I know it's been a long time since I last posted a chapter, I'm so sorry. This semester has been hell and that's why you guys haven't heard from me in a while. I've only been able to work on chapter two of Fate so maybe some point next month or sooner, a third chapter will pop up. Thanks for being so patient with me and thank you for leaving such great reviews for chapter one. Have fun and enjoy.

Connor raised his arms above his head, letting the tension ease from his shoulders as he stretched.

Finally completed my dissertation, he thought, watching the blinking icon on his screen.

"Be nice if I could get distracted by beautiful women more often," he grinned to himself as he saved his final work, admiring his accomplishments.

Slumping into the chair, Connor closed his eyes and could just make out the silhouette of a certain petite form in his vision. He imagined wrapping his arms around the warm, supple figure, pulling it flush against his chest.

What I wouldn't give to see her again.

Abby stretched her arms over her head, enjoying the feeling of a good post-yoga stretch. Opening the door to her mini, she realized Amy had been talking to her.

"Hmm? Sorry Amy, I was off in my own world."

Amy rolled her eyes as she let Emily wiggle her way into the back. "I was asking what you were going to do."

"About what?" Abby replied.

"About that bloke," Amy grinned, "you know, the one you left mystified back at the café."

"I honestly don't know." Abby mused, keying the ignition.

"Well, you could try to talk to him again."

"Or, just throw yourself at him." Emily grinned from the back seat. "It's always worked for me."

"Yeah, until you scare the poor bloke away." Amy said with a smile.

"Hey!" Emily snapped, "that only happened once. And only after a few weeks." She slumped back in her seat, arms folded across her chest.

"If you say so." Amy snickered, shaking her head.

Abby smiled, pulling the car out into traffic, she thought about what Amy had said. She wondered what his first impression was of her, the idea made her stomach begin to flip-flop. A kind of quiet fell over the car as they drove back to Abby's flat; Amy had her mp3 player hooked up, and Emily was still fuming in the back seat. Stopping for a traffic light, Abby cleared her throat, breaking the silence.

"I guess I could head over to the café tomorrow after I finish my shift at the zoo."

Amy popped out an earbud, "are you sure he's going to be there once you're out of work?"

"No, not exactly," Abby said glancing over at Amy. "But if he's there same time as he was today, then I might have a chance to speak with him again."

"What if he's not there?"

Abby drummed her fingers on the steering wheel, "then maybe it wasn't meant to be."

The light turned green as Amy raised an eyebrow. "Never took you as the type to believe in fate."

"I dunno, it's just…" Abby paused collecting her thoughts as she turned down the intersection. "There's something about him."

"Hmm," Amy mused, studying Abby's face. "So what is this 'something'?"

"It's hard to explain," Abby grew silent, piloting the car through traffic.

Amy fiddled with the touch wheel on her player for a moment before turning back to Abby. "What exactly do you know about him?"

"Not much," Abby said mulling over what she knew. "He's some sort of tech-genius who goes to a university, and – bit of a geek."

"And, how do you know all of this?" Emily piped up.

"I may have…'glanced' at his laptop while he was working," Abby said, an impish grin on her face.

Emily laughed, "no way."

"You little spy," Amy teased.

Abby couldn't help but giggle herself. "It's actually quite easy. You can look over his shoulder as he's typing away and he'll never even notice."

"Wait," Emily poked Abby's shoulder, "I thought you worked out back, you know, baking and such."

"I pull double duty clearing the tables too," Abby said, looking in her rearview mirror. "If I did just the baking I'd only work a few hours a day, and I need the money."

"Don't we all," Amy sighed.

"Hang on then," Emily said, "he's not one of those guys who looks up porn in public, is he?"

"Oh god no," Abby said, making a face. "I mean… oh, that's just too gross. Ugh, I don't even want to think about it."

Emily grinned at her friends' discomfort. "That's probably because he saves it for when he's alone, with a girly magazine."

She cackled as her comment was greeted with groans of annoyance. Amy shifted in her seat as she reached back, trying to poke Emily.

"All right. All right," Emily laughed as she fended off her flatmate. "Seriously," she said as Amy faced the front again, "what's he working on?"

Abby shrugged, "I think all he's doing is completing assignments for some course he's taking."

"Ah. Well, that's good to hear."

"You sound disappointed." Amy said craning her neck over a shoulder.

"No," Emily said, "well kind of. I was hoping it would be something a bit more mysterious, or action packed. Like, what if he was some sort of agent working for the civil service?"

Amy rolled her eyes, "You watch too many daytime dramas." She looked at Abby, "speaking of mysterious 'somethings' again."

"What?" Abby said quickly glancing over at Amy's smiling face. "What?"

"Never thought you'd have an interest in a potential geek."

Duncan looked up from his work as Connor made his way into the flat.

"Hey Connor."

"Hey Duncan. Hey Tom."

"Ah," Tom said from his spot in front of the gaming system. "The prodigal student has returned."

"Laugh all you want boys, because I," Connor threw his arms wide, "have finished my dissertation." He gave a mock bow.

"Finally," Duncan said.

Connor looked genuinely hurt. "What do you mean 'finally'?"

"What he means, Con," Tom mashed buttons as he spoke. "Is that if you missed another movie night we were going to report you to the Missing Persons Bureau."

"Or check to see if this 'professor' of yours had been drugging you without your knowing." Duncan piped up. "I read somewhere that a teacher was doing that, you know. Pumping experimental drugs into the classroom so that the students would work harder, yeah?"

"Oh yeah," Tom said, "I read that. Load of hogwash it was."

"Nuh-uh. I checked my sources. All facts and what not."

Tom rolled his eyes, "it was an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It's the one where Xander has to infiltrate the swim team."

"Gentlemen, gentlemen," Connor held up his hands for peace. "There is far more important news. I, Connor Temple, have met a girl." He grinned for a moment and then thought about it. "Well, not really met, more like she brought me coffee."

"So she was a waitress?" Duncan asked, puzzled.

"That's the thing, she wasn't."

"You expect us to believe that some girl willingly brought you coffee because she was interested in you?" Tom said, eyes still on the television screen.

"Mm-hm, yup. That's pretty much it." Connor nodded.

Tom glanced up at Duncan who shook his head. "Yeah," Tom said, "we're not buyin' it."

"But it's the truth."

"Sure it is Connor," Duncan said, turning back to his work.

"And the penalty for such a lie," Tom said pausing his game. "Is that you have to buy pizza for the entire month."

Connor made a face, "you guys'll be sorry when I prove you wrong." Connor gestured at both of them, as he left the room. "Just you wait."

"Yeah Con, you keep that up and we'll make you watch Howard the Duck again." Tom called after him.

Duncan chuckled for a moment before a look of concern grew on his face. "You don't suppose he could be tellin' the truth, do you?" He whispered conspiratorially.

"Nah man," Tom whispered back.

"Yeah," Duncan nodded. "Yeah, you're probably right."

"Besides, if he is telling the truth," Tom un-paused his game, "it will probably end up like his fling with Caroline."

Yes, I'm horrible for bringing Caroline into this story early, but you will find out the reason behind her appearance soon. Can't wait to read your reviews/comments and you'll be seeing chapter three sometime in the future. Thanks again! :D