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Susie liked Justin bieber. Some people said she liked him to much. Susie didn't agree. she had many posters on her wall and even a Justin Bieber calendar. She had seen him in concert multiple times and watched every piece of video she could get her hands on. She had even bought some scraps of his hair off EBay. When people called her obsession sick and pointed out that she was an adult much older than Justin and therefore her obsession with a boy younger than eighteen was bizarre and in all likelihood quite unhealthy she just ignored them. Men had been obsessed with the Olsen twins before they turned eighteen and there wasn't anything wrong with that, was there?
Anyway Susie found that her life was largely meaningless without Justin. She privately called him Justin as though he was her friend. Once she had touched his hand after a concert where she got a chance to have her picture taken with him. She told her friends she wouldn't wash her hand ever again. Her secret was that she was telling the truth, though try as she might she eventually did need to wash her hand. After this she purchased the hair from an online auction and then felt that by touching the hair every day it was almost the same thing.
Today she was looking at an auction for shoes. These shoes were custom Justin Bieber branded shoes that were allegedly worn by Justin. The picture showing Justin wearing the shoes looked authentic. the price was high, but any chance was worth it and she already had a place on her wall chosen to display the shoes.
She maintained that she and Justin had made a special connection that day when she had gotten the chance to take a picture with him. Perhaps he was waiting til the day when he turned eighteen and they could be together without the world thinking ill of her. Yes, that was what Justin was thinking, he was noble and honorable. he wouldn't want people saying nasty things about the woman he loved. There was no way in which this could be wrong.
She stayed up late into the night watching the auction. It would end the next day when she was supposed to be at work. The next day was supposed to be important, someone from the corporate office was coming down to evaluate their performance. It was a hard decision but she had finally chosen to call in sick. Perhaps after the auction was over she would roll into work. She was already looking bad at 4am. If she kept this up everyone would believe that she had been sick.
Time counted down, as the seconds ticked by the price rose. People were bidding at a frantic pace, but she knew that it was hers to win. It was her destiny to be Mrs. Bieber and the shoes were a sign of her devotion. The shoes were now breath-takingly expensive, she was going to cut out her daily coffee if she was to afford them, but how could you consider the price on something this important. With seconds left she submitted her bid. she was so sure of winning she didn't even bother watching the last few seconds count down. Soon enough the future Mrs. Bieber would have her very own pair of real Justin Bieber shoes. There was no doubt in her mind that this was a great moment, a formative moment in her life. She knew everything would be different from now on.
Oddly enough for the purposes of this story she did actually win the auction. You would think with the way I was building it up that she would lose, but she didn't. We should remember though that there were others just like Susie who didn't win, obsessed super-fans who wanted, really wanted autographed shoes worn by Justin. One such person sat in a darkened room with their head in their hands. "No, damn! How could I have lost? what is wrong with you EBay? My bid wasn't good enough for you?". This person would not have been any trouble but for the fact that she too had a shrine to Justin, with a special place set aside just for those shoes. "I take it back, give me just one more chance! I'll bid twice as much! Come on EBay." It was fortunate there was no one else in the room, it made the pain and humiliation easier to bear. "Take it easy, it's OK. There will be other shoes. Yeah, I can just go to a concert and ask him to give me some shoes and sign them. He won't mind, he knows we belong together."
Susie was unaware of the acute suffering going on mere miles from where she lived. The coincidence of their closeness was just that. Though they were both Bieber super-fans and avid collectors of his memorabilia they had never met. Susie was basking in the glow of her win, and didn't even think about the price she would have to pay.
The girl sitting alone in the dark had had time to contemplate and something was becoming clear to her, nothing would stop her. The shrine had grown from a simple picture of Justin from back when he was just a kid on YouTube. It had been four years now, and the shrine had grown an so had Martha's obsession. She didn't really know how she did it or what drove her to do it but before she knew it she was calling the seller of the shoes.
"Hello this is Martha Brown from the Star-ledger. I just wanted to talk to you about the Justin bieber shoes you just sold on EBay. I think this will be a big news story."
"Oh why certainly" the man from the other end of the phone said. "What can I tell you?"
"I understand that the shoes were being sold on EBay and the proceeds from the sale would be going to charity."
"That's right, at least fifty percent goes to charity. I've got to make a living too you know."
"So what can you tell me about how you acquired the shoes?"
