Chance Encounters

The semiannual clerks conference was beginning today. Vendors from all sorts of businesses were busy setting up booths in the main hall. I, as usual, was running late. Thankfully, my co-worker, John, had set up our booth ahead of time but it was my job to get all the freebies put out on the table. I don’t know why it always seems like I have plenty of time to get myself ready, but then all of a sudden, boom! I run out of time. So now I’m running to my booth so that I can get it ready before the clerks go on their morning break. The first thing clerks like to do when they take their breaks at these conferences are to run to the booths that have free stuff. What is it about free pens, notepads or widgets that are so enticing? I don’t get it but then again, I don’t have to. It gives the clerks a reason to come by the booth and chat. And if chatting leads to potential sales, then those freebies have done their job.

I get to our booth, throw my purse under the table and get busy hauling out boxes. I open the box of notepads and throw them on the table, trying not to make a mess. I then reach under the table for pens and I am so engrossed with them that I don’t notice someone standing at our booth. “Excuse me.” Said a deep voice just as I grabbed a handful of pens. The voice startled me and pens went flying out of my hand.

“Oh no!” I cried. The man standing in front of my booth bent down to help me pick up the pens that had scattered pretty much everywhere. “You scared me!” I yelled as I also bent down to pick up the pens. “Dear Lord, you just about gave me a heart attack!” I gave the man a dirty look as I stood up and hastily pushed my hair out of my face. I knew I was overreacting but couldn’t help myself. “Now that you’ve taken twenty years off my life, is there something I can help you with? Or are you just in the habit of scaring people?”

The man tried his best not to laugh at me. “I’m sorry.” He said, trying not to smile. “I didn’t mean to scare you. I tried to get your attention as you went flying by my booth, but you didn’t notice me trying to flag you down.”

I tried to settle my nerves before answering. “I’m sorry.” I said as I took the pens that he had gathered for me. “I was just trying to get to my booth before the clerks had their first break. I was running late and I still had to set up the table. I didn’t want John to get here and see that I hadn’t done my job.” John was relying on me to make sure the table was ready to go this morning. He had already made his feelings known before we got to the conference that he didn’t want me representing the company with him. The last thing I wanted was to give John anymore reason not to have me here.

“I get it.” Replied the man. “And I really am sorry for scaring you. That wasn’t my intention. All I wanted to do was let you know that John wasn’t going to be here this morning. He had an emergency and needed to leave.”

I was confused. Why didn’t John just call me or text that he wasn’t going to be here? I had my phone on all morning while I was getting ready. “Why didn’t he just let me know himself?” I exclaimed, more to myself than to the man. “He has my cell number. All he had to do was just let me know so that I didn’t have to run around like a chicken with its head cut off! And I’m sorry, but why tell you? Do you two know each other?” I was getting more and more upset at this turn of events. Did John dislike me so much that he couldn’t be bothered to let me know himself what was going on? Why keep me in the dark and make me wait until I got to the booth to have a total stranger tell me of his emergency? I started slapping the pens down on the table, my temper flaring.

“Hey, look,” said the man. “I don’t know why John didn’t tell you in person. I was just being a good neighbor, letting you know what was going on. My booth is next to yours and I was getting my table ready when John got the emergency phone call. I could tell that the call shook him up so I told him that I would let you know what was going on. I happened to see you when you checked in for the conference earlier and you looked very familiar to me. I thought for sure I knew you. But now I’m not so sure.” My hand stopped in mid slap. What the hell was this guy talking about?

I took a good look at him and something did seem familiar, but for some reason, I dismissed it. Instead, I asked him. “Have we met before? Because I don’t believe I’ve ever met you. You don’t look familiar and I usually don’t have a problem remembering people I’ve met.”

The guy looked at me, a little annoyed by the tone in my voice. “Well, let me ask you, is your name Natalie West?” Asked the guy.

For the second time this guy managed to startle me. How did this guy know my name? “Yes,” I said slowly. “How do you know my name?” I was a little alarmed but tried not to show it.

“I knew it was you!” Exclaimed the guy. “Natalie, it’s me! Todd Stewart! We went to middle school together. I was your first boyfriend! How can you not remember me?” Todd seemed a little hurt that I was having trouble recognizing him.

Oh my God! I hadn’t thought of Todd in years. I’m not sure why I didn’t want to see it before, but now, looking at his face, he still looked pretty much like the guy I knew in middle school. He was much taller now and had gained quite a bit of muscle. But his hair was still blonde and wavy and his green eyes still twinkled when he laughed. We had been boyfriend and girlfriend for a whole month the summer between our seventh and eighth grades. That’s an eternity to a teenager. But as young love often does, the spark faded and we were both on to the next big romance. Not that there was much of a romance back then. Going roller skating in groups and holding hands was as big as the romance got. I was, after all, only thirteen for crying out loud!

