Coincidence or Fate?

An unlikely event raises vital questions for lawyer Conny...

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The young lawyer Conny just wanted to take a day off and go hiking. In the depth of the forest, she unexpectedly meets Jay. He claims that this is no coincidence, but that destiny has brought them together. Conny does not believe in such a thing, but he has evidence. Hard evidence.

Credits and love to "meRicky" for editing this story and preventing me from looking like an illiterate fool ;-)

Dingo

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Water!

She really needed something to drink. And soon.

Conny swallowed. Her parched throat felt unpleasant. The sun had passed its zenith, but its rays still heated the muggy August afternoon with full force. The air stood between the trees like scalding molasses. Not a breath of air moved the leaves.

Sweat ran down her neck. Large dark spots marked the light blouse in the middle and under the arms. The thin yellow fabric, freely tied up above her waist to expose as much skin as possible on her belly and back, clung loosely to her damp body.

Not for the first time, she wondered if this trip was a good idea. After all the stress of the last few weeks, she had simply taken a day off. She didn't want to travel far. Just enough away from work and daily routine to get some peace and quiet. A getaway from the chaotic pace of the law firm she was working for in St. Louis, Missouri.

The idea of a day hike promised a double appeal.

For one thing, she enjoyed extended walks. The monotonous movement had a soothing, almost hypnotic effect. Her mind always quick to the take and well suited to the hectic office routine went into neutral. Another Conny would then emerge, completely refreshed. The old Conny who used to paint or tinker around all by herself for days on end. The Conny who loved to run and climb and dance in her bare feet, and later, the Conny who used to enjoy every single all-night party to the fullest. A part of her that lately was hardly allowed to surface.

For another thing, it had a forbidden, almost sinful air about it. A Tuesday, a completely normal working day, used to pursue one's own pleasure while everyone else was working. When she left in the morning, she was almost ashamed to get into the car in her casual clothes. All around, men and women in business outfits or other work attire stepped out of their apartments, their faces tired or already hardened for the day.

For a moment, their indignant lawyer self almost won.

"Your Honor! The defendant dares to take a day off in the middle of the week! We request the maximum penalty: guilty conscience until office closing time!"

But she - the other Conny, the dancer - had braced herself up, lifted her head and casually packed her backpack into the trunk. Why should she care if the office jocks of the suburbs would stare at her bare arms and the almost naked thighs?

She was a successful young lawyer, and at thirty-two, just the right age to accept and enjoy her good looks. She threw back her long, ebony hair, beamed in all directions and bid her neighbors a wonderful morning. Mr. Lorenzo, the bank executive from next door, smiled wryly back.

The morning hours flew by like magical pearls on a fairy string. She had parked the car in a forest parking lot somewhere behind Farmington and had then simply ran off, right into the Mark Twain National Forest area. The path led across warm, sun-drenched meadows and into the cooler woodland. Pensively she strode through tall grass, enjoying the birdsong, the chirping of insects, the play of the light and shadow between the trees. Dark beetles hummed through the air like tiny drones with whirring wings.

After a short time, she realized that she was no longer thinking about the paperwork on her desk. The business like lawyer was left behind and was waiting somewhere in the city. Another, a younger Conny, was wandering through this summer environment of lush fields, bright yellow fields and forests with mossy trees and shimmering sunbeams. Sometimes she danced a few steps on the soft forest path with childlike joy and hummed a few bars aloud to herself.

In the course of the morning it became steadily warmer. Then really hot. The weather forecast had spoken of 91 degrees, and contrary to their assumptions, it did not stay nice and cool in the forest at all. On the contrary! The rich smell of wood, leaves and must, which lay like a suffocating damp cloth over the forest floor, seemed to push the temperature further up. Despite her minimal clothing - just shorts, the blouse and hiking boots - she was sweating like she was doing a strenuous workout at the gym.

The water bottle was empty, and soon her increasingly parched throat began looking for a spring. Even a stream with reasonably clear water would have been welcome. All this, however, seemed to be in short supply in the vast nature reserve. Next time she should check and plan her way in advance, the lawyer, Conny, mumbled to herself inwards.

Moreover, for the past hour she had been haunted by a nagging suspicion that she had strayed from the thin red dashed line on the trail map. The map showed only approximately the distribution of forest and fields, but the landscape around adhered enervatingly little to the plan. Where was this crossroads she should have passed long ago? And why the heck did she leave her iPhone in the car?

