Two Perfect Strangers Novels & Stories

I was pushing the shopping cart through the aisles when I turned a corner and nearly bumped into someone. "Sorry—" I looked up and froze. It was Preston. He was wearing a dark gray coat. He was a bit taller than he had been three years ago. He was leaner, too, which made his jawline look sharper. The second he saw me, he froze as well. We stood there staring at each other for several seconds. In the end, he broke the silence first. "Long time no see." "Yeah, long time no see." After the polite greeting came a prolonged silence.

The woman on the other end responded coldly, sounding somewhat annoyed. I gripped my phone, almost ready to cry. "Holly, did you see today's livestream?" After three years, I had finally seen hope. Holly scoffed. "Of course, I saw it. Louis, you abused your wife, your savior. Aren't you afraid of karma?" My heart skipped a beat, and I asked, "Didn't you watch tonight's livestream?" She answered impatiently, "Even with hidden cameras, we still respect privacy. It automatically cuts off after nine at night."

Letting it close and the whole line of the glass cooler to fog and frost over while we sit. It’s strange that neither of us name names or are specific about any situation. We just cry out all the tears I didn’t know I’d been holding back as we whine back and forth with zero judgments. Perfect strangers telling one another how special the other is, not knowing one another from Adam. Oddly enough, the store clerk who’d been getting high in the back the whole time she’d been in here was named Adam, and joins us with the fuss we’re making. High as a kite on a windy day. The thin also highlighted brunette waves his hand in the air like a testifying salute, playing a track on his phone.

The stranger approaches Mia. Everything is visible. Then— The blackout. Static. Three seconds. The feed returned. The stranger gone. Every camera. Every angle. Nothing. Luca cursed quietly. "Impossible." "No," Mark said. His eyes never left the screen. "It was planned." The room fell silent. Mia stared at the frozen image. The stranger's face. Calm. Smiling. Certain. Like he had known exactly what would happen. Like he had rehearsed it. Like he had already won something.

"I don't want anything from that room. Nothing." "Are you sure? Your belongings..." "Burn them. I don't care." I take the key card she slides across the counter. Our fingers brush, and I see pity flash across her face. I hate it. I hate that my humiliation is obvious, and that strangers can see the pathetic woman who got cheated on during her anniversary vacation. So sad! "Is there anything else we can do for you tonight?" "Make sure Bryan Hale doesn't know my room number." Her eyes widened slightly. She knows who he is then. Probably helped check us in, probably thought we were the perfect couple with our perfect suite and our perfect expensive romance package.

She breathed out. Her life felt so perfect it scared her so much. She had the husband of her dreams. He did everything right, and almost always said the right thing. It was as if she was some in some kind of fairytale dream and soon enough she’d wake up then it would all be gone. She fixed her hair and sat down as he showered. *** In Suncity, Love scrolled on her f******k lying on her bed. She paused coming across a post by some motivational speaker.

I said. I typed in the account number Jason had given me and hit transfer. Jason’s phone pinged. He pulled it out and stared at the screen. His eyes went wide. "$33,600,000," he whispered. "We actually did it." "We did," I said, standing up and buttoning my tuxedo jacket. "The perfect crime." The announcement for our flight chimed over the speakers. "That’s us," Zane cheered, grabbing her bag. "Honeymoon time!"

“The pictures here are good. But they are lacking… romance. You guys acted like strangers on a business trip trying to start a scandalous affair but to afraid to fuck in the open.” We were strangers on business trips… that's all though. “In my defense, we looked like perfect couples.” He nodded. “Yeah, old geezers with kids.” He paused. “And you guys don't have kids, do you?” I shook my head. “Right now you look like colleagues sharing Wi-Fi. I need lovers.” Kieran looked horrified. “That’s ridiculous.” “It’s just a dumb picture,” he added quickly, glancing at me. “Let’s do it.”

We smiled at each other, and despite the chaos, the smoke, the sirens wailing in the distance, just for the moment, everything was perfect. Paige was safe and so was Lily. Everything in the world was perfect. The End

The nurse pulled the floral curtain shut with a sharp *zip*, cutting off the hallway. The fabric swayed between us, but my mind was still spinning. My heart pounded against my ribs so hard and fast it felt louder than the hospital machines. I had stared at that man through the gap in the curtain, my head buzzing. Was it really him? Could it truly be the same stranger from that rainy night, standing in this exact hospital? Or was my exhausted, terrified mind just playing tricks on me?