Late Evening Arrivals

Chapter 1- The Unexpected Guest

“It was late evening. I was just sprawling in my apartment, watching Netflix and sipping on some lovely apple tea. It was chilly out, it had to be; fall had arrived and the dried leaves were already on the ground. I was waiting on a guest, my childhood friend Alex Baker, who was to join me for dinner. He had an identical twin- David Baker, who had died at the age of eleven due to a fall from the top of a building. I always wondered why was he even on the top of that stupid building. He was friends with my older brother, James.” said Julia Williams, my new client.

“Then, there went the doorbell. I opened the door, revealing Alex’s face which had an unpleasant wicked smile. I didn’t think much of it at first because it immediately changed into a soothing one when his eyes met mine. I hugged him tight not letting in a single molecule of the air into his body. ‘Can’t BREATHE’ he shouted, I giggled; He hated hugs and I loved to see him suffer!”

“It was almost midnight and we had a long chat. I loved that glorious chance to talk to this busy man. He would barely talk to me over the phone, like once every three months and that would be like just a ten-minute conversation or mostly over text.” as she said all this she seemed a little frightened and it felt like she was almost going to break into tears.

“Julia, I’ll take it from here,” said James.“All of a sudden, her phone rang. She peeped to check the caller ID ‘Who is calling you this late?’ Alex said in a concerned voice. ‘Alex, It’s YOU! How could it be? It’s probably a glitch!’ saying that she picked the call up, the voice from the other side said and I quote ‘Hey Jum! I might be a little late …I’m stuck in traffic . I am so sorry for this. Order the pizza in advance and if I am too late and you begin to get hungry then maybe have a bite or two but do not have all of it, I want some too.’ after that call she felt like she just talked to the real Alex and the man she had in her house all this while was some imposter.”

“The guy I talked to really was Alex, I just know it,” she said.

“She believes so because he called her ‘Jum’, it was a name he kept for her when they first met and would never call her by it in front of others, it was their ‘little’ thing. She thought it was a little funny of him to do that. The guy she had been with for all those hours, the guy she assumed was Alex, DID NOT call her Jum.”

"I can’t believe that a funny little name probably saved my life that day as it resulted in my realisation ” as she said this she already had tears rolling down her face. “The man that was there that night was not Alex and I am sure of it! He felt off the moment I opened the door but I gulped my suspicions with water and believed that he might have changed after all these years.”

“Then who could it be?” I asked.

She shrugged in utter confusion and said “I tried to keep calm and turned over to the guy that had been INSIDE my house.”

“ Was it David?” I enquired

“It couldn’t be, he was long DEAD! I … I saw him die with these very own eyes.” said James in a harsh voice, pointing at his eyes while giving me a stubborn glare which seemed would go blood shot red any moment now.

Julia continued “The man asked me who it was. I replied to him, “It was really a glitch, an unknown number. You know those ‘do you want loan’ calls!” and we both giggled (obviously I didn’t mean it, I was frightened).”

There began James“ Then he immediately excused himself to the washroom.”

“Getting the opportunity I immediately called Alex. Upon receiving the call he asked me to open the door as he had reached the hallway to my appartment. I thanked God as he was finally here and wasn’t too late. Now that was really a relief.” she sighed.

“She told him all about what happened and that he was now in the washroom. Alex wouldn’t believe a word of hers, how could he! No one would, it was all just one big misunderstanding.” he completed.

“Julia, tell me what happened after!” I demanded.

“Well…” she bagan “ the man who went to the washroom, never came back and I do not know if there actually was a man even there that night, maybe I was hallucinating, AGAIN!”

“ Again? You have hallucinated before?” I enquired.

“Yes, she has been since the age of eleven since…” James stated.

“…since David’s fall.” I completed his sentence.

“Yes, due to the trauma, she has been seeing things, I believe it was the same again and she is now seeing him!”

“NO!” she exclaimed, “I wasn’t, he felt real like REALLY REAL! Please try to understand.” saying that she looked at me as if I was GOD who she was trying to persuade after an awful sin she committed.

“Oh! I see.'' I said in an understanding voice, this was getting really intense.

My timer rang.

“I see, the time is up. Come on sis, we gotta get going. Thank you, ma’am for your time.” said James

I nodded while I tried to comprehend whatever information I was just given.

“So tomorrow at the same time?” asked Julia, I shook my head and led them to the door.

The next day, I waited on them for more than an hour but they never showed up. I couldn’t wait any longer. I let this one go as they never came ever again and unfortunately this one had to be an unsolved case.



~YAli