Sincerely, Me

            Alice went to the post office as she does every Saturday afternoon to check on the mail. She was a striking woman, tall, dark, long brown hair, thin, and all around beautiful. Mark was at the post office that day, as he had been for the past three months. Alice was an organized person who refused to deal with any funny business. Ever since she had been established as the head of fashion for the “Killer Kisses” fashion and celebrity gossip magazine, she didn’t have time to be distracted. For her, everything had to be perfect lest her entire life be ruined.

            “Good Afternoon, Miss Arian. Key, please.” Alice handed Mark her key without bothering to respond. Not once, other than to learn his name and introduce herself, had she ever spoken to Mark. She didn’t see the purpose in conversing with those lower than herself, other than to give orders. Not even at the office did her rules change.

            “Here you go, Miss Arian. Have a good day.” Mark handed Alice a stack of letters, most of them bills and a few postcards from family members, and a package wrapped in brown packing paper. Alice took the pile and left. She put the bundle of mail onto the front passenger seat and then drove to her apartment. Alice, like most business people who resided in New York City, lived in one of the many apartments near the top floor of “Suave Homes”. She took her pile up to her room with her and then sat down in her chair behind her desk.

            “Useless, useless, useless, I already paid that, junk.” She ripped all the letters in half, including those from family members. She dropped them in the trash and then picked up the box and a pair of scissors. The box didn’t have a return address so she cut it open without hesitation. It turned out to be an old shoe box. She removed the lid to reveal a small stack of papers with numbers at the top resting on the bottom of the box. Out of curiosity, she read the first one to herself.

1

Dear Alice,

          I’m not going to bother to ask how you are or what you’ve been up to considering I’ll never be able to know the answer.

            Alice didn’t recognize the handwriting.

           Surely, you must be anxious to know what this is all about. Am I right? Well, to put this simply, it’s about you. Oh, Alice. You still haven’t figured out who I am, have you? That’s all right, sweetheart. You’ll know soon enough.

          Our story starts two years ago. Can you think about what happened two years ago? That’s right; you were promoted to head of fashion. You thought it was such an honor, and you still do, don’t you? Well, Alice, it’s not. Do you remember the head before you? Do you remember what happened to her? I bet you don’t, because you don’t know. Nobody knows. Well, sweetheart, this box is going to tell you exactly what happened.

Sincerely,

Me

            Alice paused, puzzling over the letter. Was this a prank of some sort? If so, she was wasting her time, but then she thought about the old head. She had to admit, she didn’t know what had happened to her. Was the time she would surely have to waste worth finding that out? She decided that it might just be so she pulled out the next letter.

2

Dear Alice,

          This isn’t going to be easy for you. I hope you realize that. I didn’t spend hours on my story just for you to read in one, just for you to sit back and watch it unfold in the comfort of your apartment. What number is it anyway? 1013, by any chance? On the 10th floor in the building of Suave Homes?