The woman cleared her throat and continued. "Well... anyway. I started thinking about how unfair it all was. There's only one person in the world that is your match? Only one person you can truly be happy with? No. I don't believe that. So I decided to create a group of people who agreed with me and wanted to find love on their own time. It's being steadily growing ever since." * * * "As a class? Sometimes. They like scavenger hunts," he said. "So I have to scout out here beforehand and find things they could split up and go find."
He cocked his head slightly, repositioning himself as he listened. *** She nodded. "Sounds fun," she commented kindly before looking at the ground. "I should probably get going."
Val jotted down the notes thoughtfully. "Thank you. Just a couple more questions. What is your opinion on people who do choose their soulmates based on the timer?" The woman paused as if choosing her words carefully. "I suppose I just say 'ignorance is bliss.'" Val pursed her lips thoughtfully before flipping the front back onto her notepad. "Thank you, ma'am. This should be everything." Val turned to Landon. "Do you have all the pictures you need?" * * * "Yeah, me too," Arlo said with no small degree of relief. "It was nice to talk to you again, though."
He looked up at her with a nod before standing straight. "I do." *** Callie smiled. "Yeah, I agree," she said, before beginning to walk back along the trail.
"Great," Val said, slipping the notebook into her bag. "Thanks again for your time." She began to walk, heading for the stairs up to the parking lot. * * * Arlo also started walking the same direction but paused when he realized she was going the same way, unsure.
Landon followed, checking his camera for the pictures without a word. *** Callie turned so he couldn't see the physical cringe. After a moment she looked at him. "If you are heading the same way, I apologize. This whole ordeal has been kind of awkward."
When they returned to the parking lot, Val slipped onto her motorcycle. "We need to do a couple of surveys within the community here. You know, why various people decided to join," she said to Landon with a frown. * * * Arlo looked at her with a strange sense of relief. "It has, right? I'm sorry. I don't really know how to act. This situation is kind of unprecedented."
Landon checked his watch. "Sounds good. Maybe we can go our separate ways and meet back up after both of us are done..?" *** "Well," Callie began, drawing out the word, "we could always just pretend we knew we were going the same way?"
"Sure," she said with a nod. "Good idea. Meet back in an hour?" * * * "Ah, good. Yes. Let's do that," Arlington replied, placing his hands in his pockets. "Ahem." He adopted a casual tone. "Wow. I am so glad we both decided and knew that we were going to walk this way."
"That works," he said. "See you then." *** Callie nodded in agreement, and she couldn't suppress a smile. "Me too. I mean, could you imagine how awkward or would be if we didn't know?"
"See you then," she replied, slipping her helmet over her head. She turned on the engine and drove off, moving quickly on the icy road. *** "Terribly awkward," Arlo agreed, his hands in his pockets. "Luckily, we are very prepared human beings who knew that this would happen. There are no surprises here. None at all."
He watched her go, his head cocked, before leaving himself, calling a cab to find a good area. *** She laughed. It was bright and full. "This is definitely a strange conversation, though, if I have to admit."
(Time skip to an hour later for Val and Landon?) *** "Oh, definitely," Arlo agreed. "To be honest, after running into you, I didn't expect to ever see you again."
(Works for me!) *** "I didn't think so either," she admitted. "It's weird to not see numbers on my wrist anymore, though."
Val frowned as she slipped off her motorcycle. Putting her hands in her pockets, she waited for Landon. *** "I know! I keep on looking down expecting to see them, and then finding they're not there. It's very disconcerting."
Landon joined her a bit later, a cheerful look on his face. "Hey! I got some photographs." *** "It was really weird when we first ran into each other. I've always wondered who it would be."
"That's good," Val said, raising an eyebrow. "May I see them?" *** "I know," he said quietly. "It actually felt kind of anti-climactic, if that makes any sense."
He nodded moving towards her to show her the screen of the camera. "I haven't been able to print them out yet, so they're on here." *** "I hope it wasn't, like.. disappointing, or anything."
Val looked at it curiously, brushing her hair out of her face. * * * He looked at her incredulously. "Disappointing? Callie, do you know how long I had been dreading telling my soulmate that I was in love with someone else? A long time. You made it as easy as possible. Don't worry."
He clicked through the pictures, showing her the ones he took. He took quite a bit, but seemed unsatisfied with most, even if they looked good. *** She nodded. "I've been worried about that too. I suppose it all worked out, then."
