April 21, 2025

By Daniel James

It feels like a lifetime ago, but I can still remember that night so vividly. It was one of those nights that started out completely ordinary, but ended up taking a turn I never saw coming. I had just finished work, it was about 1AM, and I was making my way to the bus station. The streets were quieter than usual, just a few people scattered here and there, but nothing out of the ordinary.

That’s when I met him. He approached me, asking if I had a lighter. I was a little thrown off because, honestly, I didn’t even smoke. I told him I didn’t have one, but we ended up talking anyway. I don’t know why, but he seemed easy to talk to. We kept walking in the same direction, and the conversation flowed effortlessly. At first, I didn’t think much of it—just a random late-night encounter.

Somewhere in the conversation, he asked which way I was headed, and like an idiot, I told him. I’d had a drink before leaving work, and I guess I wasn’t thinking too clearly. But he didn’t seem like a threat, so I didn’t think twice. He seemed friendly enough. It was just two strangers having a chat on a quiet street in the middle of the night. But something about it felt off, though I couldn’t quite put my finger on it.

The guy didn’t exactly give off bad vibes, but there was a familiarity to him I couldn’t shake. His face… something about it seemed familiar, like I’d seen him somewhere before. I brushed it off at the time, thinking it was just a coincidence. Maybe we had crossed paths somewhere else.

Fast forward to a few months later. After breaking up with my boyfriend of three years, I had redownloaded Grindr, trying to meet new people. It had been a few months, and I wasn’t in any rush to dive into something serious, but the loneliness was creeping in. That’s when I matched with someone. He was older, a lot older than I usually go for, but there was something intriguing about him. We started chatting, and after a few messages, it hit me. His profile picture. His face. It clicked—he was the same guy from that night.

I wasn’t sure how to feel. I wasn’t expecting to run into someone I had met randomly on the streets, and I definitely didn’t expect it to happen in this context. My heart raced a little as I wondered how much he remembered about that night. Did he remember me? Did he feel the same way about the strange connection we shared in that brief encounter?

We kept talking, but this time, I wasn’t sure if I should feel nervous or excited. There’s a strange kind of tension in situations like this, where fate seems to throw people together in the most unexpected ways. I don’t know what I want from this connection, but I do know that the way we met feels significant somehow, like something I need to figure out.

It’s funny how life works. A chance meeting in the dead of night, a random conversation with a stranger, and now I’m here, wondering what’s next. I’m not sure where this will go, but I’m curious, and I don’t know if I can ignore the pull of fate.