The Numbers That Brought Our Fates Together

The man sat on the bed and looked out the window. For some reason, he felt an unusual lightness, as if for the first time he had really got a lungful of fresh air. A smile appeared on his face by itself.

Suddenly, he heard a loud and fast tromping in the corridor, the bedroom door opened with a crash, and a curly blond little girl rushed into the room.

"Dad! Dad! Good morning!!!" The baby quickly climbed onto his bed and threw herself on his chest. Rick felt the little hands clasping his neck, and the cheerful child"s voice defiantly shouted into his ear, "Dad, happy birthday!"

The young man grabbed his ear. If she had uttered the last phrase a little louder, then he would surely be deaf. The girl gave Rick an unusually charming smile and, giggling, kissed his cheek.

"Oh G.o.d, so you did it! I told you not to disturb your dad so early!" Corey ran into the room and began to reproach their daughter.

"But mommy, I have waited for an hour already!" The girl defiantly pouted her lips. Corey sighed and waved her hand.

She came closer to Rick, smiled and gently kissed him on the lips, "Happy birthday, dear. I love you."

"I... I love you too," Rick whispered back, feeling confused. He felt the warmth spreading all over his body.

Corey stroked his cheek and joyfully added, "Today I"ll make you the most delicious cake you have ever tasted! Get some rest, it"s only 8 in the morning. So, and you come with me," she commanded the daughter.

"No! I will stay with dad!" The girl protested and gripped Rick"s neck even tighter.

The young man felt an extraordinary joy from such a gesture, "Come on, let her stay," he replied to Corey, to which she only lifted her hands in dismay and went back to the kitchen.

"Dad, do you love me as much as you love mom?"

Rick looked into the girl"s large and excited eyes and barely restrained himself not to laugh, "Of course, my princess. I love you very, very much."

"Yay! My dad is the best in the world! I love you more than anyone!" The girl pressed against the man"s chest and nuzzled against his neck. A few minutes later, Rick felt a barely audible sniffing next to his ear.

He smiled, hugged the girl and stroked her silky hair. The man closed his eyes. His body was relaxed and seemed to drift in warm and soft water. He has never experienced this. What could it be? Maybe that"s how happiness is felt?

. . .

Rick fell to the floor and clutched at his chest. He thought he was going to break in pain. He felt like as if there was a huge hole in the center of his chest. Even in his eyes, there were tears. He looked up and saw Daniel looking down at him with a stony face.

The man jumped, grabbed the older Anderson by the chest and pushed hard against the wall, "b.a.s.t.a.r.d! What did you do to me?!"

"I didn"t do this to you, you did it to yourself," Daniel pulled Rick"s hand back, "It was your future that you deprived yourself of. I thought that showing you only pictures would not be enough, so I added all the feelings and emotions that you would actually experience. And what you feel now happens to every person when he or she loses beloved ones," Daniel"s gaze was cold and indifferent.

"You say you have not paid any price? Here, this is your price! Well, what is it like to know happiness for the first time in life and deprive yourself of this opportunity with your own hands? But you know, you had this chance until the very last moment. She gave you this chance to the very end!" Daniel shouted and pointed to the door of the ward, "You would have all this if you hadn"t pulled that d.a.m.n trigger!"

Rick swung as if he were electrocuted, "Shut up! Not a word anymore!"

But Daniel continued, "You made your choice, and now her future children will call another man "dad", her love and tenderness will belong to another person. She will be happy because you will never be in her life. Even now you no longer exist for her. Well, do you still think that you did not pay anything for your decisions?"

Anderson grinned and made a final hit, "Everything in this world has its price. You said so yourself. People often begin to appreciate what they had, only when they lose it. And when you go where you are going, don"t forget to ask yourself, was it worth the sacrifice?" Daniel took a step forward, stuck Rick in the chest and whispered, "You can deceive anyone, just not yourself, Mr. Stein."

Rick said nothing and disappeared into the air.

Daniel took a few deep breaths and headed for the vending machine. He took a couple of canned drinks from there and returned to Corey"s ward.

"Oh, Miss, have you already woken up?" He tried to sound as natural as possible, "Do you want coffee or juice?"

"No, I do not want anything. Thank you, Mr. Anderson," Corey replied and stared out the window.

