Fated Read online

  “What’s so funny?” I asked her.

  “Oh, after hearing what happened and then seeing them,” she paused and looked around almost like she was making sure that no one could hear her, “Honestly, I’m glad that you did it. He’s a fucking prick.” And then she nudged me with her shoulder, “I’m just sad that you’re leaving.”

  “It’s probably for the best.” I told her.

  “You’re definitely right about that.”

  “How did Marsi handle it when you called her?”

  “Well, like Mar,” I shrugged. Marsi was my twin sister and who I am currently on my way to go live with. She was always the smarter of the two of us, and the more levelheaded. She was the one that mom and dad have always been proud of.

  “I’m going to miss the hell out of you, Soph.” she looked down at the floorboard as we got into the car and then sped off through Boston to her apartment, even though the business had plummeted Paige was much better with her money than I was. Plus, I gave her fair warning what was going on, and she had managed to find another job, quickly. I was happy for her.

  We laughed and cried the rest of the night, as we sat around and drank some wine, and I woke up this morning, said a sad goodbye, walked to the door, and with one sad look behind my shoulder I exited her apartment into the still snow melting streets. My car that we had picked up last night was sitting in the parking space and I got into it. I saw Paige sitting in the window and then disappear behind it. We tried not to be emotional people.

  Boston had been my home for the last seven years, I had gone to school there, I had graduated there, I had started life there and now all of that was taken away; all because of fucking Joe.

  I watched Boston fall into the rearview mirror the further I drove away until it eventually turned into a busy interstate. The drive to Miami was over twenty-four hours and Mar refused to let me drive the whole thing, even though I hadn’t slept since my stint in the police station I didn’t feel like stopping. Oh, mom and dad I’m sure would be so proud. I sigh as I enter Savannah and pull off the interstate, deciding try and get some sleep for the night. Mar had wired me some money before I left this morning. She wanted to make sure that I stayed in a good area, so that I wasn’t raped or whatever, but to be honest it probably wouldn’t have bothered me. Not that I wanted to get raped but I am just so empty inside that nothing could possibly bother me. I smile when I pull up to the classiest hotel that I could find and enter through the door hoping that they would have a room for the night. I got lucky and made it up my room and laid down at eight hoping to get up early for the rest of my drive.

  I tossed and turned not sleeping, but Mar was right I needed to get off of the road for a little bit, no need in dying if I could avoid it, right? I exhale and knowing that the restaurant next door was open late. I pull my yoga pants back over my ass, slide into an oversized hoodie as I walk out of my room and to the restaurant that shares the same parking lot. I sit down at the bar and look over at the girl who smiles at me and walks up the horseshoe shaped bar to me. She is a tall girl, really pretty as well.

  “Can I get you anything?” She asks, with a bit of an underlying drawl as if she doesn’t want anyone knowing that she has an accent, and I can tell that she is ready to go home even if the car doesn’t close until one.

  I sigh, “A Grateful Dead and a shot of tequila, no training wheels.” I ask her. She is probably around my age.

  “Straight for the hard stuff?” I hear the rough voice next to me say as I turn, looking at him, the first thing that I notice is his enticing blue eyes, they are almost the color of sapphires but on the inside the turn into a greyish color. His messy dark brown hair manages to bring them out even more. His grin is enticing. I can’t tell exactly how tall that he is but I see his bicep bulge out from under the sleeve of his shirt and I can’t help but love the stubble that is sitting on his face. I smile politely at him and respond.

  “It was a long drive.”

  “Where are you coming from?” He asked me with a mischievous grin.

  “Boston,” I tell him.

  “Ouch,” he fully smiles at me. His smile is exhilarating. It’s one of those smiles that lights up the entire room. I run my finger through my hair as I look around and I know that he has the attention of every woman in the room; every one of them are drinking him in. I laugh as I lean into him,

  “You do realize that literally every woman in this restaurant is staring at you.” He smiles at me, Oh that smile.

  “No, I hadn’t.” he tells me as the bartender sits my drinks down and then places a ticket, I guess to be mine, in a cup that sits in front of where I sit. I pick up the shot glass and toss the liquid into my throat. Slamming the glass back down on the bar just enough so that it doesn’t break, and then pick the straw and take a sip from my cup then looking back over to him. I can’t help but notice him staring at me, almost like he is studying me.

  “Bullshit,” I say.

  “Excuse me?” he looks shocked, as if I’m the first person to ever call him out and I lean back over to him so that only he can hear me.

  “Bullshit, every man knows when he has gathered the attention of the entire room.”

  “Do you?” he asks me, as one corner of his mouth pulls up into a smile.

  “Excuse me?” I bat back at him.

  “Do you realize that no one was looking over here until you sat down?”

  “Whatever,” I say to him motioning for another shot from the bartender as he laughs next to me.

  “See, you can’t assume everyone knows something when you don’t even see it yourself.” Had he said this to me a year ago I would have already taken notice to it, but since the collapse of my life I just couldn’t seem the think that I held any sort of significance.

  “You don’t even know me.” I tell him.

  “You’re right,” he smiles to me, “So why are you driving from Boston?”

