Rain always makes the city look different.
Streetlights that usually seem ordinary turn into long shadows across the wet asphalt. People run for shelter, cars move slowly, while I stand alone in front of a small coffee shop I’ve only just discovered.
My name is Raka.
That night was supposed to be an ordinary night. I only wanted to spend some time after a long day at work, enjoy a cup of coffee, then go home and sleep.
Until I saw her.
A woman stood across the street.
Her long hair was slightly damp from the rain. She wore a dark jacket and held a clear umbrella. For some reason, our eyes met.
Only for a few seconds.
But there was something in her gaze that made me forget the sound of the rain.
Then she smiled.
It was a simple smile, but strangely, it felt like something I had known before.
I didn’t know who she was.
I didn’t know why my heart was beating faster, either.
She crossed the street and entered the same coffee shop I was in.
“Mind if I sit here?”
I turned around.
She pointed to the chair across from me.
“Go ahead.”
“My name is Alya.”
“Raka.”
She smiled again.
Our conversation began with simple things. The rain, coffee, work—even the song playing through the coffee shop’s speakers.
But that night felt far too short.
When I was about to leave, Alya stood up first.
“We’ll see each other again, right?”
I let out a quiet laugh.
“If it’s really a coincidence.”
“Don’t always call everything a coincidence.”
Then she left.
I watched her disappear behind the rain.
I didn’t know that night was the beginning of something that would change my life.
A few days later, I met Alya again.
Not at the coffee shop.
Not on the street.
But at the office where I worked.
She was standing beside another woman.
That woman’s name was Nadine.
And when I saw Nadine, my body suddenly went rigid.
Her face looked so much like someone who had once been part of my life.
Someone I should have already forgotten.
Someone named Naya.
Nadine stared at me for a long moment.
Then she said quietly,
“Have we met before?”
I didn’t answer.
Because for the first time, I realized this story wasn’t just about Alya and me.
There was someone else.
And somehow, it felt as though my past was opening its door again.