The Fate's Time (Short Story)

The Fate’s Time

As I was sitting in the hospital chair, I could not stop my mind from wandering to the day I met him. It was a bright and sunny day. Though the traffic was overflowing from the streets nearby, the park was always quiet and calm. There were many pathways around it. The pathways were confined with colorful flowers and grass. These plants were taken care of well and always in order. The park also has many sections for different ages. The children have their own playground in which they can play various games. The playground has its own empty grassed area where adults use it for doing light exercises or Zumba sessions while the elderly use it to train Tai Chi in the mornings and so on. People can also have small parties or picnics with their family or friends under the colorful shades of sun. I used to visit the park regularly with my best friend Helen. Sometimes we did our homework at the park because we liked the fresh air there. Occasionally, we just walk around and do some light exercises.

Somehow, today the sun seems to shine too much for my liking. It shone brightly in the clear, blue sky. The birds were soaring high and white, fluffy clouds drifted across the vast sky. I sat with my legs folded on the checkered mat. It was soft and silky with red and green colors. I was wearing a bright orange hat. As the first rays of sunlight began to find its way to me, I pulled the hat over my face concealing the rising heat. The air smells fresh and floral with the bushes of flowers around me. The heat wave hit and smacked the grin off my face. I could feel the sweat trickling down along my spine. I cannot wait to leave the scorching heat and burst into the cool comfort of air conditioning. I kept asking myself what the point is of waiting in the sun. it was not like she had ever arrived on time. “Where are you, Helen?” was what I kept pondering.

There she was walking leisurely towards me taking her own sweet time. She was holding a basket full of junk food in her hand. I said “Dear Helen, I am glad that you are my best friend. I have better things to do than waiting for you.” Being herself, she just shrugged me off and took a seat on the mat. I had brought some tasty home cooked meals that my aunty had cooked specially for this picnic. She just took my arm like she was not late for 30 minutes and kept me hanging and alone in the crowded park. “I am sorry for being late. Do not be mad at me please.” She kept begging for my attention. I was not ready to forgive her that easily. She always does this. She keeps me waiting all the time and thinks that she could walk away effortlessly.

“Please do not be mad at me. I slept off and did not hear my alarm. It is not my fault.” How dare she! She keeps giving me the same reason every time she is late. “Okay. I promise this will not happen again. I am begging you here, Anita. Please!” Honestly, I was not that mad at her, but I was just irritated with the scorching weather. However, I would like to see her beg and plead for my forgiveness. I seem to love it when she does it, but I have had enough. “Okay fine. It is okay but please do not do this again. Do you know how long I have been sitting here alone? You know that I hate being alone and yet you keep leaving me alone.” I said to her helplessly. “Yes, I agree. I cannot leave you alone at all. You seem to co depend on me a lot. I would not do it again” Helen said. I ignored her criticism as if it does not affect me.

Helen said, “Let us start eating and enjoy the weather. It seems to me that it is getting cloudier and windy. We would not need to worry about the heat anymore.” We took out the dishes from the basket and arranged it in a magnificent array. The smell was so alluring that my taste buds began to tingle. Helen pulled a crusty piece of bread and swooped up a copious amount of butter and lathered it on her bread. She then devours the bread wholly instead of taking a bite. I realized that I was gawking at the sight of. I was too hungry for anyone’s benefit. I took a bowl of salad and my attention diverted from Helen to the bowl that laid before me. I could see the long thin strands of lettuce with roasted, shredded chicken in the bowl. I dug my spoon into the bowl and brought a mouthful towards my lips. All the spices delighting my taste buds as I closed my eyes and relished the exquisite taste of salad. We dove in the entire array of food as if it was the last meal of our life. We kept humming and moaning in pleasure while enjoying the spread of food. We gobbled the food in no time and managed to chatter between bites.

