Desired Fate

Chapter One

With the key card in my hand, I swiped it across the door and let myself into the hotel room. The smell of fresh laundry and bleach immediately hit my nose, then there was the unfamiliar sound of the door clicking shut behind me. I dropped my bag to the floor and placed the key card down on the table. The sheets were white and blue, the curtains were dark blue and the carpet was a dirty white. This was it, this would be my home for the foreseeable future until I could find a new job and an apartment.  

"Hi... Uhm... I wish to speak with Mr Acherley. If this message could be passed on to him, a return call would be appreciated. It's his sister, Rowan."

It had been one week since I had left that voicemail for my brother. Uncertain of what to say I left the message short, sweet and straight to the point. The last thing I needed was to sound like a bumbling fool, causing him to think some weirdo was leaving peculiar messages which would lead to it being erased before he had heard that it was me. After I hung up, I sighed a breath of relief, then realised I hadn't left my phone number so had to drop another message. 

"Hello, Rowan speaking," I was met with silence on the other end of the line. 

"It's you, it's your voice," the whisper eventually came. 

"You... you got my message," the tears lodged in the back of my throat. 

"Yes," I heard his tears threatening to spill. "My assistant strode into my office and declared that she didn't know I had a sister. I almost fell off my chair when she replayed the voice message. I've waited so long to hear your voice again..." 

Once we had established that we had reunited, the tears flowed and we spent ten minutes sobbing incoherently to each other. After that, it was a further two-hour phone call where we had practically picked up from where we had left off, that we hadn't spent eight torturous years apart. I avoided talking about specific details of my life, only that I was looking for a fresh start, which hopefully would include him in it. 

Through subsequent phone calls this past week, and after I had spoken at great lengths with him about it, I decided I was going to relocate the two-hour journey to his town. I was hesitant at first, but only because since reconnecting with him our chats were full of happiness and laughter. Coming face to face with each other again, coming face to face with the past was going to poke at old wounds and I had no idea how we would react to that, to each other and that scared me. 

My brother had offered for me to stay at his apartment but said that he would need to speak with his housemates first. Since he was currently out of town on business and would be for a further month it didn't seem like a convenient option right now. I also wanted to stick to my plans without burdening him, I wanted to re-establish a bond but I didn't want to become dependent on him. 

After he left our parent's house I became completely self-sufficient. I had to learn to cook for myself, do my laundry and get myself to school all whilst trying to dodge the bullets that were my alcoholic guardians. I didn't want to find my brother again so that he could become this substitute parent, it was too late for all that. I was an adult. 

I also wanted the option to live independently and to know if things didn't work out with him then I would have the choice to leave because I was sure as hell not going to let anyone else dictate my life from now on. I was finally free again and I was not giving my freedom up for anyone. 

I strolled around the hotel room, it was cheap and small but the sheets were clean and that was all I needed. I had a TV which I probably wouldn't use and a window view that allowed fresh, clean air into the room. I didn't know how long I would need to stay here so I had to book the cheapest hotel I could find. Since I would need to save money for food, I was only going to use this room for sleeping and showering.