Time and Love Exchange

Encounter

Inside Destiny's cafe, Lynney especially chose a table by the window to seat herself and wait for the pricey cheese tarts she has ordered. She has always hated to waste time being idle and so with a half hour to spend, she quickly pulled out her phone to check her work assignment inbox. She was completely taken aback upon seeing over a hundred emails forwarded to her from the company's main magazine publication readers all addressed to her as its only anonymous advice columnist. Lynney gasped, not certain whether it was for delight or shock, for from brief glances, those messages seemed to be referring to a similar theme, though she has to open them all to know what they were all about...Following, a waiter came by with a glass of drink for her as a courtesy gesture for her having to wait some time for her order. At about a second before Lynn could utter a word of thanks, the cafe door which her seat was directly facing was pushed open. She merely thought it was just another early bird customer, yet she was only half right...

Rushing up towards the only available counter person, this customer ordered none other than another large size of the cafe's newly-released cheese tarts, intriguing Lynney...

When reminded that there would be another 20-minute wait just like Lynney, the amount of patience requested seemed to be not any problem...Coincidentally, this person also preferred one of the tables by the window and was about to take out his handy laptop when a certain familiarity was instantly recognised by them both...

"Oh, what a pleasant surprise!" An attentive smile crept up on his face as their gaze met.

Lynney was least expecting such an encounter, "Seems like it...How's it going?"

He came over and set down his laptop before sitting down right opposite her. "Uh, good...though it seems like things are getting unreasonably busier by the moment..."

Lynney wondered if it was just her or Danson appeared somewhat more stressed out than the last time they met two nights ago as he swiftly turned on his laptop and began typing at almost the speed of a leopard's before her...She attempted to ease the heavy atmosphere, "I hope I haven't forgotten to thank you for the lift that night...It's really a great help and relief for me..." Unknowingly, both happened to be distracted enough to forget all about Lynney's treasured novel and totally missed mentioning it.

He looked up and offered another amused smile again, "Absolutely no problem...I'm not sure whether you're aware, but time is obviously tricking us in an overwhelming way that night, or even since the start of that day itself...We're still trying hard to figure out the source of the major disturbance..."

Lynney nearly could not believe her ears when Danson apparently spoke her mind. It seemed that her unusual experience was more than just an unknown fantasy. She quickly pressed, "So there's really something very mysterious about our watches and clocks, right? But why would people keep believing and assuming that it was still a Friday that day?"

It felt like a mind-sharing experience the moment when the two knew exactly what each other were implying and hinting about. Danson then closed his laptop and began to thoughtfully explain, "Well, I am suspecting foremost a huge digital time glitch that seems to be spreading throughout our closely interconnected systems from the topmost institutions down to the lower common network of our society...But, Lynney, you are right...Why would people keep presuming that everything is without a single mistake? I thought I would question others about that from a little suspicion but suddenly with an extra Friday, it just brought about one of the most positive experiences I have ever had and no one seems to mind at all..."

Lynney was more than grateful for what he was willing to make known to her, yet not without curiosity, "Do you mind me asking what's that positive experience that happened?"

Danson beamed, "Maybe you could have heard about it already - that conference by our neuroscience society...Just everything that took place was a tremendous success, probably even what brings me back here today..."

Both of them could not help but share a tacit laugh of relief. When Danson spoke up again, it was apparent that the tension in his tone minutes ago was gone...His gaze turned a bit more intent, however, "I'm glad I came here on a morning like this...Even if it's just my supervisor and colleagues who seem to like the tarts more than any other thing now..."

Lynney was surprised again, "My colleague is also obssessed with them and that's what brought me here too! Nevertheless, I didn't have a chance to taste them at my workplace the other day!"

He chuckled softly, "I came here on that mysterious 'second' Friday to get refreshments for the conference nearby at least three times for some reason when this place was fully packed..."

As Danson revealed, there was a flashback on Lynney's mind...

She took a deep breath and scanned the menu items lighted up bright over the front counters. "Oh my, I can't believe this is so different from yesterday...Or...yesterday's today...? Even the bus driver is not the same person! What a trick from heaven!"

"Yes, indeed! Now, sweetie, this is gonna be free for your big birthday today!" Lynn's ears immediately perked up to some soft whispers(she was a very sharp listener). She turned her eyes to a far end of the counter and saw the cashier passing to a pre-teen girl a tray full of jumbo-sized burgers and fries along with a couple of heart-shaped balloons. Lynn's eyes rolled in surprise.

"Oopps sorry, I really didn't mean to..." A resounding thud from behind caught Lynn's attention again and she turned and saw a fallen chalkboard sign stand on the floor about a dozen inches of distance from her.

One of the servers quickly headed over to manage the mess, only to receive more apologies from the person who knocked down the stand unintentionally while entering through the door beside it.

"Surprise Fr- B-day Meal for All! Just say your name and it's all yours if you can guess the blank letters right!"

Lynn squinted her eyes hard as she stole a quick read at the words written on the board and held her breath, "Oh, so that's your secret!"

The gentleman who caused the embarrassing incident was about to take his spot in the long line behind Lynn when he suddenly changed his mind and left...Still, his voice seemed to stick with Lynn for quite a while, though she only fleetingly saw his subtly familiar back...

She shuddered and mentally sped her mind through over twice a dozen items she was determined to order...

-End of flashback-

"By any chance, did you ever knock down a chalkboard here on that day?" Lynney instinctively questioned...

She thought Danson's face appeared to flush bright when he looked down bashfully away from her gaze and answered quietly, "Well,...awkwardly I did..." Lynney was bemused and quickly tried to change topic.

"Pardon me if I'm not aware, but are your supervisor and colleagues part of your neuroscience team, or are they from another job?" Lynney asked with interest.

He lifted his gaze to meet hers again, nodding with another instant of friendly smile, "You're right - I have only one job as a research assistant for the neuroscience department in the meantime, while working for a graduate degree...My only supervisor is one of the interdisciplinary faculty members on campus..."

When Danson told her about the institution he was studying(and working) at, Lynney was pleasantly surprised to get to know another senior of hers, only that he was much better in terms of personality nature and manners compared with a cold-hearted Dr Lane...