Written in the Stars (A Short Story) (4 page)

****

A few nights later Melanie
was
b
rows
ing through the site and she
noticed S
erenity was online. She had assured
her she was always welcome to chat when she was not busy, but Melanie
hesitated about
bother
ing
her when she was working. Before she could
decide what to do the IM window popped open
on her screen.

Serenity:
Hi
there. H
a
ve no clients right now. Want 2
chat?

Mel:
Sure. What r u
up to?

Serenity:
Just finished with a
client who has been smoking 4 fifty years and won’t quit
e
ven though I said he has to
or
he’ll
die

Mel:
Ewww
that’s disgusting!

Serenity:
I know.
Smokers
r
the worst. Don
’t know what the attraction is
.

Mel:
Me neither.
Any other interesting clients 2
nite?

Serenity:
One woman wanted 2
know if her cat i
s Cleopatra reincarnated.

Mel:
Seriously?

Serenity:
U
meet
a lot of whackos in this job.
Another guy thought an a
lien was living inside him. W
anted
2 know how 2
get rid of it.

Mel:
What did u
say?

Serenity:
T
old him Tums always do
trick 4
me
hahahahaha

Mel:
U
are
bad!

Melanie
knew it was wrong to laugh
at other people who used the website
,
but Serenity ma
de it sound so funny. She told her
a few more stories and
an hour
flew by in the blink of an eye
.

Over the next week
s
they got into the habit of chatting every night
,
and
sharing jokes and stories about their
day
. To her surprise
Melanie
re
alized they were becoming real
friends.

She held back on asking anymore questions about Greg b
ecause she did not
want Serenity to think she was using her for her psychic powers, bu
t as the wedding got closer she was anxious to know more.
When nothing had happened four days before the wedding
,
she
finally had to say something.

Mel:
I really need 2
book
another reading wi
th u
soon. There’s
stuff I need 2
kno
w.

Serenity:
U
don’t
have to pay me. Just ask
.

Mel:
It’s about Greg

Serenity:
I
sensed u
were
going to ask
soon.
Been waiting till u
brought
it up
.

Melanie’s heart began to pound.

Mel:
What is it?

Serenity:
I have some important information from your guides
to impart.
1st
let me
say
n
othing is ever
set in stone. U
have
made some big leaps in you
r development lately. Guides
no longer sur
e Greg is the right man 4 u
.

Mel:
WTF????

Serenity:
Greg is not evolved enough 4 u
anymore.
There could
be someone else more suitable
4 u just around the corner.

Oh my g
od,
oh my god, oh my g
od.
Greg was the man she had been in love with for three years. Ever since the night he had kissed her at the staff Christmas party she had thought about no one else but him. She was so sure he was the one for her, but now Serenity was trying to tell her that
none of her dreams about him were going to
come true. She could not possibly be right.

Serenity:
Mel r u
there? I know this is a shock but the universe works in mysterious ways.
I am just
the messenge
r
.

Clearly the
woman was a fraud. She could not
believe she had been blind to it for so long. What kind of person told jokes
about their clients
,
and
played games
wit
h friends
,
while giving readings?
It was highly unprofessional
, not to mention
immoral,
and she had been so stupid to believe
any
thing
S
erenity told her.

She had paid the
ultimate
pric
e
too,
because
now
she may have lost a
ny chance she had with Greg. Melanie
did not bother replying. Instead she
logged out of th
e website and slamm
ed her laptop closed. With
her head
resting on it,
she
tried to work out what to do
next.

****

The following
day Melanie kept a close eye on Greg at work.
If Serenity really was a fraud
then she had wasted all this
valuable
time doing nothing
when she could have let Greg know how she felt abo
ut him.
I
f she was going to make her move
,
she would have to act fast.
When she saw h
im enter the lunchroom alone
,
Melanie
seized on her chance. It was now or never.

He was looking for something in the fridge when she walked up
and stood
close
behind him, waiting
for him to turn around.
His shoulders were so broad and manly, and she loved the way his shirts were always perfectly pressed.
She really w
anted to reach out and stroke the hair that was curling over his collar. She almost got up the nerve to do it
, but
h
e straightened up
at that moment
,
and almost jumped out of his skin
when he saw her standing there.

“
God
,
y
ou scared me Mel. Did you want something from the fridge?”

“No, I just wanted to talk to you for a minute.”

“Sure. What’s up?”
He bit
into
his apple and Melanie took a deep breath. This was only the most important moment of her entire life.

“Do you remember the staff Christmas party from three years ago?”

He looked puzzled. “Not really. I was pretty tanked that night.”

“Do you remember we played that game and… and you kissed me?”

“Vaguely.
Why?”

Here goes everything, she thought.
She just had to blurt it out
before she lost her nerve
.
“The thing is
,
I’ve been in love with you since that night. I can’t think about anyone else but you
,
and
I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I think it’s me you’re
meant to
be with, not Tamara.
I
could make you so much happier than her. Please don’t go through with t
he wedding this weekend. Give me and you
a
chance,
I know you won’t regret it.
”

The world seemed to stand still for a few moments as Greg just stared at her
with his mouth hanging open
. Then his eyes filled with tears
,
and he opened his arms and stepped forwa
rd, enclosing
her in his embrace
. It was exactly
a
s she had dreamed it would be. To her
amazement,
his body shook
with sobs. He must have felt the same way she did
and
been hiding his true emotions all this time. Now that he could finally
let them out
,
it was overwhelming for him
.

When he pulled back
she
reluctantly let him go.
He wiped the tears from his eyes
and tried to compose himself, but he
had to take a few deep gulping breaths before he could talk.

“
Oh my g
od, Mel, th
at’s the fu
nniest thing I’ve ever heard
. I had no idea you were such a practical joker.
Did the guys put you up to this?
”
He
dissolved again into
the
silent convulsions that
she now recognized as hysterical laughter.

Melanie’s stomach dropped to the floor. She plastered a smile on
her face to try to
hide the fact that she was dying inside. He thought she was joking! Her entire future began to crumble right before her eyes. She
mumbled something about coming up with the idea herself
,
before taking off to the ladies room where s
he remained for a
very
long time
.
She could not even go home as she’d used up all of her sick days
,
and the rent was due that week.

When she returned to her desk she
tried to bur
y herself in work so that everyone
would leave her alone, but for the rest of
the day people kept stopping by
to tell her what a great prank
she had pulled.
No one seemed to
notice her bloodshot eyes and blotchy face
.

It was such a relief
when five o’clock came around and she could
get away from th
e scene of her humiliation. S
he let her shoulder’s
drop
with relief
as she emerg
ed from the elevator
into the foyer.

As she made her way towards the revolving door
s
someone called out her name and she stopped
in her tracks
. It sounded
exactly
l
ike Greg. He must have
realized she was telling the truth
,
and
now
he had come to tell her wha
t a fool he had been for laughing at
her. He probably
wanted to take her out
for a drink to apologize and
talk things over
.
S
he turned around slowly.