Stepping into an Unfamiliar Apartment and Life

Stepping into an Unfamiliar Apartment and Life

I was riding the bus home from my office downtown, but my stop was called something totally unfamiliar, like Elmhurst North instead of 4th Street. When I walked up to my apartment building, the key worked, but the hallway was mirrored and the walls were painted a dark green instead of beige. Inside, my living room had completely different furniture, and a cat I have never owned ran past my legs. My ex from college was standing in the kitchen making coffee, wearing a wedding band and talking to me like we had been married for five years and had lived there the whole time. I looked down at my phone to check the date, but the screen showed a bunch of apps I didn't recognize, and all my contacts had slightly different last names. I tried to act completely normal so he wouldn't notice, but I had this overwhelming panic that I had stepped off the wrong transit line and was occupying the life of another version of myself.