his presence. If Enoch was an iceberg to be explored, Flynn was a dog that needs to be tied, that's how their father used to describe the twins.

He took out an apple and yogurt from the fridge and refilled his father's empty coffee cup. He wrote a note which said "I'm off to the clinic. See you later." and put it next to his father's coffee cup. Henry nodded his head, still discussing with his online student.

Flynn's animal clinic was located on the 3rd floor of Center City Mall. When he got to the clinic, there were 2 dogs and a cat waiting for him to be vaccinated.

He receives a lot of attention for being a handsome pet doctor and a goofy guy; that's why a lot of single ladies show interest in him but none of them was the right one.

After a long day of work, he decided to go shopping before going home. He bought hiking shoes and a pair of hiking pants along with a plain maroon tee for his upcoming animal rescue mission.

While walking, he was called by a group of people, "Enoch!" but when he turned around, one of the people in the group said, "I told you, it's his twin." These people were from the same high school they attended.

"Yeah, I'm Enoch's twin." Flynn shyly responded, scratching his neck with his right hand.

A female schoolmate said, "We know you, Doc Flynn Smith." and smiled at him, showing her pearl white teeth. "How are you? You look more handsome than when we were in high school.

He replied, "I'm doing good. My pet clinic is on the 3rd floor, if you have fur-pet problems you can visit me there."

They chatted for a while then he said his goodbye, "Yeah, I'll let Enoch know. See you around."

Then he walked to the exit door where he parked his car. He just started his car when his phone rang, "Hey, are you still in the clinic?" Enoch asked from the other line.

"I just got out of the building. Why? Do you need anything?"

Enoch hesitated, "Oh, I was nearby. But never mind. See you at home."

Flynn smiled, his brother's one characteristic was that he doesn't want to delay someone's schedule because of him. "You know, I'm always being mistaken as you. I'm starting to hate your face." he said to annoy his twin brother.

But Enoch just snorted, "We share the same DNA, if you hate my face, you hate your face too." he said before cutting the call without waiting for Flynn to rebut.

Flynn shook his head, "This guy, I wonder if he's also like that with his girlfriends."

Then he drove the car out of the parking lot and said, "Ah, when will I get a girlfriend?" he sighed.