Sea of Strangers

Chapter 3

    I was walking on my way to my apartment not minding how many hours have passed since I lost track of the time. The sky was getting darker as soon as I have arrived at my apartment's front door. I was fumbling at my keys when I heard a sound of a car honking from my behind.

    "Seems like fate has this way of bringing us closer, don't you agree?" He rolled down his car's left window giving me a clearer view of his grinning face.

    "Are you stalking me?" I turned to face him but he just shrugged his shoulders, hopped out of his car carrying a suitcase as he walked onto the pavement towards my neighbor's front door.

    "You see these keys?" We were now facing each other as he flipped his keys in his right hand. He continued, "Have a good night, my new neighbor, " he said before turning the doorknob open and slammed the door shut, leaving my mouth ajar. It seemed like my peaceful days have come to an end.

______

    There's this boy, there's always this one boy in every story who would come to either rescue us when we're in damsel in distress or take away our sanity. In my case, the boy next door seemed to be the latter.

    I was reading a book when I heard a knock on my door.

    "Hi, Miss Audrey-" I cut him off and shut the door. Shortly after, there was a knock on the door again. I'd surely going to kill a boy one of these days.

    "What are you doing here at this ungodly hour?" It was past 10 in the evening and I didn't want to be disturbed particularly when I was in a reading mode.

    "Please, hear me out first, okay? I overheard some tourists and they were talking about the festival on the day after tomorrow and there's this photoshoot contest I'll be joining and I want you to be my model." He took a flyer out of his bag and handed it to me.

    "What makes you think I'm going to accept your offer?" I scanned the flyer and found out that he was not kidding when he said there would be a festival here.

    "I saw you looking at the flyer that was posted on the lamp post on my way here and I thought you're looking for a job?" I was indeed looking for a job since my savings weren't enough to sustain my daily needs.

    "Are you my stalker? You're creeping me out, "

    "No miss, this is purely coincidence. And besides, you'll be surprised if I tell you how much the reward would be if we'll win, "

    "How much then? "

    "Ten thousand dollars, " Woah, that's quite a lot of money. He continued, "Plus, they'll be featuring the pictures on the tourist journal and advertise it on TV, " I have to admit that this beach was pretty famous for its fascinating scenery, let alone the sea itself.

    "Deal, " I extended my right arm for a handshake as he reached for my hand.

    "I'm looking forward to working with you, Miss Audrey, see you tomorrow. "

To be continued.