“Hey you, you..” Hugo shouted.

A tall girl turned around.

“Yes… yes, you!” he confirmed.

She didn’t know him, so she was obviously confused. Nevertheless, she strode towards his direction. Her hair red and wavy, eyes glaring with the reflection of every color around, her hands gracious, her legs long and skinny.

“Listen, listen. Focus… I have no time.” Hugo panted.

“Do I know you?” the girl asked.

“Ah pardon, I’m Hugo.” he answered. “And what’s your name?”

She took a step back, wondering whether she should answer or just walk away. Her lips were trembling, she was about to speak. “Charlotte.”

“I’m pleased to meet you dear lady. Do you maybe have a moment to spare?”

“Hmm.. but.. yes, yes sure.” Charlotte answered while checking her tiny wrist watch.

It was a sunny day with mild wind. They were standing in front of the train station in Brussels, facing each other. Two strangers - one with a problem, and the other possibly with a solution. 

“I missed my train.” Hugo explained. “Do you know where I can check when is the next train to Paris?”

“Yes, follow me.” she told him.

They passed through a huge room with a high ceiling, people inside it looked like tiny ants in a big anthill. In there everyone looked tense and in a hurry just like Hugo. But not Charlotte, she seemed to be calm.

“The timetable is right there.” she smiled, soring her long index finger in the air. “Across of you.”

Hugo impatiently looked, scanning through the many blinking rows of trains leaving the train station, setting off in various directions. His eyes glimmered when he saw Paris on it. Platform 5, train leaves at 14:41.

“Excuse me, Charlotte, what time is it?” asked Hugo.

Hugo turned around, but she was gone. Ah, and he even forgot to thank her. He scanned the room as he scanned the trains timetable, just this time Paris was Charlotte.

Yes, there she was. He saw her red wavy hair dangling down a long corridor. He quickly followed her.

“Charlotte, hey, Charlotte..” Hugo was running after her.

Charlotte turned around, her smile was still hanging there underneath her pointy nose.

“Hi” Hugo tried to catch his breath. “Sorry, I didn’t have a chance to say thank you, so thank you.” he smiled for a first time today.

“No worries.” she answered.

“Can I.. do you maybe want to get a coffee?” Hugo proposed - impatiently waiting for Charlotte’s answer.

“I would love to, but only if we walk North.” she said. “I go only to the North.”

Hugo was confound by her answer, but quickly came to his senses and answered. “Yes, North, right. I have about 42 minutes to my train. It has to be enough.”

They walked away together - Charlotte walked North, Hugo walked next to her. Not event after a minute they found a cozy looking place. Hugo ordered himself a shot of espresso, because he “needed it very badly” as he mentioned to Charlotte on their one minute walk to that place. She had a glass of water.

“So where are you going to the North?” Hugo asked, sipping from his tiny cup of coffee.

Charlotte smiled, she expected that question. “Nowhere specific, just to the North.” She made a small pause, saw the confusion in Hugo’s eyes and continued. “I have no final destination, I’m just going North.”

“Hm, where do you plan to go to? Holland? Denmark? Norway?” he asked still confused.

“I don’t have a plan. I just wake up everyday and go North. I take small steps. I’m not in a hurry because I don’t have a destination. I have a direction.” she continued.

“But what about work? Don’t you have a job? Don’t you have any responsibilities?” Hugo was interested.

Charlotte brushed back her hair and smiled. Hugo was staring at her. She had a beautiful smile. “I did have a job,” she answered “but then I quit 2 months ago. Since then I’m walking North.”

“But why North?” Hugo wanted to know more.

“Because I threw a coin twice, and twice I got heads. If it was tails, I was going to head South.” she took a coin out of her pocket and put it on the table between them. “I learned a lot of things on the way - about myself and life in general. I realized how important focus is. I used to have a plan and destination, to be in a hurry to finish all my to-dos. To-do after to-do were streaming in and out of my head. I lost my freedom. I became a slave of my own plans. Hugo, do you know what is the meaning of the name Charlotte?” she asked.

“No, do you?” he responded.

“It means free man. I was not free anymore, Hugo. I was a prisoner. My being was not defined by my thoughts, but rather by my to-dos. I needed a change. Then I found about focus.” she smiled widely. “Focus means to take your time, not to rush, to enjoy, interact and learn from whatever comes on your way, not to generalize.” her voice was full of enthusiasm and passion. “Our ancestors were once thinkers, but our world today turned us into doers. We value quantity and solutions, but we forget about the process.”

“The process?” Hugo asked.

“Yes. The distance between the start and the finish, the distance between A and B. Many people see only B and have their eyes on the price, other don’t even dear setting off from A. Those kinds of people are very different, but they are the same when it comes to understanding focus and process. When one focuses on the process, he can find great gems on the way. And it’s up to me and you to find those little gems.”

Charlotte pushed the coin towards Hugo. “Flip the coin.” she prompted him. He took it and the coin went into the air, flipped and fell back on the table. Meanwhile, Charlotte stood up and looked back at the coin.

“Do you know what’s the meaning of your name, Hugo? It means thinker. Maybe Paris will not be your final destination.” she smiled and left the café.

Hugo was still standing there, looking down at the coin. It was tails.