***
Walking down the street, I pass a couple meeting for the first time. It doesn't matter who you are; seeing a couple meet is always an exciting experience. Sure, you might get jealous at first, but thanks to our Counters and the legends passed down, we all know we have a soulmate. The said couple finding each other acts as more evidence to prove that. In its own way, it gives us hope. For example, the Counter on my wrist says I still have another 459 days, 23 hours, and 17 minutes left before I meet my soulmate. Sure, it sucks that it is still so far away, but watching Mia and Skylar meet, I am more excited than ever. Mia has always been one who watched her Counter like a hawk. She would sit and stare at it for hours. Sometimes when I would stay the night before, she would fall asleep while watching it. I'm really happy she met Skylar when she did. If it were any later, I fear she would try anything to shorten the countdown, even if it's impossible to do.
There was one case of someone trying to shorten the time on their Counter, and for a while, it worked. The guy would update some blog and his social media about how he shortened it and the side effects. Once he figured out how to force the time to shorten, he traveled the world, trying to find his soulmate, and forced the Counter to shorten again. At the same time, his partner, who was studying abroad, didn't notice that her Counter was glitching out. When she noticed, she believed that it was just stress and didn't think anything of it.
Eventually, the two met while they were in Ireland where the girl was studying, and the normal things happened; the Counters still hit zero, the chime, the Spark, and the disappearing of the Counters. He still updated his blog and social media about their progress, and everything was going well. About a month after they had met, however, they both got very sick, and they came back to Valmont to get medical attention; however, not even the best doctor could find the issue, and unfortunately, they both passed away at the same time about a week after coming back. Because everyone had been following their story, we all assumed the issue was because he messed with the Counter; some people, mainly the ancestors of the Thread families and some of the earliest couples with Counters believe that it was a punishment for trying to mess with the Threads gift and trying to change fate. Whether this is true or not, no one has tried to do something like it since.
Walking past the couple, I round the corner making my way to the cafe. As I get closer, I see Mia's auburn hair piled in a messy bun on top of her head. They had their backs to me, but her head was rested on Skylar's shoulder, and his head was on top of hers, and I could just tell they were smiling at each other, no sixth sense needed. I couldn't help but smile as their loving whispers and giggling came into earshot.
"Hey guys, sorry I'm late," I say, sitting down across from them, both lifting their heads as a waiter comes out to grab my order.
"No prob babe, I'm just glad we could go to lunch for once. Though, that place will be a total disaster when you go back because you weren't there, so, sorry about that," Mia says, her smile turning into a pout and back in a matter of seconds.
I order a sandwich, and after the waiter leaves, I laugh and bat my eyes at her playfully.
"Probably, but it's worth it for you."
"Wait, why would it be a disaster? The zoo's always been nice when I have visited," Skylar says, looking between the two of us confused.
"Well, when was the last time you were there?" Mia asks, laying her head back on Sky's shoulder.
"Well, there were always those trips in elementary school, but our family goes now and then on the weekends," he says.
"Bingo," Mia nods in my direction, "Lily works with a bunch of idiots, besides the triplets in maintenance, the wellness crew, and some admin staff. She basically keeps that place running smoothly on the weekends when it's the busiest."
"How do you know all this?" Sky asks, looking down at her.
"She worked there for like two days then quit after she got chased by a giraffe," I stifle a giggle.
He looks at her with a look that says, "seriously?" and I can't help but let a laugh escape.
"Ok but he just started running toward me, out of the blue, at full speed from the opposite side of the enclosure," she argues, crossing her arms.
"Mia, he was a baby, and you had just given him his lunch," I say.
"So, it was still scary."
Skylar and I are close to falling out of our chairs from laughing so hard. Mia tries to act mad, but it doesn't quite work, and soon all three of us are doubled over laughing, only straightening out when our food arrives.
"Anyway, how did the morning go?" Skylar asks, digging into his burger.
"Busy, I got stopped so many times for questions in the first like 30 minutes. But I did get to hold Lenny while-" I stop mid-sentence, my body going stiff.
'Here they come' the invisible voice whispers in my ear. My eyes dart around until I see them over Mia's shoulder, and a smile spreads across my face. Skylar looks at my weird expression then turns around to see what stopped me. Once he sees them, his head whips around, and he stares at me, mouth agape. The two guys from the park walk past our table, stopping only briefly so one of the guys could compliment Skylar's shirt of some random band.
"T-thanks," he stutters as bewilderment and awe swirl into his eyes.
Waving goodbye, they leave hand-in-hand, both with a small bounce in their step. There. That's the image I saw in the dream, the happiness is engulfing them as they look at one another.
"They...you...how...when?" Skylar sputters out, pointing at the guys and me back and forth.
Mia looks up from her nachos and looks between us, confused at first before realizing what happened.
"You told him, huh?" she asks as she stuffs another chip in her mouth.
"Yeah, he walked with me until the park and caught on quicker than I thought. Those guys were there when I was explaining it to him, and I heard that voice again."
Skylar pales a little and looks at us as if we had just told him we were ghosts, "YOU KNEW?" he yells at her.
"Of course, she's my BFF. Why do you think I had her with me when we met?" she shrugs.
"...and that's my cue to leave," I say, finishing my food.
I go in and pay my bill, but when I come back out, Skylar is still frozen in place, mouth hanging slightly open, and Mia still munches on her nachos without a care in the world.
"See you later," I say to Mia.
I give her a peck on the cheek and pat Skylar's shoulder as a goodbye, waving to them as I walk back to work. Mia was right, I got back, and the whole zoo was in shambles. Jake and Tyler were soaking wet, the animals were anxious and starting to get aggressive, and Amelia was nowhere to be seen. I caught Alec on his way to see Dave based on the pipes in his hands and asked what had happened. Apparently, Jake and Tyler tried to give the Sea Lions their lunch and somehow slipped, and both fell into the pool. Our Sea Lions are extremely friendly with the keepers and took the guys' dip in the pool as playtime, so Josh and Alec had to help fish them out.
After that, Krista and Mike tried to feed the animals; Krista tried to prepare everything while Mike fed them, but he got intimidated and chased away by some animals as Mia had been with the giraffe. Giving up on the day at that point, I was in charge of feeding every very hungry and very mad animal. Between when I got back from lunch and 5:00 when I got off, I had to fix 11 mistakes made by both the guys and the girls in the ticket booth.
Finally, 5 o'clock rolls around, and I'm out of there at the speed of light.
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