Coincidentally But Eternally Connected

Bring Me To Life

I watched in fascination as Hope communicated effortlessly with the group. She explained that she knew Hannah from the local animal shelter. When Lilly demanded to know why she wasn't aware of her, Hope answered simply. 

Hope: We mostly see each other only at work. I'm sure that I wasn't important enough to mention.

She invited Lilly to check the shelter website and look for her name.

Thomas came back with a link. There was Hope's name and picture. She was listed as the animal shelter's director. 

Thomas: You didn't mention that you ran the whole shelter!

Cleo: Oh, wait. I remember you! You were there when picked up our puppy!

Hope: Yes. 🙂 Our adoption specialist was at lunch, so I helped your mother sign the papers.

Cleo: Right. 🙂

Thomas: That still doesn't tell us why your number was sent to me.

Hope: Probably because she wanted me to help. She called me four days ago and said there was something important she wanted to speak to me about, but then I never heard from her again.

Richy: Do you know what she wanted to talk to you about?

Hope: No. She said she couldn't discuss it over the phone.

The group each spoke to her briefly. They were at least communicating with her, which was more than I could say for their treatment of me. As soon as the group chat ended, I gave her access to my chat monitoring software and waited while she reviewed a chat between two group members. Then I messaged her.

???: Did you like it?

Hope: Oh, hello. 👋 You weren't in the group chat, were you? Are you Hannah's friend?

I frowned at her oblique responses. She was asking too many questions. So I called her, placing a filter over my video chat to hide my face and also masked my voice. I watched her look back at me calmly, her eyes roaming the screen. She had a slight, enigmatic smile on her face as I rattled off orders to her.

I immediately hung up after I finished speaking. She unnerved me, but I was not certain why.

Hope: I am here to help. I will gladly work on decrypting the files on Hannah's cloud. I take it her phone is shut off again, and that is why you don't try to access it remotely instead.

I paused in my typing as I read her message.

???: You seem to know something about programming.

Hope: Well, that's just common sense, isn't it? If her phone is off, then you can't create a connection to it. Besides, I tried calling her the day after she went missing when I found out she was gone. It went straight to voicemail, of course.

Hope: Anyway, I'm glad to be here to help. I will send you files as they become available. I hope you're having a nice day. 🙂

I was so stunned by her amicable behavior that I logged off without another word. I would have to be cautious around her. Distrust, indifference, and even hostility were things I could and did handle with ease. But she was being...nice, to me. I could not remember the last time that happened. 

I found myself eager to chat with her each time she sent me files. She was open, friendly, and treated me like a human being. This was something I had almost started to forget. She offered charming banter without being pushy. She seemed to sense that I needed to maintain boundaries and did not attempt to cross them. Yet, little by little, my resolve softened. Until one day, I found myself admitting my name to her.