Destiny

Frederick PoV

“I think ... I think we should breakup” I say slowly and calmly.

Mara looks at me with her eyes wide open, and I sigh, prepared again to receive a litany of insults I certainly don’t deserve.

“But ... why Fred? We’ve only been dating for three months, and everything has been wonderful.” I see her eyes filling with tears.

Discreetly, the other customers who enjoyed drinking something in this cafe began to look at us and murmur. How many times have I gone through this?

“I’m sorry, Mara; the truth is that I like someone else,” I lied.

“How? How could you do this to me? We were so good together!” Her tears began to fall, wetting her cheeks.

“I’m sorry, Mara; I hope you can find your happiness.” I start to get up to leave.

“Stupid, selfish asshole! You are an egocentric moron! You don’t care about anybody but you! I hate you, Frederick! I hate you!” She shouts at me, and I sigh.

I walk away without saying anything but watch what happens next from the corner. I started noticing it two weeks ago. Mara’s red thread formed two days ago when I finally saw the recipient, the waiter who now offered a handkerchief to comfort her. Sigh.

Sooner or later, all the girls I’ve dated have found their soulmates while I’m still searching. My red thread has not even begun to form, which tells me that wherever she is, it is far away. Come on, baby, where are you?

I started walking, and I decided to go and see how the renovations that I started doing in my restaurant were going. Taking my father’s advice, I decided to Renovate and expand the restaurant’s floor plan and dedicate a sector to offering a pastry service. This would be a pleasant and comfy place to have breakfast in the morning, an afternoon snack, or simply enjoy a tasty cake at any time of the day.

My parents have had a bakery all their lives, and my idea is to order the different varieties of cakes, pies, and pastries from them. I know they will have to hire someone to help them, but that may finally convince my father to retire. Both have been working there for over thirty years, and it would be good if they finally can take a break. A bakery can be tiring, considering that you must get up at dawn to start baking the pastries that should be ready as soon as the store opens.

Even so, they never complain and never hire assistants, something that will finally change. My idea is to eventually cook everything in my restaurant, but for that, I should add a second kitchen. That will be only when I finish this renovation and convince my parents to close their bakery and fulfill their dream of traveling to Greece. Anyway, if I like the person they hire, I can bring them with me to the restaurant, where they will have a job assured.

When I entered the restaurant, Peter, my best friend, and the architect in charge of the renovations came to greet me. We have known each other since childhood and are like brothers.

“Hello, Fred! Checking if I’m not sleeping?” He says, smiling.

“You already know me; I was walking around the neighborhood and couldn’t contain myself.”

“Yeah, right, ok. As you will see, everything goes according to plan, so you can reopen next week.”

“perfect! Do you need anything else?”

“No, no, the building materials have already been bought, the same as the new furniture that should arrive in a couple of days.”

“Ok Peter, I see that it is true that you don’t need me, but if you need something, just call me. One of these days, you should come to my house; I don’t want to bother you with your work schedule.”

“Of course, whenever you want, see you!” He tells me and turns to give some instructions to the workers.

After leaving, I looked for my car, which I had left parked in the restaurant’s parking lot, and decided to visit my parents.

After only fifteen minutes of driving, I parked my car in front of their store and entered it.

“Hi, guys!” I say, smiling when I enter the bakery.

“Freddy, honey! Niran, Freddy is here!” shouts my mother, and my father comes out from the kitchen covered in flour.

“Dad, the flour is for cooking, not bathing in it,” I say while my mother and I laugh.

“If Cleopatra bathed in milk, I can bathe in flour,” he answers as he claps his arms and apron to remove the annoying white powder.

“How’s everything going around here?”

“Everything is fine, sweetie. Luckily, starting tomorrow and for the next week, we are going to interview three pastry chefs that we select from their résumés to see which one we like the most,” says my mother, happy.

“All men?” I ask them.

“Yep,” says my father

“Damn, and I thought maybe I could find my soulmate,” I said, somewhat discouraged.

“What happened to Mara?” Asks my mother.

“Her thread appeared, so continuing our relationship was pointless. You know what happened the only time I tried to force myself to stay next to a girl once her thread had appeared,” I say as a chill runs through me.

I was seventeen years old, stubborn, and, of course, immature. I really thought I was with the love of my life, so I couldn’t accept that she belonged to someone else. When her red thread was formed, I refused to see it. I did everything possible for her to stay with me, but with horror, I saw her thread begin to change color, and she was becoming increasingly sad and dull. Forcing her to be with me, I was killing her true love, and a thread was beginning to form between us, a thread that looked more like a thin black chain. At that moment, before something worse happened, I broke up with her and learned my lesson.

A year later, I saw her again, and for my peace of mind, her red thread was bright and clear, and she was the happy girl I knew again.

“I’m sorry, honey,” says my mother, looking at me with pity. I know she doesn’t do it with bad intentions, but I hate that look.

“it’s ok, Mom. She will appear someday. For now, I’ll keep dating girls who aren’t destined for anyone yet.”

“Yes, darling, but you still suffer. Maybe you’re not in love with them, but I know you give your best every time,” she says, hugging me.

“Emma, ​​don’t make him feel worse,” my father finally says, rescuing me from my mother’s insistence.

At that moment, someone enters, and when I turn, I see a really nice girl. As always, my eyes are fixed on her left hand. There is no thread attached to her, so I smile the same way she smiles at me.

“Hello, I’m here to pick up the birthday cake I ordered two days ago,” she says, addressing my mother but looking at me out of the corner of her eye.

“Good choice; my father’s cakes are the best in the neighborhood,” I say, smiling.

“Really? Are you not just saying it because they’re your parents?” she says with a mischievous look and raises an eyebrow.

“No, maybe if they paid me for saying it...”

“We have been paying for your butt for over twenty years; that’s enough for you to advertise us from now until the day you die,” says my father, obfuscated, and we all laugh.

“Frederick, nice to meet you,” I say, extending my hand.

“Samantha,” she says, shaking it.

Oh well, life goes on and as they say, it’s not worth crying over spilled milk. I hope Mara will be happy. Obviously, Samantha is not my soulmate, but nobody prevents me from spending time with her if she agrees. It may not be the best, but it’s definitely better than being alone.