Saul

I fucked up by not deactivating my social accounts or at least putting them on private settings. My big ass ego needed feeding, and now I was paying the price for it. Sirah had accepted my lift, but after that, she avoided me like the plague. What she didn't know was that I was latched onto her like a blood-sucking leech with no intention of ever letting go of her.

One hundred and forty-two days later, I watched her from afar as her stalker. Her sweet or creepy spreadsheet would need updating since she had abandoned it. She never put Christmas decorations on her balcony but chose a sad little tree inside her house.

I walked into the church and paused as I approached the central area. No bolt of lightning struck me, so I continued walking towards the pastor. I saw Sirah set up to one side, speaking to an elderly couple. She had been coming to the local church to help with the food drive and give people debt advice.

The church looked inviting, with various lights, decorations, two Christmas trees, and a nativity scene. When I saw Sirah raise her head, I quickly turned my back on her as the pastor noticed me.

“Mr Winthorpe,” he called before patting the lady with whom he had been conversing on her hand. “So kind of you to come to our little church.”

I smiled at him before I twisted my body enough to give Sirah a side-eyed glance. She had sat upright to watch me. She had eight days left, so she had best be on board because she was mine by hook or crook.

“Let me give you a tour, and I can tell you what we do within our community,” the pastor continued, oblivious to my distraction.

Regardless of what he showed me, we would make a sizeable donation towards the work they did. Food poverty has increased, and I was shocked to see how it impacted working and non-working people. Seth was on board but was more aware of it than I was because Katya’s school did an annual food collection.

Once the pastor had shown me the facilities, he finally introduced me to Sirah, who was suspiciously eyeing me. If I played this right, she might add this to the sweet section of her spreadsheet.

“What a coincidence, Sirah is my neighbour,” I said with a smile, but her eyes narrowed further until I thought something might pop.

My smile faltered, and I glanced at the pastor, who was still oblivious to the situation.

“Another coincidence,” Sirah muttered.

Fuck. This was going into her creepy section .

∞∞∞

“One hundred and forty-eight days,” I whined as I lifted my glass up as a toast to Seth and Warner, who looked at one another.

“I did my part, buddy,” Warner said.

“Honesty is the best pol—” my brother started to say.

“Fuck you, Seth, this is all your fault,” I said before I blinked to see where the bottle was. One of these fuckers was hiding it from me.

“How is this my fault?” he said, looking flummoxed.

I found the bottle and poured myself another drink.

“If I hadn't gone to your house that morning, I would never have met Sirah,” I said, tossing a cube of ice into my drink so I could watch it sink like I was.

“Is this what a woman does to you? I’m inclined to remain single and ready to mingle,” Warner said.

“God, do you get laid with that shitty wordplay?” Seth scoffed.

Warner shrugged with a smile.

“It would work on a 58-year-old,” he said, glancing at me.

“Ah, yes. ’s infamous grab a granny tactic,” Seth joined in.

“It was one time, and she looked much younger,” I grumbled. “Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it.”

“What happened to Elizabeth?” Seth asked Warner.

“Who?” Warner asked casually, but his hand tightened around his glass, and I chuckled.

“He is so fucked,” I cackled.

Seth grinned and nodded his head. “Completely and utterly fucked.”

“You two keep your curse to yourselves. I have no intention of being tied down to one woman. Look at the state of him,” he said raising his glass towards me.

“What will happen when you reach day one hundred and fifty?” Seth asked curiously.

I stared into my glass as I swirled the melting piece of ice.

“All hell is going to break loose,” I muttered.

“Don't do anything that will give me more litigation work. I've had enough with both of your divorces,” Warner said while Seth frowned at me.

No. There would never be another divorce .