One word for person you meet by chance
I am looking for a word for a person you meet specifically by chance. Ideally, a single word for someone you have never met before, but words for acquaintances would also be great.
An example sentence might be
They waved goodbye to their amusing [person-word-here] and continued on their walk through the park.
Solution 1:
“I waved goodbye to my amusing encounter”. This is a shift in the meaning of “encounter” but seems acceptable.