THREE IS A CROWD

The Encounter

The unexpected encounter with Dan took Sarah by surprise. She had thought it might happen later, but not so soon.

Sarah got to her front door; how she got there with loads of thoughts without a bus hitting her on her way after she met Dan was a mystery.

She took her house keys from her bag and inserted them in the keyhole, unable to find the keyhole because she was lost in thoughts.

The key slipped, jolting her back to reality. It fell to the floor beside a small, brown flower vase she had never seen before, accompanied by a note. She retrieved the key and the note.

She read the note.

“For her royal Majesty, Congratulations on the new place.” She turned the note to check who it was from, but there was no indication of who it was from.

She picked it up and assumed it was either a mistake or one of her admirers. Sarah’s beauty always attracted men and, most of all, lots of gifts. If she wanted, she could date any of them and leach off their money.

Depending on another person’s money was the last thing she wanted. It would make her like her mom, and she didn’t want to have anything that would connect them together.

She opened the door and removed the book from her bag. She looked at it for a while, then tossed it with her bag on her couch. Water was the other different thought on her mind after Dan.

The living room also had a part cut out for the kitchen, which she made sure to give a modern touch and wooden decoration.

There was another door other than the entrance door that led to the room, and the bathroom could be found through the door in her room.

She wanted more than this, but that was what she could afford. The millions of part-time jobs and savings she did during college helped her out a lot in getting the place and having the decorations the way she wanted.

Although she thought she overdid it a bit with the cinema-like television that barely entered through her door, she loved it.

She drank an entire bottle, but it didn’t quench her thirst, so she took soda from the fridge, went to the living room, and collapsed on the couch.

“Dan,” she whispered. If he hadn’t recognized her and pointed out that he did, She wouldn’t have.

Dan, once a short, chubby, and clumsy kid from high school, had transformed into a taller, fitter man, making his dark blue suit incredibly appealing. Sarah shook her head, sat up, opened a can of soda, and took a sip.

“But I thought he went abroad or something.” She had earlier wanted to meet with him and apologize after she got into college, but she heard he was out of the country.

She gave up the idea, thinking maybe he would forget everything; besides, it was high school, they were all kids, and kids make mistakes that they eventually forget.

From what Dan said, he didn’t take it as a mistake, and neither did he forget.

“Oh well, I would have to make up for that when next I see him,” which she didn’t hope to. She finished her soda and went to her room to freshen up.

After using hours to freshen up and eating dinner, She decided to check her emails before bed for any response from the companies she applied to work for as a designer.

Sarah took her phone and went to her sss. She scrolled through.

“Yes!” she screamed. She got an interview schedule for next week for two different companies and an online interview for Tinder’s Corp.

She only cared about the response from Tinder’s corps. With all the excitement, she still needed to get money for groceries, electricity, and other things before the interviews.

She looked online for any part-time job, and she got a few that paid per hour spent. She decided to set out first in the morning to apply and also start working.

Right about when she was all tucked into bed and ready to say a prayer before sleep Her phone rang. It was her mom again. She silenced her phone and dozed off while praying.

A few days later,

She already took the interviews and was waiting for replies. While waiting, it became part of Sarah to be up early as her multiple part-time jobs have made her so, and without a waste of time, she was already done with exercise and eating breakfast.

She did all her skincare routine and set out for the part-time jobs she got, and a few she also applied for.

She got out and was already flaunting her beauty. The security waved at her when she passed, and she replied with a smile.

On getting to the bus station, she realized she had left her purse, so she turned around.

She was getting late. She needed to get to Andy’s coffee shop for her shift. Sarah increased her speed and then began running.

She realized sneakers, jeans, and a blue and black checkered top were the right choices. She bumped into a lady who came out of nowhere.

“Oh, I am so sorry,” Sarah apologized.

“No, it’s my fault. I wasn’t looking where I was going.” The lady said she was trying to check if she had dropped anything by mistake.

“Mirabel?” She seems to be seeing a lot of old faces around lately. Mirabel was her rival back in high school.

She was okay seeing Dan, but not Mirabel, especially with the fact that she was currently jobless and she was dressed shitty.

It was better to have seen her outside than for Mirabel to have seen her in one of her part-time jobs.

“Sarah right? God! What a huge coincidence!” Mirabel smiled, pretending not to recognize her at first.

“Oh, yeah. I live around here.” Sarah replied. She wished she had something to flaunt, but she wasn’t in the mood. She wanted to leave.

“I live around here too. I didn’t expect to see you, though. You don’t look well.” Mirabel observed, scanning Sarah from head to toe. She casually took out her car keys.

“I am fine; how are you? Your face got cheeky. Are you married?” Sarah wanted to call her fat; if she was still like the old Mirabel, she would hate to be pointed out as fat.

“I am actually late for work. Can we meet some time?” Mirabel stretched out her business card and waited a moment for Sarah to bring hers out as well.

Sarah heard a notification from her phone. She checked it and smiled.

“Sorry, I forgot my business card at home, but I work at Tinder’s Corp. as a chief designer. I will be sure to give you my card when we meet again.” She collected the card and left Mirabel shocked.

Sarah had landed a job at Tinder’s Corp, and it felt like a victory over Mirabel, who worked in real estate. However, Sarah worked full-time for Tinder’s Corp.