CHAPTER 29
Ten months passed….
“Are you okay?” Michael asked Fate as he gently placed his hand on her shoulder.
It was then that Fate slowly turned around to face him. She had been staring out of the window of her room for quite some time. Sadness was visible in her eyes, and somehow seeing this made Michael’s heart ache. He tried to put on a smile and tried to pretend. He wanted to put on a happy façade so to make Fate forget even for a short while.
“Have you forgotten about our date?” he asked cheerfully.
Fate immediately shook her head and tried to smile as well. “No, of course not. As you can see, I’m already dressed up for our date. I have been ready for almost an hour now,” she answered.
“I see. Somehow I had a feeling you were waiting for someone else,” Michael unexpectedly uttered as a joke.
Fate was surprised, but was able to manage her emotions. Michael’s joke had a different effect on her.
Michael was more shocked with the things he had said. He never intended his joke to be so personal. At that moment, he wanted to just hit his head because of his stupidity and carelessness.
“I’m sorry. I was just joking,” he apologized.
Fate smiled. “It’s okay. It’s been so long… I guess it’s time I learn how to be used to such jokes…. Ten months…. Ten months is already a long time… enough to forget.”
Michael let out a deep sigh. “Ten months is definitely a long time for someone who isn’t in love, but for someone who is truly in love…. It is just a small fraction of the total time he is willing to wait,” he replied with a hidden meaning. Fate couldn’t decide on what to say next. She felt like she had suddenly choked on Michael’s words and was now slowly dying.
“You know, even if you try to deny it a million times…. I know you still love him and that you miss him. Don’t you think it’s time for you to go back and find your way back to him?” Michael bravely asked.
Fate shook her head again. “No, why should I go back to him? After I left… he didn’t even try to contact me… not even once… It just proves that I really mean nothing to him,” she said with a hurt look in her eyes.
“But Fate… you’re the one who left him, remember? If I were in his shoes, I wouldn’t know whether to run after you or just let you go as well,” Michael gave out his opinion.
“But still…” Fate uttered.
“But still you’re being stubborn and totally unfair,” he uttered back in return.
“Hey, which side are you on? I’m your friend. So how come you’re on his side?” she asked out loud.
Michael suddenly laughed. “Yes, I’m your friend. But I’m not going to be biased just because of our friendship. I’m just giving you the facts… nothing wrong with that.”
Fate pouted. “Oh my head hurts with the way you think. I don’t know why I even bother arguing with you. All of you guys are all the same. You always stick with one another just like glue.”
Michael laughed harder with what he heard. “Darling, haven’t you heard the saying… Birds of the same feather flock together?”
Fate shook her head. “Oh Michael! Sometimes I really wonder how I manage to put up with you.”
Michael quickly changed his expression into a mocking look. “Maybe its because of my good looks and irresistible charms,” he joked.
Fate stared at her friend with eyes wide open with shock. “What? Good looks? Let me think about it first,” she said as a joke as well.
Michael smiled. He was happy that Fate had started to act like normal herself again. It was nice to see her smiling and laughing again.
It had taken her a few months before she could finally pull herself together again. During the first month that she arrived in Germany, she just locked herself up in her room and continuously cried for days.
A week after her first month in Germany, she was hospitalized for almost a week. Her father made sure that the news about her being sick was never leaked out to the media. He hired several men to guard her and take care of things until she was allowed to go home.
By the end of her second month in Germany, she had fallen into a deep depression that she even tried to commit suicide by drinking a handful of sleeping pills and prescription drugs. Luckily that her father had hired a personal nurse to look after her right after she got sick… so the nurse was able to save her in time…
Right after her suicide attempt she went to England, where she stayed for two months under the careful supervision of several doctors and nurses. There she was able to totally heal herself, both physically and emotionally.
During the time she was hiding, no news was ever reported about her health condition or her suicide attempt. A lot of people kept on asking where she was. Michael was sometimes bombarded by media people with questions regarding her whereabouts. So there were times that he would just end up making jokes just to change the topic.
During the time that Fate was healing herself…. Michael just silently stood by her side and carefully guided her in everything she did. It was his way of loving her. He knew that her heart was already closed and that friendship was the only thing she could offer. And though his heart was aching, he accepted reality like a real man. He had decided that if friendship was the only thing she could give him, then it was good enough for him. He was willing to be her friend… He was contented with what he had just as long as he was by her side.
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“Michael, what are you thinking?” Fate asked.
He then snapped out of what he was thinking. “Nothing… I just remembered something. Are you ready? I don’t want to be late for the concert,” he said with a smile.
“Yes, I told you I have been ready for an hour now… Come on. I don’t want to be late too. I am so looking forward to seeing the concert. I haven’t seen a live concert for more than a year now,” she said excitedly.
“Well, just make sure you don’t go screaming out loud when you see the singers okay… It’s embarrassing…” he said as a joke.
Fate lightly laughed. “Don’t worry. I won’t be screaming…. but yelling.” Michael laughed as well. “Fine, scream all you want. Just make sure you don’t go around complaining tomorrow... Oh, and please save some of your voice. I still need a talking Fate by tomorrow. We have a meeting with the organizers of the race we’re joining remember?”
She then sweetly smiled, then nodded. “Don’t worry… I will make sure I can still talk tomorrow. I wouldn’t want to miss the upcoming race… I have been out of the race tracks for almost a year already… I really need to join that race.”
“Well. Let’s go… “ he happily said as he took her hand and led her out of the room.
A few minutes passed and both of them were already on their way to a rock concert. Unknown to them, something was about to happen… something that they weren’t prepared for.
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