September, 2017
Wednesday morning I went to the library again, secretly hoping again maybe he'd show up. Even if I had disappeared... maybe he'd walk by to check on me?
But he wasn't there when I arrived.
I sat in our usual seat, setting up my station again, and continued as normal. Because maybe the routine would see him magic his way back into my life.
While I filled in my research, I couldn't help but glance up every five to ten minutes, hoping I hadn't missed him.
But he never showed that morning.
And he didn't show Thursday either.
Or Friday.
· · ───── ∘☽༓☾∘ ───── · ·
As I stacked books onto the shelves and set up displays on Saturday, I began to brainstorm my options.
Maybe I can get a phone repair shop to restore my files...
Maybe I can use Google maps to find his place?
I don't remember exactly where he lives or what streets we had walked down. But I know it's in Hammersmith... and there was a park.
"Olivia!" my manager snapped as a book slipped from my hand onto the ground.
"Yes?" I asked, slightly frazzled myself.
"Focus. Where is your head at today?"
"Sorry," I mumbled, picking up the book and trying harder to concentrate on my task at hand.
But it was to no avail.
The moment my eyes caught the sight of a customer holding a copy of Bram Stoker's Dracular, my brain went straight back where it had left off.
· · ───── ∘☽༓☾∘ ───── · ·
On my break on Sunday, I opened Google maps to check the reality of the current plan I was concocting.
Because, before I went off on a wild goose chase to find his place through trial and error, I had to check the feasibility of my idea.
Yet as I stared at the various lines marking roads, the greyed out sections marking buildings, and the plethora of green patches between them all, I couldn't stop the frown from blemishing my face.
I knew Hammersmith was a large district... but I didn't think it was that big that there's be at least a dozen parks.
It would take me at least a whole day to find his house... and that's assuming I even recognised anywhere.
By the end of my shift on Sunday, I realised the first, most logical step here was to see if I could recover my phone data. Otherwise I'd be searching for a needle in a haystack.
· · ───── ∘☽༓☾∘ ───── · ·
On Monday morning, I headed straight over to a phone repair shop near my flat, deciding to skip the library altogether.
The lady at the desk gave me a warm smile as I entered the shop, quick to ask me if there's anything she could help me with.
Small and shabby, I was quick to glance this way and that as I took in the various phones on display. But despite how dingy it was, I couldn't help but ask myself, What other option is there?
Wander around aimlessly in Hammersmith?
Just ask!
Placing my mangled phone on the counter, I ever so hesitantly mumbled, "Is there a way to get phone numbers off here?"
YOU ARE READING
Vulnerable: Book 1 of the Magic Mutations Series | ✓
Paranormal|| WATTYS 2021 SHORTLIST || The day Olivia Byrne met Benjamin Cross, her day was going almost to plan... until he showed up. But it also could have gone so many different ways. In her summer holidays between university terms, Olivia finds herself l...
