Page 120 of We Met Like This
I started by reading the last set of pages she had sent me a couple days ago. I shouldn’t have. Somewhere in the midst of being in love with her book, I’d forgotten it wasn’t a romance. It was a thriller/romance with a horror ending. And the horror part was taking over.
The main character, Ana, had decided after her near-death experience at the end of the last chapter that had she listened to the AI, she wouldn’t be in this mess. The AI only wanted what was best for her, or so she thought. But what Kari was expertly letting the reader see was that the AI was, in fact, getting bored and testing psychological theories on unsuspecting humans. And Alan had no idea that Ana was listening to the AI again. He thought they were going to let love conquer alland screw the recommendations of something that had never experienced that all-consuming emotion before.
“Love is for losers, Alan,” I whispered to my computer as I scrolled to the next page. “And Ana is going to screw you over. Just like every human in every relationship in every era of time has.”
Maybe I wasn’t in the right mindset to read this book. Or maybe I was in the perfect mindset. I typed out some notes that I hoped didn’t sound too bitter and sent them off to Kari, adding the wordsI’ll have your videos for you by tomorrowat the end of the email.
I opened the package of watery fruit, popped a grape into my mouth, then AirDropped the videos to my computer so I could edit them.
By the time I was done, I was crying again. I wasn’t anticipating how much Oliver would be in the videos and how much seeing him would stir every emotion in my body.
As if he knew I was thinking about him, my phone buzzed on the bed next to me.You have no idea how sorry I am. Nothing I say can possibly justify why I didn’t tell you, but if you will give me a chance, I would like to try to explain. If you’d rather just ghost me, I deserve it.
I threw my phone back onto the bed with a growl. “Ghost. I pick the ghost.”
I closed my computer. I’d put the finishing touches on the videos and send them to Kari in the morning. All I wanted to do now was sleep.
My head felt like it weighed a hundred pounds as I tried to lift it off my pillow the next morning. And it was throbbing. Myeyes felt puffy and raw. It took me a moment to realize it was the buzzing of my phone that had woken me.
“Hello,” I answered, my voice scratchy.
“Margot! I thought you were murdered by someone from one of those dating apps.” It was Sloane. “Your car is here. Where are you?”
“At my parents’ house.”
“You sound terrible.”
“You woke me up.” My phone said it was barely sevenA.M.
“I was worried.”
“You home?”
“Yes, got in late last night. I tried calling but you didn’t answer.”
“I’ve had a weekend. I’ll tell you everything later. How was yours? Any of your clients win any awards?”
“Yes, actually. It was pretty amazing.”
“That’s awesome.”
“I’m glad you’re alive. I’ll see you after work.”
I nodded but then, realizing she couldn’t see me, said, “Okay.”
The phone went silent. I sat up and rubbed my eyes, then listened intently for any movement from my parents downstairs. There was nothing. I padded to the bathroom, where I washed my face and brushed my teeth. I was still wearing my clothes from the day before, so I changed into a fresh outfit from my suitcase, then rezipped all my belongings inside.
My mom was sitting at the kitchen table drinking a cup of coffee when I went downstairs. She let out a short scream when she saw me, her hand flying to her chest. “You scared me. I didn’t know you were here.”
“Sorry. I crashed upstairs last night. You and Dad are goingto end up on the news as the couple who had a person living on their second floor for years if you don’t start doing a security sweep at night.”
“Very funny.”
“It wouldn’t be that funny, actually.” I gave her a small smile. “I had no way of getting home. My car is out of commission.” I pulled a mug out of the cupboard and filled it with coffee from the pot.
“That’s right. How did you get to Audrey’s yesterday?”
“Her ex-boyfriend dropped me off.” Apparently, I was feeling snarky this morning.
