Dear Maca,

Surprise! Bet you weren't expecting that. The playlist, although it was important, wasn't what I really had prepared for you. For your last stop it had to be special, right? I don't think that after seeing my friends performing Hamlet you'll be able to forget this day. No matter what happens next, this day will stay with you for sure. I’ve never heard of another company doing something like this.

It wasn't easy to convince them to do this but I managed it and I'm sure they did great. We might not be the most known or biggest theatre company, but we have the same passion that The Globe and but we work even harder. Hamlet is one of those performances we are the most proud of and I hope you enjoyed it. I'm sorry it couldn't be the whole play but having you watching it for three hours without me was too much and the day is not that long. I had many things prepared for you so it had to be just a scene. I hope you liked the one I picked. I think it shows the essence of Hamlet and at the same time it breaks the misconception that the most known monologue of the play happens when Hamlet is holding the skull. Even today I wonder how people ended up associating two different scenes as one.

Weird things that happen, don't you think?

Theatre is my biggest passion and I wanted to show you a bit of my world. The people I work with, the kind of things we do. We've never tried a street performance like this but I had the idea when thinking of how to bring my work to you. You have to tell me if it worked out because maybe I'll convince them to keep doing things like this to bring theatre to people. So you think people would like that? It doesn't have to be Shakespeare all the time but maybe 98% of the time. Does that sound fair?

I know you're into literature and I'm into theatre and I think Shakespeare is the highlight of what we have in common. He's like a golden sign shining between us, or at least I feel it like that. I like to think that my world is part of yours like this. But I want to find more things in common, I want our worlds to merge even more. Am I asking for too much? Will you please come and meet me now? I've been waiting for so long and there's nothing else standing between us now. I hope that all the places you saw, all the people you met before me eased your worries away and helped you realise I really don't mean any harm.

Maca, please come. I'm waiting.

The last letter is D so now you have them all. You've completed the puzzle. Congrats? I'm not sure if that's what I should say to you, or to me.

I have something prepared for you, it's not a play or something big. It'll be just the two of us and I hope you feel comfortable with that. I want to see you and hear how you felt today. I want you to show me the pictures and tell me what your favourite stop was. I want to hear your voice and see your smile. I've been waiting for this moment almost from the first post-it.

But if you don't come I'll understand. If you decide that you don't want to see me, that things are better if we don't know how each other look, then I'll accept it. I won't push you if you still feel nervous or if you think I'm just a weirdo and it's better to stay away. I'll really understand and I'll even keep leaving post-its for you, however, I really hope you decide to take the final step.

There's an address written on this envelope so head there. Once you arrive to the building tell the caretaker that you're Maca and I'm waiting for you. He'll tell you were to go next. He's a nice man, don't worry.

Whatever your decision is, I hope I made you smile today, more than usual, more than anyone has made you smile.

And I'll be waiting (:

    My hands are still shaking when I finish the letter, my heart beating so fast I think it'll crust out of my chest. This is it, the last letter, the last clue. The scavenger hunt is over now I only have to meet him. That's all what's left but I can't make my legs move. I've been going from one place to the other the whole day, following directions, meeting people and asking questions. Everything for this moment but I can't stop shaking. For some reason I feel weird, kind of empty and drained but that's the most absurd thing ever. Why do I feel like that? I did it. I can finally meet him but I'm still here instead of running to this address he gave me.

My knees feel weird and I think they are going to give up. I try to stay on my feet but at the end I fall and end up on the floor, the piece of paper still in my hands.

What's wrong with me?

"Maca, are you okay?" Raj asks me. I didn't even notice he saw me falling and came to see what's wrong.

I nod but end up shaking, too confused with all what I'm feeling inside. "I-I dunno what's wrong," I confess and he grabs me by the arms and helps me to stand up, then leads me to the fountain and we sit together.

"Don't you want to meet him?" he asks and I shake my head fiercely. That's not it.

"I want to meet him, I really do," I cry out and he smiles at me. "But I can barely move. I'm shaking and my heart won't stop racing."

Raj smiles sympathetically at me, his hand patting my shoulder. "I think it's just sugar-crush. You've been waiting for this moment the whole day and I bet it’s been exciting and now it's over. You made it to the end, now you just need to open the door." I look at him feeling like there's not enough oxygen and I'm drowning. "People always say that the first step is the hardest and they never mention how the final is as hard as the first, just for different reasons, though. The first requires courage and most of us are cowards. The last one demands strength and stamina but after a long journey those things are running low. But that's why it's so gratifying to finish something, to open the door and take that last step. Because you can barely stand on your feet anymore, but you still did it." He finishes with a big smile and I take a deep breath, filling my lungs with all the oxygen they were lacking and crying for. 

