Part 3: The Stranger Who Knew My Coffee OrderBreakfast turned into two hours, then into Theo walking her to her car, then into neither of them quite managing to say goodbye."So," Ava said, keys in hand, "what happens now? Do you just... vanish until the wedding shows up on schedule?"Theo laughed a real laugh, not the careful, rehearsed calm from the booth. "I was hoping for something a little sooner than eleven years, honestly. Coffee. Tomorrow. No photographs, no prophecies, just you and me finding out if any of this holds up without a script.""That sounds suspiciously like a normal date.""Wild concept, I know."She should have said no. Every rational part of her said this was too fast, too strange, built on a photograph she still couldn't explain. But she found herself saying, "Tomorrow. Same diner. But I'm choosing the booth this time.""Deal." Theo held out his hand, and when she shook it, something passed between them that felt less like meeting a stranger and more like remembering someone.That night, Ava couldn't sleep. She dug through an old shoebox of family photos she hadn't opened in years, some habit she couldn't explain pulling her toward it. Near the bottom, tucked between photos of her tenth birthday and a school trip to the coast, she found a photograph she didn't remember taking.It was the diner. It was today's booth. It was her, laughing, coffee-stained napkin in hand and Theo, mid-laugh beside her, wearing a shirt he hadn't worn yet.The photograph was dated eleven years in the future.Ava sat very still on her bedroom floor, staring at a moment that hadn't happened, that she now knew for certain would.Her phone buzzed. A text from a number she didn't recognize, the area code from a city she'd never been to.New message: He'll ask you to move in on a Tuesday. Say yes. Trust me I'd know.The message was signed, simply: You.to be continued... 📱