Unusual Encounter

A massive mix up brings two people together. One is looking for important information. The other thinks it is flirtation.

26^th of March 2016 in New York City was just like any other day, the city was electric with the hustle and bustle of everyday life, people coming and going from a to b, cars, vans, trucks and bicycles all squeezed onto the road creating a line of traffic that would make any sane being think that they would be better off walking. But in a small niche café in Manhattan something quite unusual was about to happen, something that would assure that this wasn’t just another repetitive and monotonous day for two residents of the Big Apple.

 

Eli Kurzawa was one of those usually caught up in the hustle and bustle, every morning he would wake up, get ready for work, and have breakfast then head on out the door to his job as an IT consultant for the law firm Holmes & Shelton. He enjoyed his work, it wasn’t too difficult, he got to work with computers and it paid very well, so well that he could return to his homeland of Bosnia for two weeks every July. Eli’s family were refugees of the Bosnian war, his parents fled with him when he was only two years old, they were offered refuge in America and soon settled in, and though Eli’s characteristics are those of the average American he likes to return home to Bosnia every year, to see his Grandparents and other relatives, he likes to do this to remind him of who he was and where he was from. His favourite part about the Eastern European area was easily the food, he always returned at least 10 pounds heavier from his trips to Bosnia, luckily for Eli there was an Eastern European café just up the street from his office, it was owned by a Russian man named Frank but they cooked all types of food from Eastern Europe, from Estonia to Russia and of course Bosnia. Eli would visit this café for his lunch and usually order himself a sandwich or a Begova Čorba (Bey's Stew) with a coffee. As he sat on the high chair eating his Bey’s Stew and drinking his coffee he noticed a woman looking at him.

 

Why is that women looking at me?.....oh shoot you’re staring quick just smile or something, oh great now she’s getting up….oh god I definitely didn’t order this for lunch

 

The woman getting up however wasn’t any ordinary woman, she was Ruby Morrison a rookie agent in the CIA and she was out on her debut voyage, her first time out in the field alone, her assignment was to meet a Russian whistleblower who had reached out to the CIA with information involving corruption in the Russian Government. She thinks Eli is this whistleblower. Eli is not.

 

Man, this café is empty. Hopefully the informant is already here

Ruby took a quick look around the café to see if any of the patrons fit the description of her man, she seen some old looking guys sitting, conversing and laughing in Russian, she seen a man behind the counter and beside him on the other side of that counter sat a young, attractive Eastern European man drinking coffee, he seemed to be of a medium build and had jet black hair as if he had just fell into a coal pit. “That’s my man” she thought to herself. She had been looking at him for some time, probably longer than she knew eventually however Eli turned and looked at her and smiled. She took this as a signal, she got up and made her way over to him.

“Hi there”

“Hello I’m Eli”

“Ruby”

The two shook hands as they exchanged pleasantries

“So Ruby, can I help you with something?”

hmm he’s being ambiguous, place is probably bugged best not say anything that will blow our cover

“I don’t know, can you?”

Is she hitting on me? It’s been awhile, I best play it cool

“Depends what are you looking for?”

“I’m looking for the goods” replied Ruby as she smiled sensually

Damn, she is hitting on me. She’s not holding back either. Alright Eli don’t screw this up

“Yeah I’m sure I can help you” exclaimed Eli which he followed up with a wink.

“Okay well then can you please give it to me?”

“Wait what? Right here?”
“Ehm yeah……whats wrong with that?

“Well there is people watching”

Ruby’s heart started to race oh god, we are being watched oh no she thought as her face went white with fear.

“Who is onto us?”

“Well I don’t know if they are ‘onto us’ but everyone in this café would see”

“Do they know? About you …who you are?”

What the hell is this girl talking about? Who I am?

“I don’t know? I say hi to the old guys every day I come for lunch, Frank knows where I work though”

“Wait every day you come for lunch? How often do you come here?”

“Fairly often, sometimes I go somewhere else with the other employees or if I’m busy I’ll bring lunch to work…why?”

 

The white colour in Ruby’s skin had now gone even whiter, she was like a ghost standing in the café seconds away from becoming completely translucent. The sudden realisation had hit her. She’s got the wrong man!

Oh my god this isn’t the whistleblower….who the hell am I even talking to?

“So Eli…where do you work?”

