Time Knows I Loved You, and Always Have

After just eight hours on a train, I woke to a world fifteen years in the future. My wife, who once sold trinkets on the street, was now CEO of the Astra Group. Yet, I couldn't call her. Because on the day I boarded that train—our anniversary—I saw her with her first love.
“Your parents passed away ten years ago,” an officer said gently. Passed away? I’d just spoken to them yesterday.
Swallowing my grief, I gave him her number. “The number is no longer in service,” he said, pity in his eyes.
Then I leapt up, pointing at a skyscraper’s digital billboard. “That’s my wife! She can come for me!”
The entire station fell silent, every officer staring at me.

1
It was a story straight out of science fiction, but staring at the bustling police precinct and the forest of gleaming towers outside, I had to accept the impossible truth. Me, and everyone else on that train, had traveled through time.
“Is it… is it really 2025?” I asked, my voice trembling.
“Yes, sir. It’s October 1st, 2025.” The young officer handling my case looked at me with a profound sense of sympathy.
My eyes scanned the chaotic room. There were over three hundred of us from that train, all being processed, all giving statements. At first, none of us believed the police, just as they hadn’t believed us. We all looked the same as when we’d boarded. How could a single night have stolen fifteen years?
But the proof was undeniable—the futuristic IDs, the technology that was like something out of a movie. We had no choice but to accept reality.
“So, besides your parents, is there anyone else we can call to come pick you up?”
On the verge of a complete breakdown, I’d instinctively recited Ava’s number. The moment it left my lips, I regretted it. The woman who had promised to love me for a lifetime had already betrayed our marriage.
“I’m sorry, the number you have dialed is no longer in service…”
No longer in service. Of course. She must have disconnected it, started a new life with Ethan.
A sharp, unexpected pain seized my heart, a brutal ache that stole my breath. In this time, a person could be declared legally dead after being missing for three years, their spouse free to remarry. I’d been gone for fifteen.
“Sir, if there’s really no one who can come for you, we’ll have to…”
“Her! She can get me!” I shouted, pointing at the hundred-foot screen outside.
Ava was up there, wrapped in an elegant white dress. The faint scar on her forehead was still visible—a souvenir from our junior year of high school, when she’d taken a beer bottle to the head protecting me from some punks.
Back then, she was a firecracker, a tomboy with a chip on her shoulder who radiated a “don’t mess with me” aura. She was gloriously chaotic, and besides me, no guy could get near her. The woman on that screen, poised and graceful, was like a different person entirely.
I suppose this new Ava was a better match for Ethan. The hell-raiser finally tamed by her cool, unattainable dream guy.
But why the hell did that make me, the husband, feel like the other man?
That’s why I refused to call anyone else. I wanted Ava to come. I wanted to crash into their perfect life, to be a thorn in their side, to make them as sick as they’d made me. They had let me bask in the warm glow of a happy marriage, only to force me to watch it all burn down.
“Are you… are you sure, sir?” the officer asked, his voice laced with concern.
At the same time, a hush fell over the precinct. Every officer paused, their gazes fixed on me. I saw it all in their eyes: mockery, disbelief, and a flicker of envy.
It confirmed my suspicion. Ava hadn’t just done well for herself; she was a titan. You don’t get your face on a screen that big unless you own the damn city.
“I’m sure,” I said, my voice firm. “The day I got on that train, she was my legal wife.”
My certainty was enough. The officer got to work. Getting in touch with this new, powerful Ava wasn’t easy. It took a flurry of calls, supervisors, and an entire hour before a connection was finally made. But the voice on the other end wasn’t hers.

2
“Hello, you’ve reached the office of the CEO of Astra Group. How may I help you?”
Astra. My middle name. Why would she name her company after me? Could it be… that she still had feelings for me?
“Hello, this is the City Police Department. We need to speak with Ms. Ava regarding a personal matter. Please transfer the call.”
The line clicked and beeped. Ten seconds felt like a decade. When a familiar voice finally came through, my heart leaped into my throat.