To think of "getting lost" seemed a little ridiculous to her. All around, roads had to run, cars had to drive, people had to go about their daily lives in the villages and homes. Only a few miles away, two hours on foot at the most - after all, there were hardly any square mile left without settlements or other human artifacts in this area.

But the fact was that she hadn't seen any other people since she left the parking lot. Not even forest workers were out and about today. This, combined with her thirst, caused a small, oppressive gnawing in her stomach. The hike, initially a soothing escape from civilized professional life, was turning into an unpleasant affair.

Her lawyer self grinned sardonically. God, she was looking forward to a shower and her comfortable sofa! What a stupid idea to walk through this furnace of a forest. She could be sitting pleasantly and comfortably in an airconditioned room, working on some files and....

A distant call snapped her out of her lethargic reverie.

People!

Unconsciously, she arranged her wet strands of hair and smoothed out her clothes. She was vaguely aware of how weary and disheveled she must look: crinkled hiking clothes, dripping with sweat, with scratched calves and hair sticking to her forehead. This was the exact opposite of the cool lawyer in court, perfect in a dark suit, discreet shoes and strictly pinned-up hair.

Red metal glittered between the trees. A windshield reflected the gleaming sunlight. Behind the car was a small clearing, from which a new sound was coming. Conny stepped closer and peered out from between the thick trees. Her eyes widened as she took in the scene.

A man was kneeling there in front of a small fire. He had a cardboard box in his hand and was feeding the flames with papers and photos. Conny could only make out a shock of black hair and a broad back in a rough plaid shirt. The stranger put such furious concentration into his puzzling actions that she hesitated. It seemed inconceivable to disturb him, only for asking for something as mundane as water.

The box was now empty and also made its way into the flames. They grabbed it greedily and leapt up for a few seconds. The man spread his arms, looked to the sky, and muttered something unintelligible. The bitterness, the defiant sadness that resonated in his tone, touched Conny oddly.

He remained in this strange position for quite a while, then lowered his arms with a sigh and gathered the remains of his charred remains into a smoldering heap. At last he rose. His movements seemed heavy, he looked down at the ground with his head bowed. Conny could have bet that he was oblivious to the spot directly in front of him.

Hesitantly, she stepped forward.

"Hello, excuse me, please."

The man didn't move for a second or two. Then he flinched and wheeled around. Two gray eyes, set in a serious face, fastened on her, taking in her slender form. His lower jaw dropped, and perplexed amazement was painted on his face. Conny bit her lower lip. Did she really look that weird?

"Excuse me," she repeated sheepishly. "I - uh, I think I lost my way. Can you tell me if this is the Maple Trail or the Willow Trail?"

He was still staring at her in complete bewilderment. Despite the strange situation, Conny couldn't help but admire his athletic physique. The rolled-up shirt sleeves gripped strong arms, the washed-out jeans spanned a flat waist and muscular thighs. He had to be a little older than herself. So mid-thirties, she estimated absently. Drops of sweat shone on his forehead, but that only emphasized his attractiveness.

Now he laughed. Once only, in a skeptical tone.

"I just don't believe it!" he muttered aloud.

Conny looked down at herself, perplexed. What was it about her that so dismayed him? The sight of her couldn't be that frightening, could it? Normally men reacted a little more enthusiastically to her.

The stranger suddenly stepped forward, directly in front of her, and took her hands. Confused, she looked up at him. He had to be at least six feet three, almost a head taller than herself. He did not smile, but scanned her with a look so intense that it acted on her like a magnetic beam.

"Welcome!" was all he said.

Conny swallowed. Dryly. "Uh...", she managed to get out.

Suddenly, he seemed to realize the absurdity of the situation. He smiled sheepishly, then grinned broadly, and burst out laughing. The gray eyes, which had seemed so hard and compelling before, now sparkled with unbridled mirth. His hands still held hers warmly and tightly.

"Please forgive me," he said in a pleasantly sonorous voice. "This must all seem a little, um, strange to you."

"Well, I was wondering...", Conny confessed and returned his smile without thinking.

He chuckled in amusement.

