Turning to hit the ‘Ground Floor’ button, she looked up one last time.

And saw him.

The door had begun to close.

Audra frantically reached for the ‘Door Open’ button. It wasn’t working.

The man had started running towards her.

“Liz!” he called.

Who was Liz? And WHY did everyone keep calling her that?

“Keep the door open!” Audra could hear him say.

‘I can’t do it,’ she told herself.

She pushed all the buttons, to do anything to stop it. She needed to talk to this man. What was possessing him to find her? And what was possessing her to want to be found by him?

*****

Max slammed his fists on the closed elevator door.

“No,” he said out loud. “No. This cannot be happening.”

Not wanting to waste any time, he pushed the button for other elevators. Nothing was showing up. Quickly scanning the area, he found a stairwell. He didn’t know where Liz was going -- but he figured she was going down.

‘Hurry, Max, hurry,’ he told himself. ‘You aren’t losing her this time.’

*****

As soon as the elevator hit the Ground Floor, Audra pushed the up button. Hopefully, he was still waiting there for her. Nervous, scared, and most of all, anxious of what this man would be, Audra waited patiently for the elevator to reach the floor she had been on.

But when the doors opened, he was nowhere to be found. Stepping out, Audra decided to look for him on foot.

Never once did she see the staircase next to the elevators.

*****

She wasn’t there. Max couldn’t believe it. Was this actually the third time he had managed to lose track of her?

Max ran around the entire first floor. She was nowhere to be found. Just as he was about to head up to the second floor, he heard a frantic cry.

“Max!” Max turned around to see Isabel, with Anna Lisa in tow.

Max breathed a sigh of relief. As Isabel approached, he scooped up Anna in his arms and placed a kiss on her cheek. “Anna, where have you been?”

“I found my mommy!” she exclaimed happily.

Max looked up at Isabel.

“I don’t know how she knows, Max. But she just does. It’s the only thing she’s been saying for the past hour.”

Max was silent, and just looked at his daughter. She was so intelligent, it was scaring him.

“Did you find her?” Isabel asked, a shard of hope surfacing in her voice.

Max shook his head.

“Oh…” Isabel’s voice trailed off.

“It’s probably not her,” Max said finally, surprised at his tone. “If it really was Liz, she would be with me right now. She wouldn’t just, leave -- she would recognize me. That woman didn’t even know who I was.”

“I’m sorry Max.”

Max sighed. “It was too good to be true.”

“Do you want to keep looking?”

Max looked up at the staircase. He wanted to. But he had just lost her. Maybe if he waited long enough, she would call his name over the loudspeaker. “I want to. But it isn’t working. Let’s call her name over the loudspeaker.”

“Okay,” said Isabel.

Max hurried to the information booth, with Isabel carrying Anna behind.

“Hello sir. How can I help you?” the receptionist asked.

“I need to find my wife. Can I put in an announcement?”

“Sure. What’s the name?”

“Liz. Liz Evans.”

“Alright, sir. Just hold on a few minutes. Would you like the message to tell her to meet you at this location?”

“Yes. Anything. Please do it quickly.”

“Yes, sir.”

Max took a deep breath, and fell into a nearby chair. Isabel sat down quietly next to him.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

Max didn’t reply right away. Holding his head in his hands, he slowly turned his face to her. “I don’t know, Isabel. Something isn’t right. She didn’t even recognize me. Why? Why would that happen? She couldn’t just forget.”

“Maybe…” Isabel trailed away.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“What? Isabel, what?”

“Well, maybe it wasn’t her, Max. Maybe it was just someone who looks a lot like her.”

“How do you explain Anna Lisa?”

“I don’t know. Maybe Anna was looking a picture of Liz, or something. Maybe she recognized the face. I don’t know.”

Max sighed.

“Will Liz Evans please come to the information desk located in Terminal E on the first floor? Liz Evans, to the information desk on Level One. Thank you.”

Max stared at the loudspeaker. It would only be a matter of time before he found out. But could he wait?

*****

Audra was tired. She had searched the entire airport for what seemed like days. She hadn’t seen the man since.

She felt like knocking some sense into her brain. She didn’t even know the man’s name, and she was going off in desperate search of him.

Sighing, she finally sat down. All she could see in her mind were his eyes. His gorgeous, soulful, infinite eyes. He had looked at her in such shock. Why? It was like he knew her, and he knew everything about her. But he had never even seen her before…right?

“Will Liz Evans please come to the information desk located in Terminal E on the first floor?”

Audra suddenly felt an overwhelming sense of déjà vu. Why?

“Liz Evans, to the information desk on Level One. Thank you.”

Audra shook her head. What was wrong with her? Something was going on. She was in a place she had never been before, yet everything seemed familiar. She had been ready to respond to Ben’s seemingly ridiculous mistake. And now, she couldn’t stop thinking about the father of the beautiful girl. The feeling he gave her was indescribable. It was almost… explosive.

Thinking about his eyes made Audra think back to what she felt when she first saw him. She had lost herself in him. But the strangest thing was, it hadn’t felt strange, at least, in the sense that she had experienced it before. But as Audra thought about her life, she had never actually experienced it -- it was just a feeling like she had.

Audra was more confused than ever.

And now, more tired than ever. Placing her backpack on the armrest, Audra carefully put her head on her makeshift pillow. She had money, but didn’t know where to go. She needed time to clear her head before she could find a taxi, a hotel, a job, a place to stay… Coming to San Francisco was the wrong thing to do. But Audra didn’t care anymore. The only thing she wanted right now was to find out why she had been so captivated by the man and his daughter.

Audra cautiously thought about something that had happened a few years back. She had never been able to figure it out, but she had always assumed it to be right… until now.

She had woken up in terrible pain, especially through the lower half of her body. That was when she first saw James leaning over her, concern in his eyes. Or was it? The strangest thing was, she didn’t even know who he was. He kept telling her that he was her boyfriend, James. She had kept saying that she didn’t have a boyfriend, but there was someone else already. But who? Audra thought hard, until her brain seemed like it would explode. What was the name? She had kept repeating it over and over. So why couldn’t she remember it? It was like it had been erased from her memory.

She had just believed James. And the strangest thing was that she couldn’t remember anything from before. It was like James had supplied the information for her. He had told her she had hit her head very hard, and that she had a slight case of amnesia. So, she went along with it. Trusting James. Believing him. But after the darkness she felt around James, she didn’t think he was so trustworthy anymore.

As she slowly fell into a pseudo-sleep, more jarring images rushed through her head. She could only see -- it was as if the sound had been turned off. She could see the man, and his eyes. He was smiling. He had an amazing smile. And then, she saw a baby. For some reason, it made Audra feel like she was on top of the world. Seeing the baby gave her such a good feeling... And then everything went black. The next image she saw was James, leaning over her… just like he had years before…

“Are you okay?” A kind voice awoke Audra.

“I’m sorry… what?” Audra stammered.

“Are you okay?” An elderly woman smiled at her, her kind green eyes showing her true concern.

“I’m fine,” Audra replied, puzzled. “Why do you ask?”

“You looked like you were crying.”

Audra shook her head, and smiled, still puzzled. “No. But thank you, anyway.”

The woman looked at her carefully, and then slowly smiled. “Alright, dear. Get some sleep.”

“I will,” Audra replied.

The woman gave her one last look, and continued down the terminal.