“Hello?”
What if she was disgusted to see me? What if she and Ethan were married, with kids? Suddenly, this act of defiance felt like a terrible, terrible mistake.
“Is this Ms. Ava, ma’am? This is the police,” the officer said.
“It is. What can I do for you?”
I dug my nails into my palms, holding my breath, my shoulders slumped as I pretended not to listen, even though every fiber of my being was focused on that phone call.
“Ma’am, I know this is going to sound incredible, but we need you to trust us. We’ve located Mr. Leo, who was reported missing fifteen years ago. He’s here with me now and needs someone to pick him up.”
The silence on the other end was absolute. It stretched on, heavy and deafening, each tick of the clock a hammer blow against my heart. I was about to give up, to tell the officer never mind, when her voice came through, cutting through the silence.
“I’ll be there shortly.”
I let out a breath I didn’t realize I was holding and slumped back into the hard plastic chair. One by one, I watched the other passengers from the train get picked up by their families. Some reunions were tearful explosions of joy, people clinging to each other as if they’d never let go. Others were cold, tense standoffs, filled with resentment and accusations.
It seemed I wasn’t the only one whose reappearance was an inconvenience. Many of our partners had given up, rebuilt their lives, started new families. Our return wasn't a miracle; it was a complication, a burden.
The anxiety coiled in my stomach again. When I saw Ava, what would I say? How would I face her? Would she hate me for disrupting the life she’d built without me?
Fear crept in, a cold shadow that I didn’t notice had turned into dusk outside.
“Hey,” the officer said softly. “It’s getting late. You could… you could come home with me for the night.”
I looked around, dazed. The station was nearly empty. All the other passengers were gone. I was the last one left, unclaimed.
Just then, the sharp click-clack of heels echoed down the hallway. A young, sharply dressed woman hurried toward me, clutching a faded photograph.
“Mr. Leo?” she asked.
I nodded.
“I’m so sorry for the delay, the traffic was a nightmare. Ms. Ava sent me to pick you up. My name is Chelsea.”
A pang of disappointment hit me—Ava hadn’t come herself. But it was quickly followed by a wave of relief.
The release paperwork was simple. Just a signature.
Leo — Chelsea.
The name signed next to mine belonged to a girl I’d known for less than a minute. Not my wife. Not my mother.
“This way, Mr. Leo,” Chelsea said, leading me to a sleek, black car parked at the curb. It was larger and more futuristic than any car I’d ever seen.
I didn’t expect Ava to be inside, but there she was. She looked exactly like she had on the billboard, dressed in a sophisticated dress, her expression focused as she swiped through something on a thin, glowing slate in her hands.
A memory flashed in my mind: us, getting ready for our wedding. Ava hated being confined. Hated dresses. She’d fought me for days about wearing one for the wedding photos. It was only when I’d half-jokingly threatened, “If you don’t wear it, I’ll find someone who will,” that she’d finally relented. I worried she’d show up to the ceremony in a t-shirt. Now, looking at her, I wondered if she’d ever worn a dress for me at all.
Ethan had been the quiet, studious star of our department in college. I never thought Ava, with her wild energy and rebellious streak, would ever get his attention. But she did. For him, she shed her tomboy persona, abandoned her crew of misfit friends, and started wearing skirts, pretending to be a model student.
I knew it was an act. That wildness was etched into her soul. Their romance lasted exactly one month.
We had known each other since we were kids in diapers. To me, it felt like she’d just been lost for a month. After her and Ethan, we fell together naturally, got married, and were happy… until the day I saw them together again.
Chelsea opened the back door for me.
“Ma’am, Mr. Leo is here.”
Ava finally looked up. Our eyes met.
There was no joy. No anger. No shock.
Just a calm, unnerving stillness.

3
“Leo?”
Just yesterday morning, I had kissed that face. Now, it felt like I was looking at a stranger.
