I Was Fated to Love You (3 page)

 
“ Cheer up. Don’t feel so bad about
yourself. It is him who is losing out on you. You deserve better”

“ I
thought.. he was.. the one.. He was my first boyfriend”

“ Well
the next will be much better. So be happy, yeah?”

“ I
know.. maybe I was lying to myself..I knew that maybe he didn’t love me like
what I thought.. but I kept telling myself that it was just me… what pains me
now is that my money.. it is all gone.. I have given them all to him…”

“ YOU
HAVE LOST ALL YOUR MONEY?”

Darren
took a step back and he struggled to understand how anyone can be as naïve as
Abby.

 
Abby nodded and recounted the story of
how Samuel was her superior at her office, and how he had asked her out, been
so nice to her, then started requesting for her to pay for his meals, gifts for
others, as well as lend him money to start up a business outside the company.
She had given everything to him.

“ Well I
happen to have some contacts in the casino. And I can make him lose all the
money he has by today”

Chapter 4

Payback

Darren was disappointed that Tiffany had not showed
up. He had called her phone but there was no response. Since he had nothing
much better to do while on cruise, he decided to help Abby, the poor girl who
had just realized that she had been cheated of her love and of her money.

He summoned his assistant, James, to take care of
Abby’s dressing. To enter such a classy casino, Abby could not afford to be
dressed like how she had just dressed- a floral old-fashioned shirt and a dull
grey skirt to her knees. James took a good look at Abby and summarized that she
was in sum-a fashion disaster. James whisked her off to a shop in the cruise,
which sold elegant dresses. Abby took a look at the price tags, and swallowed
her saliva. They were all so pricey, and it would take months of her salary to
buy just one. James assured her that the dress of her choice will be on loan,
and that she didn’t need to pay for anything. She tried dress after dress, and
finally chose one which James thought looked great on her.

As Abby approached Darren at the upper deck, he
gasped.

She was so beautiful.

She was dressed in a gorgeous black cocktail dress
with intricate white laces on them. The only thing that felt out of place were
her black-rimmed glasses.

Darren walked towards Abby who looked half-embarassed
to be seen in a dress, as if she had never worn one before. He took off her
specs, which she gasped.

“ What’s the matter? You can’t see without your
specs?”

“ No… No.. it’s not that. I have light myopia. I can
still see quite well. Why take off my specs though?”

“ Because it makes you look less old-fashioned without
it and we are about to step into a classy place”

“Oh..”

“ Don’t you want your money back?”

“ Yes.. I do..”

“ So give me your glasses”

Abbey gave her glasses to Darren and he walked into
the casino with her. He ushered her into the VIP place where they saw Samuel
and his lady there, seemingly having a joyous time.
 
They sat at the table where Samuel and
his lady set.

 
They blinked and couldn’t believe that
the ugly duckling had turned into a beautiful swan. Indeed, Abbey was not a
ravishing beauty, but she was quite beautiful without her glasses. She had a
down-to-earth beauty about her, with her big dolly-like eyes.

It
happened that Darren was a master at the Black Jet and that very night, he had
assisted Abby in the games, making sure that the amateur Samuel had lost at
every game, leaving him to becoming a pauper by the night. Whenever Abby raised
the stakes of the games, Samuel’s heart would sink. She kept thinking of why he
had done this to her and what she had done to get this treatment. She felt rage
and so much more rage, that she just wanted him to vanish forever.

 
By the end of the night, Samuel was
indeed broke. He didn’t even have enough chips to pay for the last round. He
tried to make a quick escape from the casino with his lady, but at the snap of
Darren’s fingers, the guards pinned Samuel to the table, as he squirmed in
terror and anguish.

“ Abby,
why don’t..why don’t you decide how you want to deal with him?”

 
Abby nodded and although she had
initially been unsure, she felt a surge of determination, as the frustration
and pain rose within her.

 
“I will let you go. Only if you will
kneel down and apologize”

Samuel did not even pause to hesitate. He instantly
went down on his knees, and crawled towards Abby’s feet, where he grabbed hold
of her legs.

“ Please
forgive me, Abby. Please let me go…”

Abby fought hard to swallow her tears as memories of
Samuel began to playback in her mind. How he had taught her to ride a
bicyce..how he had baked a cake for her. He had never done all these for her.
It was all for him.

“ GET OUT OF MY SIGHT NOW. I DO NOT WANT TO SEE YOU
AGAIN”

“ Thank you.. Thank you Abby..”

Samuel and his partner made a mad dash towards the
exit and Abby had got her revenge. She had managed to get back all the money
that he had owed her, and got to disgrace him in front of distinguished guests
of the casino. His ego had been deflated and he was now a miserable prick whom
everyone in the casino would despise on. The guests of the casino burst into
laughter at the miserable man and cheered on at Abby for having been so
courageous.

“ Although you were the one who had broke into my
room, I suppose as a gentleman, I should have bothered to check who you were.
So I guess, we are quits now?”

“ Quits”

“Now will you do me a favor”

“What favor?”

“Everyone thinks you are my girlfriend Tiffany whom I
would be proposing to. I am embarrassed by how she had not turned up. Can you
put on a show- pretend to be Tiffany and agree to my proposal?”

Abby could not decline. He had helped her by such a
great amount that it would go against her conscience if she were to decline.
Furthermore, it was Abby who had mistakenly entered the wrong room and caused
trouble on him.

The pair ended the night with Abby agreeing to
Darren’s fake proposal, with the witness of the ship’s crew. Everyone was
offering their congratulatory words. The night seemed almost too beautiful to
be true, with the fireworks in the air.

