3. A CHANCE ENCOUNTER
1708 Words
Ethan might have stood there longer if fate hadn't decided subtlety was overrated.
Someone barreled into him from behind.
"Sorry!"
The force of the collision knocked his paper cup from his hand. Orange juice splashed harmlessly across the gravel, but the teenage boy who'd run into him wasn't as lucky. The cardboard tray he carried tipped sideways, sending three cups flying in every direction.
"Oh no..."
The boy stared at the spreading puddle as though his entire future had just soaked into the ground.
"My mom is going to kill me."
Ethan bent immediately, gathering the empty cups before the wind could carry them away.
"Hey," he said, keeping his voice light. "Accidents happen."
"They were for the volunteers."
"I think they'll survive five more minutes."
"I'm supposed to help at the bake sale."
"The one over there?"
The boy nodded miserably.
"I'll explain."
Before he could take a step, another voice drifted toward them.
"No need."
Ethan turned.
The woman from the bakery stand approached with an easy smile, balancing a fresh tray as though she'd anticipated the disaster before it happened.
"I made extra."
The teenager released a breath that sounded suspiciously close to a sob.
"I'm so sorry, Ada."
"I know you are." She replied while handing him another tray.
"Now go before Mrs. Omah starts wondering where you disappeared to."
The boy took off running.
Ada watched him maneuver through the crowd before shaking her head with amused affection.
"He'll probably apologize another six times before the day's over."
She finally looked at Ethan.
"You got caught in the crossfire." She said
ETHAN
"I'm beginning to think your volunteers are dangerous." I replied
A laugh escaped her.
"I'll add hazard pay to next year's budget."
"So there is a budget?" I asked surprised
"There isn't." She replied
"That's disappointing."
"I know."
She held out one of the untouched cups and moved it towards me
"Replacement?"
"Thank you." I accepted it, wondering why I had. I mean I could have said no but a gentleman wouldn't refuse a kind gesture from a beautiful lady right?
"The least I could do." She added
********************
Their fingers brushed.
It was brief.
Barely a second.
Still, something unexpected settled into the space between them. Not the thunderbolt romance people wrote songs about. It was something quieter. Recognition.
As though each had stumbled across someone worth noticing.
"I'm Ada."
"Ethan."
She repeated his name softly.
"Ethan."
He wasn't sure why hearing her say it mattered.
Only that it did.
"So," she said, "are you enjoying the festival?"
ETHAN
"I've spent most of it being rescued." I replied
"First by Jake from staying home…and now by you."
She tilted her head.
"Who is Jake?" She asked
“Oh, Jake is my best friend and he is equally a very big pain in my ass…. Oh I'm sorry, that's probably too much information “
"No it's cool, I would love to hear more about you and Jake” she replied while smiling and I noticed that she had a single golden tooth
A breeze swept through the square, carrying the scent of fried yam, and pastries made at different corners of the square.
She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and for a moment I forgot whatever it is that I was about to say. But for someone who is always shy around girls, I felt a strong urge to converse with her
"You made the rocking horse." She asked
"You noticed?" I was very surprised.
"I notice every work of art no matter how small, because I believe that every artist has a reason or a secret meaning of their work, so I make sure to crack the meaning” she lets the word out smoothly and I wished she didn't stop
"I wasn't sure anyone paid attention." I said in all honesty
"I do." She said meeting my eyes, I wanted to shy away but something screamed at me to stay still and savour the moment
"My grandfather always said you can tell what kind of person someone is by the things they build." Ada said
"And?".
"I think your grandfather would've liked my grandfather." She replied
I don't know why I'm smiling but I guess her impression of me is not bad at all, and yup, her grandfather would have loved my grandfather
"I think they probably would've argued over whose coffee was better." I found myself saying
"Oh, Grandpa Mofe would've lost."
"You sound confident." I asked amused
"He burned water once."
ADA
He laughed loudly, one that caught him off guard and I'm glad he laughed at my joke
"There it is."
"What?" He answered
"You've smiled twice."
"I wasn't aware anyone was counting."
"I wasn't."
His grin widened.
"It was just hard to miss." I admitted, it was not in my character to feel this way but I'm very sure that my cheeks had turned red from blushing
***********************
For reasons neither of them understood, conversation came easily after that.
