Chapter 1
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“These advertisements are literally everywhere”, I’m currently searching for online hotels, considering my next travel destination is Stockholm, I plan on staying there for three days. All my tour searches have resulted in pop-ups by travel agencies. I cannot believe how fast our data is being circulated for these targeted advertisements.
Honestly, I need a scenic change. Being cooped up in the house is doing me no good. I’m an economic researcher, my job has me staying at home and predicting global financial developments. Sounds cool right? Only it isn’t. It is extremely boring and exhausts me to no end.
“Lila, get down here! They delivered your work package.”
“God, not again. I told them I’m going on a trip,” I mumbled while sitting up from my bed.
I called out my mom asking her to keep the package downstairs. I certainly don’t plan on opening it anytime soon. But on the bright side, I feel like my mom hates receiving my packages more than I do. She thinks they make my room messier than it already is.
“Your flight 6F - 116 from Bremen (BRE) to Sweden (ARN) that includes a round trip is scheduled for tomorrow Fri, 9th Feb at 10:00 hrs. Please click here for flight status,” my phone buzzed with a message from my airline.
The date mentioned in this text caught my attention. It’s soon going to be Valentine’s Day! This just brought my mood down, I’m a single woman and I don’t need my airline to remind me of that. My introverted personality and some serious trust issues got me nowhere with my love life. I have been single forever, it sucks. Don’t get me wrong I love my independent, workaholic life but I want someone who cares for me, cuddles with me while whispering sweet nothings into my ear.
“Is that too much to ask?” I question while looking at the sky from my window. Hoping someone would hear my plea and get me the perfect partner. How hard can it be to get a boyfriend? My friends make it look like it’s a piece of cake. But I know it’s not, especially when it comes to finding the right guy.
-----Next Day-----
“Have you packed everything darling?”
“Yes maa! I got everything, don’t worry I’m going for just 4 days. I’ll be back before you know it.”
“We will worry about you even if you go out for one day. You are our only child after all. Don’t forget to call your dad before you board.”
“I’ll call him after I reach, bye.”
I know, I should not be that dismissive, but they just hover over me as if I’m a kid. I’m 23 years old for pete’s sake. They should just stop worrying and let me live my life in peace. I wanted to live by myself, but they didn’t let me. They believe that staying together is a better option considering I will leave them once I get married. They want to spend as much time with their beloved daughter as possible. Someone needs to tell them, that their single daughter is going to be forever home, alone.
While sitting on my aisle seat, I started going through some Stockholm City sightseeing options. It looks beautiful, I’m looking forward to seeing all this by today evening! Sweden is a country with major historical importance, even the Norse mythology is known to be based out of here. This probably was one of the reasons I wanted to visit this place.
As I was going through all my saved web pages, I stumbled upon some images of intricate art portraits that were known to be a part of the Swedish royalty. This got me reading more about their dynasty and the kingdoms that ruled Sweden. How nice would it be if I was born into a royal family?
“We have landed ahead of time at 15:45 hrs, we would like to thank you for choosing our airline. Your luggage will arrive on belt number 4.”
This announcement woke me up from my deep slumber.
After collecting my bags, I decided to check in at my hotel. The hotel was nice, I quickly took a bath and realised that I was starving. After contemplating and searching for food places, I choose a cafe with a classy ambience.
Sometimes it feels really good, to have some coffee and food all by yourself in a quiet cafe. The smell of fried food caught my attention, I planned on eating healthy but a few fries are allowed.
I got up from my seat to order some fries, just as I was about to return I felt cold. It was as if the temperature in the cafe decreased, I had goosebumps on my hand. I looked around to see if everyone felt the same, but it seemed as if they were not.
“Miss, are you okay? Do you need anything else?” The boy who took my order asked.
“Yes, everything is alright. I’m good.”
It felt strange, is something wrong with me? How can I be the only one feeling cold? I dismissed the feeling thinking it must have been because of the flight journey.
I started sipping my coffee while looking out the window, the view was gorgeous, the orange light from the setting sun and the sparkly lamps across the street were adding a nice touch to the view.
Somehow, the air around me started becoming colder. I was legit shivering now, all of a sudden a bunch of people came inside the cafe. Maybe it was getting colder outside, but it didn’t seem like they were bothered by the cold.
A few moments passed and my eyes zeroed in on a figure that was standing outside the cafe window. The figure started moving, by now it was a bit dark outside. The lights inside the cafe were reflective and prohibited my eyesight to view anything with detail. But I could see the silhouette moving in the direction of the cafe’s door. As soon as the door opened, a chilling sensation ran through my body. I was literally gaping at the man who looked like an Adonis.
It took me a while to realise, that the man was staring at me with furrowed eyebrows. I felt like cowering under the table, I was caught staring. I have never been so embarrassed in my life before. But, to my surprise, nobody was looking at him. I mean maybe they were used to seeing such men all the time, the ol’ me never goes out to socialise with hot men.
I felt the need to apologise, but before I could say anything the man walked straight up to me and sat in front of me. Being stunned by his actions, I kept gawking at him. Quickly gaining my thoughts together, I straightened up and said, “I’m sorry for staring, I did not mean to, it’s just that you walked in all of a sudden and I was not able to look anywhere else.”
He just kept staring at me, that’s when I noticed his eyes were amber, it was as if whiskey was swirling in his eyes. They were stunning, I was not able to look away. I was hooked, but he just kept staring back. This brought me back to reality, I apologised again just in case he didn’t hear it the first time.
He did not reply, instead just kept staring. He was not even blinking, this gave me an uncomfortable feeling. Realisation dawned upon me, I was in a new country with no one to save me in case I got in some trouble. Maybe this man was a creep, I mean serial killers look really good, don’t they. I guess I’m overthinking but I needed to act fast. Should I politely excuse myself and walk out?
Just as I was about to excuse myself he spoke, “You can see me?”
What does he mean by ‘you can see me?’ Of course, I can see him, maybe he asked something else. I must have heard wrong, “sorry I didn’t get you, can you please repeat?”
“How can you see me? That’s impossible.” He spoke more to himself.
I take that as my cue to leave, I certainly don’t want to get involved with some stranger who thinks he is invisible. I guess all these sci-fi movies are messing with everyone’s head. But in case he was someone who needed help, I felt obligated to inform the cafe staff. I went back to the counter and decided on telling the boy who took my order.
“Hey, the man over there seems like he could use some help, if possible just talk to him once.”
“Alright, Ma’am can you tell me which man?”
“The one I was sitting with.” I turned back to point towards him, but he was gone.
“Ma’am you were sitting all alone, I thought you were talking to yourself back there.” My skin paled after listening to this, what just happened?
“Ma’am, are you okay?”
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