It is hard to say how this all happened. The situation gradually became intense and strange. But you can tell exactly how it started.

It was a wet and gloomy January morning. There was a thaw, and it was raining, so you wandered through the puddles, drenching your shoes on the way to the bus stop from which you always went to work.

However, instead of the empty shelter, as usual at this early hour, you found three peculiar men standing there. Despite the cold, there were wearing only suits, each of them had a receiver in his ear and sunglasses on his nose.

Like undercover cops, you thought. All three looked pretty glum. They stood motionless, like robots.

The bus stop shelter was quite small, and they took up all the space, so you turned to the closest one, facing his back.

'Sorry...'

The man looked over his shoulder at you, clearly surprised to be accosted.

'Could you please move, sir?'

Slowly, he made room for you, moving closer to his colleagues, who were carefully following you with their eyes as you pressed into the free space under the roof.

'Thank you,' you smiled.

'Oh, you're welcome,' he replied, staring at you shamelessly. At least you thought so because you couldn't be sure with those glasses covering his eyes. Pretty awkward situation. You wished the bus would arrive and relieve you of that gaze. His companions have long since lost interest in you, but he has not. He was still staring. You were tempted to stick your tongue out at him, but you held back and glanced nervously at your watch.

'I don't think it would be good to wait today at this stop,' your observer said suddenly. As if on command, his companions turned their heads to look at him.

'Why?'

'Let's just say I have a feeling about it, Miss (Y/LN).'

You were dumbfounded. 'Hey! How do you know my name?!'

'I could say you have it written on your face.' He smiled broadly.

You got upset, your heart definitely sped up, and you probably got that stupid blush on your face, but you decided that you need to stay cool.

'Are you trying to intimidate me, Mr. ...?'

'It's Smith. Agent Smith. And no, I don't want to intimidate you, but warn you. I would advise you to leave this stop and go to some other as soon as possible, miss (Y/LN).'

You folded your arms over your chest and muttered rebelliously 'No way.'

'I insist.'

'What if I insist on staying here?'

'Better don't.' He remained calm, but his companions suddenly seemed to stiffen even more. Their fists clenched, and the eyebrows above the frames of their glasses frowned angrily.

You nodded at Smith. Okay, it was Monday morning, and you didn't want to get in trouble at the beginning of the week. Meekly you passed the agents and made your way to the next stop.

You walked away a bit, but you couldn't resist looking back. Nothing had changed, the agents were still standing in the same poses as you found them there. Except for one. Smith stared steadfastly after you.

***

That day at work, around noon, your friends informed you about a terrible accident near your home. The bus hit the stop. Several people died.

You were shocked. You found the information on the Internet and found out that the situation happened exactly at your stop, about five minutes after you left, chased away by undercover cops.

Has something happened to them? Maybe they had something to do with this? Is that why Smith told you to leave? Maybe he was an angel, your guardian angel ...

If you only knew how wrong you were then.

***

You were still distracted and thoughtful when you left work. A car nearly ran over you, while you were trying to cross the road. Nearly, because someone pulled you back onto the sidewalk in time.

The car literally went right in front of you, honking furiously. Confused and scared you turned to your savior, and to your amazement, you saw Agent Smith. Right then you were seriously considering the chances that he was really your guardian angel. You also realize a part of you was relieved that he hadn't been hurt in the morning accident. Yes, you knew it was stupid because you didn't even know that man...

'Careful, Miss (Y/LN),' he said in his deep voice. 'You don't want to hurt yourself, do you?'

'W-What are you doing here?' you just stammered out.

'Same as you, I'm trying to cross the street.'

'But ... it is probably no coincidence that we meet again ...?'

'Of course, it's a coincidence. Please don't imagine too much.'

You laughed involuntarily. 'Take it easy, Agent Smith... But since we've met, would you please tell me if you had any connection with the morning accident? I heard that a moment after our first meeting, a bus hit the bus stop where I left you.'

Smith didn't even flinch and showed no signs of nervousness. He just stared at you long and persistently as if you were some kind of unsolvable mathematical equation.