Chapter 5

The Accidental
Pregnancy Kit

A month later, it had been life as usual for Abby.
Just that this time, there would be no more idealizations on any men. Once
bitten, twice shy. Abby knew that she would be more careful this time. Yet, she
was still the same old Abby, who was used to being ordered by everyone else
around. Well, Abby’s mother had often told her when she was a young child that
one cannot be useless in life and Abby knew that since she did not have a
distinct personality, she might as well make use of her agreeable personality
and make herself useful.

 
The loser Samuel had been sacked from his
job after he was found to have embezzled company funds. Abby was so glad that
she didn’t have to see him around anymore. It would be plain misery to be
reminded of what he had done to her.

 
It was the birthday of Abby’s sister
today. Abby had taken great lengths to prepare for her sister’s birthday. She
had baked a cake, made some tarts, prepared some dishes, and adorned her
sister’s house with decorations. At the birthday party, all her relatives had
asked when Abby would finally be married off. Abby cringed and tried to get
herself out of such conversations, since she didn’t want to be reminded of how
nobody wanted her. Abby’s mother insensitively remarked that Abby had been so
naïve to believe what the cad Samuel had told her. Abby sighed as she glanced
at all her sisters. They were all married and Linda was pregnant.

She was
the black sheep of the family where nobody would want to marry her.

 
Just then, someone suggested that she go
for a matchmaking arrangement and Abby was so terrified of the idea of meeting
someone new since she was not good at socialites. Another chimed in that her
neighbour, Billy, was a good catch. Billy was fat and had pimples all over his
face. Linda wondered what kind of a good catch that was, and rather her sister
be single than marry a guy like him. Abby excused herself to the kitchen where
she spent the night baking great desserts for everyone, to be pardoned from
conversations revolving men, relationships, marriages and babies..

 
The next day, Abby went to work, as
usual. She felt a wave of nausea overwhelm her all of a sudden, and made a dash
to the toilet where she puked into the toilet bowl. She had been feeling a
little sick recently, but owed to the fact that it must had been something bad
she had eaten recently. Yet, it had been going on for some time, and she was
getting worried that she may be having some internal disease. She saw a lady
with a huge belly enter the ladies when suddenly, a terrifying thought came to
her. It made her feel sick to the guts as she walked back to her office.

 
Abby was so sick at the idea, that she
decided to skip her lunch. Making use of her free time during lunch hour, Abby
decided to do what she should do, to give herself a piece of mind. There was an
unsettling feeling gnawing within her. She wouldn’t be so unlucky, would she?
The unfortunate thing for Abby was that during peak lunch hour, the vicinity
around her workplace was filled with throngs of people, and it would be rather
embarrassing for Abby if she should be caught going to the store to get a
pregnancy kit for herself, especially when everyone had known that she was
single and due to be forever alone. A week ago, her colleagues had joked about
Abby’s stupidity for believing that Samuel had really loved her. If she was
caught buying that thing, they would most likely assume that the child would be
Samuel’s.

 
Abby decided to make herself appear less
recognisable by wearing a dull green jacket with a hood over her. She hurriedly
walked to the convenience store just beside her workplace building and eyed
nervously at the range of pregnancy kits. She decided to choose a
moderately-priced kit, just to be sure. At the counter where Abby made payment,
Abby couldn’t help but fidget around nervously. It was her own conscience
pricking her, as if she were afraid that the lady at the counter would judge
her.

 
At the toilet, Abby nervously lifted her
skirt and proceeded to use the pregnancy test kit. She heard some shuffling
noises which was followed by a loud bang, as if someone had dashed into the
toilet and closed the cubicle door beside her with much force. Then, all went
quiet. Abby wondered why the lady in the cubicle beside her was in such a hurry.
Abby’s mind was in a whirl. She certainly hoped that she would not be so
unlucky. What could she do if she were pregnant? Then, the moment of truth
arrived. It was as if Abby felt like she had been struck by something.

 
It had been positive. Abby had been
pregnant. She was a mother now. She felt her hands turn clammy, her stomach
gone cold and her heart in her throat. What could Abby do? She was single.
There was no way of contacting the man whom she had a one-night-stand with. She
didn’t even ask for his name. Why didn’t she ask for his name? Why didn’t she
get his number? Oh right, she was ashamed. It was embarrassing. What were the
chances that he would do something about the baby even if she had his name? He
did mention that he had a girlfriend right? He did mention that he was about to
propose to her right? Abby froze and felt the blood in her limbs run dry. What
had Abby done?

 
A deafening knock shattered her thoughts.
There was a husky male voice coming from the front of her cubicle door.

 
“ Open up! There is no way for you to
hide now. So just open up!”

 
What in the world was going on? The baby
thing had been confusing enough, and now this? Abby’s life was turning topsy
curvy.

 
“ I am still using the toilet. Who are
you? What do you want?”

BANG!

The door
swung open after the man had delivered a karate kick and Abby was so shocked
that she sent herself reeling against the wall. The man had a solid gun in his
hand and he was pointing threateningly at Abby. He had two other men behind him
who looked equally menacing as well.

 
“ You are now under arrest for drug
trafficking. Place your hands in the air. Right now”

“ I .. I
don’t know what you are talking about…I was just using the toilet..”

Just then, a group of reporters rushed into the
toilet, each holding their microphones and there were the cameramen who were
pointing their cameras in Abby’s direction.

“ Just using the toilet? Let’ see what you have in
your hands right now”