I was born able to see how many meetings I had left with every person in my life.
Gareth, the boy I grew up with, had always carried the number 31,441 above his head, so I never doubted he would become my future mate.
Then one day, tired of me always being around, he introduced me to his tower mate, Rowan.
I looked at Rowan once.
Gareth's 31,441 dropped to 9.
And above Rowan's head was a number so long I could barely take it in.
That was when I realized fate had never been telling me who I had to wait for. It was warning me when someone was disappearing from my future.
But the moment I truly turned to Rowan, Gareth lost control.
He grabbed me and demanded, "If he's your future, then what am I?"
I looked at the number still shrinking above his head and gave him one answer.
"Nothing."
