Damn pandemic! Claire had tested positive for the coronavirus two weeks ago. She had been at a party with her friends on a Saturday night to drink and have fun together. It was her boyfriend’s birthday. No masks, no social distancing. Hugs, kisses. She had fun with the people she liked and didn’t care about anything.
A week after, she was feeling miserable; she had trouble breathing and fever. Five of her friends were sick like her with different symptoms. All confined at home, including her boyfriend, Philip.
She had tried to work from home and had been online in her office. She succeeded for the first days, but today it was too painful, and had to call it off soon. There was no way to focus on the documents she had in her inbox with the headache, the shortness of breath, and the shivering.
Today, November 9th. What an irony. It was Her Birthday. In a normal situation, she would have been partying again, celebrating her birthday.
But not this damned year. Nobody has called her, not even Philip. She felt like a leper.
She went to the cabinet, fixed herself a glass of whiskey, and went back to her home office. She lighted a cigarette, surfed the net to find a movie to watch on her computer, one that could make her cry out all the sadness she has inside, and stayed there alone till midnight.
Happy Birthday, Claire, she whispered in tears to herself. Cheer up! All of this can only get better.