xoxokristal

Wake up and get ready. Eat breakfast. Work in my cubicle for hours having a fruit for a snack in between. Eat dinner. Sleep for 8 hours. Such was my life. The same boring routine happens over and over again. It was February 29^th at exactly 8:00 am when my usual routine was interrupted.

I walked into work passing by my two colleagues, Aaron and Gabe, in the office. They usually just waved when I walked in, but this time they started a conversation.

“Hey Elizabeth,” they said in unison.

Gabe smiled and said, “You look beautiful today. Did you change your hair?”

“Yeah? Did you cut it or something?” Aaron added.

I grabbed at my plain brown hair that was lying on my shoulders. It was in its usual middle part, plain and straight down. Nothing was different? It was the same as any other day.

I said confused, “Uh, no? I haven’t done anything different?”

“Well, you look nice today.” The two guys looked at each other while they nodded and smiled.

“Ok? Thanks?” I turned on my heels, quickly making my way to my little cubicle.

I placed my bags down and sat in my chair that was in front of my computer. That’s when I noticed it. A vanilla cupcake with swirled light pink frosting and white pearl sprinkles.

I looked around. There was no note anywhere. I picked up the cupcake and inspected it. It was real. I rolled back in my rolly chair into the little hallway to get a view of Aaron and Gabe. They were typing away at their computers. Weird.

I rolled back into my cubicle and placed the cupcake down to the side. I started working, but every few minutes I would look at the cupcake. Was it poison? Would it blow up? Maybe I should give it to someone else? Yeah, I thought. I would give it to someone else to see if it did anything.

I got back to working until it was noon. That was the usual time when I would pull out a fruit and eat it—today was a bowl of watermelon. I couldn’t stop looking at the cupcake.

Instead of pulling out my watermelon, I picked up the cupcake again and walked out to Aaron and Gabe. I said, “Did you guys leave this at my desk?”

They looked at each other and then looked at me, confused. “No? Neither of us has been by your desk.” Aaron said as Gabe nodded with him.

My mouth made an “o” shape. Gabe spoke up now, “Is it a secret admirer? Is there a note?”

I laughed at the idea of me having a secret admirer. I hadn’t been on a date in years, let alone gone out to meet anyone. “Good one. There wasn’t even a note. Maybe it was our boss. You’ll both get cupcakes too.”

Aaron smiles, “I bet it was a secret admirer. But either way, are you gonna eat that? It looks good.”

I looked down at the cupcake in my hand. Could it have been a secret admirer? I put my hand out for him to take the cupcake. “Let me know if it’s poisoned.” I laughed.

From there, things seemed normal again… until I walked into work the next day.

There was another cupcake. But this time it was chocolate with light blue frosting and a little fondant unicorn placed in the middle. It was cute. I thought that I should keep it for myself this time since Aaron seemed fine after eating it. I took a picture of it with the disposable camera I always kept in my bag.

At noon, I went out to Aaron and Gabe to show them the cupcake. They were confused that it happened again and that they didn’t get a cupcake too. I finally ate the cupcake, which was actually really delicious.

The next day there was another cupcake and then the next day and the next and next and next. There was a new cupcake on my desk every day for three weeks. Going from chocolate to vanilla, red velvet, purple icing, green icing, rainbow sprinkles, more fondant. Whoever was leaving these cupcakes for me really knew how to bake them. I gave a lot of the cupcakes to Aaron and Gabe since they didn’t mind eating cupcakes every day.

The three of us came to the conclusion that it had to be a secret admirer. We even tried to catch the person in action by using a video camera a couple of times, but it would always cut off from before the person came till we arrived at work. It was a true mystery.

One day my daily routine was different. My hair wouldn’t lay down straight the way it usually did so I had to put it in a ponytail, which then made me late to work. Aaron and Gabe were already busy working to notice me walk in the office. I walked into my cubicle, excited to see what kind of cupcake it was today. But this time there was no cupcake left, just a little velvet black box.

I quickly picked it up and ran out to Aaron and Gabe, “There isn’t a cupcake on my desk today! It’s a box!”

They looked surprised and yelled, “What are you doing?! Open it!”

I opened it and didn’t notice anything fall out. All I saw was the engagement ring with a big diamond. It had to be 2 or 3 karats. I was speechless and my mouth was wide open.

“Elizabeth? What is it?” Gabe asked.

I turned it around for them to see. Not even able to say a word.

“Woah.” That was the only thing I heard and I wasn’t sure who it came from.

I walked back to my desk without another word and just placed the box to the side. This is the weirdest thing that has ever happened to me. I could hear Aaron and Gabe whispering to each other.

I tried to get back to work and not think about the ring. Most of the time I just found myself sitting there, staring at the box. I finally got through the day and Aaron and Gabe had left home an hour ago. I was still shocked.

I picked up my belongings but left the ring on my desk. It had to be a joke. I didn’t want to bring the ring with me. It just felt too weird.

As I was walking out, I noticed a note on the floor. It must have fallen when I opened the ring box. I picked it up and slowly opened the small folded white paper.

It read: Did you miss me? –D xx.

The note dropped out of my hand. It couldn’t have been.