“Holmes & Shelton, I work as an IT Consultant, my father owned a computer store in Bosnia before we fled and " “

“BOSNIA! I thought you were Russian?!?”

“…ehm I never said I was Russian? What made you think that?”

Oh god I’m an idiot, I just assumed he was Russian without even asking who he was, my nervous excitement towards this assignment got the best of me and caused me to get sloppy.

“I’m really sorry Eli I thought you were someone else I was supposed to be meeting for work, you fit his description and you looked Russian…oh god that makes me sound like a racist?”

“Xenophobe actually and no it doesn’t it’s fine I get confused for a Russian all the time, most of the people in my school didn’t even know Bosnia was a real place. I must ask though, how did you make such a bad mix up surely you were given information..like his name?”

“No, I work in Law enforcement so his name was kept under wraps, all I was given was a description and the location of the meet, a café on 17^th and 1^st.”

Eli grinned and then began to chuckle.

“Well there’s your problem, this café is located on 15^th and 1^st NOT 17^th and 1^st.”

A mix of emotions raged through Ruby’s body, anger, sadness and despair just to name a few, she felt like laying on the floor and crying like a toddler when her parents refuse to get her a new toy, but she didn’t instead she just began to laugh and soon Eli joined her the two stood in the café laughing about this terrible mix up. Eli smiled and thought about how beautiful Ruby looked when she laughed, her smile and laughter reminded him of the first sunny day after a long winter.

“Well Ruby, I can call you a cab and hopefully you can arrive before your man leaves”

“That would be amazing thank you”

So Eli quickly paid for his lunch and ran out the door hailing down a cab for himself and Ruby to jump into.

“Where to?”

“15^th and 1^st and quickly please my good man”

The taxi drove through the busy streets of Manhattan, as it swayed through the traffic Ruby thought about what would happen if she missed the informant, she would 100% be fired for such a mishap, the size and importance of the occasion had got to her and caused her to make a stupid mistake, but even though she had made such a stupid mistake said stupid mistake lead to her meeting Eli, all negatives have a positive she thought smiling to herself.

 

The taxi made it to 15^th and 1^st expeditiously, they reached the café and Ruby asked Eli to wait outside for her. She walked into the café and instantaneously saw a stern looking man who fit the whistleblowers description.

“You’re late”

“I know I’m so sorry it’s a long story”

“Well I do not have time for your long stories, you have already wasted enough of my time, here is the file”

“Wait? Just like that, you are handing it over in broad daylight?”

“I don’t know what you think this is lady we are not in a spy movie”

“Are you not afraid the place could be bugged?”

“Who the hell would bug a dump like this? Anyways I have wasted enough time on this. Goodbye.”

What a rude man thought Ruby as he exited the café, she soon followed him outside to Eli.

“That’s the guy? He looks nothing like me?!? I’m much better looking than him…and I’ve got better hair. His looks like Fonzy’s”

 

Ruby smiled and laughed and then told Eli to shut up. But she knew he was right they only had some physical similarities but in every other way they were complete opposites. Eli was a gentleman.

“If you say so, anyway I’m extremely late back to work but I work hard and it’s a slow day, I’m sure I can talk my way out of it”

“Sorry for taking up so much of your time, you really didn’t have to do as much as you did”

“Don’t worry about it, I’d like to think you would do the same for me. Anyway I was just ..ehm I was just wondering if tomorrow you would uh..like to get a " uhm…”

“I’d love to Eli, same time tomorrow?”

“Same time tomorrow, 17^th and 1^st Remember not 15^th and 1^st”

“17^th and 1^st, gotcha”

Author's Note

This is the first storytelling I have done in probably 4 years. I have wrote for websites doing gaming reviews and pieces etc. But no storytelling in a long time so I may be a little rusty. Anyway thanks for reading and constructive ( or not constructive) criticism is appreciated

Reviews

[Pranav Sampara]

This is good and surely not rusty. Although, I'd have loved to read and feel a little more urgency and tension in Ruby's character. Plus, some detailing would have been great, she seems distant in a way. Eli's character is more connectable. I felt this story was from Eli's perspective, but only not. I'm interested in finding out what happens next and. It was a good read!

[Andy Leavy]

Thanks very much. Yeah I feel maybe I based Eli's characteristics off my own so that may be the reason he feels more fleshed out. Thank you for the tip.

I am working on a short story collection so hopefully when that finishes I might be able to expand on this story