Is it a coincidence?

Matthew Jones

Coincidence.

At this moment I’m laughing to myself and I know how crazy Anastasia must be thinking of me for this – or not. Considering the huge beak on his face, she's probably looking to throw me out of the car, but okay. The point is that Johnny is a big idiot. He thinks I'm going to believe this story about coincidentally running into Anastasia at the hospital center, but come on. I'm an idiot, not dumb. I know very well that this was his idea. I bet he even convinced her to continue in the championship. Now, what will be her reward? Maybe money? I don't know.

I clenched my hands on the steering wheel and glanced at her, subtly analyzing her face. Anastasia doesn't look like she would accept anything for money – in fact, she looks more like the kind of person who would offer money to someone desperate, rather than the other way around. I looked down the street again, puzzled by my own assumptions. This doesn't make any sense. I’m sure that they are up to something together, and I’ll find out what, so I decided to play along.

“So…” I broke the silence. “Where did you and Johnny arranged to meet?”

“That's close enough.” She said simply, still with that huge beak on my face. I snorted.

I know it's close. It's obvious that Johnny arranged to meet her in the same place as me. In the end, he's going to blow both of us off, making up some lame excuse, resulting in our “random” meeting. I've already figured out the whole plan, really!

“Okay, but close where?” I insisted.

“I don't want you to drive me there. You're not my chauffeur.” She warned.

“Because I'm not getting paid for it.” I laughed nasally. “But I want to know where.”

“Why?”

I smiled smugly, paying attention to the traffic.

The silence in the car bothered me, so I stared at her with a raised eyebrow. She stood with her arms crossed, staring at the street as if it were fascinating. I ended up rolling my eyes. How stubborn! Just answer. How hard can it be? Even though I know the address perfectly well, I can't just stop in front of the restaurant, or she will think I’m a maniac.

So I kept driving, pretending to be calm, even though I was sweating cold. The restaurant is on the corner of the next street on the right. And since I cannot ask her to tell me the location again, or she might kill me right here, I saw no other way out but to act naturally.

“Why are you stopping here?” She looked at me with a frown. I smiled mischievously as I maneuvered the car.

“I'm going somewhere nearby.” I put on the parking brake and took the key from the steering wheel. “I'm not your chauffeur, have you forgotten?” I stared at her, smiling broadly.

Anastasia rolled her eyes and got out of the truck, stepping hard on the sidewalk. I laughed and did the same, slamming the door as I left. I stuffed my keys in my pants pocket and also started walking down the sidewalk, a little further behind her. If we were in a cartoon, I could easily see smoke coming out of her head. She was visibly annoyed.

I continued walking behind Anastasia, and before we turned to the right, she simply stopped walking and turned sharply toward me, forcing me to stop as well. She put her hands on her waist, looking at me with narrowed eyes and her mouth slightly open.

“What?” I raised my eyebrow.

“You're following me.” Her pose would have been intimidating, had she not been much shorter than me. I had to control myself not to laugh at her, so I moistened my lips to cover it up.

“No, I'm not.” I answered.

“Yes, you are.” She insisted.

“I said I'd come to the same place, didn't I?” I raised my eyebrow.

Well, it’s the same place. Literally.

“So go ahead!” She said, smiling cockily. I let my laughter escape.

“If you wanted to come with me from the beginning, just say so.” I smiled mischievously at the provocation.

Before she could kick me in the balls, I hurriedly left her behind. I acted naturally, as if I didn't have an angry mob marching behind me and spewing fire from my nostrils. As we approached the restaurant, I smiled as I imagined the confusion on Anastasia's face. She is probably wondering what the fuck I’m doing here, and that is what makes it so comical.

I took a quick look inside and saw how crowded it was. As I looked at the only table available outside, in front of the restaurant, I laughed. There were two chairs. There were only two chairs. It’s not possible that even Johnny thought of this. I rolled my eyes and settled down right there. I looked at Anastasia and all I got was a disdainful look. She stomped off to the reception desk, which was strategically located so that where I am, I can see perfectly well what is going on there.

Is Anastasia really going to try to get away from me? I want to see that one. I crossed my arms and leaned back in my chair, watching her carefully. She gestured a lot to the receptionist, but all the woman did was shake her head in denial. I couldn't help but laugh.

