Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds, and of course, neither does Criminal Minds own me.
Notes: This story is based upon the model, Space–time continuum, if anyone wonders.
Enjoy!
"That'll be three fifty-five," said a female cashier, who had a metal tag pinned to her right chest with a name 'Horatia' carved into it.
Following his daily routine, Reid stepped out of his apartment at exactly six fifty-five in the morning and took the usual seven ten train that brought him thirty minutes left to visit his favourite coffee place and cover the remaining five minutes walk to his workplace. Reid gently held onto the handle and pushed the door open. Breathing in the familiar warmth of caffeine and taking a glance of the coffee place, he silently walked to the end of line and waited patiently. When it was finally his turn, he approached the cashier, put on his usual soft smile, and ordered an extra large cup of coffee with extra sugar. Reid pulled his wallet out of his messenger bag and ready to pay the usual four dollars ninety-five as the female cashier came back with a cup of coffee in her hand.
Confused. "Three fifty-five?" Reid's right hand, which was holding the four ninety-five, stopped in the middle of the air. "Do you mean four ninety-five?" Looking up at the menu on the back of the wall, Reid blinked again and again, tried to reason the two conflicting images in his head.
"It is three fifty-five. I'm very certain," the cashier smiled and confirmed. "It's been three fifty-five since the first day I have worked here. And all the coffee sold here are under four dollars."
Reid took the one dollar forty cents out of the money he was holding with a puzzled look on his face, and handed the remaining three fifty-five to the cashier. Holding onto the large cup of coffee, Reid frowned and sank deep into his thoughts as he exited the coffee place.
When the entrance door closed behind Reid, he suddenly turned around and looked through the glass windows. The cashier whose name was Horatia was no where to be found. Reid quickly scanned the store and stunned. He then again stared at each of the unrecognizable customers' faces with greater concentration, as if he was trying to look for something that he failed to find.
Reid had not moved until people glanced at him weirdly. He finally took his first step toward his workplace after the seven minutes forty-two seconds of standing in front the coffee place like a statue. Yet Reid's puzzled expression had never left his face since the moment he handed the money to the cashier.
Walking past thirteen stores, through the automatic door, into the headquarter of FBI, without speaking to anyone, Reid sat at his desk and stared at his cup of coffee blankly.
"Reid?" Morgan looked at Reid and frowned. "Reid … Reid!"
Almost jumped out of the chair, Reid quickly put down the cup of coffee and looked at Morgan. "Erm… yea?" he suddenly realized he had just ignored everything around him for the past twenty six minutes ten seconds. "Oh… Good morning, Morgan."
"Are you alright?" Morgan asked as he leaned onto the side of Reid's desk. "You just walked straight in and was completely unresponsive. I can see your wheel's turning there, Reid. Is something bothering you?"
"Nothing. I am alright," Reid mumbled, sitting against the back of his chair and shifting his focus back on the coffee cup. "I am definitely alright."
Noticing the repetition of words, Morgan's concern only grew greater. He attempted to find the source of Reid's odd behavior and found himself looking at the large cup of coffee which apparently caught Reid's full attention.
"Something's wrong with your coffee?" Morgan asked, attempting to open up a conversation after failing to recognize any possibility that caused the odd behaviors of Reid.
"Morgan, is it coffee in the cup?" instead of answering, Reid opened the black coffee lid and asked.
"If my eyes and nose aren't playing tricks on me, then yes," confused by the question, Morgan replied. "Right? Kate."
"Erm… Yea," said Kate, who had been following the conversation between Reid and Morgan from the very beginning. "A solid full cup of coffee, Reid."
"I paid three fifty-five for this cup of coffee," said Reid.
Either Morgan himself was unable to catch the hint or there was no hint at all, he was unable to comprehend the situation and shifted his focus back and forth between Reid and the cup of coffee. "And?"
"And it is supposed to be four ninety-five," Reid paused. "It has been four ninety-five for the past four years eight months ten days."
"It could have been a promotion," suggested Kate. Along with Morgan, she was still unable to follow Reid. "Don't tell me it was the disagreement in the price that has been bothering you so much."
"There was not a promotion, Kate. 'Three fifty-five? Do you mean four ninety-five?' I asked. The cashier replied, 'It is three fifty-five. I'm very certain. It's been three fifty-five since the first day I have worked here'," Reid quoted the conversation between the female cashier and himself word by word. "The worst is that I couldn't recognize anyone in the store after I stepped out of the door. I mean, they were not the same people that were in the store when I was inside. And not only that, the cashier was no longer there."
Morgan raised his eyebrow at Reid after hearing the morning adventure of Reid. "Reid, you know they could have just moved so that was why you didn't recognize them. And for the cashier, he probably just went to the back so you didn't see him. Come on, Reid. Relax."
"She," Reid corrected. "The cashier was a she. And I wouldn't be like this frustrated if it was really this simple."
"Alright then. What are the complications?" Morgan asked.
"Wait a second," Kate frowned and interjected. "You said, was?"
"Yes, was," Reid's focus moved away from the cup and he looked at Morgan and Kate in the eyes. There was a mixture of confusion and slight panic that was hidden behind the two brown eyes. "I talked to her, and she gave me this cup of coffee. So, she must exist, right? But she … sh.."
Reid took a deep breath and continued. "Morgan, Kate. I'm a man of science. But I don't know and I can't explain what I saw."
"Horatia, the cashier. She died six years five months seventeen days ago."