The not so chosen ones

Trouble

Sara was finishing her "low calorie" afternoon meal but her mind wasn't on it.

It's not like she needed it to chop some onions and add peanuts to her cous cous but after seeing Philip yesterday her stomach was partnering up with her heart.

She walked towards the bedroom, distractedly carrying a tray with her food and some peachy flavor juice. She sat in her bed wondering how sane would be on her part to say yes to Philip's offer.

She was a journalist after all. A journalist working as a supermarket cashier because the government had banned journalism. Not explicitly but there weren't any jobs available, not dissident media, not even constructive criticism anymore. The internet was restricted, it's been five years since it happened.

Elaisa, was Sara's roommate, they lived together in a small apartment in a very shady neighborhood. The economy was bad, living with two or three people was the only viable option. And they didn't even live in the big city. They were just small town girls.

When Elaisa put the key in the door she heard Sara cursing. The cous cous in the tray was now a peach juice soup with floating onions. Sara ate it anyway.

There weren't many secrets between them and Elaisa was a very secretive woman. She never gave her real name to strangers or met any strangers to begin with. She didn't trust people, specially pretty people.

Sara was being very quiet. That wasn't usual.

- Do you remember Philip? did i ever talk to you about Philip?

- Philip who?

- Philip Trabold, my Philip.

- ¡Oh the one that got away! Come on, Sara he married some girl a decade ago you need to stop calling him your Philip.

- They are separated.

- You don't say.

- I saw him last night. He was in his truck alone, i jumped in.

- Was that a good idea?

- I jumped in the truck i didn't jump him. We talked and...

Sara contemplated what would be like to say the words out loud. She didn't feel scared to be judged, she had a none bullshit policy with her best friend, so she went for it.

- ... He thinks he knows when everything went wrong and how to fix it.

Elaisa was trying to get into her pajamas and mid pants change she answered very casually.

- What went wrong between the two of you?

Sara rolled her eyes.

- NO

- Between him and his wife?

- No, we didn't even talk about those things.. i meant, he meant, what went wrong with the country.

Elaisa smiled, she didn't know Philip that well but she was always curious about him. She knew he wasn't a cool kid in school, but not a loner either. That he got into fights to feel alive, son of divorce, fell in love once, married her at 18. After that, nothing. She and Sara met when they were 21 and even though she didn't drunk cried about him anymore she still couldn't shake him off.

Elaisa didn't know that Philip loved Sara since they were at middle school. She was a brand new shiny transferred kid from a different county when they met. In the class of 1999, there were two "Scott". Jennifer Scott and Sara Scott so he started to call her Scottie.

Philip was good at math and good at running. Sara sometimes helped him with English and History but they weren't that close. They had a couple of friends in common but he wanted more.

She didn't fell for him during those early days, it took some time, but it didn't work out at the end so he eventually gave up. He met Josephine when they were 15, he married her at 18. She left him at 23. He was 30 now.

He waited for Jo for five years and now he wasn't anymore. He moved back home with his dad to the same old town he once knew so well.

Philip was a vegetarian. His father offered him a job in his butchery. He said yes. No moral conflict, he just liked veggies and rice better.

He was lonely. He couldn't believe Scottie still lived there when he saw her downtown. He passed right by her, didn't say hi. He assumed she didn't know who he was. He was fatter and probably balder now. She looked the same.

It wasn't like they weren't exes. They did have something romantic and strange going on before Jo came into the picture. He remembered Scottie's laugh, her hands and her hair's vanilla scent.

One day, a specially bad day, he took his dad's truck out and went for a ride. He circled the town in an hour, he didn't know where to go, until he found himself going into Scottie's street.

She was walking somewhere.

He hesitated for at least three blocks until she recognized the car.

Same smile.

She accepted the ride.

Same scent.

They talked for hours and the trust was still there for an inexplicable reason. They haven't talked since they were minors.

He told her about Jo. He didn't even know why.

He was still wearing the wedding band and didn't want to make the wrong impression. Even though there wasn't any impression to make. He and Scottie were just old friends. They liked each other once, they never got the timing right. Right?

He remembered his wedding day. Scottie didn't show up. He tried harder to remember what happened before he got married. The night before the wedding she was at his door, already drunk, holding a bottle of tequila. Only God knows what a terrible drinker he was back then. He blacked out completely. Scottie was M.I.A the next day.

He said a drunken "I do" at his own wedding. He should've known.

______________________________________________________________________________

Elaisa was standing in Sara's door wearing her pajamas and grabbing an apple when she heard her say it.

- Philip believes there's a resistance somewhere. He thinks we should join it.

- Don't take this the wrong way but... IF there was a political resistance, why would it need you and Philip for? You ain't fighters, you ain't geniuses ¡You work at a supermarket, Sara! He's a butcher.

Sara sat straight in her bed and she asked her friend to do the same. She made sure Elaisa wasn't eating any more of the apple. She could choke after she was done talking.

- I need to tell you something but swear you won't laugh and you will keep an open mind.

Elaisa nodded.

- Philip thinks our old History teacher, Mrs. Johnson, traveled back in time.

Elaisa didn't keep any of her promises.

Sara felt a bit frustrated and less convinced now that she heard herself say time travel out loud.

- Sweetie, Philip's lost. His marriage is over, he had to move back home, he's losing his mind.

Sara didn't argue with that. Elaisa kept on talking.

- You have a soft spot for him, always have. But you know he is troubled. His last name rhymes with trouble.

- That's what Mrs. Johnson used to say.- Sara said.