He turned his attention to Cameron for a moment. He recalled what he knew about the man�s personality. Cameron was young, prone to dark moods and depression and desperately needed someone understanding, whom he could open up to. He had a certain charm to him that made everyone who knew him love him. Regardless, he had not found the perfect woman yet. The Man in White chuckled to himself.
He focused on Maddison then. She was a young woman who hid her loneliness behind a facade of exuberance and happiness. She was fiercely protective of her privacy and would rather have died than let people know she was anything but confident and in control of everything. Nevertheless, the Man in White knew deep down inside that she was unhappy in life and was lacking the one thing she truly needed to make her happy.
The Man in White knew these two people would be perfect together. Unfortunately, they didn�t know it-they didn�t know each other. �Anything can be changed,� he murmured to himself with a smile.
Cameron frowned. He had not turned on his computer for weeks, yet he had this peculiar need to go into Internet chat. He didn�t understand why-it was the same old people, all the time. The same old boring, mundane conversation. He shrugged and turned his computer on. He sighed as he waited for it to boot up and went to the regular room he used to go to all the time.
Maddison sighed. She switched from room to room rapidly, looking for something to pique her interest. She was bored and needed some sort of escape from common day-to-day life. She stopped in a room that she didn�t often frequent and paused. She felt a pull towards this particular room for a reason that she didn�t understand. She shifted in her chair and sighed.
After ten minutes, she thought to herself �What am I doing here?� She watched as two regs had an argument about who was the best hacker and rolled her eyes. She had �spoken� in the room only twice in the short time she was there, and was still bored and restless.
Her attention was caught suddenly by someone typing her name in the room. �Are you as bored by this as I?� She grinned to herself and typed in �Isn�t this dumb?� Her attention switched to a private message that popped up on her screen.
�I truly hate these pissing contests.�
�So do I. What a damn waste of a good chat night,� she replied, suddenly feeling more alive.
�So anyway, I haven�t seen you around here much. Are you fairly new or what?�
�Oh, no, I have been around chat for a while, I just don�t usually come to this room. I don�t know why I did today, actually.�
�Ah, well, there must have been some reason,� came the faceless person�s reply. �I am an old reg, but I have been offline for some time. I�m not sure why I came on today either. Do you mind if I ask your name?�
�Maddison-Maddy. And yours?�
�Cameron-Cam if you prefer.�
They exchanged the most basic background information-age, career, where they lived. �Separate countries. That would be right,� Maddy sighed. �One of the more interesting people I have met and he lives thousands of miles away�figures.� The two talked for some time before exchanging ICQ numbers and adding each other.
�I still don�t come to chat a lot,� Cam explained. �So, if you are on my ICQ I will find it much easier to chat with you. If you like that is��
�Oh, of course,� Maddy typed quickly in reply. �That�d be cool.�
Cameron smiled as he logged onto the Internet and booted up his ICQ. He was hoping Maddy was on. She had helped pass the time in a most pleasant way the other day and he was looking forward to chatting with her again. There were few people that interested him, and she was at the top of the list. He had thought her intelligent and witty. He had no idea what she thought of him and was hoping that she hadn�t added him to ICQ just to shut him up or something. He was looking forward to chatting with her again-and soon.
Maddy saw her ICQ log-on alert and quickly clicked on it, hoping it was Cam. She grinned with delight when she realised it was, then grinned even wider when she received an ICQ message saying �Hiya, girl.�
�Hey,� she typed. �Good to see you! How have you been?�
�Really good�you?�
�Great.� They chatted idly for a few moments, and then Cam asked what he had been wanting to since they first spoke in the room.
�Would you have a pic online anywhere by any chance?�
�Not online, but I have one scanned. I can send it to you through here if you like.�
�Great!� Maddy set up the file transfer and waited while it finished and Cam opened the file. His next message came through quickly.
�Good God girl, you�re gorgeous.� She laughed to herself.
�Not quite. But thank you. Do you have a pic?�
�Sure do. One moment.� She accepted the file, waited while it downloaded and opened it. She gazed at the photo of a blonde, blue-eyed guy. �He�s cute,� she thought to herself.
�You�re cute,� she informed him on ICQ.
�Thanks.� She could almost see him grin through a phone line, thousands of miles away.
They spoke almost every day after that. Whenever either logged on, they would check ICQ to see if the other was. They started to exchange more than the barest details, and progressed to e-mail.
Finally, Cam asked what he had been wanting to for a couple of weeks.
�Can I call you?�
�Sure,� Maddy agreed readily. She gave him her phone number easily, no second thoughts whatsoever. �When do you want to call?�
�Umm, how about now?� Maddy laughed.
�Sure, sounds good.� She logged off immediately and straight away, the phone rang.
�Hello,� she picked it up with a smile.
�Hi,� an accented voice said. �Maddy?�
�Yep, Cam?�
�You got it.�
�Love your accent-� They both said at the same time and laughed.
After Maddy hung up the phone, she smiled to herself. There was none of the awkwardness that she had been afraid would be there in their phone call. She felt like she had known him for years already. �He�s so different from most of the other people in those damn chat rooms. So many of them are full of crap, but he�s not�he is so cool.� She smiled and went to bed.
Cam sat with his head on his hands and smiled as he thought of that accent. Maddy was fast becoming really important to him, the only person he really wanted to see online. She was so different from all the faceless names in cyber land. And damn, she was gorgeous too. But that wasn�t all of it. She was more than that. �Thank God I went on chat that day!� He thought to himself.