  “Moving,” I sigh.

  “Where to?” he asks me.

  “Ah, no.” I tell him. “I don’t know you. I’m not telling you where I am going.” He chuckles a little under his breath.

  “Alright, then why are you leaving?”

  “My life fell apart.” I state.

  “How so?” His onslaught of questions is becoming slightly annoying.

  “I don’t even know you.” I say to him as I toss back the other shot of tequila.

  “I know that, but sometimes it helps to tell a complete stranger. Come on let me try and help.”

  I sigh, deeply. I’m not sure why I instantly trust him, but I do. I slowly look up to him and start, “I owned a successful business, lived in the most amazing apartment in the city, had more money than most people I know my age, that I managed to blow, and had a fiancée. Over the summer my business started to fail. And like I said I blew most of my money I made from it, and on Wednesday I locked the doors for good.” I look down at my hands that sit on the bar top.

  “That sucks, well what about the fiancée?” he asked, as if he actually cared about what happen.

  “Well,” I laugh nervously and run a hand through my hair, and turn to look at him, “We were supposed to get married on the fifteenth,” I see a sad look on his face, “And Wednesday night after I walked away from my business I went back to the apartment that I was forced to move into with him because I had lost mine, and I was taking a bath. He came home, not knowing that I was home, with his girlfriend.”

  “That’s awful,” he says covering my hand with him, there is something about him, I’m not sure what it is, but I feel as if I can trust him. I want to pull my hand away, but for whatever reason I don’t and I stare even deeper into his eyes.

  “That’s not even the worst part.” I look up to him and I can read the confusion in his eyes, “Well, they were together before him and I where, in fact she lived there with him before I lost my apartment.”

  He looks even more confused, “I don’t understand. Why would she be alright with that?”
r />   “Well, it was their plan. He was going to marry me, and then divorce me, for the money.” He looks at me as if questioning the money part, “My business, when it was doing well, was a goldmine, well when it fell I never really admitted it to him. I was planning on telling him that I had to close up that afternoon, but… anyways, I kind of lost it.”

  “Lost it?” he asks me with a smirk on his face. For some reason it eases me.

  “Yeah, it was like my breaking point.” He turns to hide a laugh, “Why is that funny?”

  “Don’t beat yourself up too much about it; we all have breaking points just before life gets really good.” He smirks at me and I make myself walk to the restroom before this night gets even more interesting.

  I stand, staring at myself in the mirror; I’m not even sure who I am looking at right now.

  “Get it together Sophie.” I tell myself still looking into the mirror.

  “Excuse me?” I jump as I hear come from the stall and I am mortified.

  “Ugh, nothing, I didn’t realize anyone was in here.” I quickly move out of the bathroom.

  I walk back to the bar from the door and see that he has left; for some reason it makes me slightly sad, I didn’t even get his name.

  I walk back up to the bar without siting down and ask her for my tab, noticing that the ticket that was in front of me is now gone, she shakes her head at me and points to the door, “He picked it up for you.”

  “Thank you,” I say, slightly confused, pulling out a five from my pocket and placing it on the bar for her and then speed walk towards the door, and for some reason I can’t help but notice that everyone watches me leave the restaurant. I see a dark figure walking across the parking lot towards the hotel that I am staying in and I sprint over to him, “Hey,” I shout as I run up to him and watch as he turns around. He’s taller than I thought that he would be, standing a good foot taller than me.

  “You know that can be seriously dangerous to do that.” I ignore his comment.

  “Why did you pick up my tab?” I trail as we enter the hotel, “You’re staying here as well?”

  “Yeah, I’m in town for a few days for a conference.” We walk over to the elevator and get inside both pressing a different floor’s button. We don’t say anything to one another until the elevator comes to a stop on my floor and he emerges from the car with me and I look up at him curiously, “I can’t just let you walk to your room alone.” I smile back up to him as we walk down the corridor.

  “You know,” I say feeling the need to make sure that he is aware, “I didn’t tell you that story in hopes that you would pay for my drinks.”

  “I know,” he smiles, “I can tell that you’re too proud to ever as for help.” We stop at my room and he smiles to me leaning over and kissing my cheek, and then whispers into my ear, “It’s nothing to be ashamed of; even the most successful need help sometimes, have a good night… and drive safe to wherever you’re going.” I lean against the door and slightly bite down on my lip with just that slight kiss he has managed to make my knees weak. He turns and I can’t help but watch as he walks back over to the elevator and gets inside, but before he can see that I watched him I slip into my room. I sigh as I close the door and then collapse onto the bed and instantly pass out; maybe he was right, just talking to someone did kind of help.

  Even though we had only talked for a brief period of time last night I dreamt of him, and I don’t even know his name. I am getting ready to leave as I look over at the clock and see that it is only eight in the morning. I pack up my toiletries’ and roll my suitcase to the door as I open it I see a note shoved under my room door.

  -Good morning,

  I hope that one day fate will magically bring you back into my life.

  -Austin

  And for the first time in weeks I legitimately smile.

