'A Chance Encounter' by Birgit K. Gaiser

Rada was a big believer in “men running into women”, meaning deliberately not getting out of men’s way on the street when they expected you to.

Anton was usually careful how he moved his large frame through a crowd, but he’d just received a long-anticipated call about the Troll Bridge job. He stopped paying attention to his surroundings, and found himself bumping into a woman half his size – a woman who now glared at him.

“I’m very sorry,” he said to the woman, “please, just one moment, so I can explain why I need to call back later…”

“Or you could watch where you’re going,” the woman said, while Konstantin asked if he really needed to think about the offer.

Anton looked from the woman to his phone, then back again, starting to regret having left the house this morning. He was an artist, not a communications expert, and one conversation at a time was enough for him.

Holding one hand up to Rada and flashing what he hoped was an apologetic smile, he spoke. “Konstantin, I’ll take the job, thanks so much – I really want to work on the bridge. But I’ll need to call back later, there’s a bit of a situation –“

“A situ– wait a minute, is that Konstantin from the Troll Bridge Trust? I’m working on that, too, I’ll be cutting and engraving the stones!”

Anton pictured the tiny, actually rather attractive, woman in a workshop.

“I didn’t know you and Rada were friends,” Konstantin said.

“We – that is – not exactly – I mean – Rada, I’m…”

“He’ll call you back in an hour, Konstantin.”  Rada grabbed Anton’s mobile, ending the call. “You can buy me a coffee. You know, to apologise properly. And talk about stones.”