All characters are mine and mine alone. If they look like anybody you know or think you know, it ' s sheer coincidence. This story does contain some violence, foul language, and sexual content. If you don ' t like any of these, please try your call again.
Synopsis: Michaela spends the 26 th of June relaxing and trying to figure out what to do on her birthday, the 27 th . She doesn't know what to do when the next day arrives and it isn't the 27 th , but the 26 th again. She becomes stuck in a time loop and she doesn't know how to get out.
My deepest thanks to Rosa for editing what I could get her before the deadline. The mistakes are my fault.
Questions? Comments? Rude remarks? silverwriter01@yahoo.com
June 26th
Michaela Davis was not the type of person who woke up quickly in the mornings. When Michaela first opened her eyes, she saw it was still dark. It was not a motivator to get up. She didn't fall right back to sleep, but it took another few minutes before she opened her eyes again. Being slightly more awake, she was able to recognize the sound of rain against her window. She softly grumbled, rolling over onto her side and pulling the covers tightly to her chest, “Rain, rain, go away. Come again another day. Little Mickey wants to play.”
When she found the energy, she glanced over at the alarm clock on her night stand. Its green numbers mocked her by reading 7:15.
“Damnit,” Michaela grumbled again. The whole point of having days off was to sleep in, not to wake up when you usually do, she thought. She stayed in bed until her bladder demanded she get up. After peeing, she lazily started brushing her teeth. A soft whine caused her to look down. Her German shepherd, Crisco, whined again.
She spoke, her mouth full of toothpaste foam, “Well, go outside. Nobody's stopping you.”
Crisco took off for his doggy door to the fenced in backyard. Michaela followed him as far as to the kitchen, where she turned on her coffee pot. As the liquid brewed, she stared out the window humming the chorus of Rain by Breaking Benjamin. She had her first cup in her hand when her dog tried to come in through his door. She opened the backdoor to stop him, “Did you shake off twice?”
Crisco was damp from his bathroom break, but not soaked. Still she wouldn't let him come in until he shook himself off again. From there, she fixed him his breakfast and contemplated what she wanted for her own. Just as she had decided on cereal, she heard a familiar sound. She took off down the hall back to her bedroom to answer her cell phone.
“Hello?” She said, trying not to reveal she was short of breath and not bothering to look at the contact information.
“Hooker, you left me here at work alone.”
Michael grinned as she recognized the voice of her friend and coworker, Sharon, “It will do you good to work alone. Maybe you'll get some work done instead of leaving it all on me.”
“No. I'm just saving it for when you get back on Monday.”
Both women worked in the translating company that translated documents, games, directions, videos, and pretty much anything the company was hired to do. Michaela was fluent in Spanish and Portuguese.
“So are you doing anything special for your birthday tomorrow?
“If by special you mean staying home, watching shows saved up on my DVR, then yes, I have something special planned.”
Michaela could almost hear Sharon rolling her eyes, “Oh God, woman. You're so dull. At least go out and play tonight.”
“I'll think about it,” Michaela hedged.
“It's been almost four months since you broke up with Kelly. You…”
Michaela pulled the phone away from her ear, “This conversation is over. Okay. Bye.”
She pressed end and tossed the phone on the bed. She glared at the phone, “I'm not stuck on my ex-girlfriend.”
Michaela turned to see Crisco standing at the doorway to her bedroom. His tail gave the briefest of wags. She asked, “Want to go for a run?”
Crisco's tail immediately started wagging at top speed. Michaela changed into her running clothes and went to the front door, where Crisco was waiting. She took his leash from the coat closet and hooked it to his collar. After briefly stretching on the front porch, the pair went running down the driveway and into the suburban neighborhood where she lived. Michaela didn't care it was still raining. In fact, she preferred it. It meant she didn't have to wave at random neighbors outside, and besides, it was fun to run in the rain. Crisco thought it was fun too.
Twenty minutes later with both human and dog properly soaked, they made it back to their house. Michaela ordered Crisco to sit while she went to get him a towel after he had shaken off on the porch. After rubbing him down, she went to take her own shower. She paused to look in the mirror as she stripped down naked.
Michaela knew she was an okay looker. She wasn't stunning, but many people called her cute. She tied her sandy blonde hair back and leaned forward to check out a tender spot on her chin. She hoped it would go away before it developed into a pimple.
Once showered, Michaela decided to go to the grocery store. She left Crisco watching Food Network and went to the nearest supermarket. She knew it was a mistake to go shopping while hungry when she came back home with ten bags of groceries for one person. Crisco watched as she unpacked and stored away all the food she had bought.
“We'll be set until August,” She told him as she finished putting the three boxes of cereal she bought. I got us a large, juicy T-bone steak for dinner tonight. The steak for me and the bone for you.”
Michaela spent the rest of the day relaxing on the couch as she caught up on Bones and Castle. She made the a salad to go along with her steak as the sun started to set and she watched an episode of Lost Girl on her computer as she ate. The day had been completely uneventful and she had enjoyed it. However, as night fell, Sharon's words came back to her. She wondered if she should go do something tonight. She hated to go alone though.
“Oh, fuck it. It's my birthday and I'll go drink a beer if I want to,” Michaela told her dog, “Besides a girl only turns 29 once.”
Deciding all she wanted was a drink, she put on some jeans and a nice shirt. She headed to Mastiff's, which was a local gay bar. It was typically haunted by men instead of women, but it was a quiet and smoke-free place to get a drink. She could say she mingled, talked to the natives, and go home.
The drive to the pub was uneventful, though it did take longer than necessary since there was heavy traffic on all the main interstates and highways due to the weather. Once at the pub, it wasn't hard to find a parking spot. The pub was mildly crowded; there was some major sports' game on all the TVs. Michaela made her way to the bar where she sat down on the leather stool. A ruggedly handsome, middle-aged man soon appeared in front of her, “What will it be?”
“A Blue Moon,” Michaela requested. The man nodded and soon a frosted bottle was in front of her, “Are you starting a tab?”
“For a few rounds, yeah,” Michaela agreed. She drank two beers in twenty minutes. She chatted with a few gay men she vaguely knew and half-watched the game. Just as she was thinking of leaving, another woman sat down at the bar. Michaela gave her a curious glance. Pleased by what she saw in the glance, she took a longer peak.
The woman was dressed similarly to herself in jeans and a nice blouse. Her skin was tan but Michaela couldn't tell if it was due to ethnicity or from a love of the outdoors. Her hair and eyes were dark and her lips were full. The woman requested something sweet from the bartender and her dark eyes glanced over at Michaela. Knowing she was caught, Michaela politely nodded with a slight smile and returned to her beer.
