Page 25 of The Holiday Disaster

This time I did roll my eyes. It was such an obvious sales pitch that even Ethan must have also realized the whole story was a ruse to sell his products. However, Ethan always did things that were beyond my expectations.

“I’ll take it!” He just about grabbed the keychain out of the man’s hand in his haste. My eyes almost popped out of their sockets as I gawked at him.

“What?” he said with his cheeks flushed as he faced me. “I needed a new keychain anyway, and the birds are…cute.”

The pause before the last word told me that cute wasn’t all that he thought of them. I couldn’t help but chuckle at that.

I picked up a matching keychain from his display and held it out to the old man. “These two please,” I said as I handed the grinning man my card.

“I can pay…” Ethan tried to pull out his own wallet, but I stopped him.

“I want to buy it for you. Will you let me?” I asked. He gave me a small nod, and his head tilted down as he held the Doves of Destiny out in front of him.

I clinked my own keychain with his, making him look up again at me. “Here’s to fate,” I said, and the brilliant smile he gave me in return was completely worth the money I spent on the silly keychains.

I didn’t believe in fate. Life wasn’t some beautiful fairy tale where everything always worked out in the end. It was rare for a relationship to work, as proven by my countless exes. But when I gazed back at his alluring face shining full of happiness, I couldn’t help but think that perhaps my fate had already been sealed the first day we had met.

SEVENTEEN

ETHAN

We browsed the booths around the main square, looking at all the cute art and souvenirs they sold. Countless people milled around us, causing me to almost lose Kingsley a couple of times in the crowd.

When it was clear that the crowd was only getting thicker, Kingsley grabbed my hand and brought us to a coffee shop to rest for a bit. I got us a table while he ordered us drinks to warm up.

I fished out the Doves of Destiny keychain from my pocket and dangled it in front of me. My face stretched in what must have been the world’s goofiest smile. I kept thinking about the tale the old man who sold us the trinket told us.

Mom believed in all things love, and growing up in China, she believed fate was the essence that drew love together. Like how she moved halfway across the world and happened to encounter my dad, who was from the same small village she was from. She said that she knew he was the one from the moment they’d met.

Two people who both left their hometown only to find their way to each other in a foreign land. That was when my parents found their fate.

Whenever I heard that story when I was young, I was fascinated and excited to meet my own fated person one day. But as I got older and having never dated anyone, I’d slowly forgotten the fate that my mom had spoken of.

“I just don’t get it.” I glanced up at Kingsley’s words and watched him sit down and place a steaming mug in front of me.

“Thanks,” I said, placing the keychain down to take a sip of the hot chocolate. The sweetness of the drink only intensified the happiness high I was already on. “And you don’t get what?”

Kingsley’s eyes drifted to the table, his focus on the doves as he fiddled with them. He played with it for a few moments before glancing back up. “Why have you never dated if you’re such a romantic? I mean, there were plenty of nice guys in our city.”

I lowered my head to hide my blush. I could die from embarrassment right now. Did I have some sort of aura that alerted everyone I was gay or something? I never officially came out and stated my preference, but I was almost certain my entire family already knew.

It started with them asking me if a certain male celebrity was handsome, then my parents telling me they would be happy as long as I was happy. And even my brother assuring me he’d beat up any “man” that broke my heart.

I was ecstatic to have such a supportive family, but it was mortifying to know that I could be read so easily, and even more so if the person doing the reading was the one I had the most to hide from.

If he could tell I was gay, then what else did he know? Was he aware of the huge crush I’d had on him all these years? Was that the reason why he had always liked to tease me so much?

My good mood instantly soured at that thought. It would be just my luck to have a taste of the one person I’d wanted since forever and have it ruined because he would no doubt be turned off by how much of a loser I was after finding out how much I actually liked him.

“Babe, what’s wrong?” Kingsley gently loosened the fists I was making with my hands, concern etched on his face. I looked at my hands to find little crescent indents from where my nails had unknowingly dug into my skin.

“It’s nothing.” I forced on a smile and flipped my palm down to slip my fingers between his. Maybe I could still have this pretend weekend with him if I refused to admit my crush on him.

Instead of reassuring him, my words caused him to tighten his hold on my hand to the point that I almost winced in pain. His eyes narrowed with disbelief, but he didn’t call me out on my lie.

“And what about you?” I asked, putting the topic back on him. If we weren’t talking about me, then I couldn’t let anything slip.

He examined me, his brows furrowed as if he were reading me. I tried to make my smile more natural-looking, hoping it conveyed that I had nothing to hide.

---