" Anna! Go make me a coffee! I feel nuts this morning and need to stay awake with the meeting coming up at 2 PM." As usual, my boss is yelling when the door of the elevator I'm in opens. When he sees I'm not sitting behind my desk, he mumbles something where I'm nearly sure I can hear him swear. So I wave to everyone already there and take place in my red chair on my tiptoes so that I don't get him even more annoyed.
I turn my computer on and see I have received six new messages. The first two ones are from my grandparents who have only just started to use Internet and send « test » messages. The third one is from Elena, asking if I can keep her two kids. But what catches my eye is the last one with it's title in capital letters. In those letters I can feel something urging, mysterious and desperate. This is what I read: I SAW YOU YESTERDAY!
I suddenly feel my heart pace accelerate. Even though my door is locked, I feel my cheeks burn, afraid somebody has seen this. It is not a joke and I know it. I spin around to see if one of my colleagues has been looking in my direction to capture the expression on my face but no one is. I feel relieved about that but find it weird this mysterious man has my email address. Who gave it to him? And most important : why does he feel the need to write that kind of stuff ? Obviously there are many reasons that come to my mind but impossible to know the right one. Just as I think I will have time to grab a coffee or go outside to take deep breaths I land on my timetable pinned on the wall that reminds me I have no time for this because in a week I'm off to Quebec in precisely five days. I hear the boss's alarm ring, don't ask me why he has this in his office, and I chuck everything in my bag and off I go.
It's 7 am and I look like someone who has been having fun all night whereas of course all I have been doing is sleeping to be completely awake for the D'Day! I'm trying not to repeat mistakes I have done in the past as preparing my suitcase on the exact morning for departure, celebrating a friends birthday till 5 in the morning, or forgetting to bring a dictionary to be able to have a proper exchange with a foreigner. So I can say I'm ready to go and am already thinking of my arrival on the other side, 4600 kilometres from my bed.
« No thanks, I'm fine for the moment. Could it juste be possible to have a piece of paper and a pen please, of course that's if you have both and if you're allowed to give that to me. »
« No worries miss, there is a notepad I'm supposed to give everyone on this plane for people to stay occupied. I think it's my colleague who has them. I'll go check and come immediately back. »
Passengers are gently seated and are sleeping or watching movies on the small screen in front of them.
YOU ARE READING
Christmas 1992.
General FictionChristmas 1992. Anna, a young British citizen, does, like every evening a walk in Oxford's streets. But this night will be different to the others. She will be the witness of a violent argument between a man and a woman. Without knowing it, she may...