It took another beer before Michaela could work up the courage to say hi. Finally, she just turned to look at the woman, “Hey. My name's Michaela Davis.”
The woman gave her an amused smile and held out her hand, “Sophia. Sophia Milander.”
“So are you waiting for somebody or just relaxing after a hard day?” Michaela asked.
Sophia leaned closer, “Are you trying to pick me up or just make conversation?”
Michaela hedged with a smile, “Maybe both.”
Sophia laughed, “Well, I hate to break it to you, but I don't live around here. I'm just visiting for a job interview.”
“But there's a possibility,” Michaela said, “That you might live around here one day.”
“I suppose,” Sophia said. She thanked the bartender for refilling her drink and turned her attention back to Michaela, “So are you still interested in conversation or shall you go try your luck elsewhere?”
“I'm happy where I am. So how did you discover our fine establishment here if you're just visiting?” Michaela asked. She was hoping to discover if Sophia was gay or if she just had stumbled into the wrong kind of bar. Evidence was pointing to the former but she wanted to be sure.
“The internet,” The woman answered easily, “There were other places, but the reviews for this one seemed more to my liking.”
“So what line of work are you in? If you don't mind my asking.”
Sophia smiled, as she twirled her glass, “I'm a college professor. I was actually interviewing for a position at Kingston University.”
Michaela was impressed, “That's pretty cool. What do you teach?”
“Biology.”
“Impressive. I would try to rant off something biological but I'm sure I would end up sounding like an idiot,” Michaela confessed with a grin. It got the laugh from Sophia that she wanted, “Well, I'm not at work so I don't need to talk about science. So what do you do for a living?”
Michaela explained her job as a translator, which Sophia found interesting, “How many languages do you speak?”
“Four: English, Portuguese and Spanish.”
“That's three.”
“I'm so glad you asked,” Michaela grinned, “The fourth is sarcasm.”
Sophia laughed, “I'm surprised you didn't add ‘sexual innuendos' to the list.”
“Oh, I am fluent in risqué language but that's not something I put on my resume.”
Sophia laughed again as she drained her glass, “Michaela, it's been a pleasure meeting you but I fear I must go. I have a plane to catch in the morning and it's past my bedtime. It was truly nice meeting you.”
“Wait,” Michaela said, grabbing a napkin from the bar and started looking for a pen, “I'd like to give you my number. If you get the job and move to town, call me. Perhaps we can have another drink.”
About to ask the bartender for a pen, one appeared beside her. Sophia said, holding it out, “I'd like that.”
Michaela grinned as she wrote down her number and her name. She handed the napkin and the pen back to Sophia, “I hope to hear from you.”
“I do too.”
Michaela watched the dark-haired woman leave the pub and wondered if she would ever hear from her again. The translator took her time finishing off her beer and then paid her tab, leaving a nice tip for the bartender. Michaela kept thinking about Sophia as she got into her car. She started speaking out loud to herself, “Should I have flirted with her more? Should I have asked for her number? Why did I write it on a napkin anyway? Why didn't I make sure she put it in her cell phone? She probably didn't even like me anyway.”
The blonde turned on her car and started for home. She had to take the long way home because the roads were still blocked with traffic from the rain. Traffic updates would air after every few songs, “Traffic I-27 Northbound is still slow due to a three-car pileup while Southbound is bottled necked from construction. On Highway 97 there is a two-car pileup being cleared up…”
Michaela switched the station to find music, “People just don't know how to drive when it's raining. It's like the idiots come out.”
When she finally got home, she let Crisco out into the backyard and fixed herself a glass of water. When he came back in, she said to him, “Let's check the weather channel. If it doesn't look too bad tomorrow, we should go for a ride somewhere.”
Michaela went to her bedroom with her laptop. She checked her email, answered a funny snark from Sharon, and browsed a few random sites before closing her laptop. She glanced at her clock before falling asleep. It was almost midnight. The alcohol she had had made her pleasantly sleepy and she was asleep before it turned midnight.
***
The next morning, Michaela woke up slowly again. Seeing it was still dark, she tried to go back to sleep. After a few minutes, she opened her eyes to see it was a quarter past seven. She groaned at her inability to sleep in and frowned when she heard the sound of rain against her window, “The weather channel said the storm would be gone in the morning. There was supposed to be some overcast with sunshine.”
She reluctantly crawled out of bed to look out the window, frowning at the dark sky, “Where is my sunshine? It's my birthday.”
Michaela went to the bathroom to pee and started brushing her teeth afterwards. She was surprised she didn't have beer breath, but decided not to question small favors. A whine caused her to look down at Crisco, “Well, go pee. We'll still do something today. The rain should hopefully clear up.”
She followed Crisco as far as to the kitchen to start the coffee pot. She was wondering what cereal she should eat, since she had bought three kinds when she went grocery shopping yesterday. The sound of her phone ringing brought her out of a daze. She started walking to the bedroom and picked her cell off its charger. She smiled as she saw it was Sharon and figured it was her friend going to wish her a happy birthday, “Hey there.”
“Hooker, you left me here at work alone.”
Michaela didn't know why her friend was repeating the same thing she said yesterday but shrugged it off, “We've already been here and had this conversation.”
“Well, I'm leaving all the real work for you on Monday.”
“Yeah, yeah. You told me this yesterday,” Michaela said, sitting on her bed.
“I did?” Sharon asked, sounding confused, “Oh well. So are you doing anything special for your birthday tomorrow?
It was Michaela's turn to be confused, “Today is my birthday, Sharon.”
Sharon paused, “Ah, no, it isn't. You said your birthday is the 27th. Unless you're lying to me.”
“It is the 27th. Today is the 27th. Saturday,” Michaela said, trying to clue her friend in, “Did you go out drinking last night or something?”
“No,” Sharon said, “Babe, it's the 26th. It's Friday and you took off. Gosh, vacation is really going to your head. Don't try to rush the weekend. Anyway, I got to get back to work. Don't be dull, go out and play tonight. Later.”
Michaela could only stare at her phone in confusion. Looking at her phone, it told her the time and the date. The date was Friday the 26th.
“This has to be a prank. Sharon got in and switched my phone or something. Yesterday was the 26th. Not today.”
Michaela went to the living room where she turned on the TV. The timer on the schedule read “Fri, 6/26”.
“This is fucked up,” Michaela said. She tossed the remote on the couch and stopped when she heard it hit something. She frowned when she saw her laptop on the couch, “But I took it to the bedroom last night. What the fuck?”
