Losing Teeth

“Do you believe in soulmates?” she asked through teary eyes.

“Yes… no. I’m not sure actually,” he responded.

“You know, through all of this, I thought you might be mine.” She tugged on one of the necklaces that dangled around her neck. She always wore a silver tooth and a gunmetal heart. Anatomical. The tooth was her fear of losing something, and the heart was her fear of having something taken away. There’s a difference, she always said.

He wouldn’t look her in the eyes. Minutes passed in silence. Then, he turned to her and said something she would never have expected him to say:

“Well, maybe you don’t meet your soulmate in this lifetime. And of course, there’s the obvious answer, you just haven’t met them yet. But then, there’s a third option to consider… Maybe you’ve already met them, but they’re not your soulmate yet. They’re still becoming your soulmate, and you’re still becoming theirs. You’re not at that point in your lives. You’re just not those people yet. But you will be.”

She laughed out of sheer surprise, or perhaps just to keep herself from crying. She wanted to stay and keep laughing on his living room floor like she usually did, but instead she stood up and grabbed her keys. He was right, she thought as she closed his front door for what she thought would be the last time. When she got into her car, she realized that she’d lost her tooth necklace somewhere on his shag carpet. She smiled and started the car. Maybe in ten years she’d call him and ask for it back.