Fall ✓ p.jm

Chapter 4 : Sunday, Wednesday

i hope someone is still reading this hehe, anyways stay safe people !

☆☆☆

In the middle of the night, I was awoken by the sound of my phone. When I reached for it under my pillow I was blinded from the light that it caused.

Ryan is calling and it's just three in the morning. I was quite intrigued by the sudden action since it is the first time that he called me at this time of the day. "Hello?"

"Hey, Elise I know I woke you up but I just want to ask if you have any idea of Ria's whereabouts?"

"Why? What happened?" I abruptly sat down on the bed. Ryan will never ask me that if nothing bad happened to his sister.

"She... she, we think she ran away." He sounded like he was out of breath.

"Really? Oh my god, she didn't tell me anything."

Ria and I rarely call each other now. I also don't have any idea what she is up to right now. All I know is that she is enjoying her jobless life in her parent's house. She is the type of person who enjoys luxurious stuff but isn't picky with friends.

I know her as a carefree person and it actually perplexed me when Ryan said that she ran away. She is very problematic with simple things around her but not to the point that she will do such a thing.

"Is that so? Please tell me if you have any news about her." Ryan sighed and I assured him if ever I heard from his sister.

Once the call ended I went back to sleep and convinced myself that I'll call Ria first thing in the morning.

=====

It's a Sunday morning so it is reasonable for me to wake up a little later, but my phone ringing again was the cause of awakening. An unknown number popped on my screen so I answered it. "Elise!"

"Ria, oh my god." I scratched the back of my head as I sit down on my bed. "Ryan was so worried about you last night, what happened?"

I suddenly heard her sniff and cry on the other line. "They lied to me, Elise..." She started.

"What do you mean?"

"All along I thought I'm an Anderson and then... And then I heard mom and dad talking the other day about me being adopted and that my real parents are looking for me."

I wish I could hug her right now, that news probably made her very sad and I can't even comfort her with words since I'm not good at it. "Tell me where you are, I'm coming." I jumped out of my bed and grabbed spare clothes in my wardrobe to get ready.

"I won't tell you, Elise. It's okay, I'm okay. I just need some time to think... alone."

My shoulders fell and I have no choice but to respect her decision. "Are you sure?"

"I am." I can hear her taking a deep breath before forcing a laugh.

"Okay, take care of yourself and if you need anything, I'm always here for you."

Ria hummed as an answer as we both bid goodbyes before ending the call. If ever my parents did that to me then I'll probably feel like a mess. After the call, I gradually wondered who could possibly be Ria's true family and the reason why they only looked for her now that she is old enough.

The beginning of my morning somehow affected the atmosphere of my entire Sunday. I keep feeling bad for Ria and I guess it's normal since she is my friend, I also quite feel for Ryan too.

Shaking off the thoughts in my head, I just remembered that my agenda for today was to finish 'Bared To You' by Sylvia Day.

I know, I know. Ever since Jimin entered my forlorn life, my love for fantasy novels deflated like a balloon. I shifted to erotic adult novels maybe because I'm curious about more realistic events in the living world.

Or maybe I'm just a bit horny sometimes.

I want to blame my sudden change of behavior to Jimin but it's my fault that I keep buying novels that make me feel things that I intend to.

I still remember what he said to me yesterday. He said he was done with me already and that he doesn't feel anything to me anymore. Of course, it hurt my feelings but I completely understand that it was my fault.

All I need to do right now is to wait for my heart to get rid off of these uncertain feelings towards him. Thinking about how long it will take already vexes me, so I diverted my attention back to the book I'm about to take out from my shelf.

As I was about to sit on the couch when the doorbell rang. I was expecting that it is Ryan so I immediately opened up the door only to be greeted by someone else.

"Jimin, what now?" I tilt my head to the side to show disinterest.

"I just want to say see you on Wednesday." My forehead suddenly creases at his statement.

"Wednesday?" I repeated. "Whatever is happening on Wednesday, I do not wish to see you." I forced a smile but on the contrary, my heart is actually jumping in joy.

"You don't have much choice anyway. I'm going." With that, Jimin turned around and left with his expensive car.

Did he just stop by here to tell me that? It's quite flattering but at the same time, I'm in confusion.

I went back on the couch and grabbed the book to begin reading again. I was in the middle of a steamy imagination when the sound of notifications from my phone distracted me.

I was about to turn it off when I saw that it was Ryan who messaged me multiple times.

See you on Wednesday!

And the rest were emojis that show excitement. I dialed his phone number to get a proper clarification on what is happening on Wednesday.

"What's happening on Wednesday?" I asked straight to the point as soon as he answered my call.

"Didn't you get any messages from the firm?" He asked back.

"Oh okay, I'll just check it. How are you anyway?"

"I'm fine, have you heard from Ria?" I wanted to lie that I didn't, but I already promised him that I'll stop lying.

But old habits never die.

"No, I've been calling her phone and she is not answering."

"You did? She left her phone here and I didn't see any missed calls from you." There is a tone of doubt in his voice. "Elise, tell me if you know something."

"Fine," I sighed. "She called me earlier. I asked her whereabouts but she didn't tell me."

"Can you message me the number?"

"Yeah, sure."

I ended the call and did what Ryan asked me to do before looking at the message from the DIS firm.

A pleasant day DIS team. Our firm will have a compulsory business seminar in Montana on Wednesday, 5 in the morning. We are lucky to be sponsored by a huge company from Sacramento.

As for Monday and Tuesday, the firm will close temporarily so that everyone can prepare for the upcoming event.

Don't forget to bring necessary things like your laptops and other files.

Seeing the word 'sponsored', I already have an idea that Jimin is behind all of this.