“We don’t know you either,” one responded. She looked like an aging soccer mom. She wore the same smirk of excitement as the rest of the people surrounding her.
“Then how do you all know my name?” I asked.
“We don’t,” the lady said. “We just want to catch the I’m Sorry Alicia. The only way to catch it is to say 'I'm sorry, Alicia' into the mouthpiece. As soon as you do that, you get a special ball that can catch it.”
A Monster? Like from the game? I thought. I was about to ask her more, but the woman was gone.
I reached my hand down into my pocket to grab my cell phone. The crowd pushed past me, nearly knocking me over as they did so. I managed to stay standing as I opened up the Monster GO app on my phone.
Sure enough, there was a Monster nearby. It was named “I’m Sorry Alicia.” I held my phone up to see the digital Monster standing on the chess table. It was drawn in the style of the other monsters, but it was obviously based on Jacob and me. Technically, it was two monsters, one male with blue fur and the other female with beautiful curly hair. Their hands were entwined, making them a single creature.
Underneath, the information bar said they were lovers that were meant to be together. Separating them caused great harm.
My mind was filled with confusion. A hand on my shoulder caused me to look up and when I saw who it was, I nearly dropped the phone.
“Jacob,” I whispered.
“Hey, gorgeous,” he replied.
My heart stalled. He was so damn handsome. I had missed him so much this week, but I was still incredibly pissed at him. I wanted to hug him and slug him right in the throat at the same time.
“You need to make these people leave,” I told him, raising my voice over the murmurs of “I'm Sorry Alicia.” I needed to stay strong. “I have a job interview...”
He gave me a small, wry smile.
“You're the interview, aren't you?” I asked, feeling incredibly annoyed as I figured it out. “It's how you knew I'd be here.”
Jacob at least had the grace to look slightly abashed. “Peter Brandish is my uncle.”
I felt my hand curl up into a ball, and I wanted to hit something. I had been so excited for this interview. It had been everything I wanted in a job and now I learned that I had just taken time off from my real job for something that didn't exist.
“How dare you,” I hissed, though I wasn't sure he could hear me over the players still saying 'I'm Sorry Alicia.' “You knew exactly what would get me here.”
He frowned, his blue eyes desperate behind his glasses. “It was the only way I could think of to get you to talk to me.”
I turned to leave, but there was a wall of people blocking my way. The noise from all the people saying “I'm Sorry Alicia” was nearly deafening.
“I can't believe you would do this,” I yelled, turning back to him. Tears caught in my throat. “How could you do this to me?”
Jacob frowned and tapped something into his phone. This clearly wasn't going the way he had expected it to.
“It's gone,” he announced to the crowd. A collected moan of disappointment rippled through the crowd. I glanced down to see that the monster was gone from my phone screen. There was nothing there to even hint that anything had happened.
As quickly as the crowd had accumulated, it disappeared.
“Why the hell would you do this?” I asked him once it was quiet enough to talk again.
“Because you wouldn't talk to me,” he replied. “That's all I want. Just to explain myself.”
I scoffed. “Go for it. I'm not sure how you plan on explaining what you did, but you are welcome to try. Apparently, I have an hour that's no longer booked.”
He motioned to the chess table and we both sat.
“I never meant to hurt you,” he started.
“Of course you didn't,” I sneered. “You just meant to use me.”
He looked down, his shoulders slumping. “No, I never meant to use you.”