Piece of mind

02

I got woken up by a call at 1 a.m. I wondered who it could be. Normally I don't take calls, they make me feel anxious and awkward. I always feel the anxiety rise when I hear my phone ring, this time too. I always look at the display that shows me who the caller is but even without looking I already know I won't pick up. Even if it's my family, my parents, my sisters I can't get myself to pick up. It's just too difficult for me to pick up a phone call but the most difficult part is I don't understand why. Why am I so scared? Why can't I pick up a simple call? But this time I couldn't overlook my ringing phone. I got a call from my manager. I agreed to be a substitute manager under various conditions, one of them always being on standby. Why? I didn't know until now. Until I revived the call. As I picked up the phone the voice of the manager was very restless.

"Hello Mr. Shin, can I help you with something?" I asked.

Mr. Shin sounded troubled as he said "We might have a slight problem."

I was surprised what could be such a bad situation that Mr. Shin called me in the middle of the night.

He continued " When I went to Riki's apartment this evening to bring him his dried cleaned clothes but I couldn't find him anywhere. I called him multiple times but he wouldn't answer any of my calls. I searched the whole apartment, every room but I couldn't find him. After that I thought he might be with other members or other close friends or family so I called all of them to ask them where he might be but nobody knew. Nobody knows where he is!"

"How could I help Mr. Shin?"

"Could you be so kind and keep trying to call him? Maybe he will pick up the phone sometime soon. I can't continue calling him because I will go through the neighborhood and try to search for him there."

"Of course I could do that if that would help."

"That would be a dream Ms. Im. Please contact me as soon as he answers the phone so I can pick him up wherever he is right now." Luckily Mr. Shin sounded a little more relieved now.

After the call ended I was confused but I still tried countless times to try and reach Riki. Shortly before I wanted to give up he picked up the call. I ,who was already scared of calls, needed to have a conversation with someone where my relationship basically wasn't existing at the moment.

"What do you want?" he asked. In a somewhat angry and annoyed way.

"Where are you?" I asked. Kind of confused by his tone of speaking.

"I don't know. And what's that supposed to do with you?"

"Just tell me where you are and I'll pick you up." I hoped he would tell me where he was but at the same time I was pretty sure he wouldn't tell me.

"Why?"

I was confused "Why? You aren't home. You are nowhere to be found. Your manager is already anxiously looking for you everywhere but can't find you anywhere. And you ask why."

"Are you anxious?"

"Of course." Everyone could hear the sarcasm out of my voice.

"I'm at xyr bar. Will you really come pick me up?"

"Do you want me to?" I asked. But I already put on my clothes and was already out of my apartment. He stayed silent. So I just hung up the phone and went straight to my car.

While I was searching for the bar I called the manager and told him I found Riki and would pick him up and bring him home. He was so thankful but also sounded so tired. Relatable, he searched for Riki everywhere since 11 p.m.
After a while I found the bar. I mustered all my courage together and went inside. The bar actually had a good vibe to it. The lights were dimmed and music was quietly played in the background. Riki wasn't hard to find, he wasn't easy to overlook. He had a half full glass on the table and played with the rim of it. I approached him, he wasn't aware that I was walking towards him, I sat down. Only when I sat down did he look at me. Our eyes met.