by Jane Simpson

Created on: July 31, 2009

Destiny

It was a cool, rainy autumn day when Kristin McKay arrived in San Francisco. Her plane had been delayed by storms in the area. She had notes to go over before the business meeting she was in town to attend tomorrow. In addition, she had worked a full day before leaving Seattle earlier in the afternoon. All she really wanted to do was go to her hotel room, order room service, and relax. However, she could not come to San Francisco without visiting with Olivia, one of her oldest and dearest friends. And, she was leaving town tomorrow as soon as her meeting was over. So it had to be tonight.

They had arranged over the phone earlier in the week to meet at a restaurant that Olivia recommended so after quickly checking into her hotel and freshening up, Kristin was on her way once again. It was raining even harder when she left the hotel. The traffic was creeping along at a snail's pace. She was already over 30 minutes late and to make matters worse, the rain seemed to be causing interference with her phone service. It did not seem like things could get any worse but they did. Just ahead, a car came speeding through a busy intersection against the light, and a bakery truck crashed headlong into it. The driver of the cab that Kristin was riding in slammed on the brakes causing him to hydroplane across the street. Fortunately, the cab driver was a skillful driver, as was, quite obviously, the driver in the other lane of traffic, because the two cars managed to avoid a head on collision. Kristin was quite shaken. Her heart was pounding and her hands were shaking. In a moment, she realized she was ok and after the cabby explained that, he would be required to wait for police she decided to walk. The cabbie protested. It was after dark, the streets of San Francisco are not that safe, and it was still pouring down rain. Kristin assured him that being from Seattle she was well used to rain and would be fine. The restaurant was only four blocks away at this point and she did have an umbrella.

She did not have any trouble making the walk. Of course, there is only so much good an umbrella and a raincoat can do in a torrential downpour, so by the time she reached the restaurant she was soaking wet. Much to her surprise, Olivia was not there.

Kristin was baffled. She was late, but Olivia certainly would have known that planes are sometimes late and traffic is horrible in this kind of rain. She could not see her friend just giving up and going home less than 45

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