Under the Blue Moon

Chapter 27

Emma Taylor looks up at the clock on the wall, for the tenth time this morning. The clock now reads 10:35 AM. She checks her mobile phone one more time to see if you have sent her a text or called her to let her know when you will be arriving at work. She thinks, "She has been here for almost six months and has never been late coming to the office. Where could she be?"

Around 9:45, she took it upon herself to send you a text message, asking if you were okay and what time you'd be coming into work today. But she has not yet received a reply from you. So, as she sits at her desk and waits for your arrival, she decides to call your mobile phone. Unfortunately, after the fourth ring, the call is transferred to your voicemail box. When the customary beep is heard, indicating that a recording of message can commence, Emma leaves a message for you.

"Hi, This is Emma. It's 10:40 now and since coming into the office this late is really unusual for you, I thought I would call and see if you are okay and on your way. I also sent you a text earlier but haven't heard back from you. Can you either reply to my text messages or call the office as soon as possible? Hopefully, you are on your way, and are just stuck in traffic and I am overreacting. Okay then, I will see you when you get here. Bye."

While she is waiting for you to either return her call/text, or finally arrive for work, she decides to scroll through her social media. As she scrolls through her FYP, she double taps on videos that she likes. The next video she scrolls onto is a live feed of BBC news broadcast. The breaking news banner on the bottom of the screen says "Tube Explosions. 4 Blasts on London Underground." Emma taps on the screen to see the live news broadcast. The reporter on the scene shows absolute mayhem on the surface streets. The woman on the screen talks about how almost no information is available at this time other than that there were four total explosions occurred earlier this morning in four different Underground locations.

The first explosion took place around 8:30 AM and the subsequent three blasts were several minutes apart. She also reports that several trains are currently considered missing or are unaccounted for as of now. The reporter also notes that because the blasts occurred during peak commuting hours, thousands of people may be trapped, injured, or have perished in the explosions. Emma is appalled by the breaking news. She tries to remember if you drove into work every morning or used the Underground for commuting nowadays. Emma recalls that in the past two months or so, you have been talking about riding the tube and how comfortable you have been getting with it.

Emma thinks, "No, no. It can't be. It has to be something else. She can't possibly be in the tubes right now." When she returns her attention back to the news broadcast, the reporter identifies the locations of the explosions. When she hears one of the affected stations, she feels a huge boulder of dread drop down onto the pit of her stomach. Because she is unsure exactly which station you use to get on the tube to come to work every morning, Emma calls Oliver Burton to ask. Oliver picks up on the third ring, "Hello?"

She asks Oliver if he is with you now.

Oliver replies, "No, I'm not. I haven't driven her into work for weeks now. Why are you asking?"

Emma replies, "She hasn't shown up to the office yet. This is really unusual for her. Do you know which Underground station she uses to get here?"

When Oliver confirms Emma's suspicion, she thanks him before she disconnects the call and stares into the middle distance. She decides that she will try calling you one more time. Just as it did before, the call goes to your voicemail after the fourth ring. This time, Emma decides against leaving you a message. However, before she starts to sound all the alarms, she chooses to send you one more text message.

Emma:
Good morning,
If you are able, can you please reply to this message immediately?
Because if you don't, I am going to have to start calling people to help me find you.
I truly hope that you are safe and are simply stuck somewhere, but unable to come in because of all that is going on right now.
Please, call me.
I really hope you are okay.

When Emma does not get a text or a return call from you within a few minutes of sending that message, she starts to panic. The next time she checks her mobile phone, the clock on her lock screen reads 11:08 AM. She thinks,"Okay. I am going to have to make some difficult phone calls." She decides to call the police first but for obvious reasons, she is unable to get through to anyone, even on the emergency line. She realizes that you have no family, friends, or colleagues other than the people that are in the office with Emma currently. Emma thinks, "I'm going to have to make the call to the American Headquarters." She searches through her computer to find the contact information.

When she finds the State side office's main number, she dials the country code and the phone number, but she is met with an outgoing message. It tells her that she is calling outside the normal hours of operation and to either leave a message or to enter the extension of the party she is trying toreach. The final option that the voice on the phone gives is for her to hang upand call back during the regular hours of operation. Instead of leaving a message on some generic voicemail, she figures out the time difference between your part of America and London and decides to call back at the start of regular business hours. In the meantime, she continues to watch the live feed of the BBC breaking news broadcast on her social media and tries to keep abreast with what is going on.