The string on one’s dominant pinky indicated a person’s fate. However, glory wasn’t the expectancy of such blessing and neither was wealth. Tied to the other end of the string was another person, whose soul was said to be compatible to the recipient. There hasn’t been any sort of scientific explanation as to how two people instantly become fated partners but reasonings weren’t much needed for the people who have found their soulmate. Love was all they could describe at the first meeting.

Souls have yet to be discovered as well but many have linked theirs with the string tied on their pinky. Some believed that soulmates only have one soul and were cut in half for each partner. As they meet their soulmate, a feeling of satisfaction can be felt by the two. A state of oneness as many have said.

Testimonies weren’t necessary as the majority of people could instantly blabber about their love story when asked. Competitions have been made surrounding the topic and lies were easily brushed off for the sake of flamboyancy on the stories presented.

Anyways, when believers were asked concerning the abuse from soulmate-to-soulmate cases, a lot of them simply reasoned on special circumstances. Others doubted the legitimacy. Victim blaming is rampant concerning the topic and others simply shrugged the whole thing and thought nothing of it. Murders and rapes have the same effect as well.

The percentage of such happenings might be considerably small but it doesn’t need to be ignored either.

Also, when talked about physiological effects on the first meeting, people tend to romanticize it. Many have experienced heart palpitation, dizziness, fatigue and passed out due to overwhelming excitement. Death might have been low but it’s not exactly zero either, comas were said to be the norm in other places of the world as well.

Soulmate shouldn’t entirely be celebrated with the general public and any sort of doubt should be taken for consi-

“Daddy?”

 Elijah Ocampo paused. He felt his son tugging on the bottom hem of his shirt. He notices the tighten hold and the sigh that came after. “Daddy, you’ve been washing that plate for a long, long time now,” Matteo Ocampo said to him, a clear tone of disappointment in his son’s voice.

“Ah, sorry, Matteo,” Elijah apologized, listening to the hum Matteo had let out, and continued, “Papa has got a lot of things in his mind, right now.”

“What are you thinking, papa?” Matteo asked, curious. His son titled his head to the side with his brows furrowed at the answer. Elijah chuckled at the sight and turns off the faucet, hoping that the water bill wouldn’t suffer from his negligence.

He has yet to answer the question and opted to look down on the plate he’s been holding. It was finally clean, lacking of the stain he’s been trying to scrub off moments ago and places it on the drying rack next to the sink. When he’s finally done, Elijah was compelled to gaze at a large wet spot on his shirt from leaning too much on the sink. His wrinkled fingertips weren’t ignored either.

Gloves were always mandatory for him. But it seems he overslept to consider the object as an option.

Elijah glances to the string attached on his hand – his left pinky to be exact. It was tied perfectly, not tight nor loose but enough to feel the tension around it. The rest of the string floats around the area, circling around the faucet and dips down into the sink. Elijah couldn’t see the other end of his string, knowing that his soulmate would see the same thing such as him.

Once they finally meet, however, their string would attach itself from both ends, signaling their fate.

“Daddy?” Matteo calls out to him again. His son grabbed him by the wrist, pulling him away from the sink and groans at the weight Matteo had to drag over to the living room. Elijah was compliant with the behavior, albeit with his mind still clouded at the certainty of his thoughts. 

His son sat him down on the couch. “You’re not listening to me,” Matteo tells him with a huff, both arms crossed on his chest with a pout exaggerated on his face. Elijah finally became aware with his surroundings and sighs at the annoyance he feels from his little boy.

He was faced with narrowed eyes and furrowed brows, knowing that apologies were the least needed at the moment. If anything, Matteo needed Elijah to admit his mistake. It was like that with his ex-wife too.

“I got a lot of things in my right now, Matteo,” Elijah explained to his son. His son’s expression gradually softened, the pout turns to a frown and the arms untangled from its position.

