A Chance Encounter on an Empty Street.
Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to the following characters, or their worlds. BtVS and co. belong to Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy. Harry Potter and co. belong to J.K. Rowling.
This was written in response to the 20 Minutes with Jenny challenge, on Twisting the Hellmouth.
Jenny Calendar wandered down the empty street. Her family was here in Romania to visit with her relatives, the Kalderash clan.
She had escaped after two days of listening of complaints about her upbringing, her magic, her schooling, etc. All things that had long been discussed to the ground.
No one ever asked for her opinion. It may be her life, her future, but that didn't matter. Only the clan did. Only her loyalty to it. That had been drilled into her head since birth.
So lost in her thoughts, she didn't notice the "pop" that sounded in the air, nor the man with flaming red hair that hung in his eyes that stepped out. Well, until he ran into her.
Her head snapped up as she landed on her butt. The man, she noticed, was still upright.
"Oh, Merlin, I'm so sorry. Here let me help you up. I didn't see you; don't know how I managed to miss someone as lovely as you."
'Carrot Top' as she had dubbed him in her head once she saw his hair, was a hottie. What a wonderful English accent. She had to blush. He was a bit rumpled, and his clothes had seen better days, but that accent…
Jenny smiled. She let him pull her up.
"Don't worry about it. I wasn't looking were I was going, either."
She brushed her clothes off, and held her hand out.
"Jenny."
"Charlie."
She looked around, and her eyes fell on her watch. She couldn't help the groan that slipped out. Charlie looked at her, concerned. She shook her head.
"Are you alright?"
"Fine, I was just hoping to be able to stay out a bit longer."
He raised a red eyebrow.
"I'm trying to avoid another lecture of "you're choosing the wrong career."
Charlie grinned.
"Same here. My parents don't want me to leave, especially my mum. I'm not about to stay around with 5 brats under my feet, though."
Jenny grinned. She could understand that. Her cousins drove her nuts, and, thank the Goddess, she didn't live with them.
"What do you want to do?"
"Work with endangered animals. I love them. You?"
"Go to collage in California, get a degree in Computer Sciences."
They both noticed the time.
"I've got to go."
"Same."
"It was nice meeting you. Good luck in the States. Get some sun."
"Yes, it was. May the Goddess be with you. Don't get bitten."
They smiled. And turned away from the other to go back to their lives, forgetting a conversation on an empty street with a smooth voiced, flaming haired man, and a dark eyed, dark haired woman.
Their paths would not cross again.
They went on with their lives. They rarely thought of the other.
Though, it must be said, that when Charlie got his permanent placement as a dragon trainer on the reserve, he thought of Jenny, and smiled.
Similarly, when Jenny went up to accept her degree in Computers Sciences in the California heat, her mind flashed to Charlie, and that sexy accent of his, she blushed.
Good times. Good times.
Valerie Portolano