The story so far:
"The Book Promo World Tour..." -> (2 skipped) -> "The Meeting" -> "A Real Life Escape?"
She wakes up at noon, still half asleep, wondering what had happened last night. But she can't recall anything. It is like she has amnesia, and something traumatic has been erased from her memory. But what, she can't figure out. She eventually shrugs it off and trudges downstairs to the kitchen, eager for her morning coffee.
With a coffee cup in one hand, she turns on her computer with the other hand and goes to check her email. She notices that she has 1000 emails, mostly comprised of fanmail. Most of her fans are under the impression that she is either obese, in rehab for drugs or alcoholic addiction, mentally ill, or just dead. As she checks each email, she returns their message with a friendly and welcoming response, thanking each fan for their concern and assuring them that she is OK.
She comes to an email from Hottilicious, her editor-in-chief, and she clicks on it. Hottilicious inquires about her whereabouts and her next article, telling her that she loved her Russian article. "It has been a month that you have returned from Russia. Where have you been? I have been searching for you," Hottilicious inquires. Fiona responds slowly, not knowing how to answer. "I have been here, swamped with email and fanmail, and they, too, are wondering about my whereabouts as well."
"Well, anyway, whatever. You need to add two features this month for the magazine, an exercise method as well as Tip of the Month for October issue."
"Ok. Sure. I got it. Anything else?"
"Yeah. We need to schedule another meeting. How about at your office? Or the local coffee shop?"
Fiona thinks for a minute to herself. My office? Which coffee shop? Then she remembers Leloubelle. "Oh, yeah. My office. It is doing great. The avatar coffee shop is OK as well, but I guess my office is more private for our discussions."
"OK, then. How about tomorrow at 8:00am?"
"That will be great. I will see you there."
As Fiona leaves the virtual reality world and deletes her message, she wonders what has been going on during the past month. She obviously returned from Russia, although she doesn't remember her trip, and something had happened that she is not remembering. What happened? Those two words just keeps coming up in her mind, over and over again, demanding an answer. But she can't recall anything during that period.
She decides to call family and friends to ask them. They have all been too busy with their own lives that they haven't really noticed much about her life. Nevertheless, she continues checking all her email and deletes the ones that she read. As she deletes the last one, she notices that it is now 10:00 pm, and changes into her gym clothes.
As she jogs on the treadmill and cycles on the stationary bike, she thinks about everything that happened this week. There seems to be a month missing from her life that no one knows about, not even her. Her emails have also doubled due to her excessive worldwide traveling for AvatarFashions. She has now acquired a large worldwide clientele, and Hottilicious has been paying her well, really well, well enough to afford a luxurious lifestyle. So, what seems to be the problem, she wonders. Why is there an empty gap in her life, every couple of months, like she had suffered a temporary amnesia, and then continues on with her life like nothing had happened.
She decides to seek help. But who? She internet surfs for a therapist or psychologist, hoping for answers.


'The Mysterious Blackout' statistics: (click to read)