Even after much prodding, the answer remained the same, and Anastasia had no choice but to give up. As soon as she turned and faced me, I smiled and nodded, only to mock her face. She looked away, sighing deeply, and after some thought, surprised me by walking determinedly to the table where I was sitting. Is she going to sit here? Wow.

As she pulled out the chair, she stared at me, waiting for me to say something, or maybe even stop her, but I didn't, so she sat down. Looking from the outside, the situation was very funny, because Anastasia kept her beak on her face, had her arms crossed below her breasts, and didn't even look me in the eye. She looked like an angry little child. The sunlight caught her half of her face, making her brown hair lighter and her cheeks blush slightly. Her features were delicate and… Fuck! What am I doing? I rubbed my hair and pulled my cell phone from my jeans pocket, trying not to get angry. I focused on whatever shit I could see in front of me, just to keep my mind on my sole purpose for being here.

Yes, I need to find out what theirs is.

It’s annoying to keep thinking and assuming a thousand and one things, over and over again, without being at all sure that it’s right, but I also can't stop myself. Of course, you can't judge a book by its cover, but the book called Anastasia seems wide open right before my eyes. Seriously, look at her! Where would a girl like that do something in exchange for favors or money? It doesn't fucking match!

I saw her lips move, but heard nothing. It was then that I realized I was staring at her, with the cell phone still in my hands. I blinked a few times, organizing my thoughts, and huffed to disguise it.

“What did you say?” I narrowed my eyes. Anastasia laughed breathy.

“I asked what you were doing there.” She said, analyzing my face. “And before you say, yes, I’m peeking, that's news!” She rolled her eyes. “Now, answer me.”

I couldn't help but smile. I wasn't even going to say anything, but that's okay. I prefer her to be communicative rather than beaky, because that's the only way I can find out anything. I took a deep breath and put my cell phone in my jeans pocket, crossing my hands on the dark wood table. I moistened my lips, ready to speak, but noticed that Anastasia was staring intently at my arm, so I followed her gaze. What was she looking at? My tattoos? I frowned at her, but she had already looked away, so I shrugged.

“I confess that I was also surprised to see you. Nobody ever shows up.” I commented, analyzing her expression. “Not even Johnny.”

I waited for any reaction of astonishment, but Anastasia didn't show anything, she just stared at me with her inexpressive look. Of course, she's not surprised. She already knew this. It's part of the plan, after all. I continued to stare at her, but her gaze began to bother me, making me feel a tremendous fool with her silence. Did I say something wrong? Or maybe she didn't believe a word I said? Well, if it's the second option, there's nothing I can do about it. It’s the truth. All my friends know that I go to the hospital center for…

Suddenly I found myself paralyzed. The words disappeared, and I didn't know how to continue. Why do I go there? I've been doing it for so long that I just don't remember why anymore. I just started visiting and when I realized it, it became a… habit?

“Have you been more than once… there?” Anastasia asked, catching my attention.

It took me a few seconds to wake up, but I ended up frowning, confused. Was she afraid to say her name? Why did she just keep referring to it as “there”?

“To the hospital center?” I raised my eyebrow and laughed blowily.

“Yes…” She nodded and looked away from me. Okay, that was weird.

“Uhum.” I said, analyzing her. “I usually help people to…”

“Is she your sister?”

As soon as the question reached my ears, I shut up immediately, feeling a shiver run through my body. I blinked a few times, still perplexed. Anastasia stared at me intently, and suddenly I felt compelled. So I looked away, disguising my nervousness.

I hadn't expected this.

In all these years of helping in the hospital center, no one has ever left me as speechless as I’m now – and I have heard some atrocities. But even though what she said was meaningless, I confess that it affected me in a certain way.

“If you don't feel comfortable saying so, that's fine.” She warned, making me face her.

“She's not my sister.” I said firmly, before she started thinking stupid thoughts. “She's an orphan.” Anastasia raised her eyebrows. She could already expect the bombardment of questions.

“Then why are you taking care of her?” She narrowed her eyes.

All this curiosity is so annoying! I felt like giving a rude answer. But I didn't, because I know that she might close up again, which means that my chance for a decent dialogue will be gone. So I just took a deep breath and forced a smile.

