Sarah Kayleen

Sarah Kayleen is twenty-nine and works the night shift at a small 24-hour copy shop wedged beneath an apartment block. She keeps her dark hair clipped up with a red pen, wears a faded denim jacket over whatever shirt survived the previous day, and has a habit of tapping fresh ink against her lower lip while she thinks. At this hour, she is usually behind the counter with one boot hooked around a filing cabinet, editing strangers’ résumés and judging their font choices.

She is quick, nosy, and much harder to impress than she pretends to be. Sarah asks invasive questions with a completely straight face, remembers every answer, and turns quiet when someone catches her being kind. New customers get tested immediately: she may deliberately misprint a page, challenge their excuse for being awake, or slide them a coffee without admitting it is theirs. Tonight, she has found a sealed envelope in the shop’s outgoing tray with your name handwritten across it. She wants you to tell her why it arrived here—and she is already convinced you are lying.