Long lost strangers (short story)

The noise and smell of crippled New York traffic saturated the October air. The downtown sidewalks were filling up with evening commuters and milling among their black, beige and blue overcoats was Sidney Novak. He carried a briefcase in one hand and a sports bag in the other, with the handle of a racket sticking out. People were rushing past but he walked at his own pace, watching some leaves and a plastic wrapping swirl in the updraft. Distracted, distant, he came to a stop in front of a red light.

The traffic crawled past and his eyes fluttered over the small crowd which was forming on the other side, waiting to cross. In the midst of it, he caught sight of someone and strained his eyes. There stood a well-dressed man, blue coat/black suit, with a bag slung over his shoulder and a briefcase in one hand. He had a harmless, thin, clean-shaven face which was just beginning to show the marks of aging. Sidney craned his neck and studied the man intensely.

On the other side of the street stood Nikolaj Stevens, looking off into the sky, waiting for the light to turn green. He had a bag in one hand, briefcase in the other, and as he lowered his gaze, he locked eyes with a man across from him. This man was well dressed: black coat/blue suit. His thin hair and sun-starved skin did not stand out much from the general Manhattan crowd, yet something made Nikolaj’s eyebrows twist, and his gaze linger.

Having stood so, looking at each other longer than convention would have it, the man across the street nodded, and Nikolaj nodded back. The traffic came to a stop, the light turned green and Nikolaj began to cross but the other man stayed put. On approaching, the man politely smiled which inspired Nikolaj to smile as well.

“Hello,” the man said in a friendly way, turning to walk a few paces with him. He was confident enough but there was something searching in his eyes. “Hi there,” said Nikolaj, equally confident and none the less searching. “Excuse me, but I’m quite sure we’ve met at some point, haven’t we?” the man said, coming to a halt. “Yes, I had a similar impression just now. I’m Nikolaj Stevens,” said Nikolaj Stevens, offering his hand. “Sidney Novak, pleased to meet you again,” said Sidney, shaking his hand and nodding his head in pace.

Then the handshake broke and a silence ensued. It was clear that they still could not place each other, that exchanging names had made them none the wiser and that they were not sure how to proceed. Nikolaj looked at Sidney’s sports bag and the protruding racket. “Is that a squash racket you have there? Perhaps we’ve met at the club. I play at Madison. I’m actually heading there now.” “It is, but I play at Thompkins square myself,” said Sidney, who was quick to counter. “Perhaps you work in finance?” “Consulting, alas,” said Nikolaj, who followed up, “Did you attend Princeton by any chance?” “Yale, myself,” said Sidney, as a wave of people flowed around and against them where they stood in the middle of the sidewalk. They edged closer to the wall of the building and Sidney placed a hand on his hip, searching his memory. “I remember my wife, Margaret, being acquainted with a Stevens.. Maria, I believe. Could that be it?” “No, unfortunately not. My wife Marjorie retained her maiden name,” said Nikolaj, who had taken to looking at the sky again. “But we live on East 79th street, and we go to St Ignatious church on Sundays,” he said. “We live on West 83rd, and go to St Matthews…” said Sidney with a sigh. “But I was sure we had met before...” Nikolaj shrugged his shoulders. “Yes, me too, but I’m not quite…” he began, now studying their polished, almost identical, shoes. “No, me neither...” said Sidney, frowning as if the confusion was due to a third party, who refused to answer for it. “Well, it was…” Nikolaj began. “Yes, yes it was,” interrupted Sidney, smiling with one cheek. “Well, have a good day.” “And you,” said Nikolaj, smiling with the other cheek. They nodded their farewells, then began walking in opposite directions. Within seconds they had blended with the crowd, lost among the black, beige and blue coats crowding the sidewalks of downtown Manhattan.