Michaela went to stand in the kitchen and started looking around. She quickly moved around the kitchen, opening cabinets and looking in the fridge, “Where is all the food I bought yesterday? Where is it?”
Crisco started whining, not liking his master was upset and that she hadn't fed him yet. Michaela turned to stare down at him, “Did I dream yesterday? Is this a dream?”
She fed her dog before going to sit on the couch. She opened her computer and checked the time. Everything agreed it was Friday. She called Sharon, “Please, tell me this is a prank.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I swear to God that I've already lived today. I guess it was a dream I had last night but I lived today. I went to the store, I went out for a beer last night. I've already been through this day!”
“Sounds like an interesting dream. Did you happen to see tonight's lottery numbers in your dream?”
“No.”
“Shame. I gotta get to work now. Bye.”
Michaela stared at the phone.
“I guess it was a dream,” But she wasn't convinced.
Michaela went about the rest of the day observing everything. When she went to the store, she bought different things than what she had purchased in her dream, but she still noticed the same people in the store. There was a woman who kept picking up and putting back different cake mixes. She watched as the stocker on aisle 8 dropped three cans of soup as he had done in her dream. The mother and the crying baby were in the produce section. It continued to rain.
Michaela was completely frazzled by the time she got home. Everything was the same as yesterday, but that was impossible since today was yesterday. She sat on the couch until it started getting dark. Only Crisco's whines made her get up to go out and play ball with him from the back porch and then she fed him dinner. The blonde then went to get her keys and wallet.
She drove to Mastiff's and sat in the parking lot. She didn't go inside but she was carving a large drink. She just waited to see if one person would show up. After ten o'clock, Sophia Milander parked in the parking lot and went inside the pub.
Michaela wondered if she should go inside and flirt with Sophia again. She decided it wouldn't be a good idea considering how freaked out she was. She sat in her car for a long time, trying to wrap her head around the situation. Time passed and Sophia left the bar. Michaela decided to drive home. Again, she had to take the long way since the major roads were blocked with traffic.
Once home, Michaela decided to leave clues around the house. She left her cell phone on the kitchen island. She turned her kitchen magnets upside down and took her laptop into the bathroom. Looking into the bathroom mirror she said, trying to convince herself, “I'm not going crazy.”
Just to be sure, Michaela pinched herself hard on the arm. The pain reminded her that she was not dreaming. With that, she went to bed even though she couldn't sleep. She stared at her clock as it continued to count its way up to midnight. Michaela was wide awake but as soon as the clock turned twelve, everything went black. When she opened her eyes again, it was dark and rain was beating against her window. With a gasp, she jumped out of bed. It was morning and she took off around the house.
Her laptop wasn't in the bathroom, it was back in the living room. Her kitchen magnets were back rightside up and her phone wasn't on the kitchen table.
“What the fuck is happening!” She cried out. Crisco whined, unsure why his master was upset. He started to bark in alarm.
“Something's wrong! Someone's been in the house,” Michaela came to conclude. She ran back to her room and looked for the phone. It was on her charger and it started to ring. She had to force herself to answer when she saw it was Sharon, “Hooker, you left me here at work alone.”
“What day is it?” Michaela demanded.
“Hey, watch the attitude. It's Friday, girl. Relax.”
“Friday? But it can't be Friday! Yesterday was Friday and the day before that!”
“Michaela?” Sharon asked, suddenly worried, “Are you okay?”
“No! Today is not Friday. Yesterday was Friday. Today has to be Saturday!”
“Tomorrow's Saturday, Michaela. Did you go drinking last night or something? Do you need me to come over? I'll tell Jeff I'm sick or something.”
Michaela started taking deep breathes, “I'm going to pass out, Sharon.”
Sharon stood up from her desk across town, “Sit down, put your head between your knees, and I'll be right there. Don't worry.”
The blonde barely found the strength to walk back to her living room and sit down. Turning on the TV did her no good. The same shows were playing. It was the same news and the same weather reports. Something was incredibly wrong.
Sensing his master's distress, Crisco didn't complain about the lack of food. He simply curled around her feet, feeling her trembling.
“What's wrong with me?” Michaela kept repeating until Sharon showed up. She had to get up to let her in and the skinny as a rail, brown-haired woman took stock of her as she closed the umbrella she carried.
“Now, what's going on?”
“The day keeps repeating.”
“Come again?”
Michaela turned to start pacing around the living room, “The day keeps repeating! It's been Friday three times now. Each time you've called to call me a hooker and complain I left you alone at work.”
Sharon studied her friend, “I won't call you a hooker if it upsets you.”
“No. That's not it! It's that the day keeps repeating. You're not listening. It's been Friday over and over again. You just don't know what this feels like.”
“Okay, okay. Sit down with me, please.”
Michaela let out a deep breath and then nodded. She sat down with Sharon on the couch and whispered, “I'm scared.”
“There's nothing to be scared of. How about we go see a nice doctor or something?” Sharon suggested, rubbing her hand on Michaela's back.
“Like a physicist to explain the time loop?”
“I was thinking more along the lines of a head doctor, neural or psychological. It's your choice.”
“Oh,” Michaela exhaled, “Let's go to a doctor first. Make sure this isn't a tumor or something, but I don't think it is, Sharon.”
Sharon patted her back, “Okay, babe. Let's go.”
The rest of the day was spent waiting at the hospital and waiting rooms because they kept referring her to one specialist or another. They all wanted to do tests but Michaela knew tests wouldn't help because she would never get the results back. She snapped in the office of Dr. Patel, “No! I won't do another test! I will never get the results back because the day keeps repeating. Tomorrow you'll never even have heard of me!”
Dr. Patel made a note on his pad, “Perhaps you need a psych eval, and why don't we check you into the hospital for good measure?”
“Fine. Okay. It won't matter,” Michaela grumbled. She tried to calm down because she could see Sharon was getting upset, but that wouldn't matter either. She sent Sharon home to feed Crisco as she was checked into the hospital. Her friend returned and left, leaving a bag of Michaela's things with the promise to return tomorrow.
“I hope this works,” Michaela muttered. While the thought of being crazy or having a brain tumor wasn't cheerful, at least the time loop would stop.
At 11:20PM a nurse came in to check on her vitals. Michaela asked her, “Nurse, if you were in a time loop where the day kept repeating, what would you do?”
“Enjoy myself,” The nurse put it simply.
