DISCLAIMER: I highly recommend that you do NOT read this chapter until you have finished all of the endings. There are spoilers for multiple branches within this chapter. Enjoy!
Mia wakes up in the morning to her phone exploding with messages. The first one she notices is from a person who she doesn't know yet his name is entered into her phone—a guy named Craig. I still can't believe what we accomplished yesterday! Hands down the most interesting date I've ever been on.
Date? Accomplished? Mia doesn't recall accomplishing anything too exciting yesterday, especially not with someone named Craig. All she remembers is another boring day at work.
Then she looks at a text message from Therese. Man, you're a hero, Mia! Way to save us from work, too!
What? Mia replies. What happened?
Don't act humble, Therese instantly responds. It's all over the news. Turn the TV on!
Mia walks over to the TV. During the walk over she contemplates whether she wants to see what Therese is talking about or not. As she goes to grab the remote, a realization dawns on her: she can't decide. Mia can't choose whether she does or not. She begins to panic. Why is this such a hard choice? It's either she clicks the button or puts the remote down, yet she can't seem to do either.
Instead, she walks away from the TV, not wanting to face the choice any longer. Her phone buzzes again. She scrambles to find her phone, which she left on the bed. It's a message from Terry. What a great date, baby! Can't wait for our next one...
Mia's mood changes from confused to angry. Date? With Terry? Never has Mia heard something so ridiculous. She immediately calls him. Terry picks up after two rings.
"Mia! What's up—"
"Is this one of your tricks to get me to date you?" Mia demands. "'Cause last time I checked, you skipped the first date."
"Excuse me? We went to dinner two nights ago..."
"Please," she scoffs. "I'll see you at work, Terry. Please don't text me again."
"But—"
Mia ends the call. She sighs and slips her phone in her pocket. She slides her hands over her face. What is going on today? She has never been so confused. Why are so many people claiming that she's done things that she hasn't these past two days?
She goes into the bathroom to take a shower. This is odd for her, for it's completely off schedule. In fact, she has never found showering in the morning to be an option until today. Something about it seems enticing, though.
The shower helps her to forget about all of the messages. She hops out after a couple of minutes feeling very refreshed. She should take morning showers more often.
She dries herself off, puts on her pajamas, and wraps the towel on top of her head. When she looks up at the mirror, she screams and stumbles backward. Her back hits the wall. She grabs a bottle of shampoo and looks around, breathing heavily.
Mia doesn't know how it got there. In cursive letters, written in the steam on the mirror, is the message "I told you we'd see each other again. ;)"
She carefully examines every square inch of her house. No one seems to be anywhere in sight. When Mia is convinced that no one is inside with her, she finally calms down. She goes back into the mirror where the message is. It has disappeared.
"I need to get ready for work," she mumbles. Mia regains her composure. Benjamin runs around her legs excitedly. Mia laughs softly. At least her dog is acting normally.
After verifying with a few other colleagues, apparently work is cancelled today. Mia decides to go with her other option, which is to go to Serene Caffeine to get a coffee. At least she will be able to relax once she has gotten a cup of coffee.
Mia arrives at the coffee shop and walks in. The place is far busier than it usually is. Mia stands in line and looks up at the menu. There seems to be more options than normal. She can't even remember the ones she typically decides between. She looks up at it, feeling frightened and rushed. She has no clue what she wants. She thought that this was going to be relaxing, but it's turning out to be really stressful.
"Mia." She turns at the sound of her name. A guy with blonde hair and tight jeans walks towards her. He stuffs his hands in his pockets. The stranger approaches her, standing far closer to her than anticipated.
"Hey," he mutters. "I'm sorry that I scared you a couple days back. I didn't mean to. I thought you were going to come back but...it's fine. I'm sorry. You don't have to help me with the mission if you don't want to."
She looks at him, confused. He clearly seems to know who she is, though, so she doesn't want to make him feel like she doesn't. Mia tries to think hard about where she could have seen him. An old high school friend? She knew quite a few people who would probably greet her like that. Or maybe someone from work? There have been plenty of people who have gotten hired and fired on the same day. No matter how hard she thinks, she can't confidently pinpoint where she knows him from.
"Hey." Another man with shades comes over and grabs the blonde's arm. "Step away from her, okay?"
"What have I done?" he asks.
"You're clearly trying to attack her again," the other man says. Mia's eyes widen. Attack? She turns to see if it's her turn to order. The stress of what she's going to choose will be far easier than dealing with this encounter.
