Humoring Fate

God played a joke on me that day. What do I mean? Now let me say.

When I woke up that morning the sky was grey. But the sun was still shining from behind the puffy voluminous clouds. There’s not yet hint of rain. I put on my coat and went for a walk in the cold. Along the street I came across this boy. He and his friends were all waiting at the bus stop. Two things about him caught my eye. First, he was laughing cheerily on this gloomy day. Second, I think I’d seen him somewhere before.

We boarded the same bus. I couldn’t help but stole a look at them. He and I exchanged glances for a brief moment there. Why did he look so familiar? Was it his twinkling eyes? His spiky hair? Or the way he slung his bag over his broad muscular shoulders? My heart tingled. Tingled? Oh no, I thought I’d developed a crush, just from a mere eye contact. But we alighted and went our separate directions. And I tried not to think about that fleeting encounter.

Half a day went by and as the sky began to darken, someone bumped into me at the street corner. A gadget dropped loudly onto the ground between us. Subconsciously, I prayed it was not mine, even though at that minute I was unable to ascertain its location.

“Bloody crap! For God’s sake –”  

I rubbed the edge of my arm where it hurt from the strong impact. “Watch where you’re going,” I glowered at the person holding the cell phone with a shattered screen in his hand. Ouch for him too.

He scowled in return, then paused for a while. A flicker of recognition flashed across his face, which was softening. “Hey, did you attend Melbrookes High?”

Who’s this rude man and how did he know the name of my school? I thought. “No.”

“Uh, I’m pretty sure you did. You look the same! I was from Class 4, a year before you, remember?”

I looked horrendous when I was a teen. What was he trying to imply?

“Pretty sure you got the wrong person.”

He smiled, which did nothing to ease the tension. “Hey, are you busy now? What say, we go for a coffee, to catch up?”

What was there to catch up, with someone who was a stranger? I was not flattered. “No than– ” I stopped myself. What was there to thank about, even?

He tapped on his broken phone. It still worked. “Well…what about leaving a number? I could look up my old yearbook and send you the photo. Your name’s Tabitha, right? See, I could still remember your name. It sounded pretty, like a cat.”

Sure, to remind me how bad I looked back then? What are you, the devil’s minion? Appreciate the compliment, though. I did like cats.

I looked at my watch, it was three o’clock. Damn. It was still hours away before I go for my dinner, alone. All my closest friends were busy with work, dating, or raising their babies. I was single and happy, contrary to popular assumptions. Although I did not have a meal companion, I would not resort to eating with someone that came across as offensive, just to have someone filling up the seat on the opposite side of the dining table. But as a civilized young adult, already braving societal criticisms about modern spinsters with their love for independence and uncanny affections for the feline species, I was not going to tell him the truth in his face. It was not necessary to add another skeptical judgey eye into the self-appointed police pool. What other excuse do I have?

“C’mon, take it as a compensation for my broken phone.” He waved that disfigured electronic device in front of my nose. Since when did I owe him?

“Do you still keep in contact with the rest of your schoolmates? I just saw Mr. Davidson, the Science teacher, last week. Now you!”

Yeah, fancy that. Science was my worst subject and the teacher was not fond of me, either. Interesting discussion we’re having here.

“Man, he’s really aged. But you…you didn’t change much at all. How do you maintain your youthfulness all this while!”  

Are we really going back to my appearance again? Why, just why?

“You know, you'd been on my mind quite a lot in the past...” He kind of whispered the last sentence. Even from a young age, I had a problem with selective hearing. 

A head bobbed up and down behind the man, inching closer.

“Actually, I was waiting for someone…oh look, there she – he, is…” My plan was to hijack the next unfortunate clueless person that walked this way.

As much as I wanted to get out of there, I froze to the spot at that point. The head of spiky hair was back. Just in time. “Carlos! I’m here!”

Within seconds, I grabbed hold of the arm still steadily moving past, as the boy looked at me quizzically when I followed his footsteps walking close beside him. I gestured for him to keep silent. Waving a quick farewell to the stranger with a smashed phone, I escaped.

Was it by chance? Could it be a coincidence? I wouldn’t know, but I believed accidents happen. If it really was providence, there would be magic; that should be a miracle. But the science of chemistry just didn’t occur to us.

Fake Carlos opened his mouth. “Sorry Miss, do I know you? Can you get your hands off me now? I'm not Carlos.”

Despite myself, I smiled and felt a quiver of joy. No, he did not remember my existence, but to me, his re-appearance was nonetheless a pleasant surprise on its own. I dared not look at him as I apologized twice, before hurriedly dashing away. From then on, I never saw both of them again.

Oh! What a turn of events.

What a twist of Fate.