Fate
By Nadine Maraldo



This story takes place after Playing Possum.



PJ has gone to Lebanon to visit some of his relatives over there.While he is 
over there a war breaks out in the region where he is staying. Maggie hears 
about it and tries to contact him to see if he is alright but she has no luck. 
Then she gets a phone call from PJ and he tells her he'll be back in Mount 
Thomas next Tuesday. PJ tells Maggie he loves her and also tells her that the 
flight he'll be on is Qantas 656 which will arrive in Melbourne on Tuesday 6th 
January at 8am. Maggie tells him she'll be at the airport and also tells him 
that she misses him badly. 
Maggie is excited to hear that PJ is coming back in a week, before he left he 
declared his love for her for the first time and they had a wonderful final 
night together before he left. 
So for the last few weeks, Maggie has missed working with PJ. She instead has 
had to work with Dash. She enjoyed working with her but it wasn't the same as 
working with PJ (PJ and her knew what each other thought not like Dash, who 
didn't know what Maggie was thinking. Plus Dash spent most of the time trying to 
find out how Maggie felt about PJ). 
One more week she thought before she would see PJ again. She had spoken to him a 
few times while he was in Lebanon. They talked for a few hours each time about 
what they had been doing while being apart. They knew the phone bills would be 
expensive but definitely knew they were worth every cent. 
Tuesday 6th January finally came and Maggie couldn't contain her joy and 
excitement that she would finally see PJ again. The four weeks they had been 
apart seemed like four months to Maggie. It also made her realise that she loved 
PJ more than anyone she had ever loved before. 
Maggie went to the airport early just in case the flight arrived early. It was 
her scheduled day off so noone would think anything of it if she wasn't in Mount 
Thomas. It was also helped that she said she was visiting her dad Pat Doyle, in 
Melbourne. 
Maggie got to the airport and she went to the arrivals desk and asked them if 
PJ's flight had landed yet. The lady behind the desk replied, "Haven't you 
heard?" 
Maggie: Heard what? 
Lady: That plan was hijacked shortly after it left Lebanon and just a few 
minutes ago it blew up. 
Maggie: No it can't be so, my boyfriend's on that plane. It can't have crashed, 
no. 
Lady: I'm sorry. I can give you a number where you can find out if your 
boyfriend was on board that flight. 
Maggie got the number off the lady and rang it straight away. Maggie was praying 
that PJ wasn't on the flight. Her hopes faded to nothing when the man on the 
other end said, "Yes a Mr P.J. Hasham was on that flight." 
Maggie said thankyou and put the phone down. 
She started to cry and was hurting so much because she finally had met the right 
guy and he was dead. 
Maggie went from the airport to a place where she was always welcome and that 
was her dad's home. 
Maggie knocked on the door and Pat answered. He could tell Maggie had been 
crying. He asked, "What's wrong Maggie?" 
Maggie: Nothing dad. 
Pat: You can't tell me, it's nothing, you've been crying. 
Maggie: The plane PJ was on crashed and he's dead. 
Pat (looks concerned):PJ's dead? Are you sure he was on that plane? 
Maggie: I rang up the number for information concerning any friends or family 
who were on that flight and he was confirmed as one of the passengers. 
Pat: I'm so sorry Maggie, I don't know what to say. 
Maggie: I loved him dad, he was the one. We were only talking on the phone a 
week ago. 
Pat: I know you loved him and he loved you. 
Maggie: Huh? 
Pat: The way he helped you when Robbie was doing a 'cold turkey' and you tried 
to reject his help but you could see he was concerned. While on the other hand, 
when PJ was up on those gambling charges back in 1995, you could see then that 
he meant a lot of you. 
Maggie: Yeah I loved him and I'm going to miss him real bad. 
All of the sudden the doorbell rings. 
Pat: I'll go and answer it. 
Maggie: No I will it's ok. 
Maggie gets up and opens the door to find PJ standing in front of her. 
Maggie's sadness turns into happiness when she sees him. 
Maggie hugs PJ then kisses him passionately. 
Maggie: PJ, what are you doing here? I thought you were dead with the others on 
that flight? 
PJ: Hi Mags. I actually ended up getting an earlier flight and came home last 
night. I didn't ring because I wanted to surprise you. 
Maggie: Well you sure did a hell of a job there. 
PJ: How are you? God, I've missed you so much. 
Maggie: Me too. 
PJ: I love you Mags. 
Maggie: I love you PJ. 
PJ sees Pat. Walks up to him and shakes his hand, he says. "Long time no see 
Pat." Both are chuckling. 
Maggie: What are you laughing about over there? 
Both at the same time say, "Oh nothing". 
PJ goes back to Maggie and says to her: 
"Margaret Doyle I've loved you since I first saw you back at the entrance of 
Mount Thomas back in 1994 and after spending time with my relatives in Lebanon 
it made me realise how much I loved you and also how much I missed you." 
PJ gets down on one knee, "Maggie, will you marry me?" 
Maggie: I don't know what to say. 
PJ: Say yes. 
Maggie: Yes I'll marry you. 
They kiss. 
PJ: I love you Mags. 
Maggie: I love you PJ. 
They kiss again. 
PJ puts the engagement ring on Maggie's ring finger. Maggie realises something. 
"Hey the ring matches the earrings you gave me last Christmas." 
PJ: Yeah it does. 
PJ and Maggie are congratulared by a smiling Pat. 
Maggie: Why were you two chuckling before? 
PJ: I think it's safe to tell her name. 
Pat: PJ came by last night to ask for permission from me for your hand in 
marriage. 
Maggie: I never knew you were an old fashioned guy PJ. 
PJ: Yeah well. I wanted to make sure I had Pat's permission and that he would 
accept me as being good for his daughter. 
Pat: Just take care of my little girl. 
PJ: I will, I definitely will and Mags, that's the reason I got an earlier 
flight so I could visit Pat and also my mum, who by the way accepts you as a 
daughter already. 
Maggie: That's good to hear, I didn't want to get into Mama Hasham's bad books. 
PJ: So Mags, when are we going to tell the others that we're engaged? 
Maggie: Let's take one step at a time and tell them we're together first. 
PJ: Whatever you say Mags, whatever you say. 
They kiss as if they haven't seen each other for months not weeks.
THE END