"I went as deep into the forest as I could on a weekday to be alone. And then - you come out of the trees just like that. Just like that!" He shook his head in amazement. "I didn't think my wish would come true so quickly."

"Wish?" She didn't get it at all. A most unusual experience for her.

He hesitated.

"It's a long story," he said then, wavering briefly. Then he looked at her, his eyes flashing mischievously. "I have a theory about that," he said in a serious tone. "A hypothesis. And I would like to test this hypothesis experimentally. Could you assist me in this?"

Conny shrugged her shoulders and smiled uncertainly. Sure she would help this interesting guy with the slightly weird behavior, but how....

He leaned forward and kissed her.

It came as a complete surprise. Conny froze, caught off guard by the unexpected intimacy. She felt his firm, almost hard lips on hers as he continued to hold her gaze. Then he broke away with a soft smack. Simply looking at her with intensity.

Conny´s mind whirled away, hopelessly lost in the peculiarity of this bizarre situation. The soft tingling reverberation on her lips felt good, as did the physical closeness to this stranger. The dancer inside her raised her eyebrows in delight and would have liked to find out how the skin on his taut ribs felt.

But surely the guy couldn't just kiss her like that? A complete stranger? The lawyer carefully pointed out all the potential dangers, uncertainties and abnormalities of this situation. In a self accusatory voice, she was telling herself of about less pleasant experiences in dealing with men.

The two parts of her managed to neutralize each other perfectly. She could only stand stiff like a stone.

Very slowly, a delighted, yet still doubtful smile spread across his face. It suddenly made him look much younger. Open. And vulnerable.

"You didn't run screaming," he stated hesitantly. "And you haven't slapped me yet. I therefore conclude that my assumption is correct."

With these cryptic words, he pulled her to him again and kissed her for the second time. Longer this time, and more emphatically. Conny felt the warmth of his breath on her skin and sensed his tangy scent. He smelled distantly of wood, of fresh sweat, and of a man. As if of their own accord, her lips moved, lightly returning his kiss.

Then she straightened, withdrew her hands from his grip and pressed against his chest, pushing him back a little. He offered no resistance as she broke contact, but his gleaming gaze remained fixed on her.

"This... all comes as a teensy bit of a surprise to me," she said seriously. Seeing him startled, she grinned, bent up, and quickly kissed him. Just to show him that she wasn't angry with him. And maybe also not to look girlishly passive. The tough lawyer would never accept such a thing! For the first time, the dancer fully agreed.

"Not unpleasant. Just... just surprising," she repeated, lightly stroking her lower lip with the tip of her tongue. "I'd really like to know what that hypothesis is."

He laughed out loud again. She liked it when he laughed like that. Then he looked deep into her eyes, abruptly matter-of-fact again.

"I suppose that you are my destiny," he said seriously. "That it's not a coincidence that we meet here. That we belong together. Meant for each other. And your initial reaction gives me hope that this conjecture is not completely far-fetched."

And with a matter-of-factness, as if they had been together for years, he kissed her a third time. She closed her eyes briefly, enjoying the strange familiarity. Then she took a deep breath and broke away, not without regret.

"I don't understand. Can you...can you explain to me why it's fate?"

He nodded. "I'd be happy to. At least I´ll try." His head motioned over to the smoldering remains.

"Just now I performed a little ritual." He searched for words. "Honestly, this was my first ritual of my own. A friend I went to a sweat lodge with in the winter recommended it, and explained roughly what I needed to do." A snort. "I usually don´t get involved in any of that esoteric stuff."

"A ritual?"

"Yeah, right. Look..." He faltered, searching for the right words for the indescribable. "I was with a woman. Ten years. Great love, you know? And then she left me, just like that. That was three years ago, and it pretty much blew me away."

Conny nodded sympathetically. The man shook his head, as if he was still puzzled today by the events that had happened so long ago.

"Since then, nothing has been going on with other women." He looked almost angry now. "Larry said I was still attached to Brenda inside and wasn't ready for another love. Not until I detached myself from it."

"Ah." Conny slowly understood. "Then the ritual was about breaking away from this Brenda?"

"Right. At first I thought, 'What's the big deal? It's not a problem for me! But there must be something to it, because I've been putting it off for months. This morning I finally got myself together and brought all the photos, all the letters, all of Brendas old things here into the woods and made a fire." He laughed briefly and a little shakily. "Shouldn´t it be pretty easy to burn some old stuff? You'd think."

