It wasn't the first time she had thought about it. Thought about taking the next step. It wasn't like she had had any real good relationships, in the back of her head she always compared it to how she thought her and Jerry would be. The thought of having a relationship with him in the past was enough. But now, as she realized she was getting older, and with all she had been through, he was the only one she was truly happy around. Things were going to change whether she liked it or not. The fact of the matter was she either had to know if it could work between them or never think about it again. Both ways could lead to more bad then good, but the curiosity, never knowing was what would kill her in the end if she didn't act on her emotions.

It was only two weeks until Elaine's birthday, December 19, one of the coldest days of year. She wondered if Jerry even remembered, and if he did, if it meant anything to him. She knew she had to devise some type of plan, some type of conclusion the day before her birthday. That's it, that's what she'd do. She'd come up with a conclusion, whether to face him, and see if they could work things out, or to forget it, and live the rest of her life as his friend, and nothing more. She had to come up with her conclusion the day before her birthday and on the day of her birthday she could live out what she decided.

Her two weeks were coming to an end. She was nowhere near the answer she desired. Maybe that was the lesson she learned altogether. Maybe it was too soon for her to make such a complicated decision, maybe she needed to wait. With time could come so much of what she wanted, or exactly opposite. She didn't know what to do, she didn't understand what to do. Fate was what she had to depend on. She figured, the one thing in life that kept her going, even before she met Jerry, and when her parents weren't there, when no one was there- fate was. Her birthday was the next day, it could fun, stressful, full of adventure, boring, sophisticated, enjoyable, reckless, it could be anything fate let it be.
Elaine got a call from Jerry saying he wouldn't be able to pick her up. She let out a sigh after hanging up the phone and got her coat. After catching a cab and taking forty-five minutes to get to his building, she headed up the stairs. It was cold and she could feel a draft run through her jacket, shivers ran through her body and she stepped quicker to his apartment. She knocked on the door but no one answered. She let out another sigh, as another group of shivers crawled through her. After knocking again Jerry opened the door. It was quiet in the room, and considerably dark. She waited for a group of people to shout 'surprise' but no one did. She smiled softly to see a candle-lit table, just two settings for them.

"I'm sorry, no one else could make it, I planed a get-together on Saturday, everyone is coming to that." He led her over to the table and pulled the chair for her. She smiled wider as he sat down to the right of her, she was on the end.

"Jerry you didn't have to do all this, I'm really surprised actually," she smiled again. Jerry put his hand over hers, on the table, "I couldn't just let your birthday pass."

Elaine spoke quieter, all of a sudden things changed, "I really appreciate this Jerry, this is very special to me."

Jerry nodded, "you're very special to me." Then, slowly, like in a black and white movie he leaned in closer. Once he had come close enough, the light of the candle was blocked, and she depended on him to find her. She felt his warm lips touch the corner of her mouth. He could feel her smile. Then gently he put his hand on her cheek and moved his lips to the center of hers. Without even thinking her hands lifted to his soft shirt and she began to unbutton…

The power of fate she once depended on was no longer at work here. She realized, through her decisions, through her actions, that fate wasn't controlling her life or steering it in either direction. But that her life was her fate, and that every decision she made was from the power within herself, to realize what she already knew. Whether the relationship worked out or not, she contained the power to make life how she wanted it. With that recent knowledge, that knowledge that came only when her true powers were needed, she would be able to conquer anything. And anything she would conquer.

The End