  Chapter Two

  The eight hours that it takes to get to Miami passes slower than I thought was possible. I plug the address into the GPS, that I bought when I didn’t need it, and follow it until it says that “You have arrived at your destination.” And my mouth falls open. There is no way in hell that my sister lives here. But then again she is a surgeon, and has much better sense about her when it comes to budgeting than I ever did.

  The house is two stories with a fence that sits in front of the entire house just leaving an opening for the driveway. I pull into the drive and up to the house. I bet there is more space in her house than my old apartment and Joe’s apartment combined. I sigh opening the door and stand up to look at the building that stands in front of me. I instantly notice how amazing the temperature is and I wonder if I look silly for wearing jeans and a long sleeve shirt.

  “Soph,” I hear my sister’s squeaky voice, and I smile walking, calmly over to her and she rushes me and wraps her arms around me. “I’m so glad that you are here and got away from that awful place.” I smile sweetly at her and look her over. We are fraternal twins, but yet she reminds me of whom I used to be, who I was before Boston. Before the jet black hair that contrasts my porcelain skin to make it look whiter than it really is. I see the platinum blonde hair that she still wears, the color that my hair once was. I see her deep brown eyes, the kind of eyes that tells you that a person is so innocent and pure while mine are hazel that changes frequently. She used to make me sick with her tall skinny frame, she was always several inches taller than I was, never an ounce of fat on her, while I was slightly curvy reaching in at a whopping five foot five and a half, not that I was fat I just had boobs and an ass that took me some time to learn to love. We are both smart, in fact in school we were considered ‘gifted’, but like everything else we went in opposite directions with it. While Mar decided to take the medical world by storm, and I have no doubt that she will one day be considered one of the best surgeons’ ever; I on the other hand used it more creatively. I always wished that I was more like Mar, and I know my parents did as well. She was always the child that they wanted and I was always the disappointment. She had finished college in two years, while I took the normal four and partied more than I even care to admit. She finished medical school in another three years and finished her internship some time ago. I was now living with her because I couldn’t afford to live on my one, or better yet I wasn’t really allowed in the city of Boston, except for my court date.

  “This place is amazing,” I finally tell her after taking it all in.

  “Oh, you haven’t even seen the best part.” She grins and grabs ahold of my arm pulling me around the side that she had just come from. I let my lips part as the ocean comes into my view and the breeze hits my face. My poor porcelain skin is not going to be happy with me soon.

  “It’s breathtaking.” I gasp.

  “Yeah, I know, I spent more on it than I should have, but how could I pass this up?”

  “I wouldn’t have.” She smiles at me and I wonder if she already knew that I would have bought it as well.

  “Dad nearly lost it when he heard how much it was, he told me that it was an awful decision.”

  “Well if that’s the only thing that pops gets upset with you about than I say that you are doing great.” She frowns at me, “I should go get my stuff out of the car.” I tell her pointing my thumb back towards the front of the house.

  “Let me help,” I shrug as we pull the boxes out of the car and haul them up the steps. She opens the door and then walks up a staircase and into a room that faces the ocean.

  “Oh Mar, this is too nice.” I tell her, stunned.

  “Nonsense, this room is nothing compared to mine, so just be happy and accept it.” I feel awful; here I am unemployed, recently singled, spending thousands of dollars on a wedding that I will never see happen or see the money again; I should be sitting in a dark, wet room, but here I am with an ocean front window, and balcony.

  “Thanks,” I tell her trying to sound happy, but failing… miserably.

  “It’s not a problem, you’ve got to cheer up though, and I refuse to let yo
u become a recluse.” She smiles at me knowing how I handle things and then leaves the room.

  I sit in the room for days only coming out when there is food involved, and then it’s only because Mar drags me out. One morning before she has to be at work she walks into my room while I am still in bed and opens the curtains. I moan.

  “Get up; put some workout clothes on and some running shoes.” She demands.

  “What are we doing?”

  “We are going for a run… on the beach.”

  “Why?” I ask her, almost debating on pleading not to go.

  “Because you have been here for over a week and you have hardly left the room and the only time that you eat is when I force feed you… NOW GET UP.” She yells the last words at me before turning around and walking out of the room. “Five minutes, now wake up.” I begrudgingly pull my body up from the bed and wallow over to the closet where my boxes of clothes are just thrown into and rummage through until I find something to wear. I dress and while walking down the stairs I am pulling my black hair into a ponytail that sits high on my head.

  “Ready?” she asks me and I shrug my shoulders. I used to love to run, in fact I would do it in Boston a lot, until the business started plummeting. Mar and I used to run in high school, it was our daily workout and the time of day that we got to spend with one another, usually gossiping, or talking about my latest relationship. Mar was usually too focused on school to date anyone, in fact throughout high school she only had one boyfriend.

  We come back inside panting and she grins to me, “Does that make you feel any better?”

  “A little,” I honestly tell her. “I didn’t think that running on the beach would be so hard.” and she laughs under her breath at me.

  “Hungry?” she asks.

  “Starving.”

  “Good, now go take a shower and we will go get some breakfast before I have to go to work.” I smile at her and walk over to her, pulling her into a tight embrace.