I had never thought of that. I've always struggled with the first step and normally gave up before the last one and even when I made it to the end I was too exhausted to notice how hard it really was to take the last step. Now I see it, now I feel it when I don't even know if I can take it, even if I wan to.

Raj rummages for something in his pocket and ends up taking out a chocolate bar that he hands me next. I look at him surprised but I still accept it.

"It'll help you," he says and I smile because it reminds me of Harry Potter and Lupin. I'm quite cold now, maybe I did face a dementor.

"Thank you," I say opening it and then taking a bite.

"Do you want me to tell you something about him? It'll make you excited, maybe," Raj offers and I nod in agreement. "Well, he's one of the nicest blokes I've ever met. Really, it's annoying how positive he can be and I think that's why he's so naive and then suffers the most when people disappoint him. Which happens often. He's a quite meddlesome and a bit dense, but he always has the best intention. And he doesn't give up. Believe me! Despite he's all smiles he's really competitive and when he gets something in his head no one can stop him. He nagged me so much to agree to do this," Raj laughs. "He tried everything: bribery, favours and slavery. He never gave up until I agreed to help him."

"What made you agree?" I ask him, done with the chocolate.

"When he confessed why this was so special to him and why he was doing it. And if you wanna know that, ask him about it. He'll tell you, he's honest."

I smile grateful and feeling a lot better now. He must notice this because his smile widens and he squeezes my shoulder.

"Are you ready to go now?" he asks and I take another deep breath, willing my heart to beat normally and my legs to be strength. We have one last step to take and we can do it.

"I am," I reply and he smiles even wider.

"Then off you go!" exclaims Raj rising to his feet and then offering me his hand that I accept. "Have fun. One last push, you can do it."

I nod but before I turn and leave I give him a hug that surprises him, I notice that. He still hugs me back and pats my back before letting me go

I smile at him and he gives me a thumbs-up and I turn on my heels, but before I start walking I check the address on the envelope and then put it inside my journal with the picture we took. I make sure I know how to get there, put the headphones on again because the playlist is not over and only then I take a step forward, towards H.

I have all the letters. I don't need to call him H anymore, even if I'm used to it already and I like it. I just have to recall all the letters and put them in the right order making use of all the clues I've collected from other people, too. I can do this, then he can confirm if I did the right guess.

So as I walk towards him I recall all the letters he's given me.

These are the things I know: his name starts with H and his surname starts with R. I have other eight letters. D L A I—and I can't remember the others so I stop, take my journal our and look for all the letters and instead of keep waking I look for a place to sit and grab a pen. I write down two lines one starting with H and the other with R and then bellow all the other letters: L E D O I R A and D. Now with all this, what could be his name?  It can't be Hector, Herman, Henry or Harry because I need other letters that he didn't give me and I know there isn't any missing. Horatio isn't an option either nor Hamlet, considering that he likes theatre so much and maybe so do his parents and named him after a character. Maybe it's Harold. I have all the letters for that one, what leaves me with E I and D for his surname. Maybe Reid? Like my favourite character in Criminal Minds.

Could that be?

"Harold Reid," I say out loud, trying the name and it sounds nice. And his friends call him Reid, which I think it's too good to be true. That would make his sister Grace Reid, which also sounds good.

I look ahead, letting the fact that I know his name sink in. Or at least I think it's his name, I'm ninety per cent sure of it. All day I've been collecting these letters, going to different places just to gather the next clue and here it is, the puzzle is completed and I don't know how to feel yet.

A giggle escapes my lips and then the butterflies come back, tickling me from within and the smile is wide and back on my lips.

I close the journal, with all the envelopes and pictures inside, then the pen too and out all inside but I take something else from within, the leather bracelet I bought for him at the book fair. The only present I have for him and as I look at it I feel bad about it. It's so small and insignificant and he's done so much for me. This can't even begin to repay all what he's done for me.

I guess I'll have to make sure to do as much for him in the future.

"Reid… Harold Reid, I'm on my way," I say out loud, rising to my feet and taking a step forward.

-:-:-

How many guessed the name right? Say aye! We are so close oh my God! By the way, I finished writing the story so Happenstance is on the making now ;) Maca cried and sent me loads of fire emoji when she read the ending hehehe.

If you want the next update soon... then, vote, comment but most of all, share the story! Tell your friends, your family even your neighbours (just kidding). No but really, share the story. That would make me happy. Either way I'll update soon, don't worry. I just have my finals this week and I'm dying because you know, I'll finish my degree and I'm not ready to be an independent adult D:

Dedication to: @AriaLondon1999 Thanks for reading this story, even if you didn't want at first because it has no 1D. I appreciate the chance you gave me and the story.

Bel, xx

PS: I'll post the full playlist and a link for the 8track version at the end of the book, with the acknowledgment :D so yes, you'll know every song.