Suddenly there was a startling throat clearing sound at the back. I turned around and saw a guy. He was tall and slim, his skin a russet reddish brown. He looked as if he had run a mile, a constant tinge of pink under his russet skin. I know him from school, but I do not know his name. He was 18 years old, a junior, and I was in the final year of upper Form 6. I was a year older than him. I was shy by nature and rarely talked to strangers. Meanwhile, Helen had no problem talking to him. “Hi. You are Ben, right?” she said. “Yes. You should be Helen and Anita. I have seen you girls around the school” he said to her while his eyes on me. He was just there sitting with his group of friends, tracing the mat. “Yeah, I have seen you around too. Do you need something?” Helen asked. He stopped talking and looked around for a reason to keep the conversation going. I could see the struggle as I am good at reading body languages. “I just wanted to introduce myself.” He looked troubled like he was regretting the lame reason. “Oh okay. Nice to meet you then. We will see you around.” Helen turned around and started packing the utensils and leftovers in the basket leaving him gawking after her. I smiled politely and helped Helen in packing.

After packing, we started walking away from our usual spot leaving him sitting like a lost puppy. I turned around and looked at him for one last time before skipping away with Helen. “Did you see his face?” she asked. “What do you mean?” I asked cluelessly. “He was shocked that I ended the conversation early. He looked like he wanted to talk more.” “No way. Did you do it deliberately?” I asked, shocked that she would do such a thing. “Of course. He looked star struck looking at you. Did you not notice how he was looking at you?” I should have known she did it out of spite. “No. He did not look at me like what you said. There is no way you are telling the truth. He was just being polite and introduced himself.” I did not believe what she said. “You are so naïve. He had his eyes for you” I turned around to see if what she said was right. My eyes caught him staring after us, but he did not look away. “Am I right or am I right?” Helen asked knowingly. I could not ignore her words and kept walking with her not caring the reason he kept staring at me.

A few days go by, and I catch him looking at me again in the school hallway. I picked up my courage and started walking towards him. He looked like a deer caught in headlights not knowing what to do now. I hate confrontations but I need to know the reason behind his staring. Before I could open my mouth, he said “I know, you want to know why I keep looking at you. Before that, you are Anita, living temporarily with your aunt and her family in Taman Bestari and you are in your final year of school. You are my senior, yet I cannot seem to use that reason to keep aside my feelings for you.” I was flabbergasted with his honest statement. “What! How could you? I am a year older than you and like you said I am your senior. How could you have feelings for me? I am like a sister to you. How…” He stopped my rambling with just a show of hand. “I do not see you as a sister. Do not insult my feelings for you by saying those words.” I was mad that he would keep saying that he has feelings for me. I was boiling with rage that I just stomped away from him. I have never dated anyone in the past. This was a whole new territory for me. I do not have any intention of starting a relationship with him. I have always dedicated my time and attention to my studies. I want to finish my studies with flying colors. I was keen on continuing my studies in medicine.

I went back to Helen’s room in the student hostel. I did not want to go back to my aunt’s place with so much anger tumbling around. I saw Helen entering the room and pushed her away to enter first. She looked at me and knew that I needed to let it all out. I kept complaining to her about Ben’s audacity. “How could he say that to my face! He sure has the guts to tell me that he likes me. Me! A senior! A girl older than him! Ugh, I am so mad at him.” Helen stood at the door and kept listening to me. She knew better than trying to calm me down. She knew me like the back of her hand. I took some time to calm down. I looked at her wanting some advice on what to do about Ben. “I told you so.” She said and it angered me more that she managed to read his feelings earlier in the park. Blood rushed back to my face, and I knew my ears were turning red. That always happens whenever I am proven wrong. “It is alright, do not worry about your beautiful mind with him. Calm down and we can rationally find a solution.” I agree with what she was saying. We started bringing up ideas on ways to reject him and his feelings towards me. We came up with a solution and I left her room with hope springing up.

The next day we went looking for him with my sister walking along not knowing what she was walking into. We saw him near his class entrance talking with his friends. He stiffened when he looked at us walking towards him. “Can we talk to you alone?” Helen said. He nodded and we walked to the library near his class. “Look, Ben. I understand your feelings for me, but I am not the person who you think I am. I do not want to waste my time with this love and all. Please understand my situation as I want to focus on my studies.” I said and he stopped me saying “I do understand your situation, but you cannot prohibit my feelings for you.” I started to get angry, and Helen stopped me from going all Hulk on him. “Listen, I do not want a relationship. This is my sister, Kelly. She is a year younger than you and she will be more suitable for you. You can date her and marry her one day.” My sister looked at me in shock. “You cannot just dismiss my feelings for you like that. I am sorry, Kelly but I am interested in your sister. Anita, I will not disturb you or your studies. You can trust me to help you juggle a relationship and studies together.” “I do not agree with that. Just leave me alone.” Helen and Kelly looked at us and knew we both would never budge from our stands. They brought me away stating that I could just ignore him and his advances.

