Page 14 of SaaS & Class

“Hold up,” he interrupted. “Saturday? That’s a week ago now.”

I nodded. “I know.”

“So you’ve had fate-sickness for a week, and this is the first I’m hearing about it?”

“In my defense, I didn’t think it was fate-sickness at first. I just thought it was end-of-the-school-year exhaustion, or maybe a last-minute bug I’d picked up from a student.”

He studied me for several seconds, then nodded. “Ok, fair. You’re usually wiped out at the end of the year.”

I forced a smile, then thanked a waitress as she set a basket of fries between us.

“So end-of-the-year exhaustion is a thing, but this wasn’t that… and I’m not sick in other ways. The exhaustion is there, but in a way that’s different. Normally it’s just my body telling me I’ve been working too hard. But this? It’s like every sense is cranked to eleven every waking moment. It’s overwhelming, and by the time I hit the bed both my brain and body have been in overdrive all day.”

“Ok… why don’t you go back to the start. What happened at the beach?”

I nodded and ran a hand through my hair. “Right… sorry… my thoughts are all jumbled the past few days. I’d gone to the beach right around sunrise, and had been there for several hours. Most of the morning crew had left, and the recreational crowd was starting to arrive. It was about time for lunch, so I decided to leave…”

“Oooook…”

“I was walking back toward the parking lot when I smelled him. Every instinct just knew that it was my fated mate. But I couldn’t find him. I only smelled him for a moment, but it was enough. I looked around for several minutes, but between the people coming and going, plus the shifting winds at that time of day…”

He sighed. “If you’d been anywhere else, I might have accused you of giving up. But I know better. All those people and the inconsistent winds at that time of day… That’s an almost impossible task.”

I nodded. “I started feeling off a few hours later, but like I said, I thought it was just exhaustion or a bug. But it never got better.”

“And you said your senses are running wild?”

“Yeah. It’s… too much. I don’t know what’s real, and what’s my body overreacting to everything.”

“What do you mean?”

“I thought I smelled him near my barber, but all the people and the scents from the aftershaves made it impossible to tell. Then again, a different day at a coffeeshop, but it was older.” I paused. “I think.”

“Ugh.”

I hung my head. “I feel like I’m chasing ghosts. I don’t know what’s real and what’s some sort of scent hallucination. It’s like I’m smelling him everywhere and nowhere.”

“Damn. And there are no leads?”

“No.”

“Have you tried a dating app? Maybe he scented you and is desperately swiping.”

I shook my head. “While my contract doesn’t expressly prohibit dating apps, they’re heavily frowned upon. Besides that, which app would I use? There are a lot of options. What if he’s using one that was ok in a bigger city but has fewer hits here?”

“You think he’s from out of town?”

I nodded. “Harris Cove has a decent population, but we’re not a big city, either. I think if he’d been around a while, then we would have met before now.”

“Ok. Makes sense. Think he was just here on vacation?”

I shuddered. “I hope not. Right now I have nothing but hope, but if he leaves…”

He cringed. “Sorry for even suggesting that.”

“It’s ok. I’ve had to think about it, too. But for now I’m hoping he’s new to town.”

“I get it.” He paused. “So… how are you handling it? What’s it like? Nobody I’ve known has had fate-sickness.”