reincarnation

I had been sat in the booth for the past half hour, sipping a large glass of the house white, though the amount of wine had not seemed to change in the past thirty minutes. I wasn't in the mood for sitting alone in a half empty pub on a Tuesday night, but it was better than going home. Moving in with my best friend and her flatmate had seemed like such a good idea. Then the drama kicked off. Sleeping with Micah was an impulse - and a lot of fun - but was definitely not the smartest thing I had ever done. But we were both adults, and friends, so they had drawn a line under it and moved on. 

Then Micah and Ellie had started dating. Being a third-wheel in your own home was awkward enough, it was even worse when you have had sex with one member of the couple, who then tells their girlfriend. There had been no big blow up, no confrontation - just a whole load of passive aggressive bullshit. 

All three of us know it would be better for everyone if I moved out, but I have nowhere to go apart from back to my parents' place - and living with my mum again would be so bad for my mental health. Plus, why should I move out? I hadn't done anything wrong. The spiteful streak in me wanted Ellie to have to continue suffering if she was going to be this much of a bitch. I'd tried to talk to everything through with Ellie, but she keeps throwing it in my face. 'I'd rather not hear the sordid details of you sex with my boyfriend.' accompanied by her trademark sneer. 

I was so lost in my thoughts that it took me a moment to realise that someone was standing next to my table, looking at me expectantly. 

"Oh, hi. Can I help you?"

"I was hoping I could sit with you."

I hesitated a second and looked at the person stood infront of me. Petite, great posture and a friendly face. There was something familiar about this woman, though I didn't recognise her face. Company would be better than sitting her alone, feeling down. 

"Sure." I smiled, gesturing to the open seat across from me. 

"Thank you." The woman settled into the booth, "I'm Anna."

"Rosa." I returned Anna's warm smile, still trying to place why she looked so familiar to me. "I've got to ask, why do I feel like I know you?"

"I can't say, you are too young to know of my work." The woman in front of me could not have been more than a couple of years older than me. She must have read my thoughts from my expression.

"I mean from my past life."

"You remember you passed life?"

"Yes, I was an actress."

"I watch old films a lot. Maybe that's why you seem so familiar to me. Although, you don't look like any actress I've seen in the movies."

We both knew I was humouring her, but I wasn't being patronising, mostly because I liked the idea and wanted to see where this was going , so Anna seemed to let it go and remained friendly and open. 

"I was Audrey Hepburn." It was like a puzzle piece slid into place. Her energy and mannerisms were identical to that of the iconic woman, who had passed before I was born. I'd watched all of her movies and read up on her life as much as I could. I had even done as report on Audrey Hepburn in high school. I so badly wanted the woman in front of me to be the reincarnation of my favourite actress - I mean the woman had a pet deer. But I was still sceptical.

"Do you remember much of you life as Audrey Hepburn?"

"Yes, but I remember more of this life, but that's to be expected."

"Yeah, that makes sense."

There was a pregnant pause as I tried to get my head around what was going on. I'd always liked the idea of reincarnation and past lives, but had never really put much stock in it. It all sounded so crazy, but even crazier was that I actually believed that this tall, blonde and freckled woman was the new vessel for the soul of the woman that I had admired and strived to emulate  my entire life. Realising no one had spoken for a few minutes I quickly blurted. 

"So tell me about who you are now."

God I wished my socially anxious streak would stop rearing it's stupid head at the most inopportune moments. But Anna smiled warmly. 

"I appreciate you being polite, but I know you want to ask about who I was, not who I am now."

I could barely contain my excitement. 

"OK. I have always wanted to know if you found the age difference between you and Humphrey Bogart as skeevey as I do?"

"It was...not ideal." The class and diplomacy of Audrey Hepburn as alive as ever. 

"Was Bogart as miserable as he seemed?"

"Mr Bogart was not the most cheerful of men. He was not overly fond of me, I must say."

"Yeah, I read about that."