The rays of the sun flashed into his room and directly into his eyes, and this was something that had never happened before. It was new, too new to be calm. He normally wakes up to noise, but today the first thing he noticed was the silence. No upstairs neighbor dragging chairs across the floor. No morning birds screaming at the window. No traffic outside his apartment on 3rd Main Street.
This wasn't his room either, and this wasn't his bed. He blinked hard against the clean white ceiling. Sheets tucked in tight. The AC hummed softly through the vents, he didn't remember installing any of those in his room; he barely had a working fan. "What's happening?" he muttered slowly after a short while. He turned his head and found,
A woman.
Dark hair split across the pillow. Breathing softly.
She was beautiful but very unfamiliar. His body didn't jolt. His heart didn't skip. He just... froze and stared at her as she was sleeping. He sat up slowly, holding his breath. His phone buzzed on the nightstand. New screen. New wallpaper and a new name.
He unlocked the phone in an instinct. The calendar notification pops in:
• 9:00 AM: Morning briefing – Director of Media (TideWest Agency)
• 12:00 PM: Lunch with Jasmine, Final wedding tasting
His eyes paused on the word and opened wide.
"Meeting", "Wedding", he said, looking at the time, it clocked 7:00 AM, he rushed to the bathroom to get ready for a meeting he knew nothing about. Staring at the bathroom in awe, the marble countertop gleamed under soft white lights. A toothbrush. A razor. Expensive cologne. Everything was lined up like a man who had his life in order. Except it wasn't his life. He splashed cold water on his face, trying to jolt himself out of whatever this was, a dream, a breakdown, a coma, a fantasy? But the water felt real. The cool air. The soft towel. Everything was real, he then remembered,
He was getting married to a woman, all of a sudden.
And yet... he didn't remember ever falling in love with a woman.
After some while, he got out of the bathroom with a long white towel wrapped round his waist, he then walked down to the tall mirror. Only to meet a completely different face and body, bigger biceps, and triceps, he was stunned. Beard trimmed close. Shirtless, but not alone. There were cufflinks on the table. A sleek black watch. A cologne bottle he didn't recognize. He looked... successful. Rich. Collected and straight. While dressing up, he heard a voice behind him, soft and cute, "Babe?" Her voice mumbled behind him, half-asleep. He turned slowly just to make sure he was the one or she was on the phone. "Yeah?" He said, and she smiled, eyes still closed. "You're staring at yourself again, aren't you?" He forced a soft laugh. "Guess I am."
Jasmine rolled over and pulled the white bed sheets higher across her chest. Her voice was still thick with sleep.
"You've got that early-meeting face again." She added.
Brown Caldwell, 29, still stared at his reflection to see if he was dreaming but, nope he wasn't, He turned away from the mirror, still gripping the edge of his suit like he needed it to stay upright.
"Yeah," he said. "Big day, I guess." She smiled and drifted back into the pillows. He stared at her for a second longer than he should have. Everything about her felt... pleasant. Familiar in a way it shouldn't be. He tried to convince himself it was comfort, not confusion. He got ready and left the room. He was accompanied by his bodyguard, he had never seen in his in his life before, they both escorted him to his sleek, shiny black Mercedes-Benz car latest edition. He sat in the back seat, "This might be fun", he said as the car zoomed off.
By the time he reached the office, his mind still felt heavy, like someone else memories were sitting on top of his own, just enough to get him through the door.
The car stopped in front of a tall glass company. He never imagined working here; he walked inside the building and found his way to the TideWest room with the help on Miss Brooke.
TideWest Media took up the entire 27th floor. A Glass room and the soft scent of espresso and fresh orchids filled the space. People moved around him with purpose, greeting him like they knew him. He nodded back, unsure whether he was being polite or just trying not to blow his cover. As he stepped into the sleek TideWest Agency office, determination coursed through him. The weight of unfamiliar memories pressed down, but he dismissed the doubt. Today was a pivotal moment, and he needed to embrace it. It was time to confront the truth hidden behind the polished glass walls and perfectly manicured smiles. No longer would he allow confusion to dictate his path. He was ready to seize control of this extraordinary life that was now his. With each step, he resolved to uncover the layers of his new existence. This was no mere dream or elaborate fantasy; it was a challenge to reclaim his identity a midst a whirlwind of uncertainty. The world awaited, and he intended to make his mark, starting now.
"Morning, Mr. Caldwell," a young intern said with a small smile. He nodded. "Morning."
On a normal day, Mr. Brown Caldwell would throw him a bunch of files to work on and be submitted before 4PM, but this time around he didn't even say anything, it was different. He smiled more and followed him behind. His personal assistant, a sharp-eyed woman named Brooke, handed him a schedule file for today. He stopped on his track and stared at everything. She also handed him a Black coffee before he even reached his office.
"You've got the French account check-in at Ten thirty. Then Jasmine called, she said not to forget about the menu tasting."
"Right," he said automatically. "Thanks." Brooke tilted her head, paused for a while, assessing him for a moment. "You look different today." "Different how?"
"I don't know... less stressed. Or maybe more confused. Hard to tell with you.". Brooke said she walked off before he could respond. On a normal office day, Mr. Brown Caldwell is a very wicked and heartless boss, a man with a lot of women buzzing over him, a man who can sack you after an ugly glance, but today seems off his assistant and his intern noticed it first, but kept quiet. Inside his office, the door clicked shut behind him, and silence settled in again. It was too perfect, the leather chair, the skyline view, the scent of bergamot in the air. The man who belonged in this office wasn't the man who'd fallen asleep the night before, single, gay, and lost in heartbreak. But now here he is, all rich and superior. He sat slowly and looked down at his reflection in the glass tabletop.
Who the hell am I?