Inside a small, nondescript bookstore on a corner in London, a red-haired man was reading a book on physics.
He was scanning the third chapter, sitting on a chair by one of the shelves, when a woman tripped over his foot and went sprawling in the aisle.
The man jumped up immediately, leaving the book on his chair. "I'm sorry!" he apologized quickly as the woman got to her feet. He noticed her hair immediately. It was very long and an unusual shade of green, quite the opposite of his own shock of red hair.
The woman smiled sheepishly. "It's fine," she said, and he noted her thick Scottish accent. "I'm so clumsy; I would have tripped over something else if you hadn't been there. I'm Eliza."
"Daniel," said the man, accepting her outstretched hand. "Your accent….is it Scottish?"
Eliza beamed. "Lovely! Most people think that I'm Irish. But I'm Scottish, very different. And you are American."
"Yes," said Daniel, frowning slightly. Just thinking of his home country brought back painful memories of a small girl with bright red hair, hugging a Ducky Momo doll.
"You know," he said, not even sure why he was about to tell this to the Scottish woman he had just met, "I had a child there. Her name was Candace. But…I haven't thought of her in years. Haven't seen her in years. I started a new life here after her mother and I split apart…it was too painful to live near my old home….but I sometimes wonder what she's like now….Have you any children?" he asked, not wanting to think of it any more.
It was Eliza's turn to frown. "I do. One. But he moved to America with his father when he was just a toddler. I understand what it's like to wonder what your child is like now. It's quite painful, isn't it? At least I know he'll be a great inventor." Her face lit up again. "I've always been interested in engineering. Before I divorced Lawrence, I used to teach my son everything. It was always my hope he'd grow up to be an engineer, and he loved it."
Daniel smiled. "That's interesting. Who knows? Perhaps he will. Maybe you'll pick up a newspaper one day and he'll be on the front page."
"Wouldn't that be lovely?" said Eliza thoughtfully. "I'm getting quite hungry. It's almost lunchtime. Would you like to go down the street for coffee?"
"It would be my pleasure," said Daniel, and together the red-haired man and the green-haired woman left the bookstore.
