Expiration Dates

Content Warning: This section discusses heart failure, chronic illness, and medical trauma.

“I find it slipped under my door on my way to dinner. The dinner that, if this paper is to be believed, will introduce me to the man I will spend the rest of my life with. This has never happened before. But then again, it’s not the kind of thing that happens twice.”

The first lines introduce the mystery of Daphne’s notes without fully explaining them. She hints at the significance of the note containing Jake’s name, but it will be another chapter before she explains to the reader what it is and why it is important. Daphne’s description of the note introduces the theme of Fate Versus Choice.

“It’s not that I do not want to get married or even that I do not want to get serious with someone, it’s just that it’s not up to me. Something else has always called the shots in my life—call it the universe, fate, the comedic force of timing. But my life isn’t like other people’s. I have a different set of rules to live by.”

Daphne reassures the reader that she wants to find real love and potentially get married. However, she also firmly believes that the choice is out of her hands and uses the notes as an excuse for why she does not invest in her relationships, further tying the notes to the theme of Fate Versus Choice.

“He was attractive. Tall, dark, handsome. Well-dressed, clearly successful. But he was also arrogant, that much was as obvious as the cologne that wafted over to me in waves. And arrogance tended to devolve into unkindness quickly. I wasn’t interested. Plus, there was no paper. No name, no amount of time.”

Daphne describes the first time she met Hugo, who eventually becomes her best friend. Despite finding him attractive, Daphne has no intention of dating him because she has not received a note from the universe telling her she will. However, a page later, a note suddenly appears, and she changes her mind. This highlights the way that Daphne allows the notes to dictate her life, abdicating the need to make the decision for herself.