The Final Call – Ending to Riley's Story (A Blog Story Hop)

I am so excited to bring you the final entry into the blog story hop “Riley’s Story.” It has taken an amazing turn and it’s wonderful to see how Carrie and Leonard took the story.

And I am SO glad they let me write the ending. Writing the ending is like having the last piece of chocolate cake.

Before you read the ending, make sure to read the story in full, by clicking the links below:

Part One
Part Two
Part Three
Part Four
Part Five

All caught up?

Okay, here it is. I’m so excited.

A couple of hours later, and two beers later, Caleb left my house. I looked at my cell phone, knowing some time soon that I would have to respond to Fate’s call. I sat on my bed or a second, wondering what would happen if I never responded again. I reached for my phone and before I could do anything else, I heard a knock at the door. Thinking it was Caleb having forgotten something, I opened it up.

It was Kate.

She stormed in and by the energy she emitted, I knew she was pissed. Just for missing one call, I can’t understand why.

“You missed your call.” Kate said, clearly out of breath. Before I closed the front door and looked outside. No car. No bike.

“You ran here?” I asked.

“Quit avoiding the subject. You missed your call. Do you know what you did?” Sweat poured from Kate’s forehead.

Confused, I shook my head. “No, wait. Why didn’t he just do it himself?”

Floored, Kate threw her hands up in the air. In a foreign language I’ve never heard of before, it sounded like Kate swore. She continued pacing in my living. I know that soon my parent’s would be home, and I didn’t want to explain the strange girl in the middle of my living room.

“Do it himself?” She yelled. She ran over to me and pushed me. I staggered a bit before righting myself. “Do you realize that at any given moment we have 20,000 hired assistants worldwide trying to keep everything right and everyone following Fate’s design?”

The number shocked me. “20,000? So why didn’t you want to get one of them? And how come so many people know about Fate?”

Kate shook her head. “You are one of the only ones who really know what you’re doing. The others don’t. Some are just sent messages without any explanation and after the task is completed are given payment.” She laughed, the bitterness filling her face. “You would be surprised what people are willing to do for money. They don’t even care what it is we ask for them to do.”

Somehow I gathered that the last comment wasn’t meant for me to understand or even hear. “So why me?”

Kate’s shoulders fell. She hung her head. “You were meant to replace him. He wants to retire. You were meant to become Fate.”

For a brief second I thought about asking where Fate would retire. The North Pole? Wait, that was Santa Claus. “So, what now?” I regretted missing the phone call. What had I done to my own life that one small misstep set me off track? “What happens to the others that miss their call?”

Kate’s face contorted with rage. But as if something clicked, the rage disappeared and a grin burst on her face. “You’ll have to find out for yourself.

And she left.

The apartment felt chilly now that she was gone. I knew I had to leave. I couldn’t stay. I left a note for my parents explaining I would be back in an hour, that I left something at Caleb’s. I ran out of my house. I needed to hurry. The daylight was fading and something inside told me that this needed to be fixed before the sun went down. I barely felt the peddles under my feet as I biked downtown – back to the office where I first met Fate. Where everything began.

~

Twenty minutes later, I walked down the empty building. Everything seemed blurred as I walked towards his office and I burst through the door. Expecting to see the usual stacks of paper and notebooks, I was shocked at what I saw. It was empty. He was gone and instead of hundreds of norebooks, only one remained on the desk.

I walked over to it and my hands shook as I opened the cover of the spiral bound notebook. On the first page, there was a note. It was from Fate.

“Riley –

I knew one day you would take your fate in your own hands. Good job.

I’ve retired. And to answer your original question, there is no such thing as Santa Claus.

And of all the places I’ve been, I decided to retire in the Bahamas. Visit me there when you have the chance.

The choice is yours of course, but I offer you the job of Fate.

Just so you know, you won’t be working alone and some of the stories write themselves.

That’s all Fate is, Riley – a writer with just a mightier grasp on the pen.

Will you answer this one final call?

Signed,

Fate

P.S. Let Kate know of your decision. She doesn’t stay mad long. Don’t worry.

And one more suggestion, Caleb would make a fantastic new assistant.”

I looked up from the notebook, and Kate stood in the doorway with her arms crossed over her chest. “It didn’t occur to me until you asked what happened to the others.” She shrugged as she stepped into the office. My new office. “That’s all we really want, you know? People to take their fate into their own hands. It makes our jobs easier. Most don’t though.” She looked up at me and squinted. “But you did.”

She swaggered over to the desk and leaned forward to read what her father wrote. She glanced up and cocked her head. “So, are you taking the job?’

It took me less than five seconds to decide my own fate.

And I couldn’t wait to offer Caleb his first job as my assistant.

~

Thanks again for letting me write the ending and I hope everyone enjoyed the story as much as I did!

Happy writing!

Nicole

– Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone