Flipping the Script

By Ada Stone

After Riley breaks their ankle in a hiking accident, they decide to take the advice of a friend and seek a temporary caregiver. Mika arrives the next day for an on-the-job interview. Though it’s Mika's ability to perfectly complete the shopping and make delicious meals that first convinces Riley to hire them, a sense of trust soon begins to more deeply connect the pair. Over the weeks it takes for Riley's ankle to heal, they bond over their shared struggles in finding companionship. But new tensions arise when Riley finds themself desiring a romantic relationship with their caregiver. In response, Mika challenges Riley to wait and reevaluate their feelings when the pair’s caregiving and -receiving dynamic is over. Once they’ve been freed from their cast, Riley strives to demonstrate the breadth and depth of their feelings, a quest that ultimately helps them and Mika find healing together.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bryant Street Shorts
• Release date: Jul 7, 2020
• ISBN: 9781094411910

Ada Stone

Ada Stone is a queer and trans book-obsessed human from the Pacific Northwest, where they live now. They love spending quiet time among trees and mountains, listening to their favorite albums on repeat, and receiving “your holds are ready for pickup” alerts from the library.

Book preview

Part One

Chapter One

You really think I should? Riley types, and presses send.

The reply from Sandra arrives quickly.

If you want your doubts to go away, just take a quick peek at your kitchen. How many plates are stacked in the sink? How well is the fridge stocked? Are the counters clean or dirty?

Riley can’t see the kitchen from where they are lying on the couch, and they don’t want to get up. But they can picture the scene from when they’d poured themself a bowl of Chex a few hours ago. They had to eat their cereal dry because the milk was expired. And there were no clean bowls in the cupboard, so they inspected one from the dirty pile on the counter, decided it had probably been last used for cereal, and poured away. Clearly, Sandra has a point.

All right, I’ll put up a post in a couple minutes, Riley answers.

That’s great! It’s going to be so helpful for you to have help for these next few weeks. My only regret from when my MS got bad the first time is not hiring someone sooner. The faster you swallow your pride, the better :)

Thanks for your advice, Riley types. Appreciated as always :)

Closing their messaging app, Riley opens one of their social media accounts and begins crafting a post to solicit a temporary caregiver. It takes a few minutes for them to think up the specifics, but eventually they land on the following: Hi all, I recently broke my ankle and am requesting help around the house for the next three weeks. Duties will include cooking, shopping for food, doing laundry, and general house tidying and cleaning. I am receiving PTO from work and am prepared to pay $20 per hour. Ideally, you could work about twenty hours per week, but your exact schedule would be flexible. They submit the post, then copy and paste to share on their other platforms.

Setting their phone aside, Riley picks up their copy of The Memory Police, a book in which they’ve made shockingly little progress despite having been sitting on the couch all morning. Where has the time gone? The main character is in the middle of recalling a childhood memory with her mother when Riley hears their phone ding. They instinctively set the book down and reach for the device. As they move, they bump their cast against the side of the coffee table. The shocks vibrate through to their broken bone, forcing their face into a tense grimace.

There’s a new message from someone named Mika: Hi Riley! I’ve been working as an in-home caregiver for the past decade and would love to help you out. I’ve attached my résumé below. Feel free to call any of my past or present clients for their testimonials. Riley scrolls down and opens the attachment, scanning through Mika’s work history, a list of jobs worked for periods of months and even years, all in the Ashland area. Only after moving back to the top of the document does the heading catch Riley’s eye: Mika Goncharov (they/them). It’s not every day that Riley comes upon someone else who uses the same pronouns as them, especially since they’ve moved to this smaller town. Instead of calling any of the strangers listed, Riley decides they’d like to take a more direct route. They begin their response.

Hello Mika, thanks for reaching out! I know it’s short notice, but if you’re able, I would like to have you come by tomorrow for a trial day. Look at it like an on-the-job interview. I will, of course, pay you whether or not we decide to make it an ongoing arrangement. Let me know! They press send.

A text bubble immediately appears, letting Riley know that Mika is typing. A couple of moments later, the reply comes through. That sounds great! Just let me know what time to arrive, as well as your address, and I will see you then and there!

Riley answers, Wonderful! I live at 850 W. Pine Street in Ashland. And if you can arrive between 9 and 10 that would be perfect. And then stay probably for about four hours, plus the time we can use to talk about how things went. All compensated!

Thanks Riley! Until tomorrow, Mika writes. The green dot next to their picture vanishes, indicating they’ve logged off. But Riley doesn’t leave so quickly. Instead, they click on Mika’s photo, which directs them to their profile. Because Mika has kept almost everything private, Riley can only discern their friend count (840) and their current photo (showing them riding a bike through a winding forest trail). Though the picture is too distant for Riley to make out the features of Mika’s face, they can tell that their skin is a medium shade of brown, maybe slightly darker than Riley’s own.

Riley contemplates searching for Mika on other platforms to try to find out more about their potential employee, but restrains themself. Instead, Riley opens the notes app on their phone and begins making a list of tasks for Mika to complete tomorrow: grocery shopping (need to write a list), making lunch, washing dishes, vacuuming, cleaning the bathroom…. The agenda continues far past what could be accomplished in four hours, which only affirms that Riley is making the right decision to ask for help.

Reviews for Flipping the Script

[Wendy · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

My favorite Ada Stone story yet! What a lovely modern take on the Florence Nightingale effect.