Red Strings

"What the--" Xes scoffed and raised an eyebrow at me, her face looking exceptionally pretty under the dimly lit room. "What were you saying? It will work out as long as they see each other it will definitely work out?"

I asked Xes to be in her human form because I didn't want to spy on my own. So she and I crouched down on a table not so far from the counter where Zeanne and Craige were. 

Far enough to remain unnoticed but close enough in hopes to catch a few of Zeanne and Craige's conversation.

To no avail.

I frowned at her. "What do you mean? They look mushy-mushy to me."

"No matter how much I look at it, that's far from mushy-mushy to me." Ever since earlier she kept on giving me this look, not even trying to hide her skepticism about my plan to set up Zeanne and Craige. "What made you think that they will fall in love with each other as soon as they meet?"

"Because they will… I mean they did." I raised my chin defiantly, forgetting for a moment that we were supposed to keep a low profile. "You see, Zee is all for the visuals."

Xes nodded with feigned understanding. "That's Zee. This is Zeanne. What happened to your persistence in differentiating the two?" 

"You said that this is a parallel world!" I hissed under my breath but it didn't take long for her words to register fully in my head. That's when uncertainty started creeping inside me, killing my confidence about the plan that I had. "Their preferences can't be that different, can they?"

"They probably are. Zee liked Craige. Zeanne liked you… I mean Arthur." Xes pointed at the counter with her pursed lips then grimaced. "And I guess Zeanne does not give a  damn about visuals. That… or blonde guys are just not her thing."

I breathed out heavily, feeling my energy slowly dissipate. "Can you please stop being cynical? Are we in this together or not?"

"I never agreed to this ruse. But, regardless of my opinion, you would have done whatever you wanted to do anyway. And I have no choice but to follow your lead." She shot me an accusing glance then scoffed when she saw that I could not say anything to defend myself against her claim. 

Even though she told me multiple times that she didn't want to take part in messing with human relationships, I practically begged her... forced her to help the detective that Zeanne hired to find Craige as soon as possible.

Xes nudged me with her elbow as she stared at the couple. "Don't start sulking. I'm not being cynical. I'm merely informing you that this is not working."

"What do you mean?" I asked as I followed her gaze.

"The strings are not connecting. That means it's not working." She answered nonchalantly and peeled her third lollipop. 

Looking at the lollipop made me frown when I remembered that we still haven't had dinner yet. 'She must have been hungry all this time but she never said anything.'

Hearing my thoughts, she waved her hand dismissively. "I'm still fine, no worries."

Mentally keeping a note in my head to grab dinner on our way home, I quickly blurted out my question before they got lost in oblivion again. "What strings are you talking about?" 

I studied our project's couple, who's now making sparks fly all over the place with the intensity of their gazes towards each other. But my own gaze snapped back to Xes when I felt her pick up my hand from the table by my pinky finger. 

"What the-- Why are you making my heart flutter uselessly?!" I protested with my free hand on my chest, seriously alarmed by the thumping in my chest.

She rolled her eyes and slid her lollipop to one side which made her cheek round in an adorable way. "The Red String of Fate."

My eyebrow raised skeptically. "Red string of fate? I think I've heard of it before. But didn't you tell me that humans are the ones deciding their fate? What's with this red string then?"

"It's complicated." She simply said and turned away.

Leaning my head on one hand, I narrowed my eyes on her. "Or are you just too lazy to be bothered?"

"You got me." She chuckled. But when I didn't stop staring at her, she huffed out a deep breath with resignation. "Fine! It's like an indicator. A red string will appear between you and another person if you're bound to be together based on the decisions that you are predicted to make. There's a very complicated algorithm involved behind it and…" 

She paused at the sight of my already dumbfounded face at the mention of the word algorithm. "Haaa… just know that their so-called destiny that has been severed by your 'resurrection' can't be mended simply by them meeting each other in a bar."

I let out a deep breath as the severity of the problem slowly sank in. But I refused to lose hope. Losing hope was not an option. "It's not simple but not completely impossible, right?"

She studied my face carefully then pointed at my pinky finger. "It's not impossible, yes. Both their strings are currently tangled around this little finger."

"Here?" I could not conceal my consternation as I studied my own finger, hoping to see whatever it is that she was seeing. 

Xes nodded. "Like I said, destiny is fueled by human choices. It takes more than just your decision to let go for things to go back to how they used to be. The whole process might be very tedious: HIGHLY NOT RECOMMENDED. You could just choose to cut off the other string and aim for your very own Happy Ending. That's why I've been telling you..."

"I know what you've been telling me. And the answer is still no." I moved my hand away from her and looked at Zeanne who stormed out of the club. I wanted to follow her but when I saw Craige smiling with amusement as he watched her walk away… I was glued to my seat. 

And a disturbing thought suddenly popped in my head. 

"If… if I did decide to cut off that other string, what would happen to it?"

Xes followed my gaze and she stared at Craige for a long time. "I'm not telling you."

"Why?" I protested because it only made me more curious.

She shrugged. "Just because."

My brows furrowed and I suspiciously searched her face. "If I take the happy ending that you've been enticing me to take from day 1, what will happen to the original owner of that fate?"

She returned my gaze with a disconcerting composure. "Even if you don't pester me, you'll get your answer sooner or later."

"Seeing you adamantly refuse to give me a straight answer only tells me that whatever it is you're hiding from me is something disadvantageous for your campaign to make me settle here and have that happy ending." I chuckled bitterly and stared at my own finger. "What about mine? Was I also connected to anyone back in my world?"

The corner of her lips lifted with a hint of sympathy then she shrugged. "Who knows?"

I could only smile, perfectly aware that I should not be feeling disappointed for not meeting the 'love of my life' because I should be grateful just for the fact that I was given a second chance to live. 

But I couldn't help but feel sad for 'that' person, if there really was one. 

And feel bad for myself, if there was none.