Mischief On Earth ✔

Of Calls And Crushes

Violet fingernails tapped out an agitated, anxious rhythm on the surface of the wooden table.

Legs in blue leggings criss-crossed alternatively and continuously under the table.

An expression of fierce determination glared out from behind midnight-blue rimmed glasses.

"Come on.....come on......I can do this...." Kyra Pierce muttered.

Dressed in a purple silk blouse, she had her brow furrowed in concentration, as if she was focused on doing an immensely difficult and intense task.

A telephone receiver was pressed firmly against her left ear, and her fingers had knotted themselves anxiously in the telephone cord.

The steady two-beat dialing tone rang in her ears. She bit her lip. She twisted the telephone cord even more.

And finally -

"Hello! This is LaLuna FM! Who's on the line?"

Kyra straightened up in her seat, her eyes wide and her voice raised in excitement.

"LaLuna FM? Oh my goodness I got through? Am I the lucky fifth caller?"

She'd been trying for the entire week, and today had been the last day for the contest. In fact, this cue to call was the last slot of the night. She hadn't harbored much hope of getting through, but now she had!

"Indeed you are! Congratulations!"

Ecstatic, Kyra jumped up, pushing her chair back violently, hopping and waving the telephone in the air, shrieking.

"I'm the lucky fifth caller! Me! The lucky fifth caller!"

On the other end of the line, the radio announcer was in the middle of saying,

"What is your name - "

Her words cut off abruptly and there was sudden silence.

Kyra frowned. "Hello? Hello?"

No response. The line had gone dead.

Kyra moved the telephone away from her ear and looked at it, a panicky feeling blossoming in her chest as she wandered what had gone wrong.

It took her about half a minute to see the disconnected telephone cord.

Her mouth fell open.

Immediately she recalled the action she had did just now - jumping up and pushing her chair back, which had resulted in the wheels of the swivel chair catching the telephone wire, so instead of rolling over the wire it had dragged it along, resulting in the wire being jerked unceremoniously out of its main socket......

She glared at the chair. Then the telephone wire. Finally she shot the telephone receiver a look.

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME RIGHT NOW??" she screamed in frustration.

In the cubicle next to her there was a noise like stationery tumbling all over the table. Black rimmed glasses peered out hesitantly over the cubicle divider.

"Are - are you alright Miss Pierce?"

"NO I AM NOT!"

The young man ducked out of sight immediately. After a second he could be heard mumbling,

"O - okay. I - I'll just get back to work then."

Kyra was barely listening. She was tuning the mini radio that sat in the corner of her worktable.

"- so we have a winner! Congratulations John McGeralds, you have won yourself 1000 dollars worth of shopping vouchers!"

Kyra groaned. She slumped down in her seat.

"It should have been me! I was the one who called through first!" She fired a venomous look at the radio. "And why would a guy do with so much shopping vouchers anyway?"

There was light mocking laughter from the cubicle opposite. A honey gold blonde smirked back at Kyra. She stood up, slow and languidly.

Sherria Carrell was wearing a hot pink top and a black pencil skirt. In her right hand was the Prada clutch she always took with her. She was an entire head taller than Kyra, but Kyra knew that was due to the five-inch metallic Miu Mius trodding the carpet.

"Probably to give his darling wife. You know, his soulmate, his partner?" She suddenly snapped her fingers and put on a face of mock sympathy. "But I forgot! You wouldn't know would you? After all, you are the only one among the five of us.....that isn't in a relationship."

The smirk grew wider.

"Even Eric has a girlfriend! And he's a nerd." Sherria tossed the bespectacled young man peeking out from his cubicle a dazzling smile. "A cute one though Eric, don't worry."

She looked back at Kyra again and sighed. "Tsk tsk. How sad. To not know love......"

Kyra clenched her jaw. Again with the loveless-spinster label. Was being single a crime?

Of course Kyra knew this was more than just mockery. She had known Sherria since high school, though she balked at the suggestion that you must be great friends then!

Sherlock and Watson are great friends. Hawkeye and Black Widow are great friends. Me and Sherria Carell? More like Cady Heron and Regina George.

When they were in high school, Sherria had developed a crush on a boy named Kevin McAdams. She had been one of the popular girls, and naturally assumed that Kevin would be more than willing to date.

So when she had finally confessed - in public no less, since she wanted the whole school to know this boy was hers - she was left embarassed and mortified when Kevin said she wasn't her type. Stunned, she managed to ask him what was his type then? And he had pointed across the cafe, at a certain teenage girl with long, wavy russet hair and said that that was the girl he had liked for the past three months.

The next week Kevin McAdams and Kyra Pierce were officially dating.

Sherria had had many other guys since then, and Kyra had broken up with Kevin a long time ago, but the humiliating memory of that day remained. Sherria and Kyra were firm archenemies, and that, was that.

Sherria was shaking her head pityingly. "No wonder you can't get a man. You even fail at a simple phone call. How depressing."

Kyra felt like punching her in her rows of perfectly white teeth. Sherria flicked her blonde locks in a classic I'm so fantabulous move and sat down. At that very moment, their boss walked in.

Richard Dean was a fortyish man with a booming beer belly and the taste buds of a connoisseur. He was also chief editor of Tidbits, a magazine that aimed to provide its readers with all the finer details of the latest news.

Now he clapped his hands loudly.

"Alright everyone! It's six pm already, so you know what this means......" He looked around the room, his brown eyes twinkling good-naturedly.

With a hearty, theatrical holler he yelled,

"Journalists assemble!"

There were cheers and everyone got busy clearing up their desks. Within seconds they were gathered in front of their boss, purses and wallets in hand, beaming expectantly.

Richard eyed their prompt response with approval, then intoned solemnly.

"Today, we are off to save the sushi."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

At a secluded area tucked away behind a massive behemoth of a building, something was happening.

A cat lazing about suddenly perked up two ears, its fur coat bristling all over. Without warning it took off like a shot.

A minute later, two blackbirds from a nearby tree did the same.

Slowly, the dry leaves on the grass stirred as a wind began to blow.