Michaela sat upright in the hospital bed watching TV while keeping one eye on the clock. When the local lottery numbers were called, she made a note of the three numbers. No reason she couldn't have fun tomorrow if the day repeated. The clock struck midnight and she held her breath. She didn't black out. Nothing happened. For a wonderful minute and thirty seconds, she thought the time loop was over. She just didn't know that the hospital clock in her room was slow. When the clock on the wall read 12:01:31 AM, she blacked out.
***
June 26th (4)
Michaela opened her eyes to see it was dark and could hear the rain beating on her window. She knew she was home and she knew it was still Friday the 26th.
“Enjoy myself?
“¿Divertirme? ¿Y cómo voy a divertirme?”
“Enjoy myself?” She repeated to Crisco as she walked with him to the kitchen.
As she made a pot of coffee, she started thinking of ways she could enjoy herself if she was stuck in a time loop.
“I could buy anything I want and it won't be on my credit card tomorrow,” She said with a grin.
“I could eat anything I want. Go anywhere I want as long as it doesn't take more than a day to get there. I could charm people. Spend days watching TV. Read as many books as I want. Learn new languages.”
She then thought of the best part, “I never have to work again!”
“Come on, Crisco. Let's go buy something horrible from a drive thru and see how far we can make it out of town. Well, you should eat before we go. Dogs have sensitive stomachs and we don't want you throwing up in the car,” She told him.
Taking only a little bag and some stuff for Crisco, they got into her car and drove. She got a burger and two large fries with a shake at McDonalds. It was horrible and delicious. She and Crisco started driving out of the city, carefully and slowly due to the rain. They were headed east.
It took four hours to get out of the city due to traffic. It took another four hours to drive another fifteen miles. By the time the clock struck midnight, she had only gotten a hundred miles east because of the horrible weather. She hadn't been able to see or enjoy anything but bumper to bumper traffic.
***
June 26th (5)
She was only able to get 120 miles out of town going west. Crisco got sick in the car after she fed him Burger King. She made a note not to repeat that mistake.
***
June 26th (6)
She spent the day watching Stargate SG-1 on Netflix. The blonde commented to her dog, “This is really a good show for the nineties. I can't believe I never watched it before.”
That night she ate at a five-star restaurant dressed in an insanely expensive dress she bought earlier that day. She tried everything on the menu and drank a severe amount of wine. By the end of the night she was sure she had emptied her bank account, but she had discovered that she didn't have as refine a palate as she thought.
“Give me a heart attack burger any day,” She muttered after dining on quail for the first time. She was still at the restaurant at midnight and she awoke in her room.
***
June 26th (7)
She drove as far north as she could without Crisco. She was only able to get 115 miles out of town and she got pulled over for speeding.
***
June 26th (10)
She ate at another classy restaurant and as she dined, she noticed a beautiful woman kept staring at her. The woman was with a man, but seemed more interested in staring at Michaela. Before the couple left, the red-haired vixen came over to Michaela's table and handed her a card.
“You obviously have an appetite. You should call me,” The woman said with a wink before walking away. That's when Michaela realized she could be enjoying herself in many other ways.
***
June 26th (21)
“Ha sido interestante.”
Michaela had discovered that the women worth sleeping with took time to seduce and luckily, time was what she had a lot of. The first woman she slept with in the time loop was Janadia, the owner of a small art gallery on the west side. Michaela had seen the place in one of her attempts to leave the city and had gone inside. Michaela surprised herself by being direct and asking the black woman if she had a girlfriend. With a sly smile, Janadia had answered no.
It had taken two days worth of work to get Janadia to sleep with her. The woman loved passion and spontaneity. Michaela had told her, “I am living today as if there is no tomorrow and I can't think of a better way to end today than being with you. Eres muy guapa.”
She kissed her and before she knew it, she and Janadia were on top of the woman's desk in her office. They had sex feverishly all over the office, ignoring any calls at the door. Michaela enjoyed seeing her fingers inside of Janadia and the dark-haired woman knew how to use her tongue wickedly. They were still having sex when the clock hit midnight.
***
June 26th (51)
She died for the first time in a car accident. She had been heading southwest and the semi beside her lost control. It was only three in the afternoon, but when the truck smashed into her the collision killed her instantly. She woke up in the dark of her room and almost cried from joy. While the feeling of immortality was a rush, she didn't want to repeat dying any time soon. She wanted to live.
***
June 26th (81)
Bored with women, driving, and watching TV all day, Michaela went to work as soon as she got up. Sharon looked shocked to see her, “I was just about to call you.”
“Well, hooker, I couldn't let you sit here all day and get nothing done. Let's do some work so it's not piled up on my desk Monday.”
“But tomorrow is your birthday.”
“It can wait,” Michaela said, logging into her work email for an assignment, “Oh, and Sharon, go play the local powerball lottery. The winning numbers today will be 9-2-6.”
***
June 26th (99)
Michaela instantly awoke every time now. She sometimes ignored Sharon's call or she answered it wearily. Today she just lay in bed thinking. She had slept with 37 different women, sometimes the same woman more than one day. She liked sleeping with Vivian, the red-haired vixen from the restaurant, so much that she had gone back to her every night for 9 days. Vivian thought she was a sex goddess because Michaela knew all her buttons, where she liked it, how she liked it, and how to make her come instantly. Michaela stopped going back to her because while extremely beautiful, their personalities didn't mix well except for sex.
Perhaps the most interesting was the couple Julianne and Emily, who invited her to their bedroom after meeting them at the bar. Many things happened that night and she had been tied to their bed when midnight struck, awaken in her own.
Michaela had even had sex with her ex-girlfriend, Kelly. She had spent three days going back to her, trying to figure out what went wrong in their relationship. After the third day, she decided they had just grown apart and it was truly over.
She had learned lessons the hard way. The entire day she spent drinking had ended up with alcohol poisoning at the hospital. She had died three times from car accidents when she was trying to get as far away from her house as fast as she could. The heavy rain and traffic were causing multiple accidents in the city. Each time she died, she woke up in her bed on June 26th. Michaela had thought about trying other ways to kill herself, but couldn't bring herself to do it.
The blonde had been arrested two times for reckless endangerment and she awoke in her bed instead of a cell each time. She had received thirteen tickets before she had figured out where the cops liked to set up with their radars. Michaela had flirted heavily with two female officers who had given her tickets, but one was straight and the other was taken.
She thought about robbing banks or stealing paintings, but never did. She had enough money in her bank account to satisfy her desires for a day and if she wanted to look at a painting, she would go to a gallery and stare at it the entire day.
Michaela was getting depressed. She enjoyed women, but she was getting tired of just sleeping with people. She was getting tired of repeating the same day even with the city and modern comforts such as technology.