“Yeah,” I mumbled, sliding in beside her. The small space immediately felt charged with a strange tension. She went right back to her work, her fingers flying across the glass slate. No greeting. No awkward silence filled with unspoken questions. It was as if my sudden reappearance hadn’t caused a single ripple in her life.
A bitter disappointment settled in my gut. Fine. If she was going to ignore me, even to kick me out, she could at least have the decency to say it to my face.
So, I decided to strike first.
“Did my parents know you were cheating on me before they died?”
A sharp hiss of indrawn breath came from the front seat. The temperature in the car seemed to drop twenty degrees.
I saw Ava’s brow furrow almost imperceptibly, a flicker of anger in her eyes. Was she mad that I’d dared to tarnish her precious first love’s reputation?
“There was nothing to know,” she said, her voice cool and even. “Of course, they didn’t.” She paused. “Rest up tonight. I’ll take you to visit their graves in a few days.”
Nothing to know?
Was she saying it was over between her and Ethan? That it ended after I disappeared? Then why did her assistant call me ‘Mr. Leo’ and not her husband?
The silence returned, colder than before. I fought back a surge of anger and turned to look out the window, immediately captivated by the world flashing by. Dazzling commercial districts, skyscrapers that scraped the heavens. Countless glowing screens made it feel like daytime, with celebrities frozen mid-pose inside them. The whole city was a kaleidoscope of light and color.
“Ava, what the hell is that!” I yelped, slapping her arm instinctively and pointing at a massive cube on the sidewalk from which a giant, holographic hand was suddenly extending.
Startled by my own outburst, I flinched, my head ducking right into the crook of her shoulder.
Her body went rigid. She didn’t push me away, but she didn’t touch me either.
“Sorry,” I mumbled, my face flushing hot as I scrambled to sit up straight. “I’m… not used to my new identity as a country bumpkin.” I stole a glance out the window. The giant hand was gone, replaced by a lush, impossibly realistic forest inside the cube.
“It’s 3D holographic technology,” she explained, smoothing the fabric of her dress where I’d grabbed it. Her eyes never left her work. “It creates immersive experiences.”
“So… it’s fake?”
“Yes.”
Another half-hour passed in silence before the car finally stopped in front of a magnificent, castle-like building with the words “The Grand Regent Hotel” etched in gold above the entrance.
“Mr. Leo, we’ve arrived at the hotel,” Chelsea announced from the front. “You can get a good night’s rest here.”
So, she wasn’t taking me home.
“I’m not going anywhere,” I snapped, my anger finally boiling over. “I want to go home. Ava, take me home!”
That house was my parents’ life savings. Even if she had remarried, she wouldn’t be living there with Ethan. She couldn’t. And if she was going to cast me aside, she owed me a clear, clean break.

4
Perhaps she heard the raw fury in my voice, because she finally put down her device and looked at me, really looked at me.
“I’m sorry, Leo. The old building was torn down for redevelopment. You can stay here tonight. Tomorrow, I’ll help you pick out a new place you like, okay?”
Chelsea chimed in from the front seat. “It’s true, Mr. Leo. The whole Northwood district was demolished. It’s a shopping mall now. You’ve had a long day. Why don’t you just rest here for tonight?”
A mall. Of course, it was a mall.
I shoved the car door open and slammed it shut behind me. I was about to storm off, to go anywhere but with them, but Chelsea didn’t get out to show me the way.
As I stood there, confused, Ava emerged from the car. I thought she was going to try and explain, but she just walked past me, heading straight for the hotel’s grand entrance.
“What’s she doing?” I asked Chelsea, bewildered.
“The President has a meeting at a nearby branch office early tomorrow morning, so she’ll be staying at the hotel tonight as well.” Chelsea added, “In the room next to yours, Mr. Leo.”
Like she needed to explain. As if I cared about sleeping in the same room as her.
I followed her begrudgingly. The lobby was breathtakingly opulent, a cavern of marble and crystal that made me feel like I’d stumbled into a royal palace. Money felt good, I guess. Good enough to live like a king.
