Chapter Text
“What do you mean, you want me to buy the Soulmater, do you know how much it costs?"
Yes, Jackie knew, of course she knew. But she didn't care, she needed to be completely sure of her decision to marry Jeff.
“You can take the money from my part of the inheritance. Mark, please, I have never asked you for anything” She approached her brother and grabbed his hands so he could look her in the eyes. “I need to know.”
“If you really need to know, that means Jeff is not your soulmate. If he was, you wouldn't care so much.”
“I don't know, it's just…” Jackie shook her head in frustration, not knowing how to explain her feelings.
“Why don't you go buy it yourself? You're old enough to do what you want, you don't have to involve me in this. “ He separated from her and got up ready to leave.
“I don't want Jeff to know. Mark, please, do this for me, I promise never to ask you for anything else.” She put on her best good face and that's when she saw how her brother gave in because no matter how much he always begged, in the end, he always ended up helping Jackie.
“Okay, but this is the last crazy thing I do for you.” They both knew that was a lie, but Jackie pounced on him, hugging him with a smile from ear to ear. “I'll stop by after work and bring it to you tonight.”
“Thank you, thank you, I love you so much, you are the best brother in the world.”
Once her brother had left, Jackie's nerves began to rise.
What if Jeff wasn't her soulmate?
What if her soulmate was someone who was already married to someone else?
What if he was single? What would she do then? Would she introduce herself as his soulmate and they would be happy ever after?
Jackie took a deep breath trying to calm down, there were too many unanswered questions, she decided to look on the Internet for experiences that other people had had with the Soulmater, maybe that would help her to know what to do in different situations.
According to the scientists who invented it, it was a computer algorithm that was right in 100% of the cases. The device you bought was quite simple, it was a screen where you wrote your name and your date of birth and in a few seconds, you received the name of your soulmate and his or her date of birth. Few people had tried it, as it cost around $100,000 and not everyone could afford it. But those who had tried it said that as soon as they met their soulmate they knew that the device had not been wrong.
All the reviews Jackie found had happy endings except for one that said he had the bad luck that his soulmate had died before he met her. A shiver ran down her spine and she wished she hadn't read anything. Now she only had more doubts about her decision.
Just then she received a message from Jeff.
'Where are you, we've been waiting for you for half an hour!!!'
Oops, she had forgotten that she was meeting her boyfriend and her future mother-in-law to determine the wedding date.
'I had to do something important at home, I'll be there in 10 minutes'.
She wasn't really looking forward to going, but it would be a good way to get the Soulmater thing off her mind until she met up with Mark that night.
When she got to the coffee shop where she had arranged to meet her boyfriend, she realized that there was only him waiting for her.
“Hey, where's your mother?” She gave him a kiss on the cheek as a greeting.
“Well, she left a while ago! My mom is too important a person for you to be wasting her time.”
“Well, we can arrange the wedding date by ourselves.” She sat down and made a gesture to the waiter to bring her the same thing Jeff was drinking.
“We've already decided.”
“What do you mean?”
“What you hear, my mom and I decided that the date will be June 25.”
“But that's in less than a month!” It was too soon. “We won't have time to prepare everything.”
“Please, Jackie, the only thing we need to do is to be present on the day of the wedding, leave the rest to my parents.”
Jackie clenched her fists tightly trying not to lose her temper with her boyfriend.
“It's my wedding, I want to be the one to decide how it's going to be.”
“Well don't get mad, I'll tell my mom to involve you in everything she can. I'll let you choose the place, the catering, everything you want, my love. But the wedding will be on June 25, that's all there is to it.”
At that moment Jackie didn't need a Soulmater to know that Jeff was definitely not her soulmate. She'd been with him for so long that she'd gotten used to letting herself go and accepting whatever came her way with a good face and without complaint. But when her dad passed away a few months ago, it made her rethink the life she had and whether she was wasting it. Which led her straight to the idea of buying the Soulmater. And now she knew she had made the right decision.
She spent the afternoon with Jeff, not paying too much attention to him and agreeing with him on everything so that he would leave her alone. When he took her home she realized that Mark's car was at the door, she said goodbye to her boyfriend promising to call him the next day and almost went running to meet her brother.
“Did you get it?” Jackie asked anxiously
“Yes, yes, take it easy.” He showed her the bag he was holding.”Let's go to your room.”
In the room, Mark opened the bag and gave her the silver package in it. Jackie opened it carefully and took out the Soulmater, it was smaller than she thought, it fits in the palm of her hand. It had a button in the center to turn it on but she hesitated before pressing it.
“What's wrong, Jax? Do you want me to leave you alone?”
“No, no, it's not that. It's just...I'm scared.” She looked into her brother's eyes and saw the understanding in them.
“Whatever comes out is going to be fine. Besides, you can still take it back, the guy at the store told me it can be returned as long as it hasn't been used.”
Jackie thought about it for a second, but remembering the afternoon she had spent with Jeff all doubts flew out of her mind.
“No, here we go.” She took a deep breath and pressed the button.
The device welcomed her and asked her to write her name. She was so nervous that she couldn't manage to press the keys on the screen properly.
Mark put an arm around her shoulders to support her. “Slow down, sis. There's no hurry.”
Jackie finally managed to enter her full name and then wrote her date of birth. Only one button appeared on the screen: 'Click here to find your soulmate.’
And so Jackie did.
The screen scrolled and after a few seconds a name and date appeared: Shauna Shipman - 11/24/1996.
“Shauna Shipman? My soulmate is a girl?”