Her phone started ringing and she thought about not answering. However not answering just led to Sharon calling again and again until she did. She reluctantly got out of bed and picked up her phone, “Hello?”
“Hooker, you left me here at work alone.”
“Sorry.”
“Why so glum?” Sharon asked, concerned, “Afraid of the birthday tomorrow?”
Michaela sadly laughed, “No. I would welcome it at this point.”
“So what's wrong?”
“Sharon, if you were stuck in a time loop where you repeated the same day over and over again, what would you do to stop it?”
“Random question is random. Where did this come from?”
“Just answer it, please.”
“Okay. Let me think. You want to stop being in a time loop? Well I guess I would do a Bill Murray from Groundhog Day and try to make the day perfect. That seems to work in the movies.”
“What from what?” Michaela asked, suddenly interested.
“You know the movie Groundhog Day? A jerk reporter repeats the same day until he becomes a better person. You've never seen the movie? Where were you growing up?”
“Traveling with my family in Spain and I only just finished up to the F's on Netflix,” Michaela said, “I have to go. Bye.”
Michaela hung up and ran to get her laptop. She typed in the movie's name and read the Wikipedia source over and over again. Apparently he kept track of the days by reading a page in a book one day at a time. She decided she would start doing that. Then she went to buy the movie online and watched it on repeat for the rest of the day, taking copious notes.
“I guess the movie is a good one, but we can't focus on that now,” Michaela said to Crisco, “Phil and I are two different people. I suppose I could act more hedonistic by stealing money, smashing property, but I don't want to. He spent all those years changing into a better person but he was a jerk to begin with. I'm not such a horrible person, am I?”
Crisco just stared at her, wagging his tail.
“So what do I do? He fixed it by making the day perfect. He saved lives, helped people, and confided in Rita. How do I make the day perfect?”
Midnight came and she found herself waking up in her bed. She quickly jumped out to head into the kitchen, Crisco following her in confusion.
“We start making a list of everything that goes wrong within my reach today. I figure anything within a twenty mile radius should be good enough. We're going to watch local news and surf the internet all day to figure out what goes wrong. We'll make lists and go about saving lives.”
She spent the entire day taking notes while watching local news and searching the internet. There were 52 major car accidents, three shootings, four robberies, and 97 people died that day.
“How in the hell am I supposed to fix all that?” She cried out at the end of the night, “It would take over thirty minutes to get between these places, and how do I stop a car accident in the middle of a storm?”
“I can't do it, Crisco,” She told her dog as she started crying, “I just can't. I can never save all these people to make today a better day.”
Crisco whined as he moved to put his head on her lap.
Michaela cried until she woke up in her bed the next morning. She got up to go wash her face even though she showed no signs of crying. Over her first cup of coffee, she devised a plan.
She told Crisco as he came in from his morning bathroom break, “No more crying like last night. The thought of trying to make everything right was overwhelming, but I'm not going to break anymore. I have a purpose now. We'll see how much good we can do today and maybe it will help.”
The one exact time and address she could remember of something bad happening was the robbery of the Flash Foods store on Wilson Avenue at 9:43 PM. It was one of the last bits to come on the news last night. A medium sized white man in a black hoodie had held up the clerk and gotten away with two hundred dollars. She would try to stop him and make him see there were better options.
Michaela spent the day driving around on the major roadways with Crisco. She looked for traffic accidents and made notes about what times they occurred. She didn't know how she could stop an accident, but she would try to figure it out.
At 9PM, she was parked outside the Flash Foods store. She had dropped Crisco at home since she didn't want him to watch if things went badly. The blonde knew there was risk, but she had the feeling she would have to take risks to stop the time loop.
Around 9:35 she saw the guy walk up and start smoking a cigarette outside the store. He seemed nervous. Steeling her nerve, Michaela got out of the car and walked over to him. The man quickly took a defensive stance, “What do you want?”
“I know what you're about to do and I'm here to tell you that it isn't worth it. Just go home and you won't have to deal with the consequences of your actions.”
“What the fuck are you talking about, lady?” He said, throwing down his cigarette.
“I know you're planning on robbing this store but I'm asking you not to. Come on, dude. You don't want to do this.”
“You don't know shit about my life,” He said, taking a step towards her.
Michaela held up her hands, “You're right. I don't. But if you rob this place, the police will find and catch you. Here, you want some money? Here's a hundred bucks, but don't rob this place. You'll just regret it.”
Michaela reached into her pocket and pulled out the five twenties she had withdrawn from the bank. The guy looked at her suspiciously, “Are you a cop or something?”
“No. Just take it. I don't care what you do with it, but don't rob this place.”
The man stared at her for a second longer before snatching the money and running. She let out a heavy sigh of relief and found herself shaking. She hadn't thought she would be able to do it.
Once in her car on the ride home, she started smiling to herself. She said, “Maybe I can make a difference.”
Feeding Crisco a can of tuna when she got home in celebration, she turned on the local news to take more notes.
“And over the break we got news of a robbery that happened on Green Avenue. A white man in a black hoodie held up the store clerk…”
Michaela looked up and saw the man she tried to help robbing a different store. She was filled with anger.
***
June 26th (102)
“How fucking dare you, you stupid little punk,” Michaela growled as she stormed over to the man in the black hoodie by the Flash Foods that night, “I tried to help you and this is the thanks I get? You go and rob another store?”
Michaela grabbed the man, fisting her hands around his hoodie, and slammed him into the brick wall behind him, “Why the fuck are you robbing this store?”
“Lady! What the fuck is your problem? Get off me, bitch!”
Michaela slammed him against the wall again and shouted, “Why are you robbing this store?”
“I need the money, okay!”
“Bullshit. I gave you money last time and you just went to rob another store. What the fuck is wrong with you?”
“With me? You're the one who is fucking crazy, bitch!” The man shouted. Looking at him, Michaela realized he wasn't quite a man but barely twenty.
“Is this for some stupid gang shit?” She asked, slamming him against the wall again, “To prove yourself or something?”
“Fuck you,” He said, shoving her off of him, “If you gotta know, I need the money to see my kid. My old lady won't let me see him until I give her child support. Three hundred dollars by tomorrow or she said I would never see him again. I don't have that kind of money. I don't get paid until the beginning of next month. I can't lose my kid, okay. I'd rather spend a day with him and the rest of my time in jail for stealing than to never see him again.”
Michaela looked, “What's your name?”
The man gave her a look of disbelief, “I'm not a cop, just tell me. I can help you out.”