The biggest smile appeared on my face when I realized all those cupcakes and the ring had to be from David. David was my best friend since elementary school. We went through everything together, even the worst accounting class in college that we both failed. His family owned a bakery next to my parent’s shoe store. I lost contact with him a little bit after the time when he went in the military after we graduated from college. I remembered sending letters back and forth before I moved and had a change of address. I sent a letter with my new address to him, but a few weeks later I got my letter back with a “Return to Sender” stamped in red on the front.

It’s been four years.

I quickly grabbed the ring and went home. As soon as I got home, I grabbed my house phone and frantically dialed David’s parent’s shop. They had to still be there. The phone kept ringing and ringing. No one answered.

I called another five times and still no answer. It was useless.

I placed the ring down on my dining room table and went to take a shower. As soon as I wrapped a towel around me, I heard the doorbell ring. No one ever visited me?

Without thinking, I just went to answer the door. I was too anxious to open the door and didn’t realize I was still in my towel.

I opened my door to find David standing there. Pink roses in hand.

He looked me up and down before raising his bushy eyebrows. I laughed and said, “I was in the shower!”

I grabbed the roses and hugged him tight for a really long time. We finally broke the hug and I gestured him inside, running to wrap myself in a robe before coming back out. “How did you find me?” I asked.

“I went through hell to find you. I did get into contact with our parents, of course. They were happy to see me. Especially when I asked for your hand in marriage. Your mom practically made me deaf.” He grinned.

I had completely forgotten about the pact we made in our senior year of high school. If we weren’t with someone in 10 years, we were going to get married. I can’t believe it’s already been that long.

I was still standing up when David stood in front of me. I saw the familiar black box in his hand. He got on one knee and opened the box. The ring stunned me again.

“Yes!” I screamed before he got a chance to talk.

He laughed so hard, “Can’t you wait for what I have to say?”

I smile and impatiently say, “Ok, go! Go! Go!”

“…Elizabeth Re—“

“Yes!” I screamed again and he just rolled his eyes.

“I’ll just take that answer, I guess.” He placed the ring on my left ring finger and stood. I jumped right on him and he squeezed me back.

I smiled, “I’m glad my best friend is back. We’re going to have so much fun.”

xoxo kristal

 

All Rights Reserved Copyright © 2016 xoxokristal.com || Kat

It’s my first post!!! Yayyy!! I hope you guys enjoy this mysterious short story! Please feel free to leave comments! I would greatly appreciate it! Until next time (:

xoxo kristal

A Dark and Stormy Night

The crack of thunder sounded like a whip hitting the floor and the lighting electrified the sky. It had been raining since the evening started and it didn’t seem like it would clear up anytime soon. The glowing battery-powered lava lamp was the only light source in the room since the lights had gone out. The blue globs were floating up and down similar to silly putty.

Amelia sat in her dark bedroom listening to the rain as it poured down outside her window. Her parents were out of town so she had the big creepy mansion all to herself. She couldn’t stop thinking about her cat that ran away the week before. He was black with an orange tint, named “Halloween”.

There were long scrapes against her window. She opened her eyes wide as her heartbeat sped up. Her breathing quickened and she pulled her black covers over her head. She tried hard to think that it was a tree branch reaching out to her window but that thought couldn’t surface considering she was on the first floor.

*Ding Dong*

The doorbell rang and the sound radiated through the big house. Amelia didn’t know what to do. A part of her wanted to stay hidden underneath her covers but the other part of her wanted to see who it was. She was a curious girl and always wanted to have her questions answered.

*Ding Dong*

The high tone made its way to the hallway calling for Amelia again, sounding at her door. She pushed her covers off and got out of bed without thinking. She looked around the room that was almost black except for the blue lava lamp slightly illuminating the room. She spotted her lacrosse stick next to her door and picked it up tightly in her hands. She needed a weapon because why would someone be at her front door on such a stormy night.

Amelia walked down the hallway and immediately regretted not bringing a flashlight with her. She tried to adjust her eyes to the pitch-black hallway and could only see the front door from the lightning that continually brightened up the foyer, like strobe lights, through the big Victorian windows.

She pulled her lacrosse stick closer to her chest when she started hearing scrapes at the front door. She was frightened and started to hold her breath as she slowly walked closer to the door. Amelia looked out through the peephole only to find nothing. Her eyebrows knitted confused but she still felt uneasy.

Thunder clapped and the loudness made her jump. She wanted to run back to her room but the mystery of the doorbell still propelled her. Amelia unlocked the front door and had her lacrosse stick ready to attack. Slowly, she pulled open the door and saw no one again. There was just rain pouring down around the house and an empty yard. All she could smell was the dirt forming into mud, no presence of anyone.

“Meow.” The small sound made her jump just as she did from the lightning moments before. She looked side to side before looking down.

There sat her black cat staring up at her with big green eyes. Her cat was damp and shaking a bit from being outside in the rain.

“Halloween!” She exclaimed, quickly picking up the cat. Amelia wrapped Halloween up in her shirt and went back inside. She locked the door and scurried down the hallway back to her room.

Halloween happily purred so loud that he drowned out the sound of the storm happening outside. He gave her the comfort she needed on this dark and stormy night.

 

All Rights Reserved Copyright © 2016 xoxokristal.com || Kat