String of Fate

Chapter Twenty Three

I opened my eyes and stared at my left hand, focusing on the ring finger and wishing that a string would appear to link me to the man that was sleeping with his back to me. I found myself doing this a lot more since my twenty-first birthday had started drawing near. Johnathan and I were in the same boat. He'd just turned twenty-one and neither of us had a string yet. It was so strange that the two of us had had to wait for five years and it still didn't appear. Well, it was stranger for me to have to wait five years since women usually got their string when they were sixteen, but for guys it could be a little longer.

When we were in school, Johnathan and I had been in a group of eight. There had been Artemis, her twin Perseus, JJ, Eve, Thomas, and Duncan as well as Johnathan and I. I had been the youngest, and enjoyed it. Then the sixteenth birthdays had started. Eve and Percy got together, then his twin sister and JJ got together. Finally, Thomas and Duncan got together. Then my birthday had come.

My string didn't appear between Johnathan and I like I had hoped. Still, I met him on the way to school, meeting the rest of the group in school like usual. When we were alone, Johnathan and I got talking about the string and somehow, I agreed to lie to all my friends and family. It meant that Johnathan and I would be in a fake relationship until the string appeared for one of us, in which case we would then tell everyone the truth. I thought that he was just worried that the string would never appear for him, but he was such a great guy that I knew that he would be okay and he would get his string eventually.

Everyone had seemed so happy for us when we lied to them that we had a string tying us together. We'd graduated school, and college, and then got jobs. So, we became adults together. I started working in a graphic design firm at the same time as a web design company hired Johnathan. It all seemed to be very permanent and adult like. It kind of scared me at some point, but it turned out that we were good at our jobs and we were actually good together.

We now owned a one bedroom flat that Johnathan had suggested since 'we should move in together as a couple otherwise our parents might suspect something'. I didn't need asking twice because I really liked him. The little one bedroom flat that we had had a lovely view of the park and it was in a good location overall. I loved it.

"You're awake, aren't you?" Johnathan asked from behind me, surprising me. I tucked my hand back under the quilt quickly. He got up and headed out of the bedroom, taking his clothes with him. "I'm going to grab a shower."

"All right." I replied as the bedroom door was shut. I climbed out of bed and pulled on my dressing gown to look out the window at the park, changing into jogging bottoms and a slightly oversized t-shirt when I heard the water running.

Then, I headed into the living room/kitchen and put the kettle on, switching our laptops on while I was there. I made him a coffee and made my tea, heading to my laptop that were placed opposite each other on the dining room table that was actually our desks. I made it to my emails as he came out of the bathroom, wearing his own pair of jogging bottoms and a comfy t-shirt. "I made coffee for you."

"Thanks. Will you load my laptop for me while I make breakfast? Do you want some toast?" Johnathan offered, heading into the kitchen area and to the toaster. He pulled the bread from the breadbin.

"Yes, please, and your laptop is already loaded. How's the club website coming along?" I questioned as he typed in his password and opened the right file. I took a sip of my tea as I got rid of all the spam and junk mail that had made its way into my inbox, and usually that was most of my emails.

"I've put all the info in. I'm just waiting for the logo so I can do the style sheet and colour scheme." He explained, giving me a look as the toaster popped.