Mastermind

               𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚢 𝚋𝚕𝚘𝚐

               𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚐𝚎: #rwclub16

                ___   . . .   ____   . . .   ____   . . . ___

              hii!   it’s     certainly   been   a   while

              since    i’ve     written    anything   to

              be posted on   here, but i figured

              id   give   this     challenge   a   shot.

              the   prompt just got me   thinking

              of a   taylor   swift song so   i had

              to   give it   a   try.   please   excuse

              the   quality    of.   writing,   i   didn’t

              have a lot of   time, and honestly

              once     i   got       started    i    really

               struggled   to    actually   write   the

              story.        unfortunately     i       was

              determined   to    write   something,

              so   this is definitely not my   best

              work.

               𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚙𝚒𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗

                𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚝

                ___   . . .   ____   . . .   ____   . . . ___

                character a   and   character b

                 have bumped into each other

                severa   times   in   the last few

                weeks. walking   into the same

                coffee   shop, public   transport,

                etc.   but   when   caught   in   a

                random   downpour,    they   find

                themselves    stuck    under   the

                same     overhang      for    cover.

                what           happens            next?

               𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚍 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝: 849

               𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢

                ___   . . .   ____   . . .   ____   . . . ___

    “Has every time I met you been such

    an unfortunate happenstance, or am

    I just the pessimist who won't find a

    silver lining?" Her voice is as soft as a

    feather, light and airy with humour in a

    way mine never is. She’s amused, I

    realize.

     It’s raining. It never rains here, at least

    not in my short amount of experience.

    I’ve only lived here for a couple of months

    but this is the first time it’s rained— at

    least during my waking hours.

    “I suppose I must just be bad luck.” My

    reply is dull, but there’s nothing I could

    say that would be interesting enough to

    be worthy of her attention.

   “I don’t think you’re bad luck,” she tells

   me. “All these meetings and not once

   have I asked you for your name.” This is

   our third meeting this week. That’s not

   even factoring the weeks before. Ever

   since I moved here I’ve been running into

   here a couple times a week. The first time

   quite literally.

   The first time I met her was my very first

   morning in my new apartment. It’s always

   disorienting, moving into a new place. I

   certainly wasn’t used to the rickety steps

   and dim lighting that comes with a cheap

   old building— I guess that makes it half

   justifiable that I rammed right into her as I

   made the corner step, only 2 stairs left on

   the other side of the turn. One second I

   was walking down the steps, heading for

   the lobby and therefore the front entrance

   and the next I was sprawled on the floor

   beside the most beautiful woman I had

   ever seen.

    She had long wavy golden hair and a

   smile that could light up any room. Or at

   least, I assume it could. When she’s

   smiling. Which she certainly wasn’t at this

   point. Instead I was fixed with narrowed

   eyes and a seething glare.

   “What the hell?” She demanded at once,

   as she used her hands to push herself to

   her knees, and then braced herself on the

   wall to push herself up. “Watch where

   you’re going next time.” And as quickly as

   I had ran into her she was gone.

    The second meeting was at least less…

   ponderous. Instead of a rough tumble

   down the stairs of a barely lit apartment

   complex it was the awkward dance of

   trying to dodge around each other as I

   tried to get on the same subway train that

   she was trying to get off of. As we finally

   navigate around each other I watched her

   eyes narrow before a cheeky grin broke

   out across her beautiful face. Then the

   doors closed again, and the train started

   moving away.

    This time was no different. Not really. The

   day was bright, not a cloud to be seen. A

   nice, warm, dry day, at least it seemed

   that way. I was walking along the

   sidewalk, browsing the windows of the

   stores as I made my way along the road,

   headed towards my new favourite local

   coffee shop. It’s sudden, the way the

   clouds closed over, and a single rumbling

   of thunder before the heavens opened up.

   I broke into a sprint and ran for the

   alleyway between buildings, sheltered by

   the two overhanging rooftops. I ducked

   inside just as another body does the same

   from the opposite direction and the two of

   us slammed together and went sprawling

   down to the ground.

   As I sat up I realized that once again my

   mystery neighbour must have been on her

   way home, as she always seems to be

   when I’m leaving, and we once again

   crashed into each other.

    “Olivia,” I tell her finally. “My name is

   Olivia, and apparently I am very unlucky”.

   She looks at me, smiles and asks,

   “Why do you think you’re unlucky?”.

   “How could I not be,” I ask her, “Every time

   I leave my apartment I run into you.

   Literally. You must hate me.” She laughs,

   as if I’ve told a funny joke.

   “Are you unlucky to be running into me?”

   She asks, “or am I very lucky to be

   running into you.”

    Is it luck, I wonder, or carefully planned

   out meetings that have us running into

   each other so often.

     “Have you been…” I hesitate, I have to

   wonder if I’m making things up now

   because I want it to not be an accident.

   She grins at me, that cheeky grin again.

    “What if I told you none of it was

   accidental?” I laugh, a snort really, and

   it’s certainly not an attractive sound.

    “Are you quoting Taylor Swift at me?” I

   ask her, and her smile tells me everything

   I need to know.

   “How about,” I ask slowly, “the next time

   we meet be intentional.”

    She smiles at me, a happy smile, not like

   her cheeky grin. I can’t pick which one I

   like more. But I definitely think I’d like to

   see them both again.

   “I’d like that,” she says. “I’d like that a lot.

   It’s a date.”

   what if I told you I’m a mastermind?