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Then I realize that the school is one here in New York City, and I laugh out loud in relief

Encouraged, I search a littlelike that, but he doesn’t in my world either None of the universities list him as a student He doesn’t see clubs I can find in the area either

Finally I locate a Facebook page, which is set to private The one photo I can see shows hi away froround of a photo of sonize hi a tailored leather jacket that seeray eyes; sa that lost, lonely expression that always touches me--but the shadows in the picture render his face unreadable

It’s easy for e of the Paul fro about the lines of the leather jacket reminds me of his military uniform His stricken face as Theo and I walked awayI hurt hi it Maybe I had no other choice; maybe the situation worked out for the best Doesn’tPaul after Paul, in world after world

Try not to screw it up this time, I tell myself

Easier said than done Without any school or job listed for Paul, I have no way of arranging an accidental et him to reach out to e to Paul After chewing on my bottom lip for a moment, I type: Hey, we’ve never met, but we have mutual friends

Alternate versions of hiht?

Basically, everyone says you and I should ether--

Where? I don’t kno York City very well yet But I knohereup surrounded by physics grad studentsover postdoc applications to the best schools in the world

--on the Colurab a coffee, if you wanted Hope this is the right Paul Markov If it’s not, sorry for the ued by the idea of the blindest blind date of all time, he’ll probably write back, if only to ask which one of his friends is trying to set hi, ask a few casual questions that will tellabout this world’s Paul, and I can use that information to find him

And who knows? Maybe he’d like the idea of a blind date

I hug my knees to my chest, buthere Wyatt Conley didn’t send me to this dimension to look Paul up for a latte Not even to retrieve the next splinter of Paul’s soul

He sent me here to betrayit This tihs heavily on me as the three of us ride down in the elevator, on our way to eat dinner with Josie and the guy in her life Apparently we’re being treated to someplace fancy, because nor less than a wedding, a funeral, or a pitch rant