Little Coincidences

      Well, this was just the cherry on top of the shit sundae that was Thomas’ Monday. He got caught in the rain without an umbrella, after he just got fired from his job, that he had been late for once again. He wouldn’t be late every day if his car would actually work. But it refuses to start, no matter how much money he puts into fixing it. But he hopes every morning that it will start, and it never does, and he always ends up having to catch the bus, which makes him late to work. Guess that makes him an idiot.

           And now he was going to have to have the outfit he was wearing dry cleaned, so he could wear it to job interviews. Because he had to wait at a bus stop with no cover, to go home, to walk from the bus stop to his apartment in the rain. Was it raining when he left the house? No. So what did he not bring with him? His umbrella. Where is the umbrella? In the car that won’t start. Today was not his day. Or maybe it just wasn’t his week, or month, or year even.

           He honestly didn’t have much to be happy about anymore. He didn’t see the point when he had no one to share the happiness with. His girlfriend broke up with him because he was too boring. His mother stopped talking to him because he was too miserable. His job has now fired him because he was too irresponsible. No one stayed in his life, not even for five minutes.

           Thomas looked up at the sky to see if the rain was going to clear up soon. And just like the rest of his luck, the second he did that it started raining even harder. It got in his eyes, blurring his vision, and at this point he was soaked to the bone and miserably cold. He rubbed his eyes and got his vision to clear up, right as a silver car pulled up to the curb.

           “Hey. I saw you standing out here in the rain and I wanted to let you know, the bus you are probably waiting for, just got into an accident down the road, and there isn’t going to be another one for like an hour because of the traffic of the accident.” The woman in the driver’s seat said once she rolled down the window. Just his fucking luck, Thomas rolled his eyes.

           “Of course it is. I’m gonna get hypothermia and die at this rate.” He shook his head.

           “If you want, I could give you a ride home. Or if you aren’t comfortable giving a stranger your address, I could take you to like a café or something, so you at least aren’t standing out in the rain.” She brushed a piece of her brown hair out of her eye.

           “You don’t mind giving me a ride?” Thomas asked, stepping closer to the car.

           “Not at all, I’m just heading home myself, and I would hate for someone to be stuck out in the rain if I could help them.” The lady smiled at him. Thomas walked around the front of the car and climbed into the passenger seat.

           “Thank you so much.” Thomas smiled, putting on his seatbelt and giving her the address of his apartment building.

           “Of course,” the lady smiled. “And I’m pretty sure you are in the same apartment building as me.”

           “Really? What a coincidence?” Thomas laughed.

           “I’m Elizabeth, by the way.” She introduced herself as she finally pulled away from the curb.

           “Like Elizabeth in 4C?” Thomas asked. “Oh. I’m Thomas. I almost forgot to introduce myself.”

           “Thomas from 2C?” Elizabeth glanced over at him before looking at the road. “Do you have the…”

           “Really weird neighbor in 3C? I believe her name is Cindy?” Thomas interjected.

           “Yeah. I honestly don’t know what her name is. But how do you know me? I like to think I’m pretty quiet.” Elizabeth agreed.

           “You have the nameplate by your mail slot with the hand drawn butterflies on it.” Thomas explained. “I notice it every time I get my mail. It is the one thing that still brings me joy nowadays.” He admitted sheepishly.

           “Oh yeah. My friend drew those because she said, and I quote, that the normal name plate just did not fit me.” Elizabeth laughed.

           “I think your friend is right.” Thomas smiled. “Now how do you know me?”

           “My answer is not nearly as nice as yours.” Elizabeth shook her head.

           “Well tell me anyway.” Thomas prodded.

           “When your girlfriend left, she kinda shouted fuck you Thomas before she slammed your door.” Elizabeth’s voice got quieter the more she spoke. Right. Thomas had forgotten about the fact that things did not end quietly with his ex. Badly? Most definitely. She told him that he was too boring and that she had found someone much more exciting that she had been cheating on him with for months. So he tried his best to forget the part where she screamed fuck you and slammed the door, since it was because he was upset that she cheated on him instead of just breaking up with him.

           “I forgot about that part.” Thomas chuckled.

           “How could you ever forget that?” Elizabeth glanced over at him.

           “Can we not talk about my ex anymore?” Thomas asked.

           “Fair.” Elizabeth smiled. “Do you want to play twenty questions?” It looks like we are going to be stuck in this car for a while.” Elizabeth gestured in front of them. Thomas looked out the windshield, and sure enough, there was a wreck a few cars ahead of them. Great.

           “Might as well.” Thomas smiled. “But only if we both answer all the questions.”

           “Agreed.” Elizabeth nodded. “What is your favorite color?”

           “Yellow. Like the sun.”

           “Mine is green, like the grass by the lake I used to go to every summer.”

           “What is your favorite dessert?”

           “Ice cream.”

           “Mine too.”

           They continued playing for a while, even as traffic started to move again. Going back and forth, asking each other the most random questions they could think of, laughing the whole time. It was nice, Thomas hadn’t laughed like that in a long time.

           “Okay, really tough one for you.” Elizabeth glanced at him and smiled. “What is a nickname that you loathe to be called?”

           “Oh, that’s easy. Tommy. It makes me feel like a child.” Thomas shook his head. “What’s yours?”

           “Lizzy,” the smile fell from Elizabeth’s face. “My abusive ex-boyfriend used to call me that.” Thomas made a mental note to never call her Lizzy, ever. Not with the look on her face from just talking about it.

           “Who is your favorite Power Ranger?” Thomas asked, trying to lighten the mood again. And from the way Elizabeth’s face lit up again, it had worked.

           “Definitely the pink one, there is no other correct answer.” She laughed, and it was contagious because Thomas laughed with her.

           “Good thing that my favorite is also the pink one.” Thomas smiled.

           “Why were you waiting for the bus when I know you have a car?” Elizabeth raised an eyebrow.

           “My car won’t run no matter how much money I throw at it. I’m trying to save up for a new one, but with the loss of my job, that is going to go towards rent instead.” Thomas sighed.

           “Do you want my help searching for jobs? I’m really good at matching people to careers that they love.” Elizabeth offered as they pulled into her parking space at the apartment complex.

           “That would be nice.” Thomas smiled. He looked out the window, and the sun was shining again. There was still a little bit of rain, but it made for the most beautiful sight.

           “Look! A rainbow!” Elizabeth shouted and pointed out her window. The rainbow was beautiful, but not as beautiful as the joy on her face. And Thomas thought to himself, that maybe, things weren’t going to be so bad after all.