“Rick. Rick Garrison.”
“Well, Rick, stay right here and I'll be back in a minute with your money.”
“I don't need charity.”
“Then pay me back tomorrow,” Michaela said. She went inside the store and withdrew three hundred dollars from the ATM. She walked back out and gave it to him, “Here. Go see your kid for as long as you can tonight.”
He took the money after staring at her incredulously, “Thanks, lady. What's your name?”
“Michaela Davis. Now go. There's never enough time to spare.”
He went and she went home. Before midnight came, she found Rick Garrison's address from an expensive online searcher. She also found that he did indeed have a son. The next morning she woke up and drove straight to his apartment building in the south side of town. He opened the door, confused, “Who the hell are you?”
“A friend,” She said, handing him an envelope, “Go see your kid.”
Opening the envelope to see the cash, a look of hope then confusion crossed his face, “Who are you?”
“Michaela is my name,” She repeated before going to get in her car. She decided that every morning after that, she would give Rick Garrison the money he needed to go see his child. While Rick didn't know it, he was repeating the days with her. The least she could do was make his day happy.
***
June 26th (124)
She couldn't help everybody. Michaela ended up having to call cops on most of the robberies. She called about five minutes before the robberies happened and the police would arrive to catch the suspects. She always hung up after 7 seconds because the first time she called the cops on all the robberies, the police had shown up at her house that night demanding to know why she had all the anonymous tips about crime. Making sure the call was short allowed her to be away unknown.
Michaela gave Rick money every morning and then went to let air out of a tire at the IHOP across town. The vacationing family in the mini-van wasn't happy with the flat tire but it stopped them from getting hit by a truck and slammed into over a guard rail fifty feet below.
From there she went to her piano lesson at two, where she bribed the woman to cancel her one student and to start teaching her. Like Phil, she wanted to learn to play. She paused her hour lesson twice to call 911 and report two people having heart attacks. One man was in his house and the older woman was having lunch with her grandchildren in a restaurant. She called five minutes before their heart attacks happened, thus making sure the paramedics would already be on their way.
That night she went to Mastiff's to have a drink. The blonde paused in the parking lot to call in a burglary at 1266 Long St, APT C4 before going inside. The beautiful biology professor who she hadn't seen since the beginning of the time loop was at the bar.
“Can I buy you a drink, stranger?” Michaela asked, sitting beside Sophia at the bar. Sophia gave her an up and down look, “Thank you but I'm capable of buying my own drinks.”
Michaela smiled, amused, “I'm not interested in anything other than talking, I promise you. I'm just bored and you seem interesting.”
Sophia turned slightly to look at the strange, blonde woman beside her, “You don't know me at all.”
“I can guess about you though. You have a certain look. Says intelligence.”
Sophia looked amused and intrigued, “I'm surprised you didn't say beautiful.”
“Oh, you are very beautiful, but like I said, I'm more interested in conversation. My name is Michaela Davis by the way.”
“Sophia.”
“So, Sophia, can I buy you that drink now and let me guess what you do for a living?” Michaela asked.
“There's no need to guess. I'll tell you. I'm a college professor. I teach biology,” Sophia said, lightly flipping her long, dark hair over her shoulder.
“Oh. That's really cool. I'm a translator,” Michaela offered.
“Oh? What do you speak if I may ask?”
“English, Espanol, and Portuguese.”
“Really? Prove it,” Sophia challenged.
“Eres muy guapa,” She flirted with a light smile.
Sophia shook her head as she took another sip of her drink, “That's not hard to translate.”
Michaela laughed and then paused to think, “Si te hubiera tenido a ti en Biología en la universidad, habría sacado mejores notas.”
Sophia arched an eyebrow, “Okay. I believe you. Something about biology. What did you say?”
“I said if I had taken you for biology in college, I would have made better grades.”
“I think you would have been a trouble maker,” Sophia laughed.
The two women chatted for a while longer before Sophia pulled out of her phone to check the time, “I have to go. I have a plane to catch tomorrow.”
“Look me up if you're ever in town again,” Michaela said with a smile.
“I'll do that,” Sophia promised.
A few minutes after Sophia left, Michaela left the bar as well. She waved as she saw Sophia pull out of the parking lot, and after a moment of thought, got in her car to follow her. Michaela was going to see what hotel she was staying at so she could arrange a run in with the professor sometime during the next day. It would be fun to spend more time with Sophia Milander.
The speed on I-27 Northbound was actually normal, but Michaela knew it wouldn't last. She followed a few cars behind Sophia's rented Civic. She hoped they would get to the hotel soon, since she only had thirty minutes before midnight.
It all happened really quickly. A reckless driver sped past her, weaving between lanes. Michaela cussed him under her breath. The truck tried to switch lanes in front of her and the driver didn't check his blind spot. If he had, he would have seen Sophia's Civic. The truck smashed into the driver's side of Sophia's car, causing the car to go spinning. Another car clipped the back end of Sophia's car at fifty miles per hour, causing the car to flip.
Michaela slammed on her breaks to avoid hitting the wreck in front of her. The car behind her skidded to a stop too, but not fast enough to avoid rear-ending her. Michaela didn't care. She jumped out of the vehicle and started running towards Sophia's car.
“Someone call 911,” She screamed as she rushed to the turned over car. It was hard to tell which side was the front and back from how mangled it was. Michaela fell to her knees, not caring about the broken glass and shrapnel on the ground, to look at her Sophia, “Hey! Can you hear me?”
The sight of the beautiful professor caused her heart to wrench. Sophia had blood all over her face which rain down as she hung upside by the seatbelt. Michaela worried about how to get Sophia out of the car and then wondered if she should. If Sophia had a neck injury then it would just cause more problems.
“Sophia? Can you hear me?” She called out. Michaela reached in to feel for a pulse on Sophia's neck and was pleased when she found one.
“Help is on its way,” Someone said behind her.
Michaela ignored them and tried to get the door open. She couldn't fit through the space of the crushed window to get in and make sure Sophia was still breathing. It wouldn't open. Desperately she tried to crawl through the foot space of shattered glass to reach a hand up to Sophia's mouth to feel for breathe.
“She's breathing,” She called out in relief.
“Paramedics are here! Move so they can get to her.”
Michaela quickly scrambled out and watched on the sidelines as the EMTs struggled to get Sophia out of the car. Someone came up to ask her to move her car but she ignored them. The keys were in the ignition, they would figure it out.
Michaela watched as the pulled Sophia from the car, knowing by the way they talked it wasn't good. As they loaded Sophia in the ambulance, Michaela knew without a doubt that Sophia was going to die. If the time loop ended right there and tomorrow finally came, Sophia would be dead.
