When fate plays its hand

Every time Sebastian thought about the possibility, he felt a tightness in his chest. Since there was no actual reason, he decided to be the one to make Madison stay in Jandersville. Though he knew that reason wasn’t enough, he believed that one day, it would be.

When he arrived at the lab, as expected, Miranda was already working at the lab bench.

“Good morning, Miranda.”

“Morning. Where’s Madi?” she asked. She wondered why these two, who usually came together, weren’t doing so that day.

He pursed his lips. “She… suddenly didn’t want to give me a ride today,” he said with a hint of helplessness in his voice.

Miranda was taken aback. “No way. She’s not one to get worked up over small stuff. Did you piss her off somehow? Like, really badly?”

Sebastian sighed. “…Maybe.”

Miranda was dumbfounded.

Sebastian had arrived at 8:00 am and kept his eyes on the entrance as he hoped to catch sight of the “cuddlebug” who had fled yesterday.

By 10:00 am, Madison still hadn’t shown up, and Sebastian began to worry. He feared something had happened to her, so he called and texted her nonstop since 9:30 am. But she kept hanging up and didn’t reply to his messages.

“Miranda, Madi hasn’t shown up yet. I…”

“Huh? You didn’t know? She didn’t tell you?” Miranda asked.

Sebastian froze. “Tell me what?”

“She messaged me at 9:00 am saying she needed to take the week off.”

“A week off?”

“Yeah. She said something about family matters and needed to go back to Gulsberg,” she replied.

“Did she say what happened?” Sebastian pressed.

“She mentioned her dad had health issues. It seemed urgent, so I didn’t ask for more details,” Miranda said,

His heart dropped upon hearing that. He knew that Madison wouldn’t use such an excuse to avoid him, so he figured her father must be in bad shape.

“Miranda, I also want to take two days off,” he said.

“Huh?”

“Is that okay?”

Miranda nodded. “Sure.” noveldrama

“Thanks.” Without another word, Sebastian left the lab and made his way back to his apartment. While on the road, he quickly booked a flight to Grenada in Gulsberg for the afternoon.

Miranda worked alone in the lab until 6:00 pm, then rubbed her aching neck and stepped down from the lab bench.

Since she had driven that day, she didn’t ask Paul to pick her up. When she arrived at her doorstep, she saw him already waiting in the hallway, with two bulging shopping bags at his

feet.

As she pulled out her keys to open the door, she asked, “Did you go grocery shopping?”

Paul nodded. He held the bags of groceries and followed her inside. “Got off work early today, so I decided to browse around.”

“How about we stay in tonight and cook something simple at home,” Miranda suggested.

“Okay. Your call.” He slid into his slippers.

She asked, “Why didn’t you wait for me at home? Standing in the hallway must be tiring.”

“I didn’t arrive too early. I figured you’d be home soon, and carrying these bags around would be a hassle.”

Miranda rolled up her sleeves and headed for the kitchen.

Paul filled a glass with warm water and then followed her. “Drink some water first.”

She raised her oily hands to show him, then smiled brightly. “At a time like this, is it too much to ask my boyfriend to feed me water?”

He laughed and complied without hesitation. “Nope. It’s my fault for not being more thoughtful.”