A Chance Encounter (Part 1)

“A chance meeting will open new doors to success and friendship.” Annie rolled her eyes and tossed the fortune cookie wrapper in the trash. As she folded the little flaps on the take out box still half full of beef and broccoli, she sighed.

“As if anything in my life ever happened by chance,” she muttered.

Annie didn’t put any stock in chance. She lived a life of carefully measured choices and intricately detailed plans. She wasn’t sure how well she would respond to a chance meeting or a newly opened door. If it wasn’t in her planner, it wasn’t going to happen. She didn’t believe in fortune cookies, either, so she tossed the little scrap of paper in the trash with a huff before wiping the counter clean with a damp cloth.

She checked the clock on the microwave as she flicked the light switch off. 7:15. Just exactly enough time to slip into her pajamas before Jeopardy came on. She dashed up the steps to change and was in place on the couch just as Johnny Gilbert’s voice announced, “This IS Jeopardy.” Annie planned to watch her favorite game show before switching over to Netflix to enjoy that new Marie Kondo “Tidying Up” show for a bit before bed. She was disgusted at the messes so many of these people had made, and yet strangely entertained by their process of cleaning up. Her whole evening routine soothed her raw nerves after a difficult day at the office.

Promptly at 10:30, Annie shut off the TV. She made her evening rounds through the house, setting the alarm, programming the coffee pot, adjusting the thermostat, putting away items that were out of place. She couldn’t sleep until all that was done, not that she was sure sleep would come tonight at all. Her heart was awfully heavy.

As she headed upstairs to bed, she rehashed the words she had overheard her coworkers saying about her earlier that day. Annie had just finished running what she thought was an efficient and smooth meeting. She’d created an agenda and stuck to it, finishing the meeting 10 minutes ahead of schedule. She gathered her things and started to head back to her office. As soon as she left the conference room, she heard the group still at the table giggle.

“Well, Ray, you win the bet,” said Carlee. “I kept count. The Ice Queen said ‘Let’s stick to the agenda’ eight times. You buying lunch with that win?”

More laughter filled the conference room but Annie put her head down and walked to her office as quickly as she could. Hot tears of shame and confusion filled her eyes. What had she done that made them dislike her so much? So she didn’t get into small talk or time wasting. She didn’t hang out with them at the bar after work. She didn’t play on the company softball team. That didn’t make her an Ice Queen. 

This had been an ongoing struggle for Annie ever since she was a little girl. She was always very mature and serious, perhaps even rigid in her ways. As a little girl, Annie had learned the importance of neatness, order, and precision. Her father hated chaos and noise. From a young age, she had devoted herself to keeping everything just so and making his life smoother. It was easier than dealing with his rage when he couldn’t find his shoes, when he found a toy in the wrong place, or when her sister’s crying woke him up. Over the years, the two of them came to an unspoken agreement. She would keep everything perfect and orderly, and he wouldn’t unleash his anger on her or her sister.

Growing up like that explained why Annie was no nonsense today. Not that it was anyone’s business what she had experienced growing up, but if they had understood what life had been like for her, they might have been a bit more understanding of her.

Annie turned back the Double Wedding Ring quilt on her antique wrought iron bed. She adjusted her pillows and crawled in between the crisp white sheets. Would she always feel like an outsider? Did it really matter to her?  She picked up her journal and wrote for a bit, which always seemed to help her process things. She flipped back through the pages she had written over the last few months since moving to Frankfort. Outsider. Lonely. Anxious. She saw the same words appearing over and over. Clearly, a theme had developed.

She had thought moving to a new town would be just the fresh start she needed. No one here knew anything about her past.  However, it hadn’t been as easy as she thought. Her introverted and perfectionist ways ran deep. The trauma from her childhood haunted her even now, four years after her father had passed away.

Annie put her journal on the nightstand, removed her glasses, popped her nightly melatonin, and turned off the lamp. She closed her eyes and sighed deeply. Maybe tomorrow would be different. Maybe she would be different.

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