Synchronicity

Adam’s Apple Watch zinged on his wrist three times. He looked down and was happy to see that he had achieved his ten thousand step goal for the day and it was only 11:11 am. That made up for the fact that the airline had lost his luggage. 

Adam was a teacher, from Australia, on holiday. He was also a proud Hilton Diamond member. He stood in the brightly lit lobby of the Cozumel Hilton, and approached the counter waiting to check-in. 

“Welcome to the Cozumel," the clerk said with enthusiasm. 

“Can I get you a glass of our finest champagne and two items from our snack basket?” 

Adam chose a package of Lorna Doone cookies and Welch’s Fruit Snacks, then nervously rubbed the yin-yang tattoo on his wrist while he waited for the champagne. He had gotten the tattoo after his messy divorce last year. He shouldn’t have to be nervous, but every once in a while, he wondered if his ex would just “appear” where he was at. It was a spooky feeling. 

Across the lobby, Kimberley, an American woman with emerald earrings and a sunhat too big for her head, was frantically gesturing and yelling at the concierge over something. She didn’t notice the Santa hat that was poking out of her half-unzipped carry-on.

Adam noticed her, though. It was hard not to. She was waving an iPhone 8 like it was a weapon.

“Someone put a muffin in the recycling bin,” she was saying, “and if that’s the kind of chaos happening around here…” He couldn’t quite hear the rest, but he couldn’t help but giggle. She was hilarious. 

The pelican outside the lobby window let out a giant honk, as if agreeing.

A hurricane was slowly building offshore, the sort that fascinated every tourist but gave the locals a panic attack.

The hotel clerk handed Adam his champagne and Adam picked up his room keys and snacks. He turned around a little too quickly and bumped into Kimberley, knocking her scooter rental voucher out of her hand. Her iPhone 8 hit the ground as well.

Adding to the already tense moment, Kimberley’s carry-on bag tipped over. Out rolled two dimes, a nickel, some used tissues, and a small Tupperware of crab cakes.

“You travel with crab cakes?” Adam asked with surprise.

“I have hypoglycemia,” Kimberley snapped back.

He tried to control his facial reaction, but failed. Kimberley was not amused. Adam helped her pick up all of her scattered items and offered her his champagne. 

“Are you trying to drug me?” Kimberley asked with wide eyes.

“No, those are in my lost luggage,” Adam replied jokingly.

He got a half smile out of that. He’d take it.

He wasn’t sure what it was exactly, but this woman intrigued him greatly. Before he could ask her if she wanted to sit down and have coffee with him, she had already left him with her luggage and was at the cafe trying to buy a watermelon energy drink.

She yelled over at him, “You want one?”

He yelled back, “No, but that’s an interesting choice!”

“It’s to go with the crab cakes,” she replied loudly.

She was frantically patting herself down and had dumped her purse on the counter.

Adam moved all of her luggage and himself over towards her. He couldn’t believe all the things she kept in her purse.

“My wallet is gone,” Kimberley said.

She started to panic and went back to the front desk. This time she did not take her iPhone 8. Adam suggested not to as he thought she’d get a better response without a weapon in her hand. He bought her the energy drink and asked for a plastic bag to shovel all of the items from her purse that she’d left on the counter into. He figured she could sort them out later.

With the stolen wallet report on file, Kimberley decided to sit down with Adam at one of the small cafe tables. They talked about random things at first and then about topics they both seemed to care about. As they continued their conversation, Kimberley couldn’t help but notice what kind eyes Adam had. It wasn’t their blue color that she noticed so much, it was the way he used them to look at her. Adam was really impressed with Kimberley’s ability to listen to him and actually hear what he was saying. That was hard for a lot of people. He had encountered many who just liked to talk a lot about themselves. But Kimberley was different.

Adam’s watch did a double zing on his wrist. He looked down and it was indicating a slightly elevated heart rate. He was a little embarrassed and cleared the screen. It was 11:11 pm.

A small Puggle puppy belonging to another guest wandered over, licking Kimberley’s hand. 

“Well that’s a sign of something, right?” she grinned.

“Yeah, like maybe you still have crab cake on your hand?” Adam replied jokingly.

Kimberley rolled her eyes, yawned and playfully wiped the dog slobber on Adam’s shirt. Exhausted from the day, they separated for the evening.

