"Yeah, sure. Sounds good. I'll be café at four." my friend had said to me early today. I had heard her right, I'm sure I had.

  I am waiting in the café all alone, reading a newspaper that rests in my hands. I hate reading newspapers; I hate getting the ink on my fingers, hate how it always seems to get on the cuffs of my white work-shirt.

  The coffee that I glance at is still steaming; maybe I haven't been waiting that long. Maybe I am just being paranoid again.

  Again. I sighed. Ever since my health began to worsen I have been getting more and more rushed... who knew how much time I would have left before the cancer made it so that I could not walk anymore? I needed this to take my mind of the impending doom that crept closer every day. 

I'm meant to be meeting my friend for a drink, it was meant to be at four this afternoon, but it is almost five. I doubt that she has forgotten, but... but...

  What if she has forgotten?

  What if she hasn't, and simply decided not to come?

  What if this is one big ruse to embarrass me?  

  What have I done to deserve this?

  My heart begin to sink even lower as the hands on the clock on the wall above where the cashier stands, twirling her blonde hair as she chatters down the phone; she is oblivious to how I am suffering.

  I watch outside as people begin to disappear and I wonder if I should call my friend to as her where she is.

  But wouldn't that be giving in?

  But wouldn't that give the impression that I am needy?

  Oh god.

  "Hello, Carol?" her voice suggests her innocence, but I know that she is guilty.

  "Sheryl." I tried to keep my voice indifferent, though irritation crept in, and fear.

  "Where are you?" she asks, her tone hinting at panic.

  "At the café, you said that we were going to get drinks"

  There was a gasp. I know that this is just a filler while she thinks of an excuse why she ‘couldn't make it'.

  I know that she doesn't want to tell me but I know that she just did not want to have coffee with me. She does not have the heart to tell me the truth.

  "Umm, Carol? I said that we would meet tomorrow at four. You must have heard me wrong."

  Oh. Right. I remember now. Sorry.  

Keyword: Paranoid

Report this story | Add to Favorites | Send to Friends | Author's Profile

No Comments posted

Comments (8)

Posted by Ashutosh 2008-08-26 01:16:49 .... Hmm..This was neither good nor bad. The title seems a little exxagerated though. It's a liitle tale, and perhaps manages to convey what it intends to. But it just doesn't have the bite. + Report this comment
Posted by garyowen 2008-08-26 03:04:24 .... I felt that this started out well and promised a lot but needed to find another gear. Maybe when it came to the phone call she could have really paid out big time for being stood up before realizing that it was her her got tyhe date wrong. + Report this comment
Posted by thickblueline 2008-08-26 03:15:12 ... Yeah. I gotta say that there should be more to this. It was well written, but there needed to be more to the characters. Why was she feeling like that? Was something at stake? Has it happened before? And maybe the ending could have been a little more dramatic. I dunno. + Report this comment
Posted by Zombie Punk 2008-08-26 03:56:05 Paranoid i know a lot of people like this and i think you portrayed your character quite well, but i think you could have expanded. you could have made this funnier in my opinion. oh and i suggest reading this aloud to yourself because there are quite a few errors (i.e. tense mess ups, spelling mistakes, sentences that don't make sense ete...) this is an interesting story, though, and i believe you could make this a whole lot better. try again. you could make it happen. Cheers! + Report this comment
Posted by JonStalk 2008-08-26 10:38:51 .... One of those stories that hits you at the very end. Altzheimers would have been an appropriate ailment as well. It was a good story, but I agree with the other comments that there could have been more to it. The writing was good in that I felt the tension the character was feeling as I read it, which is really the most satisfying thing about reading. All in all, I liked the story very much, and did sympathize with the character. + Report this comment
Posted by Behind_the_Mask 2008-08-26 11:49:22 ... This was decent, it has the potential to be something more, but then again it doesn’t have to be this extravagant story it is what it’s supposed to be. It conveys the message that the cancer is causing her to lose her memory and that in turn is causing her to be paranoid. Keep it up. + Report this comment
Posted by harmattan 2008-08-26 12:02:42 Para/get Conditions like these do cause simple confusions, and paranoia. You kept it simple, even mundane, and that increased the power of the problem. It might be difficult to comprehend by us (fairly) healthy ones, But it is soul destroying to a sufferer. Well done. Harmattan + Report this comment
Posted by Something Indecent 2008-09-04 16:09:51 .... I like what you did with this but as the others said I think you should add more to it. I would've liked the conversation to have been extended at the end but I did enjoy the man's paranoia. As a generally paranoid person I think you captured the thoughts just right. I'm not dying so that's good. Poor guy just wanted come coffee.... + Report this comment

Post a comment

Post a comment