A stranger suddenly sat at Lara’s table, pulling her out of her daydreaming and with a sweet smile at his face, he introduced himself as “Sebastian O’Connell, her soulmate and future husband.”

He was clearly there to watch football; Lara could tell by the jersey he was wearing and the non-discrete group of friends he had and were watching them in the time break. Lara took a mental note to never to go a bar alone in a Sunday afternoon again.

Lara was starving so leaving before her food was brought to the table was completely out of question and the guy, Sebastian, was kind of cute. He resembled to her a smiley version of Thomas Shelby from her favorite show, but slightly chubby and probably taller than the original.

“Hi lady… Sebastian here – he said pointing to himself – and you are?” he asked and Lara realized she was silently immerse in her own thoughts again and did not answer him yet.

“Lara” she said with a half-smile. Lara still has not decided if he was welcome or not in her table, so she was keeping it simple.

So her food arrived and in her perspective Sebastian could stay or go, it would not matter. She ordered steak and eggs and a jumbo mimosa as usual and the Johnny, her favorite waiter, brought some house mayonnaise that he knew she loved.

Lara started devouring her food and after watching her for a couple minutes in the weirdest silence, Sebastian finally gave up and went back to his guys.

Lot better, Lara thought with herself.

Ten minutes later, she took a break from her food to breathe and another man came close to her. This one was handsome, he resembled to her Will Turner from her favorite fantasy movie, but stronger and with a longer hair. The man sat with her and exclaimed:

“Hi! I am Taylor and I believe I have just found my soulmate.”

Lara laughed, making the guy uncomfortable for a second.

“Is it a trend? The soulmate stuff?” She asked still smiling.

Taylor was looking at her, confused and embarrassed. He seemed to be a confident guy and Lara felt sorry for him, she did not want to make it weird, it was just a funny coincidence.

But before she had the chance to explain, Taylor excused himself and walked away.

“Well… I suppose that one was not my other half after all.” Lara whispered to herself.

The game was kind of interesting and she was paying attention to it as she was finishing her mimosa. She had too much to do that day and had to be back home soon, but she was so tired that those moments sitting in the bar were helping her sore shoulders to rest.

“Do you want another mimosa, neighbor?” Johnny asked and Lara almost agreed, but she had to be responsible and go home to finish packing, so Lara refused.

Lara was moving back to Italy, where she came from, after a few years living in US and there were so many things to solve prior to her departure that she felt tired just to think about it. Her heart then ached a little bit. That bar was the first she ever went to when she moved to Chicago, it was right in front of her apartment, and it was interesting that maybe it was also going to be the last. The sadness took place for an instant, making her eyes fill with tears.

The past few years were hard for her. The expectations Lara had when she moved there at first were completely out of reality and she could not find happiness at all. In fact, there was a lot of pain and learning, so at the same time she was grateful for what she had become after the process, also Lara would never agree to go through all over again.

Lara looked around, mentally saying goodbye to that bar and what meant to her as she was doing with everywhere recently and a lady, ginger and beautiful like a fairy, sat in Lara’s table with her. She resembled a real-life version of princess Merida to Lara, but curvier and even more confident. She only smiled to Lara, that shily said “hi.”

“Hi cutie. I noticed you from the bar and decided to introduce myself. I am Tanya. I do not know how you feel, but I think you could one day be the love of my life, my soulmate.”

Lara blushed and smiled widely to Tanya. She was not into girls but coming from such a beautiful woman, her line sounded like a hell of a compliment.

“Wow… thanks! But I am more like… into guys!” Lara said and Tanya laughed.

“It is okay, it was worth the shot.” Tanya said, walking back to her spot. She was also alone and Lara regretted not inviting her to stay in the table, she could use some good company after all, even not being the type of mate Tanya was expecting from her.

“Soulmate again?” Lara thought to herself. That day was kind of funny.

Lara paid the bill and promised Johnny to come over and say goodbye before she left.

While she was stepping out the door, someone came in. She has not seen him in years. Charlie was his name and he was the first guy she dated in America.

He was as handsome as always. Charlie resembled to her… himself. He was kind of unique and she could not find anyone that looked like him enough to tell people about him, and she would talk about him very often.

The last time they spoke was terrible. Lara did and said things she regretted and hoped that what he had said and done was not from his heart. But different from what she would have expected, seeing him was not painful. She was actually happy.

Without second thoughts, she jumped on him and gave him a tight hug.

“Charlie! How long I do not see you!” Lara was smiling but her eyes were making tears again and she did not know why.

“Lara…hi! Its good to see you. Are you leaving already?” Charlie asked.

She was but, whatever.

“Oh no, I was waiting for Johnny to get me a table! It is kind of crowded in here today.” Lara said, blinking to Johnny that was right beside her in the door.

“Yeah, I was hoping to find a spot in the bar but seems to be full” Charlie answered her with his cute smile and the dimples Lara loved.

“You can join me if you want.” Lara said smiling.

“I would love to join you” Charlie said, offering her his arm for her to hook as she used to do years ago when they were walking at Michigan Lake skyline.

"Okay neighbor, follow me!” Johnny exclaimed excited, while taking Lara and Charlie back to the table she was just a few minutes before.