GoodReadAfter a tiresome day, Karen headed straight to her bedroom to catch some z's.
She wove through a tapestry of bizarre dreams, only to be jostled awake by the persistent knocking of her dad, Derek.
Bleary-eyed, her hand instinctively searched for her phone to check the time, but then it hit her that her phone was busted.
"Karen?" Derek's knocks continued, a steady rhythm against her door.
She quickly ran her fingers through her hair, "Coming, coming!" Swinging the door open, she found Derek with a box in hand, "Karen, someone dropped this off for you. He said your phone got busted by accident, and this is the replacement.” Karen bit her lips. She knew in a heartbeat it was Jeffrey’s doing. And what did he mean by "by accident"? "Is it for you?" Derek asked. Sensing her silence, his voice was tinged with caution.
"Yeah, someone wrecked my phone and mentioned something about a replacement." She took the box without ceremony.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtAfter all, it was indeed Jeffrey's fault, and he wasn’t hurting for cash. But she was.
A new phone would set her back a few hundred bucks.
"That nearly gave me a heart attack. | thought it was some scam," Derek chuckled; he didn’t give much thought about it.
Karen offered a few laughs in return before taking the new phone into her room.
For now, she could set up her WhatsApp and the likes.
Unboxing it, she found the latest, most expensive model from the Apple store.
But the film had already been peeled off.
"A second-hand phone?!" Her brows knitted in displeasure, but upon booting it up, she realized it was new—her card had already been installed.
Had Jeffrey taken her smashed phone with him when he left? That was the only way her card could have ended up with him.
Too flabbergasted at the time, Karen hadn't noticed.
She powered on the device, logged into her ID, and began downloading her go-to apps. Before she could even get WhatsApp running, the phone rang.
With her contacts yet to be transferred, the caller was unknown.
"Hello?" Karen answered. Her tone was less than enthused, bracing for Jeffrey.
"Is this Miss Karen?" The voice on the other end was tentative.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmIt wasn't Jeffrey.
"Yes, speaking. Who's this?" "Levi, I'm... uh... the friend your parents introduced you to." Karen didn’t reply at once.
Levi was her blind date.
In the throes of her spat with Jeffrey, she'd completely overlooked getting in touch with Levi all day.
"I sent you a message on WhatsApp today, and when you didn't reply, | thought I'd try giving you a call. Didn't expect you'd pick up." It made Karen seem like she was avoiding him! She rushed to clarify, "It's not that | didn't get back to you. My phone got trashed, and | haven't logged onto WhatsApp yet. | just started up this new phone, and your call came through.” "Oh!" Levi chuckled on the other end, "So your phone got wrecked. How did that happen?” "An unfortunate accident.” Levi seemed the type not quite adept at small talk. He got a hint of awkwardness in his voice and was unsure of where to steer the conversation.
Karen took the lead once more, "What are you up to?" "Just finished sorting out some paperwork for the office. Now... I'm waiting for your reply on WhatsApp." After his confession, Levi let out a sheepish chuckle.
His innocence made Karen laugh, "What if | never replied or answered the call? You'd just keep waiting?" "Well... my work's done for the day, and there's nothing else planned.” "Are you hungry?" Karen fiddled with the packaging of her new phone with her fingernail.
"Uh?" Levi felt confused.
"I'm starved. How about treating me to dinner? What do you say?"
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