They wandered past handmade quilts, sampled maple fudge that was far too sweet, debated whether pineapple belonged on pizza, and discovered they both had an unfortunate weakness for bread fresh from the oven.
When they reached the old wooden bridge overlooking the festival ground, the sounds of the festival softened behind them.
The water below reflected gold and crimson leaves drifting lazily across its surface.
Ada rested her elbows on the railing.
"I come here whenever the festival gets too loud."
"You don't seem like someone who minds crowds."
"I don't."
She watched the current carry a leaf downstream.
"I just like remembering there's a quiet place nearby."
Ethan understood that better than she could have known.
After losing his father, silence had become both refuge and punishment.
He found himself saying something he hadn't planned to tell anyone
"I almost didn't come today."
Ada looked at him, waiting.
ETHAN
"My best friend practically dragged me here."
"I'm glad he did." she said
The words slipped out naturally but I noticed the faint blush that warmed her cheeks when she realized what she’d said and she tried to hide it almost immediately.
"I mean..."
"You don't have to explain." I told her in a voice I did not realize I owned
"No?"
I shook my head.
"I'm glad he dragged me here too."
**************
For a heartbeat, neither of them spoke.
The breeze lifted the loose strands of Ada’s hair.
Ethan noticed the flour still dusting one sleeve of her sweater.
Ada noticed the tiny nick on his thumb, fresh enough to have come from a chisel that morning, she observed it
“Woodwork?” she asked.
Ethan glanced down.
“Occupational hazard.”
She gently cleared the dirt around the nick, and Ethan looked as though he stopped breathing for the moment, she blew air around it.
They were ordinary details.
Yet somehow they felt strangely intimate.
A voice called from across the bridge.
"Ada!"
She turned.
An older woman in a bakery apron waved impatiently from the festival square.
Ada sighed with exaggerated disappointment.
"Duty calls."
"I'm guessing the cinnamon rolls won't sell themselves."
"They've certainly never volunteered."
She took a step backward, then hesitated.
"I'll probably see you around."
"In Jabi?"
She smiled.
"It would be difficult not to."
She started across the bridge, then glanced back over her shoulder.
"Oh... Ethan?"
"Yeah?"
"I'm glad you came today."
Before he could answer, she disappeared into the crowd.
He stood there for a long moment, staring after her.
Only when Jake appeared beside him, balancing yet another plate of roasted beef, did Ethan finally blink.
"So," Jake said, unable to hide the satisfaction in his voice, "are you going to pretend that wasn't the longest conversation you've willingly had with a stranger in years?"
Ethan watched the crowd where Ada had vanished.
A slow smile found him before he realized it.
"No."
His voice was almost lost beneath the music drifting from the drums
"I don't think she's going to stay a stranger."
“ Wow, any wonder they say that women are the most beautiful aspect of creation because I just watched my friend encounter a woman, no scratch that, a powerful woman “ Jake said taunting Ethan
But this time something is different, Ethan is used to shying away when Jake taunts him with matters concerning women but today he did not feel shy, he was more of loving the conversation
“I would agree on that but what do you mean powerful, you did not even speak to her” Ethan interjected
“I don't need to speak to her to notice, my dear friend, when was the last time you laughed the way you did today in the past four years?”
Ethan is still grinning
“What was funny? She doesn't look like someone who is into comedy so what was she saying that made you forget about your best friend for ten hours” Jake rattled
“Stop being dramatic young man, it was barely an hour, and I would rather listen to her talk all day than be your best friend” Ethan said amused
Jake dramatically falls on the floor clutching his chest
“I have been your Best friend for Five years now, and you want to choose a lady you just met over me?”
“The ladies are staring at you” Ethan joked and Jake sprang up immediately, he turned only to see that no one was staring, picked up a stick and started chasing Ethan.
Far across the festival grounds, unseen by either of them, Richard Mofe stepped out of a conversation with the town mayor just in time to catch sight of his daughter smiling at a man he didn't recognize.
He frowned.
It lasted only a second.
Then someone called his name, pulling his attention elsewhere.
He walked away without another glance.
If he had looked back, he might have noticed the way Ethan's eyes followed Ada through the crowd.
Or the way Ada turned once more before disappearing into the bakery tent.
Sometimes the smallest moments change the course of an entire life.
Neither of them knew it yet.
But this was one of those moments
- Writer
