Red String Of Fate

Chapter 1

I gave the bench a final wipe down before hanging up my apron and heading towards the play room. I pushed the creaky old wooden door open before slipping inside.  The noise instantly drifted up towards me and before I could open my mouth to greet them, squeals of excitement erupted and a dozen little kids surrounded me.

“Reni! Reni!” A bunch of little kids surrounded my legs and I bent down, slowly trying to peel them off me.

“Hi there.” I smiled warmly at them and they beamed back.

“Reni! Reni! Come play!” They glanced up expectantly and I gave them a sad smile this time.

“Sorry guys. I need to go home now. I’ll be back next week though, okay?”

“You’ll take us out next week right?” A bubbly voice asked from beside my right leg.

“Uhh …” I looked around the room wildly before spotting Mrs Leah hurrying towards me.

“Guys, don’t be selfish. Reni’s really busy now. I’m sure she would take you out if she could.” She picked up the nearest child and placed her back down near the dollhouse. She gave the rest of the children a gentle push towards the toys before making her way back towards me.

“Hi.” She breathed the greeting as she finally made it across all the scattered toys.

“Thank you for coming this week as well. Not many orphanages are lucky to have volunteers like you.” She gave me a rub on the shoulders and a hug before giving me a gentle push towards the door.

“You should go now. We’ve already wasted enough of your time. I’ll play with them. You can go.”

I gave her a doubtful look. “Are you sure you can handle it? I can always stay if you need me to.”

“No, honey, go.” She gave me a stronger push towards the door, making her bracelets clash against each other.

“Call me if anything happens.” I gave her a firm look.

“Okay. Okay. If anything happens. Now go and work on your design for this year.” She gave me an even firmer look and I sighed and turned to leave when all the children rushed up to me.

“Bye bye Reni!” They wrapped their chubby fingers around my legs and spoke in singsong voices. I laughed and ruffled a few of the children’s hairs and left. Once I was outside, the chilly air really hit and I hurried towards my car wrapping my coat tighter around me.

After a short drive from the orphanage, I made my way upstairs and unlocked the door to my apartment. I instantly made a beeline towards my workroom and turned on the overhead light, critically gazing over my draft, eyeing what I had done the night before. It looked amazing yesterday but today it just looked disfigured. After a few horus of attempting to fix it up, I put my pencil down, scrunch up the draft and tossed it into the trash can.

<>

My landline rang as I opened my eyes early Monday morning. I grabbed at the handset and flopped back down on the bed.

“Mmmm?” I closed my eyes and waited for the person on the other side to speak.

“Serenity Kayleen Taylor! It’s 10 am Monday morning and you are still not here at work. Should I be worried?” A humoured voice sounded and I groaned.

“Jayson? Jayson.” I asked groggily before confirming it in my mind. He laughed.

“You say my name like a curse. If what I'm thinking is correct, you are still in bed?”

“No” I lied straight away, jumping up off the bed.

“Reni, you can’t lie to me. I heard the sheets.” I turned and glared at the traitorous sheets.

“Oh. Well, yeah. I am.” I admitted it slowly, running my fingers through my chestnut hair, watching as the mirror reflected the way they waved down my back.

“I knew it.” We both laughed. “Well, hurry up then. I expect you here in fifteen.” The familiar end-of-call beeping indicated that he had hung up and I hurriedly picked a random dress and a random pair of high heeled boots. I grabbed my handbag and whacked on a light layer of makeup. I then grabbed my keys and stumbled out of my door and down the stairs.

Fourteen minutes and thirty-five seconds later, I was up in our joint office. Jayson looked up and eyed my outfit and laughed. “Wow! Since it takes you at least ten minutes to drive here, that outfit must have taken less than five.”

“Actually, it took seven and I sped through lights on the way down.” I dropped my handbag down on my desk and walked over to his and grabbed his plate of sandwiches.