fortune

fortune {one shot}

{i wrote this as a short story for class and i liked it so here it is}

The uncomfortable silence was killing Kennedy. Her mother was sitting across from her, her eyes flickering, scrutinizing every last detail of the restaurant that her daughter, whom she hadn't seen in months, had chosen. Finally, her mother spoke up, "You know, for this fancy city job you have, I would've thought you'd have picked out a much nicer restaurant."

Kennedy sighed. She didn't expect a huge, loving reunion with her mother, but she wondered if her mother would ever stop her incessant criticizing. It had been like that for as long as Kennedy could remember. If Kennedy got a 99 on a test, her mother would shake her head and ask why it wasn't a 100. If Kennedy made it onto a sports team, her mother would always scold her and tell her what she was doing wrong, and rarely congratulate her. "I thought you would like it. Sorry," Kennedy apologized briskly, trying to avoid any trouble that was brewing.

The remains of their dinner sat in front of them, utensils strewn around the table, scattered in empty rice bowls and on empty plates. Just as Kennedy tried to make the table a bit neater, their waitress came and swept the table clear.

In that moment, there was nothing to help Kennedy avoid the topic she had somehow successfully evaded the whole night: boys. Kennedy nervously shifted her eyes up to look at her mother, who was about to ask the million-dollar question.

"So Kennedy, are you seeing anyone?" her mother leaned on the table, awaiting an answer from Kennedy. Kennedy glanced away and answered timidly, "No." Suddenly, the sloppy carvings on the side of the table were extremely interesting. Kennedy's mother raised her eyebrows. "You wouldn't have this issue trying to find a boyfriend if you would just take my advice and go on a date with Carter. He's such a nice boy, brilliant too."

"I told you, Carter and I are just friends. Close friends, yes, but we won't ever be more than that. Plus, he has never even shown the faintest sign of interest in me." Her mom simply shrugged and gave her a look that plainly read, 'You know I'm right.' Which was her usual expression.

The waitress arrived again, this time bearing fortune cookies, and the check. Kennedy took the check and a cookie. After placing cash down, she turned to her cookie. The cookie was perfectly wrapped. A ribbon of paper emerged when Kennedy split the cookie nicely in half. She pulled the message out. It read: A secret admirer will soon show a sign of affection.

*

Later that night, Kennedy was dissecting her day for Carter. "Yeah, so I read the fortune to her, and she didn't believe me, but I showed her. I told her that it was definitely a sign that I can find someone on my own, and that I don't need her help." she explained over the phone. "So now I'm on a hunt of my secret admirer- who may or may not actually exist."

"Well, that's great," replied Carter, "Have fun on your search for your lover. Goodnight."

"Night." Kennedy hung up the phone, and the anticipation of the day to come kept her up for a long while after.

The next morning started off as usual. Kennedy got dressed, ate breakfast, brushed her teeth and drove to work. Kennedy was a writer for the high-status magazine Style. Her office was quite big for one person, and she often just scaled the room when she was deep in thought, which she was that morning. She paced back and forth, glancing at the object on her desk. "Okay, this is just plain weird," Kennedy muttered to herself. "I got the fortune last night, and all of a sudden I have a secret admirer?" She plucked the card off of the daisies- her favorite flower, and read the card once more. Dear Kennedy, I know these flowers are your favorite- yet their beauty pales in comparison to yours. Love, your secret admirer.

The daisies smelled like heaven. She placed the card down on her desk, and walked to the break room. She needed some tea to help assess her situation. When she walked in, there was already someone in there. It was Liam, a photographer who shot everything for the magazine.

"Hey Kennedy, how's your day been so far? Anything interesting happen? Get any gifts?" he asked, a gleam in his eye. Kennedy almost fainted. Did he say gifts? Was he her secret admirer? She was accepting any possibilities, and besides, who else would know about her flowers? She simply smiled and responded with a quick, "No." and then exited quickly without the tea. She hadn't exactly planned to figure her secret admirer out so fast. Kennedy decided to just focus on work, and wait for him to make the next move. Hurriedly, she walked back into her office a shut the door tightly. She looked at her desk once again, and saw something hiding behind the vase. It was a bagel on a napkin, with familiar penmanship on it- Liam's! "That's what he meant by gift!" thought Kennedy. Liam wasn't her secret admirer after all, so Kennedy would have to keep searching.

*

The door swung open, revealing Carter's thousand-watt smile. "Kennedy! Come on in." he ushered her inside. She dropped her purse on his living room table and sunk into the soft, plush couch. Carter grabbed a large bowl of popcorn off of his kitchen counter, and sat down next to Kennedy.

He smiled again. "Okay, it's time to watch Psych!" Carter picked up the remote, turned on Netflix, and started the episode they had left off at last week. Immediately they became immersed in Shawn and Gus' issues, and tuned out everything else. Abruptly, Carter stopped the episode.

"Hey!" Kennedy protested. She turned to face Carter, wondering why he would stop the show.

"I need to confess something. It's about what you told me about the other day. I know you don't want to take your moms' advice but I agree with her. I think maybe we should go on a date together. I got you the flowers; I had Liam drop them off for me. So, as you can probably guess, I'm your secret admirer." The words hit Kennedy like a ton of bricks. She sat there in shock, unsure of what to say. Sure, she always thought that Carter was sort of cute, but they were friends. He sent her flowers? Carter gazed at Kennedy, awaiting an answer. He had been a best friend to Kennedy for so many years, and he had a crush on her? Kennedy just couldn't even fathom the idea. He had never seemed as if he liked her in that way at all. Kennedy was frazzled, and unsure of what to do. The walls were spinning, and her mouth went numb. So she did the only rational thing to do- she bolted. She grabbed her purse, and left his apartment without a word.

Kennedy hopped into her car, only then realizing why she had left. It all made sense. Why she didn't know how to feel, why her palms had started sweating when he turned to talk to her, it was all because she did like Carter, even though that was what her mother wanted. Her heart was beating out of her chest. She had feelings for Carter, whether she liked it of not. Her mom had been right, she just never acknowledged it- she was too busy looking for someone else, she didn't see that what she wanted was right beside her the whole time. Kennedy, still parked, dialed the phone number she knew by heart- and he picked up right away.

"I'm sorry I ran out, I was just nervous, and I honestly had no idea what to think because I didn't think you having a crush on me was a possibility, but you just blurted it out, and I wasn't ready for it, and what I'm trying to say is yes, I will go on a date with you." And you could tell that there were ear-to-ear smiles on both ends of the line.