Fate is really taking care of everything

John Leblanc

I shoved the bunch of keys into the pocket of my beat-up jeans and walked over to the table where Anastasia was standing. It was hard to soften the smile on my face, as Matthew's face was stuck in my mind and wouldn't go away.

At this moment, he must be creating the most ridiculous conspiracy theories in his mind to justify the random meeting. In a way, I feel sorry for him. He definitely doesn't believe in these things, and the fact that it is happening right before his eyes will drive him crazy. Seriously, the look on his face was Oscar worthy.

Anyway, I put the discussion aside as I approach Ana and pull out her chair to sit down.

“Sorry, I was getting the keys to the truck.” I smiled minimally and sat down facing Anastasia, who nodded.

One of the waitresses approached with two menus and placed them on the table. Anastasia's eyes glued on them, but at no point did she make any mention of picking them up and analyzing their contents, which made me realize that despite her attention, she is distracted.

“Uh… Shall we order something now?” I tried to make a conversation, but, again, she just nodded.

Oh, gosh! What Matthew did that made her…

“I want to go back to the championship.” Anastasia burst out, momentarily surprising me.

Since when she left Rachel's without even saying anything to me and Matt confessed that the reason was because he had screwed up, at first I decided not to interfere and let things work themselves out. However, it was obvious that this would be impossible, so I decided to give him a little push.

Of course, I had to help, right?

I know Matthew better than he knows himself. I know that if I were to leave it in his hands, something would get out of his control, or not move at all. He's very proud. But, obviously, I also know that I couldn't make a whole plan for them to meet “randomly”, because Matt would be even more suspicious. Much more than he was today. So I had to create alibis for him to make him look like the crazy one in the story. But, as I said, I know him well, and I know he won’t rest until he is fully convinced that there is no intentional interference on my part.

However, what is keeping me puzzled at the moment is whether, he suspected me and acted on impulse or ended up fixing everything. After all, Ana is different.

“Why? Did Matt talk to you?”

I asked, and Anastasia sighed, finally facing me.

“No.” She denied it.

“No?”

I couldn't help but be amazed.

I think Anastasia noticed the confusion on my face, because she smiled and looked away. But honestly, I couldn't – and didn't even make a point of – hiding it. I'm too perplexed to even formulate a coherent sentence at the moment.

What does she mean with “he didn't talk to her”?

Okay, fine. Let's go in parts.

First, my purpose, in actuality, wasn't even for him to convince her to come back for the championship, because the way Matthew is, he would only push her further away. Being honest, I was only going to set up a few random meetings to make Matt somewhat perplexed and calmer about Ana. Then maybe things could settle down.

But, the thing is, I'm surprised. It was just the first random meeting, and she already made the decision to come back? It's obvious that she was influenced by something. Anastasia, as much as she missed dancing with us, it's pretty clear that she wouldn't back out so easily. So I insist that something influenced her.

But, if she says that Matt didn't even say anything, then what made her change her mind so easily?

“Then why did you decide to come back?” I asked, suspicious. Anastasia's mouth curved into a smile.

“How could I abandon everyone?” She tilted her head to the side, playing charm.

“Well, I really doubt it.” I laughed nasally.

After a few minutes in silence, I decide to look into the situation. Depending on what her answer is, I’ll know if there was Matt's influence or not.

“Okay. You decided to come back. I'm happy about that. Very happy, in fact.” I smile back at her. “But, you know you'll still have Matt, right?” I raise one of my eyebrows, analyzing her expression. “He'll still be part of the group. In other words, he'll still be that difficult boy to deal with, who even picks on his own shadow, and who usually makes things difficult for you…”

Anastasia clenches her lower lip in her teeth, looking at the wooden table with a certain interest. The silence that hangs between us is almost suffocating, making me anxious. I wonder what she's thinking to make her eyes glaze over like that.

“Well, I know how annoying Matt can be.” She sighs, looking into my eyes. She seemed to be searching for the right words to express herself. “But I guess everyone has their demons to carry on” She gives a slight smile, picks up the menu on the table and as a way of getting off-topic, says: “I have no idea what to order.” She comments, running her eyes over the contents of the menu.

I know I've been silent for a long time, but honestly, I have nothing to say except, what the fuck was that?

I don't know what has happened here, but it's clear that something has changed. And I don't think Matt has done anything about it. On the opposite, I bet he tried in every way to screw it up, just to maintain his pride that a simple random encounter wouldn't change anything. Yeah, I know him.

But now, what could be the reason for the change? Ana said that Matt didn't say anything about the championship. So, did he talk about something else that shook her up? He wouldn't talk about his own past with her, and that is obvious. That being the case, what motivated her to come back? And especially, what made her see him in a different way? Holy shit, my head aches with so many unanswered questions!

Particularly, I think I'll stay out of it. Unless something gets out of hand, of course. But for the time being, I think that fate is really taking care of everything around here…