Michaela wouldn't let that happen.
***
June 26 th (125)
The next day Michaela was out of bed the instant she woke up. She brought her laptop with her as she drove around town trying to find Sophia Milander. The translator still gave the cash to Rick, let the air of the van's tire, and called 911 over 25 times that day. However her main goal was to find Sophia.
She started by looking for where Sophia was staying. She found a list of all the hotels that can be reached by driving up I-27 Northbound. There were 35 possible choices. She called each one asking for a Sophia Milander.
Most of the hotels stated that they didn't have a guest by that name. Some refused to give out any information about clients. None said they did have a guest by that name. So her search was narrowed to five hotels that might be Sophia's.
Instead of going to her piano lesson, Michaela went to Kingston University and searched for visitor's parking. Then she had to search for the department of Science on the large campus. She had never been to Kingston Campus before and was surprised to see it was rather lovely, despite the constant rain and gray skies. Having lived over half a year in stormy weather had given Michaela an appreciation of beauty in the rain.
With an umbrella, she searched campus until she found Gray Hall which had the science department. From there she searched in the building until she found Sophia. The dark-haired woman was being given a tour by a gray-haired man, pointing out this and that about the building and rooms.
Michaela watched from afar the rest of the day. She took notes, pretending to be a student waiting for class in the halls. One of the mental notes she made was how amazing Sophia looked in a business outfit.
She sat outside the door as Sophia gave a mock lecture for the professors watching her. While Michaela didn't know half of what Sophia talked about, she thought the woman did really well. The other professors seemed to like Dr. Milander. Michaela had a feeling that if Sophia ever saw tomorrow then she would be invited to come teach at the university.
From there Michaela followed Sophia back to her hotel which was the Holiday Inn Express. She was pleased to note that it was one of the hotels she planned to search later.
Michaela sat in her car for two hours outside of the hotel, making the occasional 911 call. Finally she leaned over to open her glove box and pulled the multipurpose tool she kept there for emergencies. The blonde slide out the blade of the knife and looked around to see if there was anyone around. Not seeing anybody, Michaela got out and went to Sophia's car. She slashed a tired for the first time in her life and it was harder than she thought it would be. For save measure, she slashed another tire. That's when she heard, “What are you doing?”
Michaela gulped as she looked up to see Sophia standing in front of the car. Michaela blurted out before running away, “Saving your life.”
She thought for sure Sophia would follow her, but she didn't. The professor did look furious enough to kill though. Certain that Sophia couldn't drive to the bar and get into the wreck on I-27, Michaela went home and stayed up until midnight watching a movie. The hope that the time loop would end from saving Sophia was very small inside of her, but she did hope. That hope was unfounded when she woke up in her bed the next morning.
Michaela groaned as she pulled the covers above her head, “Damnit. I guess I have to think of something else. Maybe I need to watch over her until midnight comes. Maybe I need to be with her personally when the clock hits. It's the only way I can ensure she'll live through the day.”
***
June 26 th (128)
Following five steps behind Sophia all day didn't work.
“Look! I don't know who you are or what you want but you need to stop following me and go away before I call the cops,” Sophia shouted at Michaela in the parking lot of the Holiday Express.
***
June 26 th (130)
Destroying her car before Sophia could drive to Mastiff's didn't work.
“Ma'am, you're under arrest for destruction of property. You have the right to remain silent and anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of all.”
***
June 26 th (131)
Kidnapping Sophia didn't work.
“Where are you taking me?”
“It's just for a few hours. It's just to keep you safe.”
“I swear to God when I get lose, I'm going to call the cops and have you arrested. I'll spit on you from jail! Let me go!”
***
June 26 th (133)
Trying to get Sophia extremely drunk didn't work.
“Let me buy you another.”
“I really shouldn't. I have a plan to catch,” Sophia said.
“One more.”
“No, I think not.”
“Just one more please.”
“The lady said no,” The bartender barked behind the counter, “Now get out of my bar if you're going to act like that.”
***
June 26 th (136)
Heavy flirting almost worked. They kissed for the first time outside of Mastiff's, but Sophia refused to go home with Michaela or take Michaela back to her hotel room.
“I'll call you when I come back to town,” Sophia promised, “I think I have a good shot of getting this job.”
“I don't want you to go,” Michaela said. Somehow she knew Sophia died each time she couldn't stop the woman from leaving.
Sophia smiled, “I'll be back. Don't worry. I'll call you tomorrow to wish you a happy birthday. How about that?”
“Okay.”
***
June 26 th (172)
Every day Michaela found a way to make the day more perfect with Sophia and every day she awoke in the dark of her bedroom with the sound of the rain. Still Michaela kept trying. As the days past, she found new ways to help people while also helping win Sophia over each day. She had made good friends along the way. Friends that didn't remember the next day but Michaela continued to befriend them. With their help, she got closer to saving Sophia.
“Wow. You know this is kind of amazing,” Sophia said, looking around at the beautiful Italian restaurant they were dining at, “And really beautiful. How did you know Italian was my favorite type of food? And how strange is it that we meet on the campus?”
“I think you mean how clumsy of me,” Michaela laughed, “I'm so sorry about that.”
Sophia grinned, “No harm done. I had completed my interview so having my skirt ruined by the fall wasn't too upsetting.”
“Still, I should learn to watch where I'm going.”
“In the future, yes,” Sophia agreed, “But for now, this hasn't turned out so bad.”
The dark-haired woman looked around again, “So how did you know about this place?”
“Oh the chef and I are new found friends,” Michaela said slyly. She didn't mention that she had spent the past week getting to know the man and figuring out how to help him so she could get this table for Sophia. It turned out that his daughter had gone into labor in a traffic jam and would give birth in the front seat. The mother and baby would be fine even if Michaela hadn't interfered, but she did.
Michaela was seating at the grocery store where the woman's water broke and she insisted on driving the woman and her husband to the hospital. She was able to navigate around the traffic and get the woman to the hospital before she gave birth. The proud chef grandfather came to the hospital and promised Michaela anything she wanted for helping his daughter. She asked for a table at his restaurant that night and he promised the best.
“Are you ladies finding everything okay?” Chef Orlando asked, coming out of the kitchen to see about them.
Michaela smiled up at the man, “Yes, of course.”
“Well if you need anything, you let me know,” Orlando, “Nothing is too much for my Alyssa's savior and my granddaughter's namesake.”
“I told you that it was my honor, sir,” Michaela said.
