Harper stood in the backyard that morning, tea in hand, breathing in the scent of damp earth and lavender. The sun had just started to rise, casting long golden shadows across the garden. Normally, it was her favorite part of the day—peaceful, still, hers.
But something felt off.
She glanced toward the back fence. A slight rustle in the bushes made her heart lurch, but there was nothing there. Just a squirrel, maybe. Or the wind.
Still, she couldn't shake the feeling that someone had been watching her.
That night, over dinner, Harper stirred her pasta absently and said, "There's a new guy at work."
Jacob looked up from his plate. "New hire?"
"Not exactly. He's from another department. IT or data analysis, I think. Name's Ian Keller. He's been around a while, just moved to our floor."
The name made Sofia's fork pause mid-air.
"Ian?" she repeated, too casually.
Harper nodded. "Yeah. Tall, dark hair, kind of intense. Polite, but there's this… strange energy about him. I felt like I'd seen him before. Somewhere outside of work. Maybe in passing. But today he introduced himself. Said something weird, too."
Jacob raised a brow. "Weird how?"
"He said he gets déjà vu around me. That he feels like he always knows what I'm about to say." She laughed awkwardly, taking a sip of water. "I didn't know what to say back. It was unsettling."
Sofia's stomach tightened, but she shrugged it off. Ian was a common name. And she didn't know his last name anyway. Couldn't be the same guy.
Still, a small voice inside her whispered: What if it is?
At her mom's house that weekend, Sofia tried to enjoy the quiet. Emily, blissfully unaware, spent most of Saturday baking and asking questions about school. Sofia offered vague answers, her mind elsewhere.
Back in the guest room, she opened the dating app.
A new message from IanKeller_83 was waiting.
"I saw you again. You smiled. You always do when you talk to him."
Sofia's heart skipped.
Who had Harper talked to at work that day? Had she smiled at Ian?
Another message arrived.
"You don't have to pretend with me. I know the real you."
A third message:
"I was right. You are her."
Sofia's vision blurred as she stared at the screen. Ian thought Harper—real Harper—was Clara. Not just through photos. In person.
And now he was working with her.
She felt sick.
On Monday, Harper's discomfort grew.
She mentioned it to Jacob again as they got ready for bed.
"He's just… around a lot. Always near the printer when I am. Leaving meetings when I do. And he doesn't really make small talk with anyone else."
Jacob frowned. "Do you want me to come by your office? Meet him?"
She smiled. "No. Not yet. It's probably nothing. I just needed to say it out loud."
But she didn't tell him the part that truly unsettled her.
How, today, Ian had passed by her desk and said softly, "You look more real in person."
She hadn't responded.
But he had smiled, like they shared some private joke.