Archive of Our Own

Ellen Harlow had been looking forward to spending a day out of the University’s R&D Lab and had everything planned to a T. She had everything she could want to enjoy herself: a good old-fashioned printed book –- Clarice Lispector was her all-time favourite author; a nice warm cup of coffee and a seat at one of the outdoorsy tables at Colombo bakery in the Forte de Copacabana which provided a clear view of Copacabana Beach and the ocean in a nice sunny autumn day. It was a surprisingly fresh day, too. Something around 23 degrees Celsius.

Yep, she had everything she could need to take the most out of her day-off and there was nothing wanting.

That’s why she was startled when someone pulled the chair in front of her and sat down slightly out of breath.

‘I apologize for being late,’ the stranger started saying in a bit of disarray. He was a quite well-favoured young man - fit, with broad shoulders and full of energy.

If she had to guess, Ellen’d say he was in the military. He just had that air about him.

‘I had to run all the way from the shuttle station to get here. It didn’t help that the transport was delayed when leaving the base in Agulhas Negras. You’d think military shuttles would work with higher precision than that,’ he muttered, rolling his eyes and then looked at her for the first time since sitting down. ‘Have you been waiting long?’

Slowly, Ellen put her book down on the table and looked at the man squarely in the eyes. ‘No, I haven’t been waiting long,’ she said cautiously, before supplying. ‘I haven’t been waiting at all.’

That got him off track, as he watched her with narrowed eyes. ‘You’re… Isn’t your name… I-I’m sorry, are you Daniela Gouveia?’

‘No, I’m not,’ she said trying not to laugh at his predicament.

‘Dammit!’ he swore, looking around the open courtyard. ‘I thought you were the one I was supposed to meet here because of the printed book…’ He pointed out, his eyes searching for his date. ‘No one reads them out of paper anymore so we thought it would be a safe way to identify each other. And, honestly, who’d come to the beach to read, anyway?’

Ellen raised an eyebrow, feeling somewhat affronted, and saw the man turn his head toward her, blanching out as he caught wind of what he’d been saying.

‘And… now I’m insulting you! Oh, great!’ He lightly banged his head on the table. ‘It’s the last time I let my friends set me up on a blind date… It’s never worth it, anyway…’

Just then, the sound of a heavy chair scraping on the concrete floor got their attention as a young woman two tables to the right stood up and walked away with brisk steps.

They looked at each other in silence for a moment until Ellen cleared her throat. ‘It’s just a guess, but I think there goes your date…’

‘Oh, shit!’ He widened his eyes and stood up, almost knocking his own chair to the floor before chasing after the distressed woman.

When the man disappeared from view, Ellen couldn’t hold her laughter anymore. ‘Oh, my God! What was that?!’

A couple minutes had passed after the stranger left and she could calm herself enough to stop laughing. Ellen decided to grab another cup of coffee and something to eat, returning to her book and her schedule for the day once that anomaly had been dealt with.

She didn’t count on her planning being further disturbed. Well, she was wrong.

Some half an hour later she was taken from the entrancing lines of The Passion According to GH by the sound of someone clearing their throat and looked up to find that same man awkwardly standing near her table.

‘Hi,’ he grinned at her. ‘Would you mind if I sat down?’ He asked, pointing at the chair he had vacated earlier. ‘Just till it’s time to get the shuttle back.’

It was such a stark contrast to his earlier invasion of her space that she couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow, sceptically.

‘I could buy you another cup of coffee, maybe?’ he offered.

She heaved a sigh and, once more, laid her book down staring at him before gesturing to the chair. ‘Things didn’t work out with… Miss Gouveia, was it?’

‘Well, no…’ He held back a laugh, scratching his neck as he sat down. ‘Not that I blame her. I’m terrible at this stuff…’

‘So I’ve noticed…’ she snickered. She wanted to be upset with this stranger for disrupting her day-off, but the look on his face right now… It was priceless! Here he was, this strong, well-built soldier who could possibly pull a bad-boy vibe if he tried, and he was fumbling around like a fish out of water. He seemed to be so young.

‘Hey!’ He tried to look offended though it didn’t have the desired effect as he was unable to hide a slightly close-lipped smile.

‘What?’ She gave him a one-sided shrug.

‘You’re such a blunt lady…’ He complained. ‘So harsh!’

Ellen snorted at his antics. ‘So, you Alliance types are more like delicate flowers, then…’

‘Ouch…’ He put his hand over his heart as if physically hurt. ‘The snark is strong in this one,’ he uttered in amazement. ‘I probably deserve that, though.’

She grinned broadly at the easy way he held himself. There was something very refreshing about their interaction, she noticed; he wasn’t trying to impress her. Not after the wreck of their introduction earlier that day. It was such a nice change from how most first meetings usually went. ‘Oh, believe me: you do…’

‘I’m Alec Ryder, by the way,’ he offered his hand to her, and she could finally put a name to the face.

I’m Ellen. Ellen Harlow,’ She smirked, as she shook his hand and thought that, maybe, it wouldn’t be such a bad thing to deviate from her established activities for the day. ‘Well, what about that coffee, Alec Ryder?’

Yes, Ellen Harlow had had everything planned and there was nothing wanting. Not that she knew, at least. Life, however, had other plans. And, surprisingly, she was okay with it.