Fate is a strange thing, Gabrielle thought as she looked out over the water. The weather was unseasonably warm for February, so she decided to take a walk along the river during her lunch. So much had happened in the last six months that she often wondered if any of it was real. Hell, had any of the last six years really happened? Unfortunately, she had the emotional scars to prove they did. At the same time, she wouldn’t be who she was, where she was if those years didn’t really exist. And considering where she was now, she didn’t want to change anything.
If you looked at the line Fate had drawn for her, you’d think Fate had been drunk. This jagged line had taken her through college, marriage, several jobs, graduate school, a divorce, coming out, a painful relationship, to this point here. You could easily get dizzy looking at this strange path Gabrielle had been on. Sometimes, she couldn’t believe everything that she’d been through. In her last relationship, she had lost herself. She had tried so hard to make it work, tried to be who her partner needed, but it was never enough. After a few years, she had checked out mentally. She knew it would never work but she felt trapped. Trapped out of loyalty. Trapped out of obligation. When she was finally released from her prison, she had never felt so free. And that’s when Fate took another unexpected turn.
She had met Lucy through a mutual friend. They had exchanged emails a few times but they had been very casual. At the time, Gabrielle was still in a relationship. But there was something about Lucy that made Gabrielle wish she were single. When they finally broke up, Lucy emailed her to tell her how sorry she was. Gabrielle was touched by the gesture and wished she knew Lucy well enough to call her. She also wished her ex would hurry up and move out.
Several months passed before Gabrielle heard from Lucy again, but Lucy had been in her thoughts many times. Gabrielle had started messages to Lucy that went unsent. How could she casually start a conversation without coming off as strange? She was also scared. She had spent the last four years being rejected and wasn’t sure she could take anymore. When she saw Lucy’s message, she was thrilled. She must have spent an hour writing a response, making sure she didn’t say anything stupid or sound too desperate. What had started out as a casual conversation about how each of them was doing turned into a conversation about a business idea Gabrielle had. A few weeks passed before she heard from Lucy again. That’s when everything changed.