“None of that sir stuff. You're family now,” Orlando stated firmly, shaking his finger.
Watching him leave, Sophia looked impressed, “You saved his daughter?”
“It was crazy,” Michaela said with a shrug, “After I left campus, I went to a store to get some groceries. She just went into labor. Since I know my way around town, I offered to drive her and her husband to the hospital. She was so grateful that she named her daughter after me. Isn't that crazy?”
“It sounds very heroic,” Sophia said, placing her hand over the one Michaela had on the table.
For some reason having Sophia's admiration for something she had selfishly done made Michaela feel rotten. However, she pushed those feelings aside. The point was to save Sophia.
After dinner, Michaela invited Sophia for a drive.
“I'm not sure I should go,” Sophia said, “I have a plane to catch tomorrow.”
“I promise it's worth losing a little sleep over,” Michaela promised, “Come with me please.”
Sophia looked Michaela over before agreeing, “Just for a few hours.”
It turned out that Rick Garrison, for as young as he was and how he tried to act gangster, was a young security guard for a large downtown building. His uncle had gotten him the job and he took it seriously. He had no problem letting Michaela into the building with Sophia. She had visited him earlier that day to give him the money, telling him it was a bribe to let her and her date into the building so they could kiss while looking at the view of the city. So grateful for the money because it meant he could see his son, he readily agreed. He ushered the women in and Michaela waved to the young man playing behind the security desk who shyly waved back.
“Just thirty minutes ladies,” Rick stated.
“Promise,” Michaela said, taking Sophia's hands and heading to the elevator.
“How is it that you seem to know everybody?” Sophia asked as they started heading up to the top of the building.
“Maybe it's just that we've only met people I know. I'm pulling out all my ace cards to try and impress you,” Michaela confessed.
“Well you're doing a good job.”
Once on the top floor, they moved to the windows to look out over the city.
“It's beautiful,” Sophia said.
“Yes,” Michaela agreed, but she wasn't looking out the window.
Sophia glanced at the translator and shyly smiled, “Why are you so interested in me?”
“My mother always told me to marry a biology professor. That way we could have twins and Baptist one while keeping the other as a control.”
A laughed escaped Sophia, “That's horrible.”
“Yes, I thought so too,” Michaela grinned.
“But seriously, why me?”
Michaela had been here before, on the top floor with Sophia and had screwed it up many times. She said, “What I'm about to say may make you hate me. You may slap me and storm off, thinking I'm just trying to get you to sleep with me. But I'm going to say it.”
“Okay,” Sophia said, turning so they were face to face.
“I like you, Sophia. Though we've only known each other a day, I really like you. It sounds stupid but I think we have this connection. I've enjoyed this day with you so much and I want nothing more than to make sure you get home safely so that you can return and work here once you get that job. I want to see you again, but I'm afraid if I let you leave tonight without me that I won't.”
“That does sound strange,” Sophia finally admitted after a long pause, “But I think we have a connection too. I feel like I've met you before a dozen times.”
“Then let me stay with you tonight please? Not to have sex with you, but to take you to the airport in the morning. To make sure you are safe,” Michaela begged. If she failed, she would try again the next day but it was wearing her down, to know she failed every time with Sophia.
“What if I say no?” Sophia asked.
“Then I'll find a way to make this day repeat until you say yes. Until I know you're safe tomorrow,” Michaela pledged, “As messed up as that sounds.”
“Okay.”
Michaela actually took a step back, off guard, “What?”
Sophia smiled, “Okay. I'll let you sleep in my hotel room. I have a suit with a dreadfully stiff couch you can sleep on. Then tomorrow you can take me to the airport tomorrow since it means so much to you.”
“Really?” Michaela asked, feeling breathless, “Why would you let me do that?”
The professor shrugged, “I never had someone try so hard to impress me and care so much about me before I guess. I want to text a picture and your name to a friend in case you kill me during the night though.”
Michaela laughed, even though she felt like crying in relief, “Okay. No problem.”
“And one other thing.”
“Anything,” Michaela promised.
Sophia leaned forward to place a kiss on Michaela's lips, “Thank you for a wonderful evening.”
Michaela smiled, “It's been my pleasure.”
The pair went down the elevator and waved goodbye to Rick and his son. Michaela took them the safe way back to the hotel and she went up to Sophia's room for the first time. Sophia kicked off her shoes, “There's the couch. Here, let me take off this top blanket for you and you can have these extra pillows. They always seem to put too many on the bed these days.”
“Thanks,” Michaela said, feeling shy. She had never lived this part before so she didn't know how it was going to go.
“I really do have to go to sleep, Michaela,” Sophia stated, “I'm about to fall out.”
“Me too,” Michaela agreed. She did feel extremely tired after her long day of running around the city. Michaela sat on the couch and watched as Sophia went into the bathroom to change. She had laid down on the hard cushions by the time Sophia came out in pajamas.
“Goodnight then,” Sophia said, turning off the light.
“Goodnight,” Michaela softly replied. She hadn't meant to fall asleep. It wasn't midnight yet and she wanted to see if the time loop ended. However, she couldn't keep her eyes open.
***
Michaela woke in darkness and she heard the sound of water as she heard every morning. She felt her heart break a little, “Damnit.”
“What's wrong?” Sophia asked, turning off the water in the bathroom, “Sorry. I was trying to be quiet. I was just brushing my teeth.”
The translator quickly sat upright as she looked at the beautiful sight of Sophia in her pajamas with wet hair, obviously having just taken a shower.
“No, it's fine,” Michaela said automatically. She then asked, afraid of the answer, afraid to hope, “What day is it?”
“It's the 27 th , silly. Your birthday if I recall. Happy Birthday,” Sophia said with a smile as she finished toweling her hair.
“My birthday,” Michaela repeated, breathless, “My birthday. It's really my birthday.”
“You're a strange woman,” Sophia said, “Has anyone ever told you that?”
Michaela laughed wildly, “Yes. A time or two. It's the 27 th . It's not the 26 th . Today is tomorrow. It's finally here.”
“I should think so.”
Michaela stopped herself from laughing again because she didn't want to look crazy. She beamed at Sophia, “So what time is your flight?”
Sophia stared at Michaela for a long moment. She then walked over to place a kiss on the blonde's mouth. One kiss turned to two and Michaela gladded accepted a third.
The professor said, stroking Michaela's sleep, messy hair, “You know what? I think I can catch another flight. I'd like to see the city with you. Would that be a nice present?”
“I'd like that,” Michaela said, still smiling, “It is my birthday after all. It is the 27 th .”
The End