Friendly Strangers
(Elena P. O. V)
Generally, I am not a morning person, but this time I wake up early in the morning since I fall asleep early due to tiredness. My job does not start until Monday, so I have three days to settle down and enjoy my weekend. I decided to first unpack my things and get ready for the day. After taking a long hot shower I decided to have some breakfast since I was starving and then explore the apartment. I walk into the kitchen, which was attached to the living room with a small wall separating them. It was a small modern kitchen with light blue walls, and all the appliances a person would need, like a blender, food processor, Mixer, Refrigerator, Oven, Microwave, Stove, etc.
I checked the refrigerator and found it off and empty. Realizing I needed to go grocery shopping for all the essentials, I decided to eat out instead of cooking at home since grocery shopping and then cooking would take too long. First, I decided to visit the cafe just a few steps away from my house and order an English breakfast. After that, I planned to go to Dmart near the cafe to do some grocery shopping.
When I was done shopping and paying the bills, I noticed that I had so many bags to carry home. I asked the girl at the counter if they provided home delivery to their customers because no cab driver would agree to drop someone who lives nearby, and it would be hectic to carry so many bags home on foot.
“I am sorry, ma’am, but we currently do not provide home delivery,” the girl said with an apologetic smile on her face.
“It’s okay, I will manage somehow,” I replied with a smile and began dragging the bags out of the mall.
On the way home, one of the bags in my hand almost fell to the ground, but before it could, someone caught it.
“Looks like you need some help with those bags,” a beautiful woman with brown hair and blue eyes said with a smile as she caught the bag.
“Thank you for catching that, and yes, I would appreciate some help with these bags,” I said with a sigh of relief.
“Did you bring a car with you? Do you want me to help you bring these bags to your car?” a man with dark blonde hair and brown eyes asked.
“Actually, I don’t have a car. I wanted to catch a cab, but since I live nearby, no cab driver wanted to drop me off, even though I offered to pay them a good amount of money,” I replied with a sheepish smile.
“Yeah, they sometimes do that,” the woman said, nodding her head in understanding.
“If you’re okay with it, you can hitch a ride with us,” she said, smiling at me.
“Would it be okay, honey?” she asked, looking at the man, and he nodded with a smile.
“Really, I would really appreciate it,” I said with a huge grin. “Of course, if it wouldn’t bother you,” I added, not wanting to impose.Content © NôvelDrama.Org.
“It’s not a bother at all,” she replied with a smile, taking half of the bags from my hands. “I’m Reena, and this is my boyfriend, Govind.”
“My name is Elena,” I introduced myself as Govind led us to his car. We loaded our bags into the car, and I sat in the back seat. The journey was short, and we had a small conversation with each other.
When we arrived, the security guard came to help me with the bags as he saw us unload the car. I invited them for coffee, but they declined, saying they had urgent work to attend to and would not be able to stay. “Maybe next time,” they said with a smile.
I thanked them again and went to my apartment with the security guard. After he placed the bags inside, I thanked him and gave him a tip for his help. Then, I started arranging my groceries.
(Oliver’s P. O. V)
That morning, I felt Elena’s presence in New York. I tried to call her, but her phone was always unreachable.
“The number you have dialed is currently unavailable. Please try again later,” a robotic voice said each time I tried.
Frustrated, I threw my phone against the wall. “Were you able to reach her, Stella?” I asked Stella, who was also trying to call her. She sighed and shook her head, indicating no.
“It has been like this for more than a month. Do you think she blocked all of us?” Stella asked, looking at Milley.
“I don’t think so. I know Elena very well. She’s not like that. I think she might have broken her phone or lost it,” Milley said absentmindedly.
“Yeah, that makes sense,” Reece said, nodding her head.
“Let’s assume she broke her phone and lost our contact. But why didn’t she reply to us on Facebook and Instagram? She can contact us through social media, right? Then why didn’t she do that?” Cassie, the fiercest in the group, asked.
“Maybe something happened that we don’t know about. We can ask her when we see her,” Milley said, trying to calm her down.
“But the thing is, how do we get in contact with her?” Stella asked them.
“Oliver, last time she visited us, she mentioned that she found a job in NY. Did she mention the name of the company she’s working for? Maybe we can find her contact through them,” Nick suggested, looking at me.
“No,” I whispered, pinching the bridge of my nose between my eyes in frustration. “She didn’t mention the name of the company.”
“Then what do we do now?” Cassie asked, clearly agitated.
“Stella, do you by chance have Elena’s family’s phone number? Maybe we can contact her through them,” Mansion asked, the brightest of the group.
“I used to have it, but it got deleted by mistake,” Stella said with a pout.
“Maybe we can contact them through social media and ask them for her phone number, right?” Milley suggested, and the room lit up with hope.
“I tried to contact them through social media, but they seem to be busy because they haven’t checked their messages for a long time. But I’ll try to message them again. Maybe they’ll reply this time,” Stella said, reigniting hope in the room once again.
“Great! Let’s give it another shot,” I said, feeling a bit more optimistic. “In the meantime, let’s continue with our other efforts. The more channels we explore, the better our chances of finding Elena.”
Everyone nodded in agreement, and we each went back to our tasks, determined to find a way to reach Elena