Sunday Lunch in Prep

Part the Fifth

Doubt and Disorientation
Charlie stood there outside The Ship, his pulse filling his ears. The street was bustling. People chatting, laughing, going about their lives. Just a normal day. Reality hadn't taken a step sideways. He turned in a slow circle searching for Kim. His brain was desperately searching for a logic that would make sense of the previous hour. Maybe Kim had just stepped out. Maybe he had run into someone and wandered off. Maybe I am simply overreacting. Then there was the evidence. It couldn't be ignored. The untouched pint on the table. Barry's blank look. The couple's confusion. His stomach churned. A deep breath. No! I didn't imagine him. Impossible. He needed to reconstruct the afternoon. Retrace his steps. Ground himself. If he replayed the afternoon maybe something would fall into place. Something that made sense of it all.

Charlie checked his phone again. Nothing. No missed calls. No messages. After a moment of hesitation he scrolled through his contacts list. Kim wasn't there. His chest tightened. He went cold. He was certain. Absolutely certain that Kim's number had been in his phone for years, even though they hadn't spoken for what seemed a lifetime. He was sure he hadn't deleted it. He would never have. A moment of panic gave him the idea of checking his photos.he started flipping through them half expecting to find nothing. But half hoping to find something to prove the events of the last hour or so. He worked his way through old pictures, some from work events, some blurry ones for a drunken weekend. Then, there, an old school photo. A group shot. Kim was there in it.

Charlie let out a deep sigh. He is real. Not going mad. Even so the presence of an old photo in no way explained the current circumstances. He would not be surprised if this were some sort of prank. Something that Kim had set up. It was just the sort of thing he would do.. Pull an elaborate hoax and then reappear laughing his head off at your bewilderment. Charlie wanted to believe that. But. There was something about his expression in the pub. That easy grin. The casual manner of his conversation. Non of it seemed like a set up for a schoolboy prank. And yet. No one else in the pub had seen him neither Barry or any of the customers. What if? He shook his head. No. He wasn't going there. More information was what he needed right now. With one last scan of the street he started walking. His flat wasn't that far, and walking back might just clear his head. Then he might just be able to work out what was going on. As he walked he constantly looked about him checking the street, faces in the crowd. To no avail. Kim was nowhere to be seen. Now the doubt began to set in, the question in his mind, had Kim ever really been there at all?

Authors Note
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