“Adult things, papa?” Matteo questions and played with the buttons on his school uniform. The light blue collared shirt and knee-high shorts have been ironed neatly, losing the wrinkles and folds Elijah had come across from the laundry. The black loafers were sadly shined in the early morning so it wasn’t up to Elijah’s expectation but he hoped that the white socks Matteo was wearing can beautify its appearance.

Elijah reminded himself to do better with his son’s wardrobe.

“Yeah, adult things,” Elijah answered and bends forwards, wrapping his arms around his little one and carried him to his lap. Matteo reciprocates the gesture and pressed his hands on Elijah’s chest.

“I’m sorry when I cried at the store, papa.” It was Matteo’s turn to apologize and Elijah hated the tone he hears in his son’s voice. Guilt was now the emotion Matteo was wearing but Elijah didn’t have much time to look at it further when Matteo laid his head on Elijah’s chest.

“I only want toy because a classmate has them and I got jealous,” Matteo muttered. His voice muffled by the shirt he’s pressed against. “I don’t want toy papa – I’m sorry for crying.”

“It’s okay, baby,” Elijah reassured his little boy. The toy wasn’t bought anyways and his son had calmed down with the promise of watching the TV when they got back home.

Thankfully, his son wasn’t crying and the mood lightens from the silence that came after the apologies. Elijah hums a song his ex-wife used to sing to their son. He hasn’t heard it ever since the annulment but he’s trying. Combined with the rusted imitation, rubbing his son’s back helps too.

Then his phone vibrated in his pocket and the atmosphere changes. At least, that’s what he felt. Matteo was still comfortable even as Elijah takes out his phone and reads the notification from the screen. His ex-wife was ahead of schedule but she did tell him about the change last night. Elijah just forgets about it, ruining his sleep schedule with a bottle of beer and the channel surfing altogether.

“Okay, little man,” Elijah starts, carrying his son on his arms as he grabs Matteo’s backpack from the coffee table. He helps his son slings it on his shoulders. “Your mama’s coming earlier and should be here around a minute or two.”

“Oh,” Matteo voiced out and asked, “But why?”

“Your mom’s probably busy with something and had to come to work early,” Elijah brought out his assumption and dreads at the other possibility. “Adam as well, I guess. He’s a businessman so he’s always going somewhere.”

Matteo dislikes the mention of his ex-wife’s soulmate and Elijah hated saying the man’s name too. Adam came into their little home with a bulldozer and he hasn’t stopped until there was nothing but dust and debris littered all over the floor. Unfortunately, Adam wouldn’t have known their address if it wasn’t for someone slipping into the temptation of the string despite their initial skepticism towards it.

There was a honk from the outside of his apartment and Elijah hears a car pulling over in front of it. He merely tightens his grip on his son and Matteo did the same with Elijah’s neck, digging his nails into Elijah’ skin. What his son was inflicting him couldn’t compare to the horror him and his ex-wife had done to each other previously.

“That’s probably be them,” Elijah guesses and hears his son groan from his statement.

Elijah grabs his bag from the doorknob and carelessly sling it on his shoulder. The door was opened then closed as he locks it. He intended to walk to his shop after dropping his son to his ex-wife since it wasn’t far.

He looks from behind once he was done and sees a familiar car parked on the driveway. It was Adam’s and it was a new model of some expensive brand. The car was slick and shiny. Elijah was hesitant to approach but he persists with the little one he’s holding and stride towards the vehicle. His tiny gate creaks when it was opened and the lock was slowly, well, locked due to the rust it had gathered from time.

The window of the front passenger seat rolls down and Elijah inhaled at the sight of his ex-wife. He bit his tongue at his gasp and stiffens as she got out of the car. She was wearing her light blue scrubs for work which emphasize the contrast of her tanned skin. Her golden bleached hair was tied in a ponytail. Her white shoes were brand-new, somewhat shining from the lack of dirt it has yet to be stained with.

“Elijah,” she says his name in a breathy tone and Elijah wonders if she was left breathless by the exhaustion on his face. Appearance-wise, he was average with pale skin and black hair and eyes. The dark bag under his eyes were emphasized from his skin-tone and he was lanky as well.