Fernando

"I believe we know each other?"

She whirled around at this sound behind her, and found herself facing a man about her age, in a long black overcoat and a briefcase in hand. He looked vaguely familiar, but she could not place him immediately. And she told him so.

"We studied together in high school, remember? I think it was ten years ago...", he checked his mobile, as if looking for the date, "probably eleven by now" he smiled.

A look of recognition dawned on her face. "Why yes! I remember you now. The obnoxious Class Captain character, right?"

"Well, yes, if I'm deserving of such a high opinion of my character, sure"

"Oh of course you are. Or at least were. I don't know how you are now, though it'd be pretty tough to become any more obnoxious, I think", she smiled.

"Right, so out of a chance meeting at Madrid Airport, of all places, I get the knowledge first-hand that the prettiest girl in my class thought me an obnoxious bastard. Bright reunion indeed."

She laughed, "I'm sorry. I exaggerated a bit, though it was the first thing that came to mind when I recognized you. Anyway, how ave you been? I presume you are on a business trip, judging from your attire and lack of a traveling partner?"

"Oh yes. Just stopping over for a day or two here, and then I'm continuing on to Buenos Aires. And you? No wait... you're here for the Conclave on Photo-journalism, right?", he inquired.

She was taken aback. After a few seconds, in which time she closed her mouth which had fallen open, she managed to stammer, "Why... Yes, that's what I'm here for. How... how did you know?"

He shook his head, "I didn't know. I guessed. You were always interested in photography in high school, I remembered. And I knew there was this conclave in Frankfurt around this time. So... educated guess."

"Impressive. That you remembered I was interested in photography, and that you know about the events in a city where you're just stopping over" she said with a hint of a smile.

"I try to keep myself updated", he shrugged and once again reached for his mobile and fiddled with it for a while. "So where're you going to stay, I'm booked into this hotel called The Carriage..."

She sighed, "I'm not going to be surprised anymore, this is just taking coincidence to a whole new level. I'm booked into the same hotel as well, even the conclave is scheduled to be held there."

"Wow, really? Small world indeed. So... we'll share a cab to the hotel then?" he asked. She nodded. As they walked towards the exit gates, he looked at her. She had not changed a bit over the past ten years - the same serene face, the quick wit, that smile which could make any guy's heart miss a beat... Drawing a deep breath, he turned to her.

"You don't have any plans for dinner I hope? I mean, the conclave begins only tomorrow..." he trailed off as she turned sharply to face him.

"Ten years after we last met, you see me. And ask me out" He kept silent, waiting for her to launch into a lengthy tirade. "Oh well, I'd like company for dinner anyway. Especially known company", she smiled.

Without too audible a sigh, he nodded, "I'll pick you up from your room, around 8"

"Yep, I'll try and look half-decent", she said with a wink.

As they walked towards the cabs, he reached for his mobile once again. It read '1 Message Received". He opened it and read,
'Fernando: Will that be all boss? Or would you also like to know what she's talking about at the conclave tomorrow? Or perhaps where she'll be going for dinner tonight, and what she'll be wearing for it... ;)'

He pressed the Reply button and typed out,

'No thanks, Fernando. I'll find those out myself tonight..."