Defying Fate: The Unstoppable Eileen



The three ladies were ushered into the grand hall of the event venue.

At the front was the yet-to-be-opened stage of a theater, with tiered rows of audience seats stretching out behind it.

The seats were already filled with "old people" sporting makeup much like theirs, resembling a gathering of the elderly. The staff directed each guest to different seats.

"Try to act the part of the wise old folk, please," they instructed. "Later, your better halves will come looking for you."

Eileen settled into her allocated seat, her gaze falling upon her hands.

Makeup had been applied to make her fingers look thin, gnarled, and wrinkled with age.

A murmuring started to fill the air from behind her.

Eileen heard Hobson's voice amidst the chatter.

"How are we supposed to find them amongst all these grannies?" Hobson lamented.

Calvert chimed in, "Only five minutes? And if we don't find them it's game over?"

Eileen didn't look back. She wondered, with close to a hundred people in the room, could Egbert really find her in five minutes?

As she pondered, someone tapped her shoulder. Startled, Eileen flinched.

Meanwhile, Hobson's voice rose again, “Mr. Reed, stop tapping randomly! That's definitely not Ms. Lopez, and if you get it wrong, you don't get another shot!"

Eileen hesitated before turning around slowly. In an instant, she saw him-a tall figure with a light jacket, silver hair, familiar features but an aged face.

Her eyes widened in shock at the sight of Egbert, who had aged so dramatically.

Egbert, seemingly unsurprised to find her, sat down beside her, gently took her hand, and intertwined their fingers, whispering, "Sorry I'm late." "Did you really pick right?" Hobson squeezed through to join them, his eyes fixed on Eileen. It took him a moment to recognize her beneath the disguise, and he couldn't hide his astonishment, "You can't tell at all from behind! Mr. Reed, how did you recognize Ms. Lopez just by her silhouette?" Egbert, lips pressed into a thin line, gripped Eileen's fingers tighter, his voice low, "I'd recognize her, no matter what she looks like."

Eileen paused, turning to look at Egbert.

Hobson, impressed, exclaimed, "Incredible." Then he remembered he was still searching for Sylvia and quickly resumed his hunt.

With Hobson gone and the others absent, Eileen tried to withdraw her hand, but Egbert, departing from his usual gentleness, held on firmly.

Eileen frowned, "You..." But before she could finish, her gaze met Egbert's eyes.

He, too, wore colored contacts, and his usually sharp gaze was now obscured.

Special makeup highlighted crow's feet around his eyes, his eyebrows turned salt-and-pepper, and age spots dotted his face.

Staring at him, Eileen felt a lump in her throat, "You've grown old, and not handsome at all."

Egbert chuckled, "But you're still beautiful."novelbin

Eileen turned her head away, her thoughts drifting to her grandparents.

She remembered a year when her grandmother, already retired, was called back as a consultant and spent three months away before returning, travel-weary.

That was a Saturday, Eileen had accompanied her grandfather to his university. After his lecture, as they left the classroom, her grandfather unexpectedly called out to a woman in the corridor, "Honey!"

Eileen was stunned at the time. It wasn't until the woman turned around that she realized it was indeed her grandmother. The afternoon sun streamed in from the corridor, warming the breeze that gently stirred her grandmother's hair as she removed her hat, smiling joyfully.

Her grandfather gazed at her, his own smile matching hers. And Eileen, delighted at the prospect of not having to eat her grandfather's cooking that night, was the happiest of all.

The memories seemed to dance before her eyes.

Egbert beside her spoke up, "If we both grow old, will you still hit me?"

Eileen glared at him, "If you annoy me, of course I'll still hit you!"

Egbert laughed softly, nodding, "That's good. To be part of your golden years."

Eileen's heart skipped-she'd walked right into that one.

Just then, Hobson finally found Sylvia, and Calvert, in the nick of time, located Aurora who had given herself away.

The guests regrouped just as the theater lights dimmed.

The stage curtains, a deep red, opened slowly.

The play was titled "Rewinding Hours," about an old woman who, after bidding farewell to her husband on his deathbed, awoke to find herself sixty years in the past, before they had even met.

The actors on stage performed with fervor.

The story began lightheartedly and tenderly, captivating the audience.

But as the plot thickened, tragedy struck-the old woman's husband was buried alive in a landslide. She cried, frantically digging through the mud as rain poured down.

A voiceover of her tearful confession played, "I know he'll survive, but why am I so afraid? He is my love, my family, the one to grow old with me... I didn't realize until now how much I can't live without him, how meaningless life would be without him...”

Eileen was absorbed in the play when suddenly, Egbert cupped her face, using a quaint black-and-white checked handkerchief to dab at the tears that had escaped her eyes.

Sniffling, she took the handkerchief, mumbling, “They've done this well."

Egbert remained silent, just watching her.

Eileen looked up, "If we could turn back time, what would you want to do the most?"

His gaze lowered, and after a moment, he said, "I'd want to go back to when you were little. To hold you when you were sad and felt lost." Eileen frowned, picking at a loose thread in the conversation, "Then why didn't you stop me from feeling so lost and heartbroken?"

Egbert paused, the silence stretching between them, before he admitted, "I'm afraid I couldn't."

Eileen considered this, realizing that when she was just a little girl, Egbert had been nothing more than a boy himself.

Blinking away the weight of years, Eileen mused aloud, "What's the use of a do-over if you can't return to the moment you long for the most? Everything else is just a band-aid on a broken heart."

Egbert, taken aback, didn't respond.

"It's all fate, isn't it? The universe gives you a chance to fix your regrets, but it cruelly withholds the one you want to mend the most. It's like a cosmic joke," Eileen said, a wry smile touching her lips.

Egbert reached out to ruffle her hair, asking gently, "What are you talking about?"

Eileen shook her head, letting the topic drift away into the darkness surrounding their theatre seats.

Onstage, the play went on, and Eileen sighed.

The audience was shrouded in darkness.

Instinctively, Eileen looped her arm through Egbert's, and with a spontaneous tenderness, rested her head on his shoulder.

Egbert tensed momentarily.

Eileen, eyes fixed on the stage, spoke slowly, "Egbert, I think I know why the assistant director said this play was a gift from the director to us." Egbert's voice was steady as he asked, "Why's that?"

Eileen turned her face towards him, propping her chin on his shoulder, their eyes locked in close proximity. "Because he wanted us to see that time is slipping away quietly. He wanted us to understand that while we still can, we must cherish the people in our lives, so that the present doesn't turn into an irrevocable regret."

The two of them held each other's gaze.

Egbert swallowed, lips parting as if to speak, but no words came.

Finally, he exhaled, his question heavy with meaning, "So, what now?"

Eileen turned her head back to the stage, resting it once more on Egbert's shoulder. With a touch of bravado, she declared, "So, I'm saying I'm a good girl, and I hope you realize that."