"Well I've been in the autographing business for quite some time and I know Justin's manager. So it was fairly simple to get in touch with him and set up a quick signing session. As you may know Justin is very charitable and so we will be donating the proceeds to his favorite Christian charity."
"Yes I see. Do you think that you could put me in touch with his manager? I would love to get a quote from Justin on this story."
"Certainly I think you'll find his manager is a really swell guy."
She suddenly had an inspiration, if she couldn't get shoes from Justin there might still be a way.
"Could you also get me in touch with the buyer? I'd love to cover this story from all angles."
"Well Mrs. Brown I am hesitant to give out such information as I'm sure you'll understand."
"I understand your apprehension, but you must realize if I don't get the story written today it will be old news. You don't want to miss your chance at a little fame do you?"
"no, no you're right. I'm just a little paranoid."
She got all the information she needed from the man, including a phone-number for the buyer.
"oh, by the way Mrs. Brown how did you get my phone number?"
*Click*
She didn't have time to keep making up excuses, it was now time for action.
Susie went in to work after calling and telling everyone that she was feeling better. Even after her boss dressed her down for missing the meeting with the man from corporate she was still elated. Nothing could touch her today, and she still looked sick enough that her boss later apologized for getting angry and thanked her for even coming in at all when she was feeling unwell. He even told her that she should go back home and get some rest, but Susie was feeling good and she refused.
She had arranged to have the shoes delivered to the office the next day. She couldn't wait and even contemplated sleeping at work just to be ready for the next day. Why couldn't that UPS guy show up today? There really was nothing to live for between now and when he came with the shoes. Maybe Justin himself would come deliver the shoes. Wasn't the money going to his favorite charity or something? Maybe Justin would be there in all his glory to hand deliver the shoes. That was probably the sleep deprivation talking. Why would Justin want to come to her work and deliver a pair of his old shoes to someone? She had a Bieber shirt underneath her work shirt just in case, and a few more fresh t-shirts out in her car. Perhaps she would sleep the whole night here, it couldn't hurt anything could it?
The woman had contacted Justin's manager and things hadn't gone well. First she had requested a photo shoot where he could pose with some shoes. The manager said he was to busy and anyway the shoes were already sold. Then she asked if she could get a quote from Justin but Justin, he said, was very busy today. She was also rebuffed when asking about where Justin was and if there was any possibility of getting a quick couple words. The manager didn't give her any information. The woman wondered why her luck was so bad. Couldn't Justin feel the cosmic waves from the woman he loved trying to get in touch with him? Perhaps it was destiny then that she lived only miles from the person who had "won" the auction. She didn't know when the idea came into her head, she just knew that when she arrived at the address given to her by the man on the phone there was just one thing to do.
Susie slept at work that night. It was easy since she had the keys and was in charge of locking up at the end of the day. As she lay down to sleep she spoke gently to a picture of Justin. "Justin my love, they can't keep us apart forever." She was soon sleeping soundly to dreams of Justin singing lullabies for only her.
At Susie's house the woman seeing no signs of occupation felt free to snoop around. one of the first things she found was the shrine to Justin. She was appalled to realize that it too had a place reserved for the shoes. She looked at the computer and saw the winning auction information. So the shoes won't arrive here tomorrow. She had hoped that maybe she would be able to snatch the shoes while Susie was at work, or merely pose as Susie and take delivery from the UPS guy. Now her plans had to change, what would she do? Would she confront the woman at work? No that was much to dangerous. She wondered if the woman would be home tonight, and thought about what she might do if it were her. "no she'll be sleeping at work, that's what I would do." Maybe she could kill the woman while she slept at work, but no that wouldn't work the shoes would give her away. What to do then? what to do?
Susie awoke to the sound of Justin gently cooing from her cell phone. She went to the restroom to fix herself up. She seriously hadn't thought this thing through, Justin would certainly be here and there would be cameramen and she looked like this? Why hadn't she thought about that last night? She furiously worked a comb through her matted hair. Was it worth it to try and shampoo her hair with hand soap from the restroom? No that would be worse than not washing at all. She washed her face and continued combing her hair. The overnight delivery is supposed to arrive by 10:30am, but what if they come at 8:00am? That means I need to be ready. What time is it now? 6:30, OK I have some time. When her boss arrived at 7:30 she was ready and looked as fresh as a spring daisy.
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