A Chance Encounter

Posted on by Parul Thakur
Chance encounter
A chance encounter

When he met her, was that encounter a chance or his destiny?

Not very long ago, there was a young man. Full of life and ambitious. Born and brought up in a small city in the north of the country, he wanted to see what’s beyond. He wanted to do something different with his career. It was the time when the world was under a technology revolution.

He had heard his friends talk about the software industry and he made that his next goal. He studied hard, prepared well and started to live his dreams. It was a new life over 1000 miles away from home. He made new friends, broke a couple of ties with the old ones and moved on.

The industry met him with open arms. There were joys of the probation period. The ganging up with friends to write a code and then appearing for the exams. All hard work was to ensure that he landed up in a good project and got posted in his city of choice.

He wanted more with life and at that young age, he was focussed. He read about business tycoons and their strategies to succeed. He knew where he was headed and his dreams told him the same.

Not very long ago, there was a young woman. Full of life and ambitious. Born and brought up in a small city in the east of the country, she wanted to see what’s beyond. She wanted to live a carefree life. She was a new to this city and had just then started her career.

With a job in her hand, she was a free soul. Starting a new life over 1000 miles away from home, she was not new to living with friends. Having made her own family of people around, she was happy and ready to meet this new life. She used to spend weekends with friends exploring the city and eating out.

She read Chicken Soup for the Soul and found inspiration in her daily life. It seemed as if things were just out of a book. All rosy and perfect. A job, a monthly salary to spend and friends to spend time with.

A common friend wanted to meet her and he decided to join her. They were both headed to meet this common friend and between the visit was a 3-hour bus ride. A journey with a stranger. They met at the railway station, walked towards the bus stop and bought the tickets.

She quickly grabbed the window seat and he confidently parked himself next to her. Three hours will fly by. She thought. She had a book and he had his headphones to listen to radio. Early morning calmness dawned and they quickly exchanged pleasantries and talking of how they know this friend.

He was tall, good-looking and there was something in his eyes. Honesty may be. She was impressed.

She was shy, her hair was long and beautiful, and she seemed logical. He loved her voice.

Three hours flew by and they spoke of careers, friends, families, backgrounds, and one conversation led to the other. The bus did not stop for a break and they did not take a break from talking. It seemed as if they knew each other yet there was so much to discover.

They were different and they parted ways when the bus stopped. She was wondering how could she talk so much to a stranger she just met. She went to meet her friend and he went to meet his. Though they were not around each other, the conversation continued over text messages. Many one-liners and many thoughts.

She was attracted but the pace was not her style. She was the dreamer and things had to follow how she had read in books.

He was attracted and he couldn’t care less of the pace. He was logical. This wasn’t a book.

She spent the night with her friend and shared how her day was so different with this person around. A message beep woke her up at the middle of the night.

He wanted to talk.

She stepped out quietly to make this call. He was now on the line and all they listened were the birds from each side. It was a full moon day and she was looking at it when he spoke. Maybe she knew what he was going to say.

He told her that with her, his day was good. He told her that she made him express what he hasn’t in a long time. He told her that he liked her and then he said he would like to be around. Forever.

She felt a lump in her throat. No one had told her this before. She was not sure what to say. This was not from any of the books she had read but this was real.

He wanted to know her reply and all she could say was No.

They travelled back together but this time, something was different. A slight touch stirred something inside her yet she had said no. He wanted to ask why but his logical mind couldn’t let him ask. This time, she read her book and looked out of the bus window. He looked at her but did not let her feel that.

The journey came to an end. They shook hands and went in different directions. On her way back home, there was a riot of emotions within her. She wanted to know if he meant all that he said. She wanted more words but she had said no. She did not know why she had said no.

A phone beep got her back from her chain of thoughts just as she was about to reach home. She looked at her phone. He had left his book in her bag and he wanted to meet for dinner the next day. 

A chance encounter had come to an end or had it just begun.

This post is written for Discover Challenge-Chance Encounter.

50 thoughts on “A Chance Encounter”

  1. Loved this tale, chance meetings make interesting stories don’t they? 😀 In fact, I have something similar lined up for my next post!

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  10. Interesting premise and some unanswered questions. Though, if I’m honest, I found the ‘pace’ a bit too ‘pacey’; but maybe that’s just me.
    Overall, a promising tale and it was nice to read. Something different from you; I like 🙂

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    1. Good to hear from the God of Fiction here. Thanks for that honest thought. As I was writing, I was trying to see what pace should the story run at. Thank you for stopping by!

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  14. This story is just beautiful! Specially the last twist!
    And he really was gutsy, to text her and say that he wanted to talk! If I were in the girl’s position I would have switched my phone off 🙈

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  15. This is the first piece of fiction I’m reading from you and I like it 🙂

    When you spoke about the tall time I could swear that you were talking about VT 😛

    The flow of the story was very good and the open ending can lead to many interpretations. But the fact that he wanted to be around her forever just after meeting her, bothers me. Does such things happen these days?

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  17. To be honest, I thought you were writing how you and your husband met. It sounded like a modern-day-big-city love tale.

    I hope it’s the beginning to a beautiful chapter, not a chance encounter.

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  19. Hi, Fab blog! I have just set up mine, but still in the very early stages – a few months old. Just making efforts to link in with fellow bloggers to improve our followers and get the word out there for us both. I would appreciate you having a peek at my blog, as I have published several posts. Feel free to like, comment, follow or just take a peek. Thank you 🙂

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  20. Wonderful, Parul! Enjoyed your piece of fiction. Would love to know what happens next…I think you should take it forward…like a series of sorts (or am I asking too much?! 🙂

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  22. Ahhh a nice romance to start my day . Loved it Parul! Beautiful flow, I could vizualize the whole story. A chance encounter that will blossom into an enduring romance methinks! Can we have a sequel please?

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  27. Spectacular writing, Parul. I was hanging on to every word from beginning to an end. Love the character development throughout this short story. Man and woman, two very different people with two very different personalities, one more emotional and the other more logical than the other. One fast, one more cautious. I think I see myself in the woman, always cautious when it comes to love or in general, when taking the next step towards anything 😀

    Love how you ended the story too, on such an interesting thought. Every encounter is probably both an end and a beginning 🙂

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