�Hmmm, this is better than I had anticipated,� the Man in White muttered to himself with a smile.
As time passed, Cam and Maddy found their own little corner of cyberspace that they spent time in - a private room, where they chatted for hours. They talked regularly on the phone still and completely lost track of time. They were becoming closer and closer and each was beginning to realise that this was the start of something more than friendship.
They were in their private room one day, and Cam was being his usual eloquent self.
�God, you say such gorgeous things,� Maddy marvelled.
�Yeah, well, I am the one to say the words to bring comfort to others while inside I am cold and alone.� Even in the typewritten word, Maddy could sense the ironic tone.
�Do you really think you�re alone?� She asked curiously.
�God, Maddy, I have one friend and even that is on shaky ground at times.�
�That is SO not true! What the hell am I?� She typed rapidly. �I may be half a world away, Cam, but I AM here and I AM real.�
�I know you�re real, Maddy, but�you know, underneath it all, I am a chicken at heart.�
�I realise that�but so am I.�
Cam looked at the line Maddy had just typed. �I wonder�� He thought, then shook his head. He had the feeling he was on thin ice. As cool as Maddy was, he always sensed the invisible barrier there and wasn�t sure why it was up. He was too scared of losing her as a friend than to risk asking more of her than she was willing to give. He vowed to himself to keep his feelings unsaid. �Better that way,� he tried to convince himself.
Maddy sat, brooding at the computer after Cam had left, mulling over what he had said. She realised there was something he was holding back, and she had a fair idea but was too scared to mention it in case she was wrong. She sighed and idly started surfing.
She stopped when she came across a site that showed e-cards. �Hmmm�� she thought. She started to search the site and found poems to add to the cards. An idea implanted itself in her head as she read a particular poem. Before she could stop herself, she chose a card and poem, typed in her message and clicked send before she could change her mind.
Immediately she regretted it. �Damn, what have I done?� She groaned inwardly. �Well, too late now. What�s done is done.� She just hoped she hadn�t ruined the incredible friendship she had with him.
The Man in White smiled when he realised what Maddy had done. This was going much better than he had ever hoped. He smiled and closed his eyes, falling into a deep sleep.
Maddy logged on slightly later than usual and found Cam on ICQ. She was suddenly nervous as he messaged her.
�Hey girl�coming into chat?�
�Sure, if you want me to,� she replied, suddenly unsure of herself.
�Of course I do.� She booted her chat up and went in, getting an invitation from Cam straight away to their private room.
�Hey�� She said as she entered, suddenly at a loss for words.
�Hey. I got your card, Maddy.� Cam didn�t beat around the bush and Maddy mentally kicked herself.
�Damn, I shouldn�t have done that,� she thought to herself.
�Oh�cool,� she typed, not knowing what else to say. The poem she had sent with the card had related to falling in love with someone and being too frightened to say the words.
�Maddy��
�Mmm?� She dreaded reading his next words.
�I love you, too.� She stared at the words on the screen, unable to believe her eyes.
�Oh�LOL,� she suddenly typed, startling Cameron. �Oh, I�m sorry, it�s just�god, what a relief! I have been sitting here thinking I so screwed up!�
�Oh, phew. No, Maddy, you didn�t screw up at all. I have wanted to say that for so long, but was too scared to. You have all these barriers up, and I wasn�t sure if they were going to come down or not. I didn�t want to scare you off.�
�Oh, baby�we�re both idiots!� She laughed in relief. On his side of the screen, Cameron grinned, in relief also.
�We wasted a lot of time beating around the bush, didn�t we?�
�Just a bit. And hey?�
�Yeah?�
�I love you.�
�I love you too, girl.�
Maddy went to sleep with a smile on her face that night. She sank into sleep quickly and easily. Some time around 2am she awoke, or thought she did. She opened her eyes and saw the Man in White Standing by her bed.
�Who the hell are you?� She asked in shock.
�Sssh, Maddy. I am not here to harm you. You know that.� Strangely enough, she did. She was still surprised but not frightened. �Listen to me. I can only help you so much. You and Cameron must continue alone. Don�t fight me and the two of you will be all right.� He spoke for a few more minutes and Maddy listened to him transfixed. �It�s late. I must go,� he finally finished, and turned away.
�Wait!� Maddy pleaded and he turned back to her. �Who are you?�
�Maddy�my dear girl. I am Fate.�
Cameron logged onto chat at a rapid pace, hoping Maddy was on. He received an invite to a private room almost immediately. He accepted it and was thrown in.
At exactly the same time, they both typed in �I had the weirdest dream last night!� They both stared as the words on the screen appeared almost simultaneously. Cam watched incredulously for a moment, finally typing.
�Fate?�
I believe Fate is prevalent in our day to day life. I am a strong believer in this. I have always thought that, to some degree, our lives are mapped out for us. However, as in the story, Fate can only do so much. We occasionally have to give it a helping hand. I don�t believe you can fight Fate. If something is meant to be, it WILL be. What may seem to you at the time to be a chance encounter, or just coincidence, is most often more than that.
I don�t believe in coincidence. I believe in the old adage �everything happens for a reason.� You have to make a choice then. Either find out that reason-or just flow with it.
Fate won�t steer you wrong. It is not in our lives to make it more difficult...it just IS. Fate knows what�s best for you. So, it�s better to just flow with it, give it a helping hand when it�s warranted and let yourself take all that Fate has to offer.