'Again, I have advice for you, Miss (Y/LN),' he said finally. 'Don't ask too many questions, so you'll be happier.'

You chuckled again. 'You're funny,' you shook your head and waved goodbye to him, and you headed for the bus. You realized he wouldn't tell you anything. Anyway, he was right. It's better not to know certain things.

You ran to the bus, which had already come, jumped in, and ran straight into Smith.

You opened your mouth in surprise. You left him behind you, on the other side of the street. At least you thought so. Confused, you looked through the window of the closing bus door, but there was only a young man standing where you left Smith.

'Coincidence again, isn't it, Miss (Y/LN)?' he was clearly amused by your surprise and uncertainty.

You ignored him and went to the vacant seat at the end of the bus. Smith sat down next to you. 'I thought you wanted an explanation.'

'I thought you thought the explanations were dangerous to my peace of mind.' You shrugged and put the headphones on, hinting that the conversation was over for you. His intrusiveness disturbed you, and you still didn't know how to interpret this sudden appearance on the bus.

Smith made no attempt to converse again, though he drove to the end of your route with you. However, when you got off at your stop, he stayed on the bus.

'See you again, miss (Y/LN).'

You weren't sure you wanted to see him again, but you said, 'Bye, Smithy.'

You involuntarily called him Smithy. Agent Smith sounded too pompous, and Smith itself was so dry. You thought he was going to be upset, but he just half-smiled, while you exit the bus.

***

On the evening of that day, you had nothing important to do. You poured yourself a glass of wine and while sipping it happily, you went out on the balcony to smoke a cigarette.

Leaning against the railing, puffing with pleasure, you were amazed to see Agent Smith standing on the lane nearby. He was smiling cheekily at you as if he was just waiting for you to show up.

'Miss (Y/LN), what a surprise!' He exclaimed, crossing the lawn, getting closer and closer to you. You lived on the ground floor, so he climbed the railing almost effortlessly and was right next to you on the balcony in a second. 'Would you like to give me a cigarette?'

Without a word you took a packet of fags from the pocket of the jacket you threw over you to keep from freezing and handed it to him. He took out one cigarette and without waiting for you to hand him the matches, unceremoniously he lighted it from yours.

He surprised you getting so close. In general, everything that had happened that day was extremely surprising, and you were starting to doubt whether it was real or a dream.

The agent puffed deeply and released perfectly round smoke rings from his mouth. Then he looked at the fag in his hand. 'Good, but weak', he assessed.

'What exactly do you want from me?' you asked bluntly. 'Why are you following me? Do you want to liquidate me because I know about today's accident or what?'

He smiled crookedly. 'If I wanted you to ... "liquidate" as you put it, Miss (Y / N), I would have done it long ago.'

'So what is it?' you leaned on the railing, looking at the green belt between you block of flats and the next one. You couldn't wait for spring, for it all to start blooming. The bare branches looked rather sad now.

Smith leaned his elbows on the railing too but kept his distance so your arms wouldn't touch.

'Hard to say, Miss (Y / N). I guess you're just intriguing me.'

You frowned as you let the smoke out of your mouth. 'What's so intriguing about me?!'

He looked at you and took off his glasses. It was the first time you saw his eyes in all their glory; the look that pierced you right through. You shuddered involuntarily.

'Everything,' he whispered. In someone else's mouth, it would have sounded shallow and ridiculous, but as he said it, your body shuddered again. You weren't scared at all... it was more of a thrill of excitement.

'Miss (Y / N), you're trembling.' Smith noticed. 'I think it's time for you to return to the warm interior of your apartment.'

You nodded, completely confused and just wanting to go to bed. 'Hope you're not expecting to be invited in.'

His mouth twisted into a smile. 'Please don't worry. Despite being obtrusive, I can still act like a gentleman.'

'I'm glad to hear that.'

You went inside and closing the balcony door behind you said: 'Good night.'

'Good night, miss (Y / N).' A moment later he jumped over the railing and was walking slowly across the lawn.