Luck or Fate?

Good Things

I'm driving home from work and I decide to get some Chinese takeout for dinner. When I get home, I knock on Henry's door. "Hey, dinner's ready." I say.

I set the table and Henry comes out of his room. "Hey. How was school?"

"Good. I got an A on my math test."

"That's wonderful, Henry! How is studying for finals?" I ask, bringing the food over to the table.

"Not fun." He says. "Thanks for getting Chinese for dinner."

"Of course. To be honest, I didn't feel like cooking tonight."

"Well, it's good." He says, taking a bite of fried rice.

When we finish dinner, Henry goes back to his room. But then he comes back out and sits on the couch. "I think I'll study out here tonight."

"Okay. Is it alright if I sit with you?"

"Sure!" He says.

I sit next to him with only a few chapters left of my book. We sit there in silence for about half an hour when my phone rings. "Sorry, Henry." I say, looking at the screen. My heart skips a beat when I see his name. Why is he calling me? Forget it. I think, declining his call.

But he just calls me again. You know he's not going to give up. I sigh and go into my room. "What do you want?" I ask.

"It's 7 o'clock." He says.

"Screw that. Why are calling me?"

"Emma, you don't have to listen to me. I'm just going to talk."

"I don't want to hear you talk." I say, getting annoyed.

He ignores me. "I just want to tell you what happened. When I hung up on our last call, I immediately regretted what I said. About choosing my work over you. I was a fool for saying that."

A dumb fool. I want to say, but I hold my tongue and let him continue.

"Your work is always replaceable. But people are not. The reason I was reluctant to leave my work was because I've been with my work group for so long. They're almost like a family to me. We always get together during the holidays and have parties and whatever. None of else really have any other family because we're Squibs. In the magical world, Squibs are usually abandoned because we don't have any magical abilities. So when I found out about this group, I felt like I was meant to be here. And our boss, he's like the father we never had. Sure, he can be strict, but we all love him."

While he's talking, all of the frustration and hurt that I experienced since he left is slowly leaving me. Suddenly, I feel so ashamed for getting upset with him. I'm only a tiny part of his life. Why did I get so upset? Of course I would choose my family over my 3 month boyfriend.

"So when I got back to work at headquarters and saw the whole group again, I didn't want to leave them again so soon. And when we were talking about our future and planning for me to move back, I...I don't know." He takes a deep breath. "I know that I messed up really bad and I know that you'll never forgive me, but I just wanted you to know that I had a reason for leaving. But it's not a very good one, and I want to say I'm sorry, Emma. I deeply apologize for everything I did that hurt you."

I wait a second to let it all settle in. "I—I forgive you. And it's not your fault. It's mine. I'm sorry for being selfish in thinking that I was the biggest part of your life. You were the biggest part of mine and it was silly of me to think that I was yours."

"But Emma, you are."

"I am?" I ask, surprised.