Zoe by Denis Vinnik

 As she walked toward her car,

she felt there wouldn’t be another conversation between her and Sandra. “How disappointing,” she thought. “It will really put a strain on my deadline.” It was the middle of winter - the worst time to be left with almost no money in her bank account. She was still suffering from withdrawals due to her drug addiction, and the last thing she wanted was to be left without any cash for her withdrawal medication. Feeling extremely annoyed, she sat in her car, doing her best to hold back tears with all the strength she had. But that’s when she saw Sandra once again, leaving the loud house and looking at her with a cheerful expression. “How can you be happy in such a household?” she thought to herself. She didn’t even notice the smile of respect that had started to form on her face. Zoe had never had kids, nor had she ever considered getting married; she was always focused on her work. But what if there’s more to life than working in the solitude of her space? It would surely bring many challenges, but she was always up for completing them. That’s when Sandra raised her hand in a motion to say goodbye to Zoe. Despite still feeling displeased with their interview, Zoe felt obliged to wave back - and so she did. Somehow, she knew they would meet again soon enough.

Fastening her seatbelt and starting the motor, which was quite a task in such cold weather, she took off, heading directly to her house to look for more work for the day. She owed a sum to her tenant for unpaid rent, and he was starting to grow more and more impatient. It was a long drive, and by the time she got to her destination, the sun was already starting to fall behind the horizon. For some reason, Zoe felt differently about Sandra compared to all her other interviewees. Talking with her was only doing her job as a journalist, but Sandra made her fall into a world of thoughts, even though they hadn’t talked that much at all. It felt more as if the atmosphere had spoken to her this time, rather than a real person she’d gotten used to. After doing some research for another interview and finishing the chores around her small apartment, she could finally have some time off. And there she was, sitting in her chair, eating her one ramen, switching channels on the TV but unable to find what she really wanted. The clock hit midnight, and that’s when she knew it was time to return to the kingdom of dreams once again. As she slowly drifted into sleep, she heard a phone call. Who could it be this late at night? As she slowly picked up her phone and rubbed her sleepy eyes, she saw that it was an unknown phone number. She was ready to hang up, but something stopped her. Several buzzes went by before she collected enough courage to answer her phone. She immediately recognized the voice on the other line. It was Sandra.