"Not necessarily," she whispered, thinking back to when Joaquin had broken away from her. Joaquin, her longtime friend from college, who was up for any kind of nonsense. Joaquin, who made her laugh so often. With whom she had ridden her bike all the way to Minnesota. Who finally said that he had fallen in love with a fun-loving student, and not with a lawyer. Career woman! That's what he had called her, and it hadn't been meant as a compliment.

Quickly she shook her head and drove away those shadowy memories. "But what does all this got to do with me?" she wanted to know.

He grinned broadly and spread his arms apologetically.

"When I threw everything into the fire just now, it really was as if a weight was lifted from me. I suddenly felt light. Almost weightless. That's when I said in a very general way towards the universe that I was ready for a new love. And now guess who walks out of the forest and into my life two minutes later!"

"Oh." Fascinated, Conny looked up at him and gladly allowed herself to be spellbound again by his penetrating gaze as she considered his words.

The thought that the forces of fate had pulled her to this place as if on a string was, on the one hand, enchanting and romantic. The dancer sighed longingly. In her mind, she could already see the moved faces of her friends when she told them this story. "Unbelievable! Unbelievable!" Amy would surely say, and Josephine would have tears of emotion in her eyes.

The lawyer fiercely resisted this idea. She wanted to decide for herself where she went and with whom she got involved. After all, she was a grown-up, successful woman and no longer an impressionable girl. No stupid fate should interfere with that!

"So, are you my destiny?" he asked in a light voice that carried a strange undertone.

Conny opened her mouth. Stood.

"YES!", the dancer inside her whooped.

"NO!" cried the lawyer in turn.

Total chaos in her head.

"What's your name anyway?" she asked back, trying to buy time.

"Oh - sorry." His incomparable laugh. "I'm Jakob. Jacob Featherman. I'm a freelance engineer and scientist. My friends call me Jay."

"Hi Jay." She grinned slightly. "It's nice to meet you. My name is Conny. Or Constance Mack, actually."

"Conny." He nodded. "Conny and Jay, that sounds good, doesn't it?"

"Well, I don't know... That's a weird concept, this fate thing, isn't it?" she said. "Besides, I don't like the idea that I'm a slave to fate. That means, I'm reduced to some kind of extra for your movie. A fulfillment assistant for your personal happiness, right?"

"Not necessarily." Apparently he was enjoying this conversation. Which might have been because he was still holding her in his arms. "Conversely, it can be just as fateful. You get lost and bump into me in the middle of nowhere. I might as well have been led here by higher forces. For you!"

Conny thought about it. Yes, that sounded quite good. The romantic dancer could certainly go along with that. But what about the other side of her, the clear and logical thinking lawyer?

"Objection." She automatically lapsed into legal slang. "That assertion cannot be supported by argument. A mere matter of faith, then."

"Hmm."

His eyes sparkled again with that boyish exuberance. In a moment, he would hatch another of his curious ideas! With mild dismay, Conny realized that she was looking forward to it.

"Then let's do another experiment to check, shall we?"

Without waiting for her consent, he put his strong arms around her, pressed her gently but categorically against him, and kissed her. More intensely now. Stronger. Hotter.

"Mmhh..."

For a moment she got the impulse to break off and run away. Away from this unusual man, away from his self-evident confidences.

Away from her possible destiny.

But his mouth tasted so good, he smelled so exciting, and his hard body pressed against her with so much promise! Conny felt herself melting away before the half command reached her muscles. Slowly she wrapped her arms around his strong neck and let her lips soften and yield. The lawyer protested for a short while more, then sulked and retreated into a corner.

Jay hummed in delight and soon she felt an exploratory tip of his tongue between her lips. She opened her jaws with willingness and let him in. Their tongues touched, groping against each other, wet and slick and warm, entwining in a slow, arousing dance.

Together they sank into an endless, rapturous embrace. Conny only vaguely registered that she felt strangely weak and half clung to him. His hand now lay broadly on her naked back, cheekily exploiting the gap between blouse and shorts. The gentle rolling pressure of his fingertips on her spine sent pleasantly tickling sparks throughout her body, and the thin film of sweat on her skin provided a full-fledged substitute for massage oil.