Broken Bond

The Introduction

In a world where soulmates exist, Rob Jetten was one of the 10 percent of the population to have a soulmate. His whole life he has believed in love at first sight, epic romance and ultimately he imagined that once he met his soulmate, that'd be it. All the lonesome nights and equally as lonely one night stands would come to an inevitable end.

It is known upon birth whether you have a soulmate. Soulmate-halves are born with a tattoo that says the first thing their soulmate will say to them. Rob Jetten was one of the people blessed to have a soulmate tattoo.

He remembers the years of waiting to hear the words that were inscribed on his ankle, "likewise, these events are always crazy aren't they?". Rob bitterly chuckles to himself as he recalls the night he heard those words.

There was a frosty bite to the air that cold January night in The Hague, over ten years ago. Judging by the animated crowds and the energetic atmosphere in the city, you wouldn't guess it was below 0 degrees. Rob hurriedly walked to his destination. He was twenty three. He had recently officially joined the political party D66, one of the major parties in the country.

There was a social mixing event going on that night for the youth of the political parties in the Netherlands. The event's description was vague and he wasn't exactly sure what to expect. Privately, his colleague had informed him it was an informal meet and greet night for the political leaders of tomorrow.

Rob was dressed to the nines in his suit, he had decided to forego his tie, opting to leave a few buttons open on his shirt instead. He had spent considerable time on his grooming his hair to his liking. Admittedly he looked handsome that night.

He was feeling quite anxious about the whole thing; and so by putting work into his appearance he could feel slightly more confident going in. He didn't know anyone that'd be there. Then again, that was the whole point of going – to network and make friends with others in his line of work.

The plan for the night was meeting people with tapas and drinks at a bar, the place was booked out for just the event.

His hasty stride abruptly came to a halt, he had reached the bar. It was an old building that was nestled into a secluded street. It seemed lackluster compared to the palpable energy of the rest of the city. Glancing around the street housed a variety of small businesses that were closed for the night, including a corner shop, travel-agents office and a real-estate office.

Walking through the bar door, he was thankful for the rush of heat. He noted that people were dressed in varying degrees of attire, from formal to clubbing outfits. Evidently he wasn't the only one who had been unsure of the dress code for the evening. He was certainly glad to have gone without the tie.

He now understood why the event coordinator had picked this bar to host the event. It was private and away from tourists, a place where people could meet colleagues without on-lookers being privy to their conversations. There was a table near the entrance plied with stickers of attendees names and corresponding political party on them. He began rifling through to find his own.

He felt the presence of another person come to stand beside him at the table. He snuck a peak to the person. The man was already looking at him. Their eyes met, his eyes were pools of gorgeous chocolate. Rob involuntarily gave a quick intake of breath. There was something about the man – yes, he was undeniably handsome; with his olive skin, striking height, dazzling eyes and pretty brown curls. But there was something else, he was struck with an onslaught emotions- most of all: calm, at peace, like he was home?

His thoughts were derailing, he couldn't even blame it on alcohol as he hadn't had his first drink yet. Realising he was openly gawking at this strange man, he decided to break the tension by introducing himself.

"Hi! Nice to meet you" he said politely with slight embarrassment to the stranger.

"Likewise, these events are always crazy aren't they?"

Rob's heart leapt. He looked to the man in shock, his eyebrows shot to the ceiling. He was waiting for the man to clock what had just happened. Except the man was now looking at him with confusion. He couldn't find the words to explain what had just transpired; he was stunned to silence. Rob knew it must've been getting a little awkward now - considering how long had he been silent for, had it been 20 seconds, 2 minutes? He didn't know.

"I'm Jesse by the way", the man continued.

Just as began to clear his throat to speak, he was interrupted by a woman fitting herself into to Jesse's side, wrapping her arm around him. She was beautiful: statuesque and blonde with bright blue eyes. He felt his throat tighten again. Perhaps it was a very friendly co-worker of his? He thought hopefully.

"Who's your new friend, babe?" she asked Jesse warmly.

"I don't know yet" Jesse replied, smiling lovingly at her, while placing his hand on the small of her back.

Rob knew that was his queue to introduce himself. But at the present moment, words were beyond him. He looked back over to the table, spotting his name tag. He stuck it on his suit.

Rob couldn't meet Jesse's eyes again, his heart would break too much. There was no way out of the awful situation without being rude; but he had to escape. He had spent his life fantasising about the moment of meeting his soulmate; but now all he could feel was his world shattering around him. Everything he thought he knew was changed in a fraction of a second. His soulmate had a partner, seemed to be deeply in love with her, and had shown not even a remote bit of interest in him.

Before tears began to fall, he promptly pointed a finger to his sticker name-tag, in a silent reply to their question of who he was. Not giving them the chance to reply, he abruptly turned around and left the building.

His eyes watered as soon as the ice cold air hit him again. Rob recalled silently crying into his hands, salty water reaching even his suit, while sitting in his taxi home to his apartment that night.