Book of Fate

What are we doing here? Wasn’t the plan to start tutoring on Saturday?

William sat on a bench with a table, so Daniella sat across from him.

“What exactly are we doing here? I thought we were starting on Saturday,” she asked.

“I’m checking your quiz answers from earlier.”

Daniella blinked. Why bring her all the way to a park just to check her quiz?

“Why do I have to be here?”

William gave her a lazy look.

“Can you not ask questions?” He pulled out the paper and began reviewing her answers.

Daniella simply huffed and rested her arms and head on the table. Within five minutes, she was visibly asleep. William glanced at her—she was already deep in slumber. He let his eyes linger on her face. Truthfully, he brought her to the park on purpose so she could rest for at least a little while. Knowing her, if she kept walking while that sleepy, she might trip or faint somewhere on the way home.

While they sat like that, a man from the next table—who had been watching them since they arrived—spoke up. After observing Daniella, then William, he asked, “Is she your girlfriend?”

William turned to him and shook his head.

“Why do you look like a couple then?”

“She’s not my girlfriend. She’s just my classmate. I’m her tutor.”

The man smiled. “I see… She’s probably the one who likes you, but you’re ignoring her.”

William didn’t respond, which only confirmed the man’s assumption.

“You’re lucky, if that’s the case.”

William looked at him. “Why would you say I’m lucky? She’s so stubborn. She does whatever she wants even if the people around her are already getting annoyed.”

“Aren’t you happy? Out of all the guys in your school, she chose you to be her crush. Maybe she even loves you already.”

The man kept smiling as he looked at Daniella. “She’s beautiful. So why don’t you care about her efforts?”

William stared at Daniella’s sleeping face when the man spoke again.

“When I was in high school, I had a classmate like her. Not exactly the same personality, but similar. She liked a guy back then, but she never confessed because I kept getting in the way. We graduated with her hating me.”

“Why did you bother her? You should’ve let her love whoever she wanted.”

The man looked away, smiling faintly. “Because I had feelings for her too. Funny enough, I did everything to keep her from confessing to the guy she liked—even when she was getting mad at me.”

“That was selfish.”

He chuckled softly. “I know. I was very aware of how selfish I was back then. But what could I do? I loved her, and I didn’t want her to end up with someone else.”

“So where is she now?”

His smile faded. “Honestly… I don’t know. What I heard is that the guy she liked is married now. But her? Nothing. I have no idea.”

“Do you have a family now?” William asked.

“No. And I guess you could say I’m a martyr. I’m still searching for the woman who once stole my heart. I just hope I can find her and finally tell her how I feel.”

William could see the sincerity on the man’s face.

“What if she already has a family?”

“I don’t know what I’ll feel if that’s the case,” the man admitted. “But I just want to tell her what’s been in my heart all these years. If she’s married, then that’s okay. At least when I finally say it, maybe I can move on. Not immediately… but eventually.”

A man in a driver’s uniform approached them from behind. “Excuse me, Sir. We need to leave.”

The well-dressed man—clearly someone important—stood up. He slipped his hands into his pockets, looking sharp in his suit.

“So if I were you,” he said to William, “stop ignoring her. It’s obvious you feel something for her too. You never know—by the time you’re ready to confess, she might already be the one letting go. She’s brave enough to show her feelings. The question is whether you’ll fulfill that wish or hurt her in the end… just like what happened to me.”

He smiled one last time.

“It was a pleasure meeting you. Take care on your way home.”

Then he walked away.

William just stared at Daniella, then at her paper—every answer perfect, even though she only finished up to number twenty.

Daniella’s eyes twitched as she slowly woke up. “I fell asleep?”

She looked at William. “Are you done checking my paper? Let me see.” She held out her hand while fixing her hair with the other.

“Not yet,” William replied bluntly, making her stop.

“What do you mean ‘not yet’? We’ve been here for about an hour! Why isn’t it done?”

“I got lazy, so I’ll finish it another day.”

Daniella stared at him, mouth open. “Then what did you do while I was sleeping?”

“Read a book,” he said flatly.

She gave him a look of pure disbelief.

“Then what are we still doing here? Let’s go home! I could’ve continued sleeping in my own bed—where I should’ve been an hour ago!” she snapped, stressed and irritated.

William ignored her and walked away ahead of her.

“Wow! He even has the nerve to leave first,” she muttered, pouting as she watched him walk off.

I don’t know if he’s just numb or straight-up denser than anesthesia.

She finally stood and followed him, though there was now quite a distance between them.