Daniel sat down on a chair, opened a can of coffee and began poking around on his phone.

"Rick was just here," Corey"s next words made him stop his useless activity. He put the phone on the table.

"Yes, I saw him," Daniel replied, and also looked thoughtfully out the window. "Are you sure you don"t want to erase the memories of this man?"

"I am sure," Corey replied quietly. "I may not know the person who came today, but I will cherish the memory of the person who he was then before this trip. As if it was someone else," the girl was silent for a moment, and then asked, "Mr. Anderson, can you make it so that in my hospital data it was stated that the child was not saved? The father of this baby died at the moment when Rick pulled the trigger. Therefore, I do not want him to know about the baby"s existence."

"Okay, Miss Williams. I will fulfill your request," Daniel looked at the fragile girl sitting on the hospital bed, "You know, you are a very strong girl. I understand that this is now out of place, but I want to apologize for my behavior in our first meeting. You now know that I did all this intentionally. I didn"t have a goal to harm you somehow, but I still want to apologize. Please forgive me."

Corey smiled a little, "C"mon you, otherwise I will also feel guilty about my behavior. The image of the bad guy suits you more."

"Do you think so?" The man smiled his charming smile and winked slyly. Corey couldn"t hold it and laughed.

Tears appeared in the eyes of the girl. She fell silent and uttered with trembling lips, "And I"m not strong at all..." The girl"s shoulders began to twitch in unison with her sobs.

Daniel sat down on her bed, leaned her against his chest and began to gently stroke her back, "Shh, shh, everything will be fine. Now it hurts, but then everything will be fine. I know," he whispered. Corey nodded her head. She was no longer able to restrain herself and bitterly burst into tears on his chest.

. . .

Rick poured another gla.s.s of whiskey and drank it in one gulp. The bottle next to him was practically empty. There were two missed calls on the phone. The third call came next.

The man reluctantly picked up the phone, "What do you want?"

"Are you not too carried away with your personal affairs?" a male voice on the other side of the phone asked him.

"My personal affairs do not concern you. I got what I needed from the girl. Any problems?"

"I have no problems; it"s you who has problems. I"m calling to inform you that you have been removed from the post of the CEO of the Berne Group," the stranger commented on his question.

Rick frowned and straightened, "On what grounds?"

"Have you checked out the stock reports? During the day, the Berne Group stocks collapsed below nowhere, and then the controlling stake was bought by an unknown organization. Do you want to explain anything to me?"

Rick grabbed his head. He completely forgot about the business of the firm over the past two days. He leaned back in his chair and answered melancholically, "Well, okay. Do whatever you want. I do not care."

The man in the phone was silent for a couple of seconds and then added, "Do not be distracted from your main business. I see that you started to forget who found you, dying of hunger and abandoned in the alley on the street, and then returned to you all the memories, Richard. Let"s not quarrel, okay?" This man"s voice was sharp and cold, like ice.

"I"ll figure it out myself, so f.u.c.k off and leave me alone! I"m not in the mood to talk to you!" Rick shouted and hung up. "b.a.s.t.a.r.d, his character only got worse over time," the young man cursed and dialed another number.

"h.e.l.lo, Alan? Tell your subordinate, Yun, or whatever his name is, that it is time to fulfill his task. He has to do everything in two days, got it?"

"Yes, Master, everything will be done," Alan replied and asked hesitantly, "Um, sir, does it only seem to me or are you drunk?" In all the years that Alan has worked for Rick, he has never seen the latter drunk. But in response, he heard only beeps.

Rick poured another gla.s.s of whiskey and looked out the window. The lights of the night city were bright but completely alien. Suddenly, on the gla.s.s, he saw the image of a smiling girl. The man rubbed his eyes and turned away. But now his attention was drawn to the doc.u.ment lying on the table.

[Patient: Corey Williams. Diagnosis: Numerous bruises. Miscarriage.]

Rick crumpled a piece of paper and threw it into a trash can. But the footage from the vision was circling in his head again and again. He tried to soothe a hard pain which tore his heart more and more with alcohol, but with each gla.s.s, it only grew stronger. The man grabbed the bottle off the table and threw it against the wall with all his power. Gla.s.s fragments scattered in different directions.

And along with these fragments, his confidence shattered as well. For the first time in his life, he did not know what he really wanted.