“The institution that took care of her didn't have enough resources. I swallowed as I remembered the inhumane words of the orphanage director, who wanted to leave Tracy in bed until her last breath. Since I already attended the center, I decided to help.” I shrugged. “It's not an easy treatment, but every day I see progress in her, so I believe she’ll have good results.”

It wasn’t a lie, but it wasn’t one hundred percent true either, after all, I had omitted many things from Anastasia. I didn't want to have to go into too much detail, because it was a very complicated period. So, in order not to make it too long, I decided to change the subject.

“Anyway…” I sighed. “I feel that I need more than twenty-four hours in a day to reconcile all these responsibilities. But I know that unfortunately it’s not possible, so I do my best as much as possible.”

“Yes, I know well how it is.” Anastasia nodded. I frowned, analyzing her. “Sometimes you just need a little time to yourself, to organize your thoughts, to escape a little from reality, you know?” She stared at her hands. “I guess that's why I'm so dedicated to dance.” She mumbled that last part, but I heard her perfectly well.

Anastasia's shoulders shrugged subtly, and her eyes lost some of their sparkle. How well does she know? Has she been through… No. I won't ask. Even though I’m intrigued, I can't lose sight of my goal.

I stared at a random point, trying to stay focused on it, but I couldn't and ended up staring at Anastasia again. She seemed distant all of a sudden, as if she was in an internal battle, or whatever, so I sighed. I can't believe I have to play the counseling psychologist. I huffed, but just as I opened my mouth to question why, a shadow settled over the table, drawing our attention.

“Oh, you came together!” As soon as I looked up, I saw the confusion on Johnny's face.

“Hi, Johnny!” Anastasia stood up at the same moment and hugged him. He smiled and reciprocated the gesture.

As they walked away, John stared at her, and then looked away, keeping his smile on his face. I know what's going through your head, but if you think that's all you're going to get, you're very wrong. I took a deep breath, trying to keep calm, and glared at him.

“Can we talk?” I narrowed my eyes. “Alone.” I emphasized. Johnny nodded and turned, walking to a faraway place.

I stood up from where I was standing and looked one last time at Anastasia. She didn't say anything, just stared back at me, so I turned my back and walked over to Johnny, who was standing a few meters away, picking at the corner of his fingernails, apparently relaxed. Too bad that smile of yours doesn't fool me. I know you're holding back from jumping for joy with your successful plan.

“You can stop the theatrics now, John.” That was the first thing I said when I got close to him.

“What do you mean?” He looked at me with arched eyebrows. “What theater?”

“Did you really think I was going to believe this coincidence crap?” I laughed breathlessly, pulling the keys of the truck from my pocket. “I already know that you set the whole thing up.”

“Me?” He frowned, taking the keys from my hand. “I would love to say yes, but the answer is no.” He laughed breathily, making me narrow my eyes.

“Are you saying that you didn't purposely mark me and Anastasia in the same place?” I asked and saw him smile.

“I did, but I didn't think you would bump into each other.” He shrugged. “My plan was to meet you, get the keys, and then go to her. That's why I told her to go to the hospital.” I said as if it was obvious. “I was going to get the keys from you and then bring her here.” He pointed to the restaurant. “But I lost track of time, and when I saw that, I realized that there wouldn't be time, so I arranged to meet you both at the same place, because I imagined that you would arrive before her. And not together.” He emphasized and smiled maliciously, leaving me speechless.

I was literally speechless. All my counter-arguments seemed too stupid to be used, so I chose to remain quiet. No way was this really a coincidence. I stared at John again, analyzing his expression, and ended up huffing. I think I'm getting paranoid already.

“Just give my keys.” I rolled my eyes and held out my right hand, waiting. I don't want to bring it up.

“Did you really think I had set all this up?” John asked in an amused tone.

“No.” I denied it, even though it was a lie.

“Are you sure?” He narrowed his eyes, smiling broadly.

“Just give me that shit.” I pulled the keys out of his hand, irritated. “Where did you leave it?”

“In front of the soccer field.” He said, still finding the situation amusing.

“Okay, thanks.” I mumbled and started walking to my motorcycle, completely ignoring him.

“See you at practice!” Johnny shouted, making me clench my fists and lock my jaw.

From your tone, I know he’s going to pick on me forever about today, and I’ll want to kill him every time.