"Carson, you know that I wouldn't," the blonde one says.
"Do I, though?" the one apparently named Carson asks. He crosses his arms. "Last time we saw you, you threatened to come and attack her again."
"Mia!" Mia internally groans, but turns to see a woman with a professional suit and her black hair in a bun. She approaches the group. "I didn't even notice you with these two around. Are you ready for tonight?"
Tonight? Mia can't recall making plans for tonight. "Uh...what exactly are we doing?" she asks.
The woman looks hurt. She looks away for a moment. Mia watches, feeling confused and guilty. What is she supposed to remember?
"I'm glad to see that this was important to you," the woman says angrily. "I'll see you around, Mia."
The woman walks away. Mia's head is spinning. Who are these people? Why are they claiming that they know who she is? This has to be some joke that Therese is pulling on her. Mia couldn't have possibly forgotten so many people.
To her luck, another man comes up to her. It's a man with shaggy hair and a flannel button up. He approaches far quieter than the other three. Carson and the other guy are still arguing with each other. Mia is trying to think of a way to kindly get out of the situation. The man is waiting patiently.
Finally, they all notice him. "Who are you?" Carson asks.
"My name is Trevor." The man looks at Mia. "Can you sit with me for a minute? I can explain everything to you."
Though Mia doesn't understand what he means, she follows him. It feels safer to be around Trevor than the other three. The two sit in a corner of the coffee shop where a cup of coffee is already sitting. It has Trevor's name scribbled across it. He takes a long swig of his drink.
"What are you explaining to me?" Mia asks. She looks over at where she was. Though the two men are still arguing, the woman has left. Mia hopes that she hasn't offended any of them by leaving. She's just had far too confusing of a morning.
"Do you remember anything that has happened these past two days?" Trevor asks. Mia nods. He arches a brow. "What day is it?"
What day is it? That seems like a fairly obvious question. "It's Tuesday."
He shakes his head. "Mia, my dear...it's Thursday."
"What?"
"I'm sorry, you've completely skipped Tuesday and Wednesday."
Out of all news, that seems like the craziest. How could she have just completely skipped two days? Did she go into a short-term coma? Did she develop some form of memory loss? Mia runs her fingers through her hair. What is happening?!
Trevor takes a long breath and explains everything. He explains how he and others have developed a computer in which to control other people's choices. He, however, says that they do this less to manipulate others and more to see if people would be safer if their choices were determined by others.
"I have spent twenty-three years of my life making sure that you have lived the happiest and most normal life that you possibly can," Trevor says. "There are many choices that you make on your own, but I take on more significant or stressful ones to make sure that you get through life successfully."
Trevor takes another sip of his coffee. Mia can't tell if he's thirsty or if he's trying to give Mia a moment to let the information settle. "You figured this out yesterday," he continues. "You came into my office and destroyed my creation, Grace. Because of it, you were freed. However, all of the differently calculated pathways seem to have stayed, meaning that many people that you encountered throughout different choices still remember at least one version of what happened two days ago. However, you don't."
Mia looks over at the arguing men. That would explain why they each have different stories of what has happened the last couple of days. All of the text messages, whatever the mirror note was, and the people in the coffee shop are technically all correct about what happened yesterday,
Wait...so Mia actually went on a date with Terry?
"I'm really, really sorry about what I've done," Trevor says. He places Mia's hand between his. He's blinking frantically. "All I've wanted is the best for you, Mia. In a strange way, I see you like my daughter. I...I didn't want this for you."
Mia smiles. She gets up from the table. "I don't remember anything," she admits. "But from what you've said, all you've tried to do is make my life happy...and I am. I've been really, really happy all of my life. So thank you."
Trevor gets up from his seat. Tears are silently sliding down his cheeks and into his beard. Mia embraces him. Trevor wraps his arms around her and gently squeezes her. She can feel his body shake against hers.
Realistically, anyone else meeting the person who claims to have controlled their life would want to hurt them or never see them again. But Mia forgives Trevor. She can tell that he cares for her deeply. He's less of a controller and more like a guardian angel, ensuring that she doesn't get in trouble. And that she's happy.
Trevor pulls out of the hug. He wipes his eyes with his sleeve. "Well," he says, laughing, "it'll be tough, but you need to learn how to make decisions. Here, this one isn't too hard. How about you pick out your coffee? All by yourself."
Mia looks back at the intimidating menu. After a moment, she looks back at Trevor.
"Well," she smiles, "I've always wanted to try tea."