Avoiding the Clichés – Sandra 18

[For back story go here: Story so far at 27 July 2020 and more recent Sandra episodes.]

Sandra thought she always thrived in adversity. Put a problem on her plate and she’d eat it up for breakfast and come back for more. If that were the case the the current times should be ideal for her. A worldwide pandemic which seemed to be ebbing and flowing, threatening and receding, promising and taking away in equal measure; a fabulous trendy new app that had garnered praise and users from around the world and was now frankly a liability and the possible cause of legal action against her; and finally an admirer who she just didn’t want and who had already set about wrecking the close relationship she had with her sister. 

Xanadu was her middle name, but maybe it should have been Adversity. It wouldn't have been any less weird and fewer kids at school would have got at her for it.

On the purely positive side – rather than the, I’m sure if you try hard you’ll find the positive side to all this – she’d received another package of pods for her coffee machine and there seemed to be no reason to ration these any more, so whenever she wanted a particular drink, whatever it was, she took it.

Tanked up, she took action. She and Trinny temporarily closed down the sharing functions of the app leaving it as a piece of good old fashioned information-giving only tech. So now it was a dating app that no longer dated anyone, but it was still good for all that – there was still a good level of engagement since the changes and shifts in coronavirus management around the world were proving tricky for everyone to keep up with. Sandra had lined up some dedicated specialists to ensure all geographies with users were covered and she watched the daily reports from the app and from her various newsfeeds to make sure everything matched up.

After her second Eggnog Latte she heard back from Trinny.

“It’s actually looking pretty good from here,” said Trinny, upbeat as ever. “Adrian reckons he’ll have got round the ransomware by lunchtime today and if we run tests over the weekend we’ll be back to full power by Monday.”

“Is he sure it’ll work?” asked Sandra. “I mean ransomware isn’t usually get-roundable.”

“He said it was done by amateurs. He can see the gaps. Believe me it’ll be fine by Monday. I believe him.”

Sandra hung up, still not believing either on them but it sounded like progress.

After the third caffeine free Toffee Machiattio she phoned Daniel.

“Are you ready?” she asked.

“As I’ll ever be,” said Daniel. “Although I should warn you I don’t think I’ve ever played the part of jealous lover before.”

“Just go with it,” said Sandra. “I’ll phone you when I need you. I think he’ll go as soon as you tell him you’re coming over. He’s weird but he’s not stupid.”

“That’s…. sort of reassuring,” said Daniel before he rang off.

Sandra walked over to the camper van and purposefully knocked on the door. There was no answer, and a little disconcertingly the door to the accommodation part of the van swung inwards slowly. 

“Rob?” she threw in ahead of her, “Are you there?”

There was no answer and she realised she was now facing the classic dilemma of any leading character in every low budget horror film she’d seen where the question is whether to simply walk away or go in further, just in case. Just in case there’s something or someone in there she can help, and of course, just in case there’s something sudden and scary which will jump her and send the audience through the roof. She swallowed her premonitions and went further in.

“Rob?”

The van was clean and lived in. There were used coffee cups and take away packaging left on the few surfaces. For a second Sandra felt concerned he hadn’t been taking the necessary precautions to ensure the packing was thrown away before spreading any malingering germs. Then she remembered he’d already had the virus so maybe he didn’t need to worry. But she should really be careful – and in any case having had it once didn’t necessarily mean anything from what she could gather.

She half expected to find something sinister, a shrine to her, perhaps, or at least a stash of photos of her taken when she didn’t realise. Perhaps a collection of sweet soft toys ready to be sent to her – something, anything like that. But there was nothing. She had to face reality, Rob was just a usual guy who had fallen in love with her and she didn’t want him to be in love with her, or indeed anywhere near her, because he was her sister's husband, and even if he hadn't been she doubted they’d be together.

She left the van as it was and closed the door on it. She walked carefully back to her house leaving the scene as it was and still unsure what she should do next.

“Why don’t you phone the police and get it towed?” asked Daniel when she called him to stand him down.

“He’s not actually contacted me,” she said. “And the vehicle is fully taxed and not doing anything wrong. Don’t think the police would tow it.”

“Leave it with me,” said Daniel, and Sandra could hear his smile. “I know a man who will.”