Faith in Fate

CHAPTER 2

After two long hours of being stuck in traffic, I finally made it into our building. Awful would be understatement to describe the drive home. It was painstakingly agonizing. My legs are sore from hitting the brakes every so often. Out of all the days I had to go back to the office, does it really have to be today? When its raining so hard making the roads slippery and causing traffic jams everywhere. Haay.. when is the stars going to align in my favor? The other voice in my head says that I should just be grateful. A lot of people are probably still stuck in traffic in their uncomfortable seats dreading to get home meanwhile there is me complaining about the rain and traffic in my comfy car seat with my aircon on full blast. I guess the stars did bless me. I took a deep breathe and got out the car.

I was on my way to the elevator when I bumped into Mrs. Chen. Mrs. Chen is the elderly woman who lives a few doors from me. She currently live with her grand daughter. She told me her husband passed away a long time ago and that her only son left the kid on her care for he is busy working for a living. She's very friendly and thoughtful. The kind of neighbor who genuinely look after the other tenants. There was that one time when I was having a really bad headache at the parking lot, she helped me get into my unit and took care of me. I still haven't pay her back with her kindness. Maybe someday.

"Hi Mrs. Chen! How are you today?" I asked her.

"Oh! Rachel! Long time no see. I'm doing great. I just picked up some fruits for Yuki so she can enjoy it while doing her homework." She takes a long look at me. Eyeing me from head to toe. I feel very conscious right now and have no idea what to do. I am currently regretting my decision to make small talk with her. I should have just said hi. Smile Rach. Just smile.

"Oh dear, are you okay? I think you lost a little bit of weight. You look a bit pale too."

Ahh here we go. Fake it till you make it.

"I'm okay Mrs. Chen, just a little tired from work I guess.. but nothing to worry about." She doesn't look convince. What do I do?

"Hmm.. if you say so. Maybe you should come over for dinner?"

"Oh, thank you Mrs. Chen that is very kind of you but uhmm.. I already had plans for tonight." I lied. Rach, you are officially a liar. When did we become like this?

"Ooohh.. I see. You must have plans with Henry. Spending time with your boyfriend is better."

She gave me a wink and then press the button. I on the other hand is having an emotional turmoil. Henry. Boyfriend. My mind is getting very cloudy. Thankfully, the elevator dings and when we arrive on our floor I just waved back at her and half walk run to my door.

As I locked my door, I let go of the breathe I didn't know I was holding. I held on to my door knob to keep my self from slipping off the floor. I started feeling dizzy all of a sudden. Its like the air is being sucked out of my lungs. I try to calm myself down by slowly breathing in and out. Rach, you better pull yourself together. You are stronger than this. These thoughts echoed in my mind and after several minutes, I started to feel a little better. I slowly walked towards the sofa and rest my head on the pillows. I tried to keep it off my mind but the memories of that night came flashing in.

It was a very hectic day at the office but I was on high spirit because its Henry and I's anniversary. We promised to go on a trip. I've been looking forward to this day since we planned this getaway. I manage to fit my schedules in a very tight timeframe to accommodate this trip and now its d-day. Henry and I have been together for 4 years now. We met during college. He took engineering while I took architecture. We have math and physics classes together so we end up being pretty close. Ever since then we were inseparable. Our friends said that we are a match made in heaven. We always talked about how we are going to spend the rest of our lives together. Us working side by side. We were happy... or so I thought.

I went home that day full of excitement. I think my face would tear from smiling so much. As I open the door to my apartment, I called out for him.

"Henry! I'm home".

Usually he would greet me with his goofy smile by the foyer. I waited for an answer that didn't arrive so I started to look around our house.

"Henry? If you are playing a prank with me right now I'm going to be really pissed".

I waited for awhile half expecting him to pop off from nowhere. Still nothing. The house is awfully quiet. Panic is starting to creep in. I dialed his number but it was out of service. I have no idea what is going on right now. I searched our room but he is not in there nor the bathroom. I also checked the other rooms where he could be hiding but to no avail. I called him gain on his phone but its still the same, no answer. I sat on our sofa trying not to go over my head. Maybe he is still on his way home. So I tried to call his secretary thankfully she answered.

"Hello? I'm sorry to disturbed you but I can't contact Henry. Did he left the office already?" I asked.

"Hi Arch. Rachel, he left during lunch time. He said it was an urgent matter. Actually I thought he was with you." Lunch time? That was 6 hours ago!

"Do you know where he went?"

"I'm sorry ma'am but he didn't say. He left in a hurry."

"Okay. Thank you. Please get back to me if you hear anything from him."

"Yes ma'am. I will."

I dropped the call. Okay now, I'm officially panicking. If he left the office early, where could he be? I tried calling our friends to ask if they know his whereabouts but they have no clue either. Should I call in the police? Maybe he got lost, hurt or worse? My head is clouded with different scenarios.

My frustration and anxiety drove me into our room. I started to walk back and forth trying to rack my brain on where he could be. As I was having internal conflict, I noticed that one of the suit cases is missing. That stopped me from my tracks. I packed them myself. I knew I left both our suit cases by the closet. A chill went up to my spine. No. No. No. Please don't be what I'm thinking. I stand in front of the closet. Too scared to know what I'm gonna find out. I slowly open the door and I was hit with harsh truth like a cold bucket. His things are gone. Even the ones I didn't pack are gone. My hands are trembling and my eyes are starting to be flooded with tears. No. He won't do this. I run to the bathroom and saw his side of the cabinet have been cleared up. I tried calling him again but it went to the same beeping sound. I don't want to believe whats going on so I checked the whole house again. When I get into the kitchen, I saw that there was a new note on the fridge. I probably didn't notice earlier cause I was frantically looking for him. As I got closer, I started sobbing. The note says..

"I'm sorry. -H"

That's when it hit me.

He left. Just like that..He's gone.

*end of flashback*

My head is still spinning from remembering what happened. Its been nine days since he left but a part of me still can't believe he can do this to me. Everyday that passed without a word from him reminds me that the reality doesn't care what I believe.  He left and I don't even know why. A few days ago I thought I would be spending my weekend at Bali but here I am crying my eyes out causing a massive headache while lying on my sofa all alone. Match made in heaven my ass.