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Her feet ache from walking all day while showing off houses, and having to look at numbers on her screen isn’t helping the headache she can feel start to develop under her skull. Sighing, Suzie rubs her eyes. It has been a long day, hell, a long week. She drags her hands down her face, focusing on the small clock on her computer. 4:58 pm. She feels relief wash over her, almost at the finish line. She stretches, saves the documents, and turns off her computer. As she goes to say goodbye to her coworkers, she feels her phone vibrate—a call.
From her ex-fiancé.
It’s been a year since she’s talked to him, the last time ending horribly. Without thinking, Suzie silences her phone and pockets it. The rest feels as if she’s on autopilot, only coming back to herself when she’s at her apartment door.
As she opens her door, she sees the boxes in her living room. She groans as she realizes that she still has a lot to unpack.
Three months have passed since she successfully got her own place without needing a roommate; the only downside is that now she feels lonely. As she makes herself an easy dinner, she scrolls through YouTube looking for the video to watch during dinner.
As she’s about to give up, a video catches her eye. Barely any views, uploaded less than a week ago, but she knows the building on the cover of the video, the old C&A building that has been there forever. She impulsively clicks on it; the first thing she hears is a feminine voice describing the building. As the camera flips, she sees the person vlogging. A woman with black hair and bangs, her eye color a mix of everything.
Just as she’s about to continue watching, she smells something burning.
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It hasn’t been a great week workwise for Abigail. Someone in storage miscalculated, and now all the earnings are out of order. She stands at the bus stop, fidgeting while waiting. She groans, turning her head to the side in boredom. Her eyes are drawn to the announcement on the bus shelter, something about real estate, but Abigail's eyes land on the person in it, red hair and blue eyes with a smile that doesn’t reach her eyes.
Before she can continue looking, the bus arrives and she sighs with relief. She rubs the bridge of her nose as she gets on the bus, praying that she can just get home and rest.
As Abigail sits down, she pulls her phone out, seeing notifications from her channel, some likes here and there. A smile pulls at the corners of her mouth; her small urban exploring channel is one of those small things that make her forget about all the worries.
But one thing keeps bugging her from her last adventure, the headset. Was it a stupid move to have put on a mysterious headset in an abandoned building? Sure, it didn’t do much to her but make her head hurt for an hour. Yet she still wonders how a computer that old still works. As she was about to delve deeper into it, she heard the bus arrive at her stop. She quickly puts her phone away, leaving the bus.
As she gets into her home, she hears the faint noise of a notification, and as a reflex, she immediately opens it. It’s an email notification from her boss. She feels her breath stop; scared of what the email might contain, she opens it nonetheless. A new transfer coding position, not a replacement. She finally lets herself breathe, putting a hand to her chest. And note for her that she will need to tour the location near downtown. She shrugs, not caring much since it’s extra pay without much work.
She lies down on her couch, thinking of the weekend that is to come. She decides to scroll through Instagram; her friends said it’s her turn to choose where they will go Saturday night. Looking for something downtown, she spots a colorful profile that catches her eye: The Triangle. It was a relatively new bar, but damn, don’t those drinks look nice.
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Suzie can’t believe her eyes; it’s still there, the headset. Not only that but the blogger does the exact same thing she did when Suzie found it. The video took up all of her attention, causing her dinner to be ruined, but she couldn’t care less. The blogger, who she finds is called Abigail, describes everything, and all the things match up with hers.
But what can she do? Suzie stands up as she starts passing; the only thing she thinks to do is to comment something, but maybe that will sound too weird. She stops, tapping her foot on the floor and biting her nail. Why was this affecting her like this?
Maybe the loneliness was getting to her; maybe she just craved a conversation that has nothing to do with how much of a mess she is or with how much they should value a property. She drags her hand across her face as she walks towards the fridge. The moment Suzie opens the fridge, she can’t help but let out a groan; it seems like a supermarket visit is in order.