January 11, 2024

Carol

Carol spent the morning preparing for her day ahead. She jumped when her phone chirped and started talking to her. A male voice read the message before she had time to touch her smartwatch.

“Carol Penelope Anderson. You have been our first selected participant of Blank Checks. Please meet us at four this afternoon at The Richmond restaurant on Balboa St. to fill out your blank check. You can bring a few family members and friends along if you wish. Best of luck to you. And remember, DREAM BIG.”

Carol’s heart was racing. “Why am I getting so excited?” she said to herself as she touched her smartwatch and read the message multiple times. “I can’t believe this is happening. Is this real?” She took a deep breath and tried to focus.

“Four o’clock. That’s only six hours from now. I need to call Brenda and Sarah. They’re not going to believe this,” she said to herself as she picked up her phone.

 On the three-way call, Sarah was the first to answer. “Hello there Goldilocks. Time for another get-together? Happy hour would be great today.”

 “Sarah, I want to wait for Brenda to answer. I have something you both need to hear.”

 “Wait a minute. You’re going to make me wait in suspense until Brenda picks up?” replied Sarah, just as Brenda’s voice chimed in.

 “Hello there, girlfriends. It’s been a while since we had a three-way call. What’s going on?” asked Brenda in her usual cheerful voice.

 “Carol won’t say. We were waiting for you to pick up,” replied Sarah in a huffy voice. There was silence on the line.

 “Carol. Are you there?” asked Brenda.

 “Yeah, I’m here. I need to run a few things by you, so don’t start asking me questions until I finish, OK?”

 “Well, you know we are now super curious. What’s going on?” asked Sarah.

 “On New Year’s Day while I was relaxing and brainstorming ideas together for our next big bash, I saw this reel on Instagram about a Blank Checks App. I got curious and submitted my name into the drawing.”

 “You did what?” cried out Brenda.

 “I submitted my name and phone number for the drawing.”

 “Yeah, yeah, I heard you. Are you crazy? Did you have too much to drink on New Year’s Eve?”

 “No, I was just curious.”

 “So why are you calling us now? That was a few weeks ago?”

“Well, I just got a text saying that I am the first person chosen to fill out the blank check. They want me to meet them at four this afternoon at The Richmond Restaurant. I can bring family and friends.”

“Tell me you are not thinking of going. This could be a scam, you know,” said Brenda.

“Well, I think she should go,” said Sarah. “I sent in my information a few weeks ago as well.”

“Have you both gone crazy? Am I the only one being reasonable here?” said a very frustrated Brenda. “What does Anthony have to say about all this? Oh wait, I bet you haven’t told him. Have you?”

“No, he doesn’t know,” sighed Carol as she started to question herself.

“I think we should all go together. I’ll call our friend Max, the owner, and see what he knows. I’ll get back to you in a minute,” chimed in Sarah, quickly hanging up.

Within minutes, Sarah was back on the call with her friends. “This is crazy. Max says that arrangements were just made to close the restaurant for an hour starting at four. He asked why, and they explained the whole Blank Checks App and even paid him twenty grand for the inconvenience. The money was in his bank account instantly. He wanted to know what I knew, so I gave him a quick overview of the events. He asked if we could get there a bit early. He’s going to call in one of his cop friends to see if he can be there as a waiter, just to make sure nothing goes sideways. He says we should be at the restaurant at 3:30. This is getting exciting. What do you think, Brenda?”

“I still think it is crazy. How real can this whole thing be? I guess I am not as worried since Max has been contacted. I’ll see you both there in a while. Gotta run and get some errands done before then. See you soon.” 

Carol’s heart was pounding with excitement. She could not remember when she last felt so intoxicated with joy. She was dying to call Anthony, but she knew his routine when he flew. He would be asleep and catching up on his rest. Plus, what if this was all a scam, as Brenda thought? 

Carol began talking out loud to herself. “Better wait to let him know what transpired. Heaven only knows what is about to happen.”

Copyright © 2025

Part 5 /14

Target publishing date mid August, 2025