Rules of Fate

Chapter 5 - Learning on the job

Back to babysitting! Guess I deserved it. I glanced over the top of my coffee mug at my guy. His name was Scott and at the moment his thread looked fine, in fact better than fine, great! So why was he getting special attention? I still couldn't figure it out and after the fiasco with the flood Ethan had been even more tight-lipped than before.

I glanced at the magazine I was flipping through idly. This is such a waste of time, I thought for the hundredth time that day. Malcolm hadn't been wrong about the extra work I'd created. The Fatelists in Algiers had had to re-work the patterns so that some of the people I had saved were ill and still others unfortunately had had to be terminated. It was the way it worked. We couldn't help everyone. When their time was up, it was up. That was the biggest golden rule in our book. Of course it didn't make the job easier seeing people you'd saved killed off later. Luckily Mike wasn't in that category.

Ethan had been in charge of the clean up and he hadn't spoken to me for weeks after it. I slumped further in my chair and played with the cutlery, lost in thought. Suddenly I felt a subconscious tug and looked up. Scott was still sitting at his table so that wasn't the problem. I glanced around using second sight to see the thread network we called the tapestry.

As far as I knew no other Fatelist was in this area. Maybe I'd missed one? I narrowed my eyes as a pretty waitress lost control of a tray and coffee splashed onto Scott. There was no way that was an accident, it was blatantly manufactured. I looked around again trying to pick out the source of the interference. But try as I might, no golden threads showed up.

I looked at Scott again who was calmly mopping up the coffee from his clothes and laughing with the embarrassed waitress. No harm no foul, I thought, relaxing again. But that incident still niggled at the back of my mind.

͏

Five hours later and I was ready to quit. My feet were killing me and my head felt like cotton wool had been forcibly stuffed into it but the niggling was still there. Scott was working, not only as a waiter but as a messenger as well to make ends meet. I could have watched him from a long distance away but Ethan had been very specific with his instructions.

'Don't let him out of your sight Sam,' he had said, followed by a don't-mess-up-again look that I took very seriously.

I dodged another pedestrian as I followed Scott on his rounds. I knew I shouldn't have pulled up the Fate Map, and I also knew this was pay back; I could feel it in my aching bones, but surely this was overkill? Finally Scott decided to knock off for the night and head home. I followed doggedly.

Inside his apartment it was the typical bachelor pad, messy, untidy, a bit smelly, but comfy. He disappeared into the bedroom and I literally fell onto the couch, invisibility mode on. If I never move again it will be too soon, I thought letting my muscles relax.

I heard Scott on the phone and didn't think anything of it until he said, 'Yeah, meet you tonight.'

What?! I bolted upright, no way! Another night on the town? I could feel my whole being protesting. Maybe if I suggested a night in...I stopped myself quickly. That fell dangerously close to personal gain and I didn't want to fall foul of Ethan again. I sighed and stalked to the window out of Scott's way. Suddenly I felt it again, that odd tug. What was going on?

I looked around the living room suspiciously and then concentrated on Scott's fate thread. It was being changed subtly. The phone rang again making me jump a mile high. Calm down, I told myself, still checking for any other Fatelist in the area. My ears just catching the tail end of Scott's conversation.