Sarah Reading Novels & Stories

"I've done nothing wrong. I agree to call off the engagement." Mark froze, completely taken aback. Then, a robotic voice echoed in my head, ‘The Thought Sharing feature has now been activated. Please choose who you want to share it with.’ Thought Sharing? The person I picked could hear Alice's thoughts, too? I looked at Mark, still in shock, and calmly touched my face. ‘I choose Mark.’ Right then, Alice's inner voice rang out again, just in time. 'Can you believe it? With just a little trick, Helen has given up on Mark all by herself?'

Sarah came back through the door at seven thirty with two coffees from the campus café and what appeared to be a handwritten piece of paper that she had folded precisely in thirds. She set my coffee on the nightstand and unfolded the paper with the focused expression she normally reserved for academic reports. “I made an itinerary,” she announced, which was the most Sarah sentence I had ever heard in my life. I sat up and took the coffee and looked at what she had written in her careful looping handwriting, and something in my chest did something that was not quite pain but was adjacent to it.

Emma has been too patient with this woman. Sarah read them all. She had stopped feeling them individually. Suddenly her phone rang she didn't bother checking who the caller is but the the voice came out. “Hi, Ms Irish.” Her heart slammed against her rib.

Adrian smiled without answering, thinking to himself, “Isn’t my intention obvious enough?” But seeing that the young woman in front of him was still dazed, he leaned close to her ear. His warm breath, exhaled into the cool summer night, felt intensely present, sending a tingling sensation through Sarah’s earlobes. “What would you like me to do, Miss Sarah?” Sarah’s face flushed crimson; her normally fair, delicate features glowed like a crimson sunset, making her look exceptionally radiant. Overcome with embarrassment, she could only silently repeat to herself: I’m here to discuss the contract, to discuss the contract, to discuss the contract!

Placing a hand on my head, I feel a headache coming along. “Damn it, it’s like reading the same thing over and over again.” Sarah, who doesn’t even look half as fazed as me, continues to flip through her fifth book with ease. “We can't give up yet; I am sure we will find something in one of these.” I wish I had as much hope and enthusiasm as she did. I pick up the next book and flip through the pages lazily. For a brief second, something catches my eye. I flip back a few pages to see exactly what it is. It is a picture of a bleeding wolf standing before a divine being.

“Haven’t gotten past the first chapter yet. And from that I would say it’s chick-lit at the most.” Gloomily staring at the front page, Sarah was obviously wondering how often Wendy came by to drop something off or pick something up. “Can I look at it?” she asked with what looked like a mischievous spark in her eyes. “Sure!” Jack nodded encouragingly and turned back to his computer. Behind him Sarah had started flipping through the pages. Suddenly she stopped. “Oh-my-God!”she breathed, barely suppressing a giggle. Jack whisked around, frowning. “What?”

She looked breathtaking, almost ethereal. "You're very beautiful today, Sara," I said, my voice thick with emotion as I reached out to tuck a stray titian hair behind her ear. She leaned back just an inch, a movement so subtle it was almost imperceptible, yet it made my fingers itch with a sudden, sharp annoyance. "The trees are changing color early this year, aren't they?" she asked, her voice bright, clear, and strangely hollow. "Look at that oak over there. It’s almost completely red."

ARIA'S POV Sarah Mendoza's office smelled like coffee and lavender. The kind of scent meant to calm people down before their lives got torn apart on paper. I sat in the chair across from her desk and tried not to pick at my cuticles but I failed. "Thanks for seeing me so quickly," I said. Sarah smiled. She was maybe forty, with dark hair pulled back and glasses that made her look both kind and sharp. Photos of two kids lined her desk. A pride flag pin sat on her blazer lapel.

Her eyes locked onto mine, a hint of a smile playing on her lips. "Sorry, you look startled. You can leave," Beth said, dismissing Megan. She then turned to me with a warm smile. "I must say, Ms. Jones, your sister is quite the bookworm. She was very particular about the books we provided." I chuckled, "I know, she's always been an avid reader. It's one of her favourite things to do." I noticed Sarah started reading fiction books more frequently when we grew apart. I never questioned it, assuming she was seeking an escape from the tension between us. I figured she found solace in the stories, a way to temporarily forget about our issues and immerse herself in a different world.