Three letters

Zara

Elizabeth dropped a cappuccino on my desk before I’d even logged in.

“How was the dinner?” 

“Complicated.”

“How complicated?” 

“A woman showed up claiming to be his fiancee.” 

She choked on her coffee. “What?” 

“It was some arrangement his mother had with made with her friend when they were kids.” 

“What did he do about it?” 

“He sent her way. But she refused to leave him. She insisted on seeing him. So he stood up to deal with it, and I just—“I shrugged. “Walked over. Took his hand. Told her I was his girlfriend.” 

Elizabeth stared at me, cappuccino frozen half way to her mouth. “You did what?” 

“I don’t know. It just happened.” 

“Zara, that’s insane.” She set her cup down and leaned forward, grinning. “That’s the most badass thing I’ve heard you do since you told off your old landlord. How did he react?” 

“Relieved. Grateful. Like I’d handed him something he didn’t know he needed.” 

“You like him.” 

“I don’t know him enough to like him.” 

“You like him, Zara.” 

I don’t say anything. Which is an answer she needs. She reads my silences better than most people read full sentences. 

“He seems nice,” she said. “Genuinely nice. Not rich person nice, where everyone’s dazzled by the luxury life and forget the person underneath all that.” 

“Yeah. He does.” 

“I’m proud of you, for taking a leap on something insane.” 

“It’s just a contract.” 

“It wouldn’t be like it in the end.” 

I don’t argue. 

The factory moved through its usual mid morning rhythms—keyboard clicking, someone laughing near the machines, a phone ringing twice before someone finally answered it. 

“So what happens now?” Elizabeth asked. “You just wait for another dinner date?” 

“I don’t know,” I said. “Oliver hasn’t sent me a message since then. And I have to move into his house by the weekend.” 

“Are you nervous?” 

“Terrified. But also kind of—-“ I didn’t finish the sentence, because I didn’t have a word for it yet. 

My phone buzzed. It was Oliver: 

Good day, Zara. 

You will be moving in with Mr Cassian on Sunday at 10:00 am so that you can have enough time to settle in. Mr Cassian will be picking you up. 

If there are any changes, I’ll let you know in advance. Have a pleasant day.

I read it once before Elizabeth snatched my phone from my hands to go through it. 

“Can you please give me my phone?” 

“How does this Oliver look? Is he as handsome is Mr Cassian?”

“Yoh have a boyfriend Elizabeth. And no, he looks like a worm.” 

Elizabeth dropped my phone back on the table. 

I picked it up and sent a message to Oliver. 

Thank you. I’ll be ready. 

“I almost forgot.” 

She jumped out of her chair and disappeared. 

“What is going on?” 

“Wait here,” she said excitedly. 

A few seconds later, she returned carting a medium—sized cardboard box, struggling to balance it in bothe hands. 

“What is that?”

She carefully placed it on the table before pushing it toward me. 

“I was clearing out my apartment for some things that I don’t need and I found this box.” 

I look at the box. 

“My mum sent them a couple of weeks back.”

Inside the box were notebooks, old photographs, ticket stubs, a tiny jewelry case and a handful of random keepsakes. 

“You’ve been keeping all of these?” 

She laughed. 

“I keep everything. And I know you don’t like holding on to memories because of your past. But I just had a feeling that I should keep this.” 

I picked up a polaroid from the box and it was a picture of me and Elizabeth on our first party together in college. I had a great time on that day. 

Elizabeth picked another polaroid and burst into laughter. 

“Oh my God.” 

“What?” 

She turned it around. 

It was a picture of us during our first year of university. 

My hair was in the messiest bun imaginable, and Elizabeth had somehow managed to blink right as the picture was taken. 

I laughed really hard. 

“We looked exhausted. 

“We were exhausted.” 

“It was during our very first exams.” 

“We lived on instant noodles.”

I picked up another photo.” Do you remember this?” 

“The one where you insisted you could swim and you almost drowned. I was so scared on this day, I thought I was going to lose someone else that I love.” 

“You are never letting that go are you?” She said laughing. 

“I could never.” 

“And you are not losing me ever. I will stay with you as long as I live. And our children will continue what we have built.” 

“You are the best,” I said, pulling her into a hug. 

For the next several minutes we sorted through the box, laughing over old memories we’d almost forgotten. 

We had gone through everything and had something to say about every item found in it. 

Elizabeth reached for the box and started putting the photographs back inside one by one.

I picked up the picture we took at the beach. 

We were both laughing at something outside the frame, completely unaware of the camera. I smiled to myself until something in the background caught my attention. 

Just behind us, partially hidden by a row of palm trees, stood a large building. 

I frowned. 

I didn’t remember seeing it that day.

My thumb brushed over the glossy surface of the photograph as I looked closer. 

Three bold letters were fixed to the front of the building. 

SSH.

I stared at them for a few seconds. 

What does that even mean?

A strange feeling settled in my chest, though I couldn’t explain why. 

“Zara?” 

Elizabeth’s voice pulled me back. 

I blinked, quickly slipping the photograph beneath the others before she noticed what had caught my attention. 

“Nothing,” I said, forcing a small smile. 

But even after we closed the box, those three letters refused to leave my mind. 

SSH…