I remembered the cheap, rundown motel Ava and I stayed in once when we were young. The creaky wooden bed, the peeling wallpaper. In that shabby room, we gave ourselves to each other completely. We were poor, but we only had eyes for each other.
Now, even though the floor beneath my feet was polished to a mirror shine, the person standing beside me was a stranger.
“This is your room, Mr. Leo,” Chelsea said, opening a door. “If you need anything, just call me. The phone is on the nightstand.”
The suite was enormous, several times larger than our old apartment. It was filled with things I’d never seen before. A block of stone that produced water when you waved your hand under it. A machine that prepared a hot drink at the sound of your voice. A bed so soft you sank into it.
Everything was so luxurious, so perfect. And yet, my heart ached with a pain so intense I could barely breathe.
The emotions I’d suppressed all day finally broke free. Tears streamed down my face, hot and unstoppable.
“Mom, Dad,” I sobbed into the empty room. “She betrayed me. Ava betrayed me!”
In a single day, I’d lost my wife and my parents. Why? Why did I have to see them together that day? If I had never gotten on that train, would my parents still be alive?
I don’t know how long I cried before a soft knock came from the door.
“Who is it?” I rasped.
“It’s me.”
Ava.
I scrambled to my feet, trying to pull myself together. I went to the stone sink to splash water on my face, but it wouldn’t work. Then, suddenly, a shower of water rained down from the ceiling.
“Ah!”
I yelped, slipping on the wet floor and crashing down hard. Before I could process what had happened, I was soaked to the bone.
Click.
The lock on the door disengaged, and Ava was standing in the doorway.
“What happened?”
I looked up at her, my eyes red and swollen, and the dam broke all over again.
“I was just trying to wash my face,” I cried, the words tumbling out between sobs. “I don’t know how to use any of this stuff! I don’t know you anymore! Why? Why did I just go to sleep and wake up to find everything… everything is gone!”
Whenever I was upset, Ava used to magically produce a candy from her pocket to soothe me. This time was no different.
Staring at the familiar orange candy in her outstretched hand, I felt a flicker of surprise. I always wondered if she was some kind of magician. She always had candy, but I’d never once seen her eat a piece herself.
“Your skin is sensitive. I brought you some cotton clothes. They’re on the bed,” she said softly. “Eat the candy, get changed before you catch a cold. I’ll clean this up.”
She still remembered.
I took the candy, unwrapped it, and popped it in my mouth. The familiar, sweet citrus flavor flooded my senses. My favorite.
By the time I came out in the fresh clothes, she had a glass of warm water and a toothbrush with toothpaste already on it waiting for me, just like she used to every morning after we were married. Except back then, I was the one who prepared it for her.
“Wash up and get some rest,” she said, her voice gentle. “I’ll sleep on the sofa tonight. If you need anything, just call out.”
“Are you and…”
Are you and Ethan together?
The words caught in my throat. I couldn’t ask. It didn’t matter. I’d find out soon enough.
That night, I slept like the dead, a deep, dreamless sleep that lasted until morning. When I woke up, a brand-new suit was laid out on the nightstand. It was the one I’d admired in a shop window fifteen years ago but could never afford.
The sofa was empty.
The company name. The orange candy. The suit I’d wanted for years.
Did she… did she still love me?
Maybe I’d been wrong. Maybe what I saw at the mall wasn’t what it looked like. Maybe it was just a chance encounter.
A jolt of excitement shot through me. I had to find her, had to ask her, had to clear the air. If I could just understand, maybe we could fix this. Maybe she could be my Ava again.
I washed up quickly and opened the door to find Chelsea waiting for me.
“Good morning, Mr. Leo. Ms. Ava instructed me to take you to the restaurant to meet her once you were awake.”
“Okay, thank you.”
I spotted Ava as soon as we entered the dining area. But she wasn’t alone. Sitting across from her, bathed in the morning light, was Ethan.
Even after fifteen years, he was still just as handsome, with the same sunny, charming smile.

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