“Wow, Todd! I’m really sorry that I didn’t recognize you. But in my defense, it has been over twenty-five years. If you remember, my family moved right before I was supposed to start eighth grade so I never saw you again. There was no Facebook to help me keep tabs on you back then so our summer romance just became a young girl’s memory. I’m sure it didn’t take long until I became a memory to you too. If memory serves, I seem to remember more than one girl being jealous that I was your girlfriend. So, I’m sure you didn’t have any difficulty finding someone new to go roller skating with.” I was chuckling while I said that and knew I had made Todd a little uncomfortable. But I was just ribbing him in good fun. “I’m really surprised that you knew who I was. I mean, we haven’t seen each other in years and while you haven’t changed much, I know that I have.” It wasn’t that I was being hard on myself. It’s just that when I was thirteen, I wasn’t exactly a beauty queen, but I wasn’t ugly either. I was somewhere in between. My brown hair was long and wavy when the fashion was for it to be straight. I also wore glasses. I was pretty shy and could never really figure out what Todd saw in me. I had gotten up the nerve to ask him once why he liked me and he said that it was because I was funny. Not really what a girl wanted to hear, but I accepted his answer. I just wanted to ride the wave that a first romance brought for as long as I could.

Now, twenty-five years later, I’m still not a beauty queen, but I have gotten a little closer. I was able to trade in my glasses for contacts and I learned how to style my hair to flatter my face. As I’ve been told more than once, I’ve blossomed into a very pretty woman. And the shy girl has become someone with confidence, not only in her job, but in her life.

“Natalie,” explained Todd. “I know we haven’t seen each other in years, but I would recognize you anywhere. You have a smile that could light up a room and your big brown eyes still show your emotions. And while they may have been hidden behind glasses back when we knew each other, I still saw that. I thought you were beautiful then and you’re even more beautiful today.”

Now it was my turn to be uncomfortable. I had no idea that Todd had seen me that way. My younger self was doing back flips in my mind. “Thank you, Todd. I had no idea you saw me like that.” I said quietly. I cleared my throat and tried to compose myself. “Well, now that I know you aren’t a total stranger, thank you for letting me know about John. I’m sorry for acting so crazy. It’s just that John and I don’t have the best working relationship and hearing about his emergency second-hand felt like a slap in the face. But enough of my drama. I wish I had more time to talk to you but I need to get back to setting up the table. The clerks will not be happy if my freebies aren’t out and ready to go.”

“Of course.” Replied Todd. “Would you like some help? I feel bad about scaring you so it’s the least I can do.” The smile on his face told me otherwise.

“Thanks, Todd, but you really don’t have to.” My younger self really wanted him to stick around but my adult self was trying to be cautious. After all, I didn’t know this version of Todd and with my history of men, I didn’t want to be disappointed, yet again.

“Look, let me help you finish setting up.” Said Todd sincerely. “There are only a few minutes left before the first break so with the two of us working together, we can get things done.”

I couldn’t argue with Todd’s reasoning, so I let him help me. We worked in silence for the next few minutes. I put the finishing touches on the table and smiled at Todd. “Thank you so much for helping me. I couldn’t have done this without you. I mean, I could have, but it would have taken me so much longer.”

With that, Todd laughed and said, “Happy to help. I see some of the clerks are starting to walk our way so I’d better get to my booth. But I would really like to meet up with you later. Do you have any plans for lunch?”

My heart started racing and I had to take a few breaths to calm it down. “No, I don’t have any plans now. I was supposed to have lunch with John, but that obviously isn’t happening.”

“Okay, then,” Todd said. “Why don’t we meet at the Lakeside Grill just across the street? We can eat and try to catch up on the last twenty-five years.”

I laughed and said, “I think we’re going to need a little more than an hour to go over twenty-five years! But yes, I’d like to have lunch with you.”

“Great! See you then. I’ve got to get to my booth. Those clerks look like they’re on a mission!” Todd waved and got back to his booth just as the clerks flocked our area. Pens, notepads and widgets disappeared from the tables at a furious pace. It was hard to keep replenishing the freebies. The way the clerks were acting, you’d think they had never gotten free stuff before!

As much as I tried to, it was hard for me to concentrate on the clerks because my mind kept thinking about lunch with Todd. The last thing I expected working at this conference was to run into someone from my past. It just goes to show how quickly things can change. I started the morning thinking that I would have to work with someone who really didn’t want me here to having lunch with someone who sincerely seemed happy to see me. That thought made dealing with the clerks pawing at my freebies easier to handle. After all, if it wasn’t for them and this conference, I probably would never have run into Todd. My day, and maybe my life, If I allow my younger self to chime in, is starting to look a whole lot better!