Tangled Fates

Chapter Oneღ

        Chapter Oneღ

        soulmate

        noun

        A person ideally suited to another as a close friend or romantic partner.

                "Are you excited?"

            I glanced up from my plate, which is still untouched after an hour, and looked at my Mum. She was leaning forward, her elbows resting delicately against the fine oak wood of the dining room table. Her dark hair gleamed beneath the light from the chandelier as her blue eyes watched me excitedly.

            "Yes. Of course." I replied formally.

            That was a lie.

         I was anything but excited for tomorrow, the day that I would finally turn twenty one. It was strange – most people, especially girls, longed for the day to come where their destiny would finally become clear.

        On the day of your twenty first birthday, you would wake up with the name of your soulmate tattooed on your wrist. It could be anyone – your best friend, your ex-boyfriend, your teacher, someone you barley knew or someone you had yet to meet. It was up to you what you would do with this information, some chose to ignore it and continue with their lives while others would search for their soulmate, never giving in until they found that one person they were made to be with for the rest of their lives. People tended to choose the latter, it was a natural instinct, to want to be with the person that was specifically designed for you by the universe.

        "I remember the day of my twenty first birthday like it was yesterday," Mum sighed, a wistful expression taking over her delicate features, "When I woke up with your father's name on my wrist, I was the happiest girl alive. I had always had a thing for him, I used to stare at the back of his head every history lesson!" She giggled like a little school girl, exchanging a loving glance with Dad.

        It was obvious to anyone how much my Mum and Dad loved each other - excluding the fact that each other's names were tattooed into their wrists of course. They only had to glance at each other and they lit up like the sun. They were so comfortable around each other and sometimes they even finished each other's sentences, they were a perfect match – obviously.

        Which was why I didn't understand why I felt sick at the thought of waking up tomorrow.

        My stomach had been in knots the entire day and there had been an occasion where I had had to lock myself in the bathroom and put my head between my legs to stop myself from fainting.  Whenever I thought about tomorrow panic shot through me like lightning bolts, my blood would turn cold with fear and my palms would become sweaty. I had tried to ignore it, telling myself that it was normal to feel this way - although I was beginning to doubt that as I listened to Mum bang on about how happy she had been when Dad's name had appeared on her wrist.

        "I'm sure Dominic is excited too." Mum said.

        I swallowed hard at the mention of my boyfriend, "Dominic?"

        "Yes. You two must be thrilled that the wait is finally over." Dad beamed.

        "You can finally begin to plan your future together!" Mum told me earnestly.

        Dominic and I had been together around a year now. We had started going out when we were sixteen after we had shared a drunken kiss in my best friend's birthday party. I had been thrilled, I had fancied him for two years and had been positive that he was my soulmate. I was still sure – Dominic and I were like two halves of a whole. We got on like a house on fire, barely arguing and always laughing. I loved him, more than anything, which was why I was desperately hoping that it was his name that I would see tattooed on my wrist tomorrow morning.