A Total Stranger

Gwen shook her head and answered immediately, ‘No, I have not seen him.’ Kira wasn’t surprised. She had gotten the same answer so many times, she was no longer disappointed. ‘I see. Sorry to have bothered you. I’ll see myself out.’ She opened the door. And walked straight into a man who was just on his way in. The two collided. Kira hit her nose on the man’s broad, muscular chest. She caught a whiff of his cologne. Something citrusy. ‘Excuse me.’ The man’s low voice hit her like a bolt of lightning. It was the voice in her dreams. ‘Kira, don’t cry.’ That was the last thing he said to her four years ago. He was shot, bleeding, in pain, and falling into the river that would carry him far, far away. But he wasn’t worried about himself. He knew she would cry. He knew she would be heartbroken. He spent his last bit of energy comforting her. ‘Kira, don’t cry.’ Kira heard his voice every time she closed her eyes. Now the same voice told her, ‘Excuse me.’ Kira’s mind snapped back to the presen