Life is a little blurry

As he did every day, Ben visited the bakery around the corner to find a breakfast that suited his mood. Today, he was craving sweet flavors. He woke up feeling a little under the weather. He had spent the previous couple of weeks eating too many sweets—you can probably guess why. It was exhausting, he needed something savoury.

Ben was a person of habits. In his mind, however, he thought he was spontaneous and didn't plan things out in too much detail. The truth is that he had a hard time distinguishing a Monday from a Thursday, only Saturday morning's felt like something new. He always remembered Saturdays with special fondness, though he never sought an explanation for why. He thought, “Everyone likes Saturdays”. He took it for granted.

“Hi, Ben. What would you like today? We have the empanadas with goat cheese and caramelized onions that you love so much. Would you like a couple? They just came out of the oven.” — Daisy asked him as she put on the transparent gloves she used to prepare orders.

“Good morning, Daisy. That sounds tempting, but I was thinking about the chocolate croissant from the other day. I think I'll order that again.” — Ben said carefully, choosing his words so as not to offend her. Still, he felt like he was rejecting her.

“No problem! I'll get it for you right away.” — Without hesitating for a second, Daisy picked up the paper wrapper, placed the pastry inside using tongs, folded the open end inward so that the crumbs wouldn't fall out, and left it on the counter.

“Thanks, Daisy. Here you go. Keep the change.” — He stretched out his arm toward her and handed her a five-dollar bill.

“Thank you very much! You're a sweetheart!”

He was impatiently eating his breakfast on his way home when a notification popped up.

“Tinder - You got a new match! 😍😍😍”

—-

After weeks of flirting, Ben couldn't stop thinking about the moment he would meet her. He wanted everything to be perfect. He couldn't afford to mess it up. Not this time. Seven years had passed since his last relationship, and he was ready to find “the one”. Before going to bed, he picked up his phone and wrote down her favorite cake in the Notes app.

He couldn't think of a better way to show his love than by giving her a sweet treat from his favorite bakery.

—-

“Good morning, Ben. What are you looking for today?” — Daisy asked him with her usual smile.

“Well, today is a special day, and I'd like to order a couple of things.” — With a smile from ear to ear and his heart racing, he began to ask, — “Could I have a couple of bacon and cheese empanadas to go? And could you make me a cheese tart with lemon marmalade for Friday?”

“Oh, oh, oh, what's this order? It's been a while since you've ordered anything new. Don't tell me you have someone special in your life?” —Daisy was curious about Ben's life. She loved a good gossip more than a good conversation.

“Well, yes. I've been texting with someone for a couple of weeks. Am I that obvious?” — Ben asks, red as a tomato.

“Oh, Ben, I didn't mean to embarrass you. If sharing your daily pleasures with someone you like makes you happy, then go ahead. You're a charmer. I always tell you that. It's time you believed it.”

As Daisy wrote down the order, Ben couldn't stop thinking about her last comment. «You're a charmer. I always tell you that. It's time you believed it». For the first time, he realized it was true. She had complimented him many times before, but he had always taken them for granted. As a counter staff member working with the public, he thought that was how any customer would be treated. Wasn't that the case? Now, he wondered if he was the only one who received that treatment.

“Hey, Ben. Are you still there?” — She asked, waving her hand back and forth in front of his face.

“Oh, yes, yes, sorry. I've completely spaced out.”

“Haha, you're always daydreaming! Here are your empanadas. I've already placed the order for the tart with the baker. You'll have it on Friday without fail, sweetheart.”

The feeling of returning home was different today. He couldn't stop thinking about her comments. He tried to recall his interactions with Daisy from the previous days, but he couldn't remember much. All of his memories of the bakery were blurry. The more he thought about them, the more distant they became. Soon, he received a notification that distracted him:

“Tinder - Lila sent you a new message.” — He clicked immediately to join the conversation.

Lila

“I can't wait for Friday! What do you have in store for me? 🙈”

“You'll see! I don't want to give too much away. I just got back from running some errands.”

“Oh, running errands? What are you up to? 🤩”

“Shh! Be patient, and prepare for a day full of flavor.”

“Flavor? Hmm, is there a double meaning here? 😏”

“Lila, please don't be dirty-minded xD You know I'm not like that.”

“For a moment there, I thought you'd fallen for my trick 😜”

“Who knows? If everything goes well, I might join the game on Friday.”

“No way! Ben Walker is actually up for sexting? Get ready, because Friday is going to be the best day of your life.”

—-

Alarm sound

It was Friday, and the time to meet Lila was approaching. He was nervous, but he knew meeting her at his favorite spot would work in his favor. He would feel comfortable and confident, and he could ask Daisy for advice if anything went wrong.

With his eyes stuck shut from sleep, he went straight to the shower. He had everything ready. Last night, he had laid out the outfit he would wear on his first date and neatly folded it on a chair in his room. After showering, he brushed his teeth, trimmed his beard, dried off quickly, and went to his room to get dressed.

When he got to the room and walked over to the chair, he had a weird feeling. He thought to himself, «How come I can't remember what I was wearing the other mornings at the bakery? I wasn't wearing my pajamas, was I?». Since his last conversation with Daisy, something had awakened in him. Something wasn't right, but he couldn't figure out what.

Not wanting to waste any time, he pushed his thoughts aside and began getting dressed. When he was done, he looked at himself in the full-length mirror in the closet and thought, «You look handsome, Ben! Today is your day.» It had been a long time since he had seen himself looking good. But after months of receiving compliments from Daisy and signing up for Tinder, he had managed to regained the confidence he had lost in recent years. He was ready for a real date. Once dressed, he rushed out of the room, grabbed his keys from the hall table, his coat from the coat rack, and headed out onto the street.

