We Were Rivals

ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝟙

---A few years later---

Finally, I had a day all to myself. I decided to use one of my vacation days, as my job as a public relations specialist was very stressful. This is my self-care Sunday... but a Tuesday. My plans were to watch Criminal Minds and bake a triple layer chocolate surprise cake with M&M's in the middle. Yes, decorating cakes takes lots of time and energy, but I could not imagine doing anything else on my day off that doesn't require at least a tiny bit of stress.

I woke up at 8:30am and pondered my plans for the day, deciding to switch it up a little. I decided that even though 8:30 is a late start, I needed to relax for a bit so I went on Tik Tok for about an hour, as one does. I rolled out of bed, careful to avoid my chocolate lab, Ollie, who was sleeping peacefully next to me. I turned on one of my favorite songs, Whatever It Takes by Imagine Dragons, and began getting ready for the day. As I brushed my teeth I felt the rhythm of the music and began dancing all around my bathroom, probably looking insane from the outside.

About 30 minutes later, I found myself in the kitchen scavenging for a good meal. By now, it was 10 o'clock, so I decided on eggs on toast with a bowl of cheerios. I propped up my phone on the kitchen table and began watching season 7, episode 1 of criminal minds (one of my favorites) as I began planning how I would make this cake.

After a while I began to get quite stir crazy so I quickly whipped up the batter for the cake and shoved it in the oven so that I could take Ollie on a quick walk (hopefully without burning the house down). I went to grab his leash and a jacket, as it is winter here in Georgia. As I walked outside I took a deep breath of the crisp, cool air, slightly startled by the sudden temperature change. When I got home, I was definitely making some hot chocolate. I looked around my neighborhood and was surprised at how many people were out walking. I guess the month of December is one of the rare times to escape the brutal Georgia heat. I begin walking on the sidewalk, setting a brisk pace to keep warm while making sure that Ollie has plenty of time to sniff the mailboxes.

As I am walking home I start to watch people, something I like to do to pass the time. I think it is so interesting how each and every person is a main character of their own story, and I often wonder what experiences could be hiding behind a plain facial expression that is gatekeeping their true emotion. On my journey back, I notice how many people are living joyful lives with significant others, pets, and kids. I can't help but realize how happy they look as I look back on my own life, comparing it to theirs. The happiest days of my life were when I was in London learning about what I love, partying with unforgettable people, and just being a wild and free young adult. The only thing I regret is ruining my friendship with Jon. If only I hadn't been foolish enough to get drunk and be an absolute asshole. Despite my mistake, I still would do anything to go back to those times.

Now however my life is boring, I literally don't do anything. Single as a pringle, my dog is the only comfort in my life as my best friends and family either live in London or on the opposite side of the country. As I approach my house I run into one of my acquaintances, named Malachy James who has a dog named Pudgy. I walk up to Malachy, slightly skeptical of the dog, as it has an evil glint in his eye. Ollie goes up to sniff this mysterious dog and he is instantly taken aback by the gremlin-like noises that this tiny dog is making.

"Hey, Malachy," I say while walking up to him, making sure to stay away from the dog.

"Hey Y/N, long time no see! Look at Pudgy! He's gone viral on TikTok, we even got into the creator fund with over 9 million followers!"

"That's great Malachy, I'm really happy for you! I have to get going because my cake is in the oven, but I'm really happy for you!" I say while beginning to walk backwards, hoping nobody is behind me.

"See ya Y/N! Maybe Ollie can be in one of my videos some time!" Malachy says while walking away as well.

"Totally," I say while turning around, bumping into a figure.

I start apologizing profusely as I reach down to pick up my phone off the ground, checking it for cracks. As I look up to see who I ran into, I am met with a mailbox staring right at me.

"Oh that's awkward." I mumbled to myself while looking around, making sure nobody saw the incident. As I begin to walk up to my front door of my house I hear a faint "OWA OWA" and a group of kids laughing, hopefully not at me.

I walk into my house and am greeted with the delicious smell of cake. I quickly rip my jacket off, and get Ollie situated so that I can take to cakes out of the oven. I run over to my kitchen island and grab my oven mitts so I do not burn myself on the 350 degree oven. As I am pulling out the small round pans, my arm grazes the edge of the oven.

"Shit," I whisper shout, trying to alleviate the pain. I quickly throw the pan onto my marble countertop and hurry to the sink to run my now red skin under the cool water. Instantly my arm felt better.

"Ollie, what is going on today?" I question my dog, who is like my mini-unpaid therapist. He's such a good listener, never interrupts.

"First I ran into a mailbox (and talked to it), then I burned myself! I guess that's what I get for hoping for a relaxing day off. Maybe it's karma. What did I do to deserve this?" Ollie quickly realized that he was not getting a treat, so he turned and began to walk away.

"Am I not good enough for you?" I asked, beginning to fake cry which quickly got his attention. He began to run over to be, so I grabbed a treat and threw it in his direction.

I put the cakes in the fridge to cool before I begin decorating and I take this extra time to treat my burns. I quickly slather aloe vera on my arm and begin pulling out the needed items for decorating the cake.

---45 minutes later---

I am putting the finishing touches on my cake when I hear the CNN breaking news sound come from my living room. I quickly wash my hands and walk over to the TV to see what new events are unfolding. At this point, it could be literally anything. These past four years have been an absolute wreck. What I see on the screen surprises me, something I thought would never happen.

I see this man, with wavy, dark brown hair and brown eyes. Something about him looks oddly familiar, but I can't remember exactly where I know him from. He reminds me of someone I knew many years ago. I decide to stop thinking about it, and return to decorating my cake.

As I return to my kitchen I hear the doorbell ring. "That's odd," I think to myself. Why would somebody be ringing my doorbell on a Tuesday afternoon? Ollie begins barking at the door, unsure of who awaits on the other side. I set down my cake decorating materials, wash the icing off my hands, and open the door.

At first I don't recognize him, but after a couple seconds, I realize he's the face I had just seen on my TV. A couple more seconds later, I realize exactly where I know him from.

"Jon Ossoff?"

A/N: Hello everyone! Thank you for reading our first chapter! We hope you all enjoyed it. As a special surprise we decided to publish this today just because it is on the shorter side, but as previously stated we will now be updated every other day! Once again thank you for reading! - The authors :)