Unlikely Destinies

Episode.4

It was not uncommon for Marissa to wake up during the early morning hours, staring at the ceiling of her bedroom as she listened to her blaring alarm clock at 6:15 a.m. Her mind had been a whirlwind all night long. Dreams broke down into memories, a mixture of foggy childhood events and those in her latest life at VEC.

Yesterday, Charlie had gazed at her once more. More than ever before. Not with consciousness, but with the same puzzled glint she was used to noticing. Like a man who couldn't quite recall but had caught the scent of an old, forgotten house.

With a groan, she sat up and hooked her legs over the side of the bed. Liyah slept peacefully and snored lightly on her side of the room, stretching her arms out to the sides like a starfish. Ruth's raucous laughter upstairs echoed through the house. Ruth was always bright-eyed in the morning because it was Saturday and Issah always allowed her to stay out late the night before.

Slipping into the kitchen, Marissa picked up a glass of water. Outside, the heat that clings to you like a second sweater was already beginning to build up. There were no summers in Georgia.

Her phone beeped.

Brian: "Reminder. A briefing with outside partners is scheduled for Monday. I must receive those summary slides by today's COB. Best, M.".

She responded with a thumbs-up emoji and propped herself against the counter. By another day of preparation, the redevelopment proposal would advance to the next level. It would translate into more meetings, more scrutiny, and more opportunities for agitators such as Vera to interfere.

While Charlie was on his knees, Marissa would catch Vera always lingering near him. Always laughing a bit too hard, asking some pretentious question, and scenting too intensely.

Charlie, however, left. He responded curtly, and continued.

She wondered if he even noticed.

----

Marissa was kneeling on the living room floor with her laptop out that afternoon, surrounded by a mess of papers and folders and broken coffee mugs. Liyah, bowl of cereal in her hand, sat beside her.

"Repeating that slide deck?"

"Brian's request." We have a meeting on Monday outside.

Liyah raised an eyebrow. "The same Brian who invited you out for lunch last week?"

Marissa smiled tightly. Not a date. It was strategy.

"Mm-hmm," Liyah said with mouthfuls. "But still. The man's arms are nice.

Marissa rolled her eyes. "I'm not interested."

"Because of him?" Liyah asked without saying the name.

A hush fell.

"Because of a lot of things," was Marissa's final utterance. "Life. Work. Timing."

Liyah gazed at her. "Translation: because of him."

Marissa protested. Why should she?

***

Charlie was performing a set of reps at the downtown private gym of his apartment complex. His wireless earbuds did have music, but it was far away. His mind was somewhere else.

Occasionally he caught himself reverting to that picture of the girl turned in the opposite direction. The sensation of it was there, but not her face. And now he couldn't help but notice it staring at Marissa. She c****d her head. Her eyebrow arch.

Esther did not remember the children he played with, but he had tried to have his mother tell him about Savannah. Those were the tough years. By the time she married Viktor and left, all but a few of them were over. Maybe he had just outgrown them.

But he knew that something was more than nostalgia for his childhood. There was something else.

***

It began on Monday morning with the hard and abrupt rain. Marissa leaned on the VEC entrance awning, her umbrella a fragile shield between her and the weather, watching the storm move through the city.

Rain on asphalt was one of her best scents. She thought of the lazy afternoons in Savannah when she and Charlie dashed barefoot through soggy fields, daring the thunder to catch them.

"Good morning."

She was drawn back by Charlie's voice. He was standing beside her, his coat dripping at the shoulders and his dark hair tossed back by the wind.

Marissa steadied herself. "Good morning."

He gestured toward the door. "Going in?"

"Just waiting for a little lightening of the situation."

He smiled. "I didn't know Georgians such as yourself, enjoyed waiting out the rain."

She faced him. "How did you know that I am from Georgia?"

With a flicker of comprehension in his eyes, he stopped. "No, I didn't. I guess."

With an undefined sound, she entered.

Charlie followed behind her.

Half full when they got there, the conference room was. Brian had already set and was getting ready to present. Already sitting towards the front, Vera was bored-looking and immaculate with crossed legs. Straightening slightly when Charlie walked in, she was.

Marissa came in closer to the center. She listened carefully as the presentation began, taking notes and offering correct and perceptive comments.

Charlie inquired of the crowd during his turn to report, but his eyes always lingered on Marissa a fraction of a second longer. He was captivated by the way she organized her thoughts, like hearing music you knew by heart but couldn't place.

Vera observed.

Once the meeting was over, she tossed Charlie near the elevator.

She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and said, "Good presentation." "Even if some of the newer staff are bending over backwards to impress you."

Charlie's eyebrow went up. "You mean Marissa?"

Vera smiled coldly. "She is vivacious. Just be careful around her. I've heard she's been digging in files over her clearance."

He clenched his teeth. Did she? Or did you assume that, since she's better qualified than most people?

Startled, Vera's eyes widened.

Charlie turned around and exclaimed, "Excuse me."

He saw Marissa swiping her card against the sensor on the vending machine at the end of the hall. Her heels were kicked out to one side, and her shoulders were a bit slumped.

"That was great," he said, walking over.

She raised her head. "We will wait and hear back from the partners."

Charlie nodded. "You have a clear head. I like how clear your reports are.

Marissa hesitated. "I appreciate it. That is very important.

There was a silence. Neither of them had anything to say, but something hung poised to break them apart.

But instead, Marissa picked up her drink and smiled professionally. "Good afternoon, Mr. Daniels."

He watched her disappear, the name sounding strange to his ears.

It was from the source of the leasing office.

It was Marissa who opened her apartment door one evening to discover a letter hidden under the mat.

The source being the leasing office.

She skimmed over the bold print, unfolded it, and read, "Review of tenant behavior and unauthorized access into restricted property files."

Her stomach fell.

It was in the evening that she looked up to Issah's apartment.

She then gazed at the signature on the bottom of the notice.

Vera Langston.

Marissa didn't move.

The game had begun.