Page 81 of A Lab Rat's Guide to Fated Love
“You have been waiting to meet him again someday, in every life since, determined to save him when the cycle repeats. Because it is going to repeat. Everything left unfinished will play out again. And you will get another chance to fulfil your promise, just as he will, his.”
Nori swallowed painfully against the lump that had been steadily rising in her throat ever since the reading began. Anita’s unblinking gaze still held hers with the same distant, far-off expression.
“It has not been easy for you. Not this life, nor the ones before. The lovers and wheel of fortune, reversed…” She reached across the table and took Nori’s hands in hers. “The time has almost come. Soon, you will be faced with a choice. A choice that is yours alone to make. Because onlyyouwill know howto answer fate once you meet it. Cruel as it is, no matter what you decide; in the end, it will be a sacrifice either side.”
“Please…” Nori whispered. “Please…”
Please… what?
Anita released her hands before slumping back in her chair. Her eyelids drooped, and she stayed like that for a while.
“Oh, no!” she exclaimed when she glanced towards Nori again. “What happened? Did I say something bad?” She sprung from her seat, and grabbing a box of tissues, thrust a bunch into her hands. “No, wait… it was something romantic, right? Something about past-life lovers? Oh, Nori. Are you okay? I’m so sorry.”
Nori stared blankly at the tissues and frowned. What was she talking about? Was there something on her face? Her fingers brushed against her cheek and came off wet.
A heartbeat later, a violent sob built in her chest.
What was going on?Sob.
Why was she crying?Sob.
And why couldn’t she stop?Sob.
Anita rushed to her side as she started hiccupping uncontrollably, right before dissolving into a blubbering mess.
Fate? Past lives? Nori didn’t believe in those things. She’d sooner believe in time travel than she would in such fantastical concepts that only belonged in fairy-tales and fiction novels.
There had to be another explanation for why she was bawling like that. Like someone had died. There had to be a logical reason behind her chest feeling like it was being ripped to shreds from the inside. However, there didn’t seem to be anything physically wrong with her body.
Buteverythingwas wrong. And rotten. And hideous.
And everything hurt. It hurt so much.
She was mourning a loss she couldn’t remember, while it felt like she did. Like she remembered it all. Right down to the smallest of details. The sensations on her skin. The fading warmth. The heartache. The guilt ofbeing left behind—alone,alive.
And the cold,coldabsence.
Anita held her and rocked her like a baby as she came undone. But the tears didn’t stop for a long time.
Are you sure you’re okay?” Anitaasked her again as they got out of the car.
“I’m okay.” Nori nodded, forcing herself to smile. “I don’t know what came over me. Please don’t mention it in front of those two. I don’t want to alarm them.”
“Of course.” Anita smiled back before looping her arm with Nori’s. “Just don’t hesitate to ask if you need anything. Anything at all.”
As they stepped inside the house, Anita walked over to where Adi sat on the couch. He extended an arm, and she immediately plopped down next to him, visibly exhausted.
Nori fished out the biggest smile she could muster as Vir’s head turned in her direction. It didn’t take long for his grin to falter before vanishing completely.
He was with her in three quick strides. “What’s wrong?” he asked, taking her face in his hands while the intensity of his gaze bore holes through her façade.
It made her want to bawl again.
Of course. What was she thinking?
“Later,” she whispered, burying her face in his chest.
She wrapped her arms around his middle, and her brain drew the image of a koala clinging to a eucalyptus tree again. The memory of her first time waking next to him like that made her mouth twitch.
