๎ขe restaurant was on Castle Road, around the corner from Stringย ๎ขeory, and they had to walk past the shop to get there.ย ๎ขe familiarity of it felt strange. When she reached the shop she saw that something wasnโt right.
๎ขere were no guitars in the window.ย ๎ขere was nothing in the window, except a faded piece of A4 paper stuck on the inside of the glass.
She recognised Neilโs handwriting.
Alas, Stringย ๎ขeory is no longer able to trade in these premises. Due to an increase in rent we simply couldnโt a๏ฌord to go on.ย ๎ขanks to all our loyal customers. Donโtย ๎ขink Twice, Itโs All Right. You Can Go Your Own Way. God Only Knows What Weโll Be Without You.
Dylan was amused. โI see what they did there.โย ๎ขen a moment later. โI was named a๎er Bob Dylan. Did I ever tell you that?โ
โI canโt remember.โ
โYou know, the musician.โ
โYes. I have heard of Bob Dylan, Dylan.โ
โMy older sister is called Suzanne. A๎er the Leonard Cohen song.โ Nora smiled. โMy parents loved Leonard Cohen.โ
โEver been in there?โ Dylan asked her. โLooked like a great shop.โ โOnce or twice.โ
โ๎ขought you would have been, what with you being musical. You used to play the piano, didnโt you?โ
Used to.
โYeah. Keyboards. A little.โ
Nora saw the notice looked old. She remembered what Neil had said to her.ย I canโt pay you to put o๏ฌย customers with your face looking like a wet weekend.
Well, Neil, maybe it wasnโt my face a๎er all.
๎ขey carried on walking.
โDylan, do you believe in parallel universes?โ He shrugged. โI think so.โ
โWhat do you think you are doing in another life? Do you think this is a good universe? Or would you rather be in a universe where you le๎ย Bedford?โ
โNot really. I am happy here. Why want another universe if this one has dogs? Dogs are the same here as they are in London. I had a place, you know. Iโd got into Glasgow University to do Veterinary Medicine. And I went for a week but I missed my dogs too much.ย ๎ขen my dad lost his job and couldnโt really a๏ฌord for me to go. So yeah, I never got to be a vet. And Iย reallyย wanted to be a vet. But I donโt regret it. I have a good life. Iโve got some good friends. Iโve got my dogs.โ
Nora smiled. She liked Dylan, even if she doubted she could be as attracted to him as this other Nora. He was a good person, and good people were rare.
As they reached the restaurant, they saw a tall dark-haired man in running gear jogging towards them. It took a disorientating moment for Nora to realise it was Ash โ the Ash who had been a surgeon, the Ash who had been a customer at Stringย ๎ขeory and who had asked her out for co๏ฌee, the Ash who had comforted her in the hospital and who had knocked on her door, in another world, last night, to tell her that Voltaire was dead. It seemed so recent, that memory, and yet it was hers alone. He was obviously doing some training for the half-marathon on Sunday.ย ๎ขere was no reason to believe that the Ash in this life was any di๏ฌerent from the one in her root life, except the chances were that he probably hadnโt found a dead Voltaire last night. Or maybe he had, though Voltaire wouldnโt have been called Voltaire.
โHi,โ she said, forgetting which timeline she was in.
And Ash smiled back at her, but it was a confused smile. Confused, but kind, which somehow made Nora feel even more cringey. Because of course in this life there had not been the knock on her door, there had never even
been the asking for a co๏ฌee, or the purchase of a Simon & Garfunkel songbook.
โWho was that?โ Dylan asked.
โOh, just someone I knew in another life.โ Dylan was confused but shook it away like rain. And then they were there.
