Quaran-Queen ♕♔

Five ♔

2 days after the Meeting

"I don't know what to do, Otis."

"Go find her, dude."

"I don't want to hear it from a guy who's hooking up with one of Vanessa's barista's and won't even tell me who."

"This is not about my love life, this is about finding your grocery store Cinderella!"

I look at him from across the apartment, "We've been trying to answer this impossible question for two days and we're talking in circles. How would I do that, knock on every apartment in Seattle? I can't do that. I don't even know her name or what the bottom half of her face looks like."

Sighing and looking at me from his spot leaning against the kitchen counter, he shrugs, "look, I know you say what you had was magical, but she's just some girl from a grocery store. Move on with your life. What about the dating apps I signed you up for?"

Slouching further in on myself, I slide down our chair, "I've avoided Tinder for obvious reasons."

"That's fair."

"Yeah, and I've had no luck on Bumble."

"What about the new vibe one I found on TikTok the other day? Nova? Lava?"

"Enigma?"

"That's the one."

"I've found a few people, only one may be worthwhile but I'm not holding my breath."

Before he can respond, the beeping oven interrupts him, "pizza!" Grabbing the pan out of the oven, he continues the conversation, "what's their name?"

"Lea," I slide my phone off the window ledge to my left, "she's pretty down to Earth. Her profile has a lot of tans and yellows."

Otis nods solemnly, "you can usually trust the creams."

"What about the blues, huh mister green?"

Cutting the pizza into fractions, he shouts over his shoulder, "I've kept you this long haven't I?"

"Fair enough." I watch him chew, then drop a bite of the steaming food in anticipation, "so are you going to bring me a slice or what?"

"Yeah, yeah," he wipes his mouth with a napkin before dropping a large slice onto a paper plate and bringing it my way. Passing me by after he moves to sit in the chair by our uneven table.

I'd eat on the floor before I listen to the uneven legs clink against the floor for an entire meal.

"Thank you," I mumble as I bite into the delicious food. "How'd recording 'Will They Won't They' go?"

Bobbing his head back and forth he runs a hand through his overgrown blonde hair, "better than expected. I still have to record some harmonies on the bridge but overall it's almost ready. I'm getting TikTok comments about it constantly."

We eat in silence before he drops his plate onto the table and reaches for his phone, "oh my god," he cries, "that's it!"

"You good?" Through the years of our friendship I'd gotten relatively used to his random outburst of lyric or melody bits, but this was unlike any other outbursts.

"Tiktok. We use it to find your cinderella."

"Cinderella?"

He looks at me like I'm dumb, "do I have to say everything? Beautiful strangers have a surprisingly romantic encounter, they're dragged apart before they get any contact information, she leaves something behind. You and grocery girl are literally Cinderella and Prince Charming."

Oh, "I guess we are."

Nodding at me, Otis takes another bite of his pizza.

"So are you going to tell me where TikTok comes into this?"

"We make a Tiktok explaining what happened, we can use my account so that we already have some guaranteed viewers, people blow it up because everyone loves a love story, they help find her, you connect and fall further in love!"

I shrug, "I've got nothing to lose."

Otis sets up his ring light and phone stand as I continue lounging on the chair. Squatting down to tighten the feet, he brushes imaginary dust off his pants and looks at me expectantly.

"You mean now?" I have half a slice of pizza hanging out of my mouth so I'm not sure he can understand what I'm saying.

"Chop chop, going viral doesn't happen overnight!" He hustles around the camera stand, swiping dust off the window sill and moving empty cans of Monster and plastic water bottles out of frame.

"Isn't that exactly how going viral happens?" He shoots me a look and I raise my hands in defeat, "work your magic."

I watched Otis in awe as he tapped away on his phone, his eyes squinting and occasionally solemnly nodding at who-knows-what. After what felt like forever, he set his camera on the tripod stand and beckoned me over.

"Here's what we're going to do..."

[TIKTOK @OtisPeterson]

Stage directions or edited effects

Two guys pop into frame from opposite sides, they speak directly to the camera.

OTIS: Hey everyone, it's Otis (text and arrow appear above his head, labeling his identity) and today we're asking You (two guys point at the camera), yes you, for help.

Me and my best bud Brody here (text and arrow appear above his head, labeling his identity) are looking for someone special

BRODY: But not just anyone!

The two guys are now recreating the interaction they're describing.

Otis wears a dish towel on his head.

Two days ago I met a girl at the local grocery store-

OTIS: -He fell in love with a girl at the grocery store

BRODY: We hit it off,

The two mime making conversation and "swooning"

but she had to leave before I got her name or contact info,

Otis' "Cinderella" dramatically raises his hand and storms out of frame,

leaving Brody looking overly sad

and since we're in a pandemic, I didn't get to see her whole face

OTIS: They're literally modern Cinderella because get this, she dropped her personalized mask

Otis' "Cinderella" drops the blue face mask on the living room floor.

The screen changes to show a picture of the real Cinderella's lost mask

BRODY: She's in the Seattle area, she loves Cheez-Its, Fitol's coffee brand and her dog Willow

The "flashback" is over, the guys are back to speaking to the camera, pleading for help

OTIS: If any of you think you know who this is Please tag them in the comments! Also pre save my single Will They Won't They with the link in bio!

[TIKTOK - PUBLISH VIDEO?]

[PUBLISH | CANCEL]

Otis sinks into the chair, a satisfied grin on his face.

My brows furrow. I understand how TikTok works, I lose hours of my days to it, but the art of making them is beyond me. "So, what now? We wait?"

"Yup," he pops the 'p' sound and sits back, munching on his now cooled pizza. "Now we wait."

If you liked it show some love!! Stay safe, I'll see you all next time! <3 Maddie