Time passed by and I managed to ignore him. He was adamant though. I was sure he would forget me eventually. However, he kept prodding me with questions about me and my life. He kept pestering me with his love talks. He managed to break my wall down as the days passed. We went on group outings with other friends and soon enough we were going out alone. We were going on long walks and dates. I was defenseless against him and his cute, dimpled smiles. My smile was cold as frost on the windows while his was like a sudden beam of sunlight. His eyes crinkled at the edges and the corner of his lips turned upwards forming two adorable dimples. His smile was contagious and soon enough, he was chipping at my frosty smile, and I was grinning like a lovesick girl. Nonetheless, there was nothing I loved more than making him smile. By the end of the school year, we were madly in love with each other. We continued our relationship through my college years and his years of working in the oil palm industry.

Good time passed by so quickly and I felt that there was more between us. It was not only love, but we also had a trusting friendship where we did not need to tell each other anything. We could just understand each other through our body language. I felt like I had known him for a very long time, and we belonged to each other. We kept in touch with each other throughout the years through letters and photos that we sent each other. I had never thought of myself as a creative person, but I started writing poems about the pain of living away from Ben. I even started drawing pictures of him and attaching it to the letters that I send to him as a token of love.

After three long agonizing years apart, we finally met on my graduation day. During the graduation event, I was surprised to see him across the seats of family members. He was standing near the entrance door so that no one could identify him from my school days. After hugging my family members and friends, I sneaked away from them and saw him waiting patiently at the corner of the room to congratulate me. We were beaming with smiles the moment our eyes met, and I started running towards him. He caught me with both his hands and kept hugging me for a long time. We had eyes for each other and did not realize that my family members were watching us embrace. My mother called my name and I turned around to the devastating looks plastered on their faces. My sister had a knowing smile on her face showing her approval and I was glad that I had at least one person on my side. My parents walked away, and I had to follow them. I looked at Ben with pleading eyes and he understood my situation and let me walk away.

It is devastating to look at my parents when they disapprove of the perfect partner that I have chosen for myself. I want their approval, yet I also want to remain loyal to Ben who will be spending the rest of his life with me. I do not want to emotionally blackmail my parents. I want them to approve my relationship wholeheartedly. Once we reached home, we had a big argument and the fight kept going without finding a solution beneficial to all of us. After some time of convincing, Ben and I had our parents’ approval and we got married with their blessings. We spent our honeymoon in Singapore and later we stayed together in his house in the estate. We spent our days loving each other more with every passing day.

We have spent a quarter of a century together. During this time, we have fought many times and made many promises. We have traveled around the globe and experienced wonders of nature together. We had raised three beautiful children throughout the years as a proof of our love. We stood by each other and watched our kids start their journey in colleges abroad. We have seen our bodies transform with time, but nothing changed our love for each other. There is love, of course and then there is time. Time waits for no man, and it looks like time won this time. I looked up and there he was lying on the hospital bed. It is my time to let him go and believe that I will be meeting him soon on the other side. I was overwhelmed with grief, yet I held his hands and spoke to him. “Ben, it is okay. You go. We will be fine. You can rest now, Ben. I will take care of everything, and I will see you soon.” Saying those words were the hardest things that I have ever done but I had to let him go in peace.

I turned around and I saw my children and started bawling my eyes out at their sight. I was helpless and needed reassurance that everything will be alright. The eldest one said “We love and care about you and do not like to see you going through this difficult situation. Please know that you are not alone, and we are here for you whenever you need us.” We sat huddled together and cried out hearts out on our loss. While I was holding them tightly, I realized how blessed I am to have lived my life full of love and Ben had left me with such beautiful children that remind me of him. I imagined Ben standing at the door looking over at us with so much love in his eyes just like the first day I met him. I never believed in love at first sight until I met you, Ben. Now I do!

-The End-