Page 3 of The Fate Of Us

Truthfully, there’s more than one reason that I’m prolonging the inevitable of signing the next year of my life away for this role.

It’s the reason I originally said no to the role in the first place. It’s the reason that’s had me falling asleep at 5:00 AM after overthinking the night away. It’s why I’ve gained a few pounds after comfort-eating my way through the stress of running the same pros and cons over and over again in my head. Its—

“Hey, everyone. Sorry I’m late.”

It’s him.

“Not a problem, Mr. Patricks. Ms. Moore is still reading over hers. Take your time.” The lady next to me says in his direction, her smile morphing from sorry to flirty, her eyes, along with everyone else’s, following him as he emerges through the door.

I bolt my gaze from her and back down to the contract, reluctant to move my eyes even an inch at the risk of catching a glimpse of Nate. I know if I do, my body will go into panic mode. Like it always does when he’s near. My fingers will go numb; my ears will start to hum, my back will stiffen…

Like the dread that’s pooling in my stomach, I should be used to this sensation too, given how close we’ve gotten while filming theDefenders Of Timemovies, but I’m not. I’m positive I never will be.

Ironic, considering how much I used to crave resting my head on his shoulder.

As I’m re-reading the last line from the final paragraph on the last page of the contract, it occurs to me that the only seat available on the table is the one next to me. Without thinking, I bolt my head upwards, my eyes finding his immediately.

Lethal things.

I catch the muscles in his jaw tick, and tighten, as he nears the only empty chair in the room. It’s almost offensive—the subtle look of uncertainty that masks his face at the realisation he has to sit with me. But after a second more of holding my stare, he wheels out the identical chair to my right, and takes a seat without a single glint of hesitation in his eyes.

After years of keeping up this civil act, you’d think I be used to him treating me like anormal person when we’re in the company of others, but sometimes it throws me off balance.Tricks my mind into thinking things between us weren't as restless as I remembered.

But when it’s just us, you could feel the temperature of the room drop below zero. Thingsturned icy and rigid. His stares suddenly had meaning. The tension builds and becomes so thick that not even a freshly sharpened chainsaw could slice through it.

“Adaline,” he mutters to me with a freshly polished smile.

“Nate,” I smile back, pearly whites on full display.

If someone were to capture this moment, we’d look like nothing more than co-stars whowere excited to work together, prepared and happy to act opposite each other. How the world expects us to be. How wewouldbe if it weren’t for our past.

I slyly adjust my eyes, tracing the edges of his outfit and carefully taking in how different helooks compared to the last time I saw him. His stubble has vanished, and the freckles on his nose double than what I remember, like he’s spent his time away from filming avoiding the New York winter and chasing the sun. His chestnut hair was longer than usual, draping over his forehead and curling slightly at the ends, brushing his temples.

He looks… good. Annoyingly, and unfairly good.

I pull my head away from him, leaning further over to my left, trying not to let hisnostalgic scent float towards me, and break down the barrier I’ve built up against him over the last seven years. But that barrier I thought was made of steel was a net at this moment, allowing whatever fresh yet musky fragrance he was wearing to twirl up my nose and flood my mind with every memory of us, washing away those hateful feelings I so badly wanted to stay.

My head is now a jumbled mess of pastel skies, summer nights on Sunfall Pier, and manuscripts that weren't spell-checked. We found out it was called Sunfall Pier purely because of its location. It was the best spot in the whole of California to see the purest of sunsets. The sunrises were great too, but the cliff that perched out to the east of the beach blocked the beginning moments of them.

But the sunsets? They were magical.

I thought I could feel the sensation of waves washing over my bare feet, ridding me of the sand between my toes. My eyes fluttered shut as I dipped my head, basking in the memories before they started to rot.

There’s only a certain amount of time before nostalgia starts to sour, and make you remember that your childhood wasn’t all you wanted it to be. Soon comes the memories of me waiting on the worn-out panels of the pier, on the very same shoreline, waiting for him for what felt like a lifetime, wearing the white cotton dress he said he loved until the sky was eventually painted black, crying as my dad drove me home on the PCH highway, and accepting that Nate was never coming back for me.

“So!” My head shoots up in the direction of a loud, clearly a smoker’s voice.“It’s our understanding that you two are already familiar with one another?” My eyesdrift over to the man whom I’ve never seen before, taking in his rough features and bald head, before his question smacks me in the face and makes my hands go moist again.

“Uhh…” I croak, my eyes side-eying Nate, who has the same‘I’m not sure how toapproach this question either’look on his face that I do. “You could say that.”

I twist my head fully to face Nate, ignoring the forced smile and insteaddropping my gaze to his hands, resting under the table.

Twitching. Tapping. Pulling at each other.

And despite everything, as I trace the creases in his fingers, my heart breaks for him.

To the average person, leading man Nate Patricks would be the last person you’d think ofto get nervous. On camera, he oozes confidence, and not in a cocky or smug way either, as most actors I’ve met do. He’s confident in the sense that he knows what he wants, knows how to get it too, and all his words are smothered in charm and the right dose of cheekiness, like a perfectly baked cupcake that has the precise dose of each ingredient to make you want a dozen more.

None of that confidence is shining through now, though.

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