Beyond our Earth

3: Unexpected

I got out of the cab in front of a tall apartment building. It was conveniently just across the street from my own apartment. I pushed open the heavy front doors and entered the lobby. There were two elevators side by side. I pushed the button and waited. I ran through everything I wanted to say to him.

The elevator doors opened and I stepped in. The walls were lined with mirrors. I couldn't wait to get to the top. I needed my answers and I was going to get them, no matter what. I felt a twinge of pain and grimaced as I checked the time on my phone. It was eight o'cklock. The exact time my date with Sara was supposed to be.

Then something dawned on me. I hadn't even tried calling her! I quickly went through my contacts and found her number. I clicked call and held the phone up to my ear, just as the elevator reached the top. It made a bing sound and the doors slid open. I stepped out as I listened to the phone ring in my ear. no answer yet. It rung a few more times and then an operator's voice came on.

"I'm sorry. We are experiencing difficulties reaching this number. Please hang up and try again."

I clicked the phone off. Oh well, it was worth a try.

I took out the sheet of paper and read the suite number, 3155. I turned down the corridor and looked for it.

"3149, 3151, 3153... ah, here we are." I said as I arrived in front of the white door.  

I took a deep breath and ran my fingers through my hair before knocking. I gave three sharp knocks and waited for the guy to come to the door. I felt awkward and out of place all of a sudden. He would probably be pissed that I was bothering him at this time of day. I shook my head. No. I had to. I had to find Sara.

The door opened suddenly and a bleach blond girl who looked to be in her twenties stood in the doorway. She wore sweat pants and a light pink tank top that rode up, showing her belly button. She had chunky head phones on and the subtle sound of rock music escaped into the silence.

She pulled the head phone off of one ear, "Can I help you?" she asked, staring up at me with a cute smile.

"ur-um, no. I think I must have the wrong suite. I'm looking for the chief of police..." I said, stepping back to walk away.

She smiled warmly and let out a soft giggle. "That's me" she said, "Sorry, I don't dress the part when I'm off work." 

That was certainly not the answer I was expecting. I thought I would be meeting with some gruff, old guy. She was... different.

"I... um," for a second I forgot why I was there. "Oh, yeah. Look, I need to talk to you. I don't know if you've heard yet but there was this thing that happened on Lexington-"

"Ya, the accident. Trust me, I've been hearing about it non stop. I'm going over evidence right now. Turns out this thing is geting pretty big in the media. They want me to come out with a statement and everything." she said.

"What was that thing anyway? I've been to three different officers and none of them have been able to give me a real answer" I said.

She shook her head in confusion, then looked me up and down, "You're not wearing a wire are you?" she asked.

I gave her a strange look.

"I know I'm supposed to be professional and everything but... honestly, we don't have a clue," she said. "There were dissapearances, injuries, damages...the pavement is warped, I mean what does that? And the cars! The melted cars? What am I supposed to call that, a freek accident? A freek absurdity?" she gawked.

"come on, you must have some idea" I prompted.

She  glared at me. "Who are you anyway?" she asked.

"My name is Braden Caverly. My girlfriend was the one who went missing today." I said.

Her face emediatly changed to a look of pain. "awe, I'm sorry. I wish I could tell you where she was. I really don't know" she slumped back against the wall and looked up at me with puppy eyes.

"I- I can't take that for an answer" I said.

I know what you're thinking. Me and Sara have only been on three dates. Get over it. It's not like we were married and had kids or anything.

But this was more than just some casual relationship, for me anyway. Sara had been the girl of my dreams since the first day of grade nine. We had math class together. I sat behind her and spent countless hours starring at the back of her head. What can I say, I was in high school and I didn't know how to deal with a crush. As the years went by, we shared a couple classes and I realized that, not only was she beautiful, she was really smart too. I wanted to go out with her. I just never had the courage ask her out. I guess I was just waiting for that perfect moment. The thing is, four years of high school went by and it never came. 

After we graduated, we went our sepret ways. And through the caos of university, I had learned to forget about her. I knew my chance with her was over. I would probably never see her again, or so I thought.

When I bumped into her in central park I knew it was fate. I did what I should have done a long time ago and asked her out.

She wasn't just some girlfriend to me. She was my fantasy. I wasn't going to let her slip away again. As long as she was alive, I would find her.

The girl bit her lip. "Why don't you come inside?" she said.