Same As It Ever Was: A Novel

In the present timeline, Julia, Mark, and Alma go to Ben and Sunny’s new apartment. Ben and Alma are icy to Julia, but Alma gets along well with Sunny. During a moment alone in the nursery, Sunny tells Julia that Ben and Alma have been talking on the phone, which makes Julia happy. Then, Sunny asks Julia if Ben was sweet as a child. Julia tells her he was “the sweetest.” The five of them eat dinner together, but Julia feels out of place.

In the past timeline, 26 years earlier, Julia is 29 and working as a public library assistant, bartender, and barista in Chicago. She recently broke up with her boyfriend, who was cheating on her with their supervisor at the bar and subsequently decided to go on a “sexual sabbatical.” One night, she goes out to eat at her favorite Korean restaurant alone. She doesn’t have quarters for the parking meter and is about to cry in desperation when Mark appears and offers her a roll of quarters. They chat, and she accepts the quarters and goes into the restaurant. After a minute, he follows and asks if he can join her. She assents.