—-

They agreed to meet on the corner by the bakery. As he walked along his usual route, the streets seemed different to him. There was something about the buildings that didn't align with his blurred memories. It was as if they had been stretched upward, and instead of having two floors, they now had six. As he walked, looking up at the tops of the buildings, he heard a scream.

“Hey! Ben, is that you?” — Lila shouted from across the street without hesitation.

Ben quickly lowered his head to look for her and saw her on the pavement across the street at the corner where they had agreed to meet. Without thinking twice, he ran across the crosswalk until he was closer to her. He said,

“Indeed, here I am in the flesh. Hello, Lila.” — He said confidently, despite how distracted he had been on the way there.

“Hi, Ben. I'm so excited to see you! You're even more handsome than I imagined.” — she said as she looked him up and down.

“I could say the same about you.” — He couldn't help but feel a little nervous. He was still getting used to receiving compliments.

“Well, tell me. What have you planned for me? Where are you taking me?” — Lila asked impatiently, her eyes sparkling.

“Well, here we are.” — He stood behind her, grabbed her by the shoulders, and began to turn her around. — “You just have to turn around...”

Ben couldn't finish his sentence. He was too bewildered. As he stared at the bakery, he noticed that it had become a café with completely different décor than he remembered. He couldn't fathom how they could have torn down a business overnight and built a new one in record time. Something wasn't right, but he still wanted to go inside to make sure it wasn't a joke.

“What happened? Are you okay?” — Lila asked, worried that something might have happened to him.

“No, it's nothing. Sorry. Let's go inside.” — He tried to hide it as best he could.

Upon entering, he didn't recognize anything except the layout of the place. The bar was in the same spot where he remembered the counter being. The door that used to lead to the oven now seemed to lead to a food storage room. Everything fit, but nothing was the same. The most chilling thing, though, was that Daisy was not there.

“Good morning. What can I get you?” — the café attendant asked.

“Good morning. The other day, I placed an order with Daisy for the baker, but I see she's not here. Did she leave instructions for you?” — He asked politely, trying not to let on that he was shocked by the situation.

“Daisy? Baker? I'm sorry, but you must have the wrong place. We don't have anyone named Daisy working here, nor do we have a baker,” — he said, taken aback by the request.

“That's strange. How long have you been open? I could have sworn there was a bakery here,” — Ben said, trying not to appear crazy in front of Lila while figuring out what was happening.

“Well, we've been open for over 50 years. Right at the entrance, there's a sign that says, 'Since 1975.'” — The man didn't know what else to do. Customers were lining up behind him. — “Excuse me, but if you're not going to order anything, would you mind letting the next person go ahead of you?”

"Yes, of course. Excuse me.”

Ben couldn't believe what he was hearing. It had been open for fifty years, since 1975. There was no Daisy and no baker. What the hell was going on? Struggling to handle the situation, he told Lila he was sorry but needed to go home. He didn't want to ruin everything, but he couldn't continue the date in his current state of mind.

He hugged her and rushed home, still in shock. He was still confused by the buildings he had seen. How could everything be so different? Why was his mind playing tricks on him like this?

—-

When he arrived home, he took his time to relax. He sat on the sofa in front of the shut-off TV and tried to sort through his emotions. He wanted to make sense of what had happened, although he knew it would be impossible to be objective after what had occurred.

Once he had calmed down, he decided to search for answers online. He thought, «Why didn't I think of that before?» He picked up his laptop, opened a new Chrome tab, and typed «Daily Dose Bakery, 2nd Avenue, New York» into the Google search bar.

To his surprise, a result appeared. It was not at all what he had expected. It was disturbing—or rather, terrifying. It was an article about a bakery called Daily Dose that had apparently existed over a hundred years ago. It was one of the first businesses set up and run solely by a woman named Daisy. A woman named Daisy. Yes, Daisy!

He couldn't believe what he was reading. It seemed like science fiction. To make sure he hadn't gone mad and had actually experienced that bakery, he went to the images section of the search results. If anything could confirm whether this was the bakery he remembered, it would be a picture.

And there it was: A black-and-white photo of the shop window he remembered, with Daisy right next to the door. The shop had opened more than 120 years ago. Ben didn't understand. How could he have been visiting a bakery that had existed over a hundred years ago for the last six months?

—-

“Hello, Ben. How lovely to see you! I thought you weren't coming back,” — Daisy said excitedly.

“Wh-Wh-What am I doing here? And why am I naked?“ — asked Ben, trying to make sense of what he now considered to be delusions.

“Oh, Ben. I thought you'd never notice. To tell you the truth, I was looking forward to continuing the charade. It was like coming back to life,” — Daisy said, fantasizing about no longer being dead. — “And yes, sometimes you come naked, especially on days when you're more nervous. But since we're in your dreams, I don't see it as such a big deal.”

“Wait! Are you telling me that I’m talking to Daisy, the founder of Daily Dose, and that you’re not just a figment of my imagination? What do you mean, 'in my dreams'?” — Ben was completely bewildered. Had he been talking to a ghost and not realized it until now?

“Don't worry, Ben, I know it's hard to process, take your time. But yes, I am the same Daisy who founded Daily Dose. Some time ago, I discovered how to communicate with the living through their dreams.” — She pauses to catch her breath, then continues, — “I don't usually appear often, only when I need to vent. But with you it was different. It felt like we were slowly getting to know each other, as if I were still alive. I didn't want to stop feeling that way. I know I've been selfish, but I hope you'll forgive me in time.”

Realizing that it was all a dream, Ben decided to wake up. When he opened his eyes, he was lying in his bed. He was still wearing the same clothes he had worn the day before. He hadn't even taken his clothes off. He didn't know how to deal with what had just happened, but at least he was sure of one thing.

HE WAS NOT CRAZY.