Love's Fate (Love Trilogy #1) by Tracey Smith Page A

tell me how I could reach her. I was shocked when a woman told me she had quit and she didn’t know where to find her. It hadn’t been that long since I’d seen her.
    I thought about that day and remembered how upset she’d seemed. She had practically run from the building. I wanted desperately to know what could have happened that might have caused her to quit her job.
    Then I thought back to the first night I’d seen her in the coffee shop. From the moment our eyes met I had been determined to meet her, but then in one brief moment everything changed and my course was altered. I wondered if she had experienced a similar life altering moment on that fateful day just a few weeks ago.
    How strange it would be for some sort of tragedy to strike her life on the same day that our paths crossed again. Was Fate actually trying to bring us together or keep us apart?
    All I knew for sure was that I needed to meet her. Something was pulling me to her, something strong. I regretted not meeting her that night in the coffee shop. I regretted not going inside the coffee shop to look for her the next day. I was not going to miss my chance again. I would find her.
    I spent the summer searching the UCSD campus and surrounding areas. I had to enroll as a student again to have full access, so I decided to take some more art classes. I had grown to love art during my year in Paris. I was eager to expand my knowledge and ability.
    I spent every night at the coffee shop, hoping and praying that I might see her. I asked around but no one seemed to know her. I watched for her everywhere I went, but after several months I began to lose hope. I didn’t know where else to look. I didn’t know where to go.
    So I went to the one place I always went when I needed to figure things out. I went to the beach. I easily found my favorite little cliff. I had spent so many nights there in the past. It was nice to be back. More than anywhere else I had been since coming back to San Diego, this place felt like home. I stared out at the stars and thought about my future.
    My life had been frozen for so many years. I had gone from my controlled existence with my father to my aimless existence with Elle. I was ready for my life to have direction. The summer art classes I was taking would actually satisfy all the credits I needed for a bachelor’s degree. I could graduate.
    I thought of how ironic that was, to have fought so hard against my father only to come back and do exactly what he had wanted. But this time it wouldn’t be for him. It would be for me. I knew I would never stop looking for Katherine, but I needed to start moving forward.
    As I stood there gazing down at the moonlit waves imagining her face I heard someone walk up behind me. I didn’t turn around. I tried to ignore them so that they would leave. But I could tell they didn’t leave immediately and I was just about to turn around when I finally heard them walk away. I wondered who else would be out here so late. I had never seen anyone on this cliff before.
    I went back to my apartment that night with a new determination. I would graduate. I would get a degree and move forward with my life. If I was meant to find Katherine again I would. And for some reason I felt confident that I would see her again. There was something about her, something about how she made me feel, I knew I was meant to meet her. It was only a matter of time.
    I was focused on my new goal. I quickly completed the necessary credits to obtain my degree and had decided to enroll at the Art Institute of California. Drawing was becoming my obsession. I would carry my sketchpad everywhere with me, just like I had in Paris. But this time I was practicing techniques and styles. I was challenging myself with various types of scenery. Back at my apartment I would paint over some of my sketches adding color and life to the pictures that were my favorite. Most of my paintings were of the ocean.
    I never stopped looking for