Reim had first saw Lily Baskerville while being dragged to the mall by Sharon. The woman he saw, with cropped blond hair bobbing around her face, and a strange tattoo on her cheek, was much older than he was, but he couldn't tear his eyes off of her. There was simply something about her that he could not ignore. Reim thought it was the hormones. He was 15, and hormones were a rather normal thing at his age. He'd done the research, and knew what the symptoms should be, but that didn't make them easier to categorize. This seemed like them; sudden loss of breath, unable to look anywhere else. He obviously thought she was attractive, and she was. He thought that for a long while, actually, before realizing that wasn't it at all.
But that would come later. That first look, and many subsequent looks, he was rather sure he liked her.
One of the big problems, was that Sharon caught him looking. That really started the whole mess, because she shoved him over in the mystery woman's direction, and hid behind a display of eyeliner to get a clear view of his bumbling attempt at conversation. Well, to be honest, he didn't need to do a good job, because her eyes lit up the moment she saw him, and she almost skipped over to see him. She was a good head taller than him, but she smiled down at him with joy on her face. He didn't even have to say a word, but in the end, he said many, many words. She introduced herself, and asked what his name was, and if he would like to have lunch with her.
He probably would have declined normally, but Sharon was at his back, with that particularly lecherous look in her eye that spoke of 'True Love!' and when that happened, he really had no say in the matter.
So he and Lily Baskerville walked down the mall to the food court. She ordered three slices of pizza, while he ate a bit of chicken parmesan, and tried not to stare as she devoured all three. It was the first time he realized she wasn't very lady like, but he should have noticed sooner. Most women didn't invite a guy almost ten years younger than them out within the first five minutes of knowing them, unless they were really something to look at, and Reim certainly was not.
Lily asked about a lot of things. About how old he was, his hobbies, what he was doing, what school he went to, what kind of music he liked, all sorts of things. She seemed to want to know just about everything she could about him. Reim answered all of her questions, and asked a few of his own as well, but he found Lily to be rather evasive. Whereas questions about her opinions or preferences were readily answered with gusto, things about her private life and her situation, went either entirely ignored, or skirted around playfully. That was a red flag, but, well, he was 15, and she was good looking, and he liked her. He even thought he was attracted to her, and she was an older woman who had interest in him. The fact that it was for no discernable reason, was definitely strange, and did make him unspeakably nervous, but he went along with it anyway. Sharon was watching from the sidelines, if Lily happened to be some horrible person out to kidnap him and sell his organs, Sharon would at least know within enough time to phone the police and maybe find his organ-less body in an old hotel room. Probably.
Despite all of the strangeness, despite all of the logic that told him it was a horrible idea, Reim found himself having a very good time. It was surprisingly easy to talk to Lily, her laughter reverberated in his head, and he remembered someone once telling him that the greatest sound in the world was a woman's genuine laughter. He almost remembered feeling this way about Sharon when they first met as very small children, but it wasn't a very clear image, even though he still loved making her laugh.
They stayed for hours, avidly interested in everything the other had to say. He could tell by the sparkle in Lily's eyes that she was genuinely happy too. She wore her contentment on her sleeve and in her long fingers, as they waved and gestured and poked at him from time to time. They stayed so long, that the sun sank, and the night set in, and in the great open plaza of the mall, a DJ set up, and stared up songs. He caught Lily eyeing the stage, as old and young couples alike wandered out to the makeshift dance floor to twirl around each other in excitement. Then, those vibrant blue eyes were on him, and there was no way he could have denied that look on her face.
Lily Baskerville took his hand, and he stumbled after her as she led him onto the dance floor. Reim hoped that Sharon had left by now, because he certainly was no good at dancing. Despite that, Lily didn't mind at all. She laughed and held hands with him, or flailed them around in excitement, laughing as she did it. Reim just tried to keep up with her, and couldn't tear his eyes away. Lily was just so happy, it was infectious, and he found himself laughing and dancing and smiling right along with her.
After about five songs, with both of them panting, laughing, and covered in sweat, they retired back to the food court. Reim offered to pay for her dinner, and at a really nice place, but Lily shook her head, and told him she couldn't. She told him she had a plane to catch, but that she might come see him again one day. His mood fell instantly at the thought of her just walking away, but there wasn't really anything he could do. It was strange to be so attached already, he reminded himself. So he meekly smiled back at her, and told her what a joy she'd been, how he'd never clicked so fast with anyone out of the blue, and it was true. He loved Sharon, but she'd been quite a brat in childhood. Lily was vibrant and childlike but a beautiful woman besides. He realized, as she leaned down and kissed his sweaty forehead, that he didn't love her the way he thought he did.
He watched her go with a smile on his face, and she turned back when she'd reached her car, and waved, in an excited, bouncy sort of way that was entirely endearing. She also waved when she started driving, and he waved back at her. Reim trusted that he would see her again. Maybe not soon, but one day. He loved her in that way, not in the way he had intended.
Sharon had stayed. He met her the next day, and she cooed and hugged and congratulated him. She also provided a plethora of pictures she'd snapped on her phone.
Those pictures would be the only evidence he had, that twenty years later, when Lily unexpectedly walked back into his life, that she hadn't aged a day.