The hurricane forced everyone indoors the next morning. Activities were limited to massage appointments in the spa area, and card games in the lobby. For breakfast, there were microwavable burrito bowls. There was a very large group of teenagers that were playing Pokémon Go. They were running in circles chasing things only they saw and everyone else could not. Kimberley and Adam just shrugged, side stepped Pikachu and got in line for the burrito bowls.

Sheets of rain began pouring down outside. Kimberley and Adam were just about to play a game of “Go Fish” when out of the corner of her left eye, she spotted someone she hoped she’d never see again. It was her ex and he was bad news. He wasn’t supposed to be in Cozumel at all. She quickly got up and spilled her breakfast bowl which scattered the “Go Fish” cards all over the floor. Adam was quick to pick them up and couldn't believe how much gum was stuck under their table. Kimberley had jumped up to blend in with the Pokémon crowd. Unfortunately, her ex spotted her during one of their battles when they rushed to either side of the room to pick a team. Adam joined her, with a bit of burrito on his sleeve. 

Carl, Kimberley’s ex, strode up wearing a mismatched checkered shirt with flamingo shorts and a Santa hat sitting crookedly atop his bald head. It was the same Santa hat that had been sticking out of her luggage yesterday. Suddenly the missing wallet made sense.

“Kimberley, you can’t just block my number and run off to Mexico,” he snapped.

Adam, luckily, always carried an “Outback Survival Kit”, one that he was hoping to patent, sell, and make millions of dollars off of some day so that he could retire from teaching. He reached into the kit and pulled out the taser that somehow made it through customs - “American Airlines, he thought”. Then, true to Aussie form, said, “Mate, I’d rethink your next move.”

Carl backed away, and muttered something about “filing a complaint” and “the locals being crazy.” As he hurriedly walked across the lobby, he was unaware of the imaginary creatures running about and got in the way of a Bulbasaur. The Pokémoners booed at him.

“Well Carl seems nice,” Adam said to Kimberley.

“Ha Ha,” Kimberley retorted.

“I fully expected to see my ex here, so I’m sorry it had to be you.” Adam said.

“I appreciate that,” Kimberley replied.

“I know you can’t imagine this right now, but my ex is scarier,” Adam confessed.

“I think it’s all relative to the situation,” Kimberley responded.

“Ah, that’s a good point.” Adam retracted. “If we see my ex, I’ll give you my taser.”

“Bahahahaha, Okay,” Kimberley giggled.

The hurricane passed as the day went on, and the hotel lobby started to clear out. Now the guests were talking about extending their vacations instead of frantically trying to get home. 

Kimberley finally found her wallet. It was in her ex’s suitcase, which was retrieved by housekeeping. Adam’s luggage miraculously reappeared, which made him think that her ex may have been spying on her longer than she realized. He quickly inventoried the contents and found the pashmina he’d bought for his sister. Kimberley immediately grabbed it and tried it on , then refused to take off. He let her keep it.

That night, they grabbed Modelo’s and headed down to the beach. It was almost sunset. They watched the surfers blaze through the final waves. The seagulls ran up and down the coastline in groups of three and four. A crab scampered quickly past them.

“I didn’t know crabs actually moved sideways!” Kimberley exclaimed.

“Yeah, makes you wonder if you’re eating them correctly, doesn’t it?” Adam replied with sarcasm.

“Agreed, I think I might have to change up what I use to regulate my blood sugar. That crab side-eyed me and we had a moment.” Kimberley admitted.

It was dark out now, but the light from the moon was bouncing off of the ocean, creating a shadow of light.

“So,” Kimberley said softly, “what’s up with the yin-yang?”

Adam looked at her, and out over the ocean. The hurricane bands had dissolved into the sky.

“I like to think of myself as a yo-yo; constantly balancing the forces of nature acting upon me. The yin-yang symbolizes the harmonic balance of those forces.” 

“That’s very poetic,” said Kimberley.

There was a medium pitched ding that interrupted the moment and it had come from Kimberley’s iPhone 8. She reached in her purse to grab it only to find that it was buried under chapstick, sunscreen, scuba goggles and gum wrappers. It dinged again indicating a message. When she looked at her phone, the message was from the credit card company asking about a charge for two Modelo’s. She quickly “agreed” that it was indeed her that made the purchase and put her phone back in her purse.

Kimberley felt Adam’s eyes on her and turned towards him. Adam looked at Kimberley and cupped her chin with his hand. He brushed a piece of her hair off of her face. She closed her eyes and felt the electricity of his kiss. 

In the depths of Kimberley’s purse, the locked screen on her iPhone 8 lit up. 

It was 11:11 p.m.