The Countdown Begins
Mia Donovan was not the type to plan things way ahead of time. Apparently, life had made her a realist in the sense that she lived from day to day waiting for what the future held in store for her. Still, as she looked at the letter in her hand while standing in her Brooklyn apartment, the feeling of time oppress her as it did never before.
The letter had reached his joint that morning which had been in a white envelope without the sender’s details. Inside was a single sheet of paper with a message that sent chills down her spine: Inside was a single sheet of paper with a message that sent chills down her spine:
The clip also includes the following phrases You have 14 days. Use them wisely.
The cursor was blinking on the screen, there was no message, no even a ‘Hello’ – only those seven words that caused Mia so much thinking. Was it a prank? A threat? She had no idea. But what she was certain of was that she couldn’t overlook it.
Finally, she placed the letter on the kitchen table and although her mind was racing with fear and confusion. Despite having the ability to think in the creative senses, she remained a practical person without feeling existed in the form of luck or hex. But this, this was different. And though the tasks were typical in message, there was an asynchronized, almost alarming tenor towards it that she couldn’t ignore.
Putting time into practice, for the whole day Mia kept looking at the clock and with the passage of time feeling anxious and fearful. In an attempt to prevent herself from overthinking about the letter, she engaged in normal morning activities including making coffee, checking her emails, and even working on her freelance graphic design project but with each activity, the letter was likely to cross her mind.
In the middle of the night Mia finally decided that she would talk about the situation to somebody. But who? Her only friend, Natalie, could not come to her aid since she was on a business trip, and her parents were many hours away. She didn’t want to cause them some distress over something that would prove to be minor in the end.
In the end, she decided to reach out to the one person she knew she could trust: Ethan Cooper is not necessarily related to the Independent lubricant; however, there are other Independent lubricant-related topics that are more relevant with this search.
Ethan had been her best friend since the college days, Mia conned. Sophomore year of college, NYU: they’d become friends through a mutual appreciation of art and all night ramen excursions. Since they met they have seen each other through thick and thin but now that adversity had hit them in the face they stuck it out for each other.
Mia grabbed her phone and sent Ethan a quick text: “Hi how are you, I was wondering if you are available this evening? I would like to discuss something with you, it is quite urgent. ”
The reply came almost immediately: “Sure. What is new? Shall we go to the usual place?”
It was evident that Mia had some level of anxiety but she was still able to give a smile. Their “regular table” was a small corner café in the Lower East Side; a place they recognized as having been a familiar stomping ground for quite some time now. I was lucky it was quite appropriate to have a conversation in a quiet area distant from the hustle of New York.
“Yeah I shall be there in 30” she said and got up, put on her coat and left the house.
That is why when Mia was walking through the streets of New York, she had a feeling that somebody was observing her. She looked over her shoulder Even if it was more than once as she became nervous. But every time she looked she found herself seeing just the usual suspects, the tourists wandering about, the street vendors peddling cheap trinkets, New Yorkers just living their day to day lives.
When she arrived at the café, Ethan was already waiting for her combing the table with two cups of coffee with him. He turned and seen her coming towards him his face lighting up into a pleasant grin.
“Mia! It seems we have not seen each other for a long time,” he got up and embraced her.
“Too long,” Mia said, and pulled him into another embrace. And it felt good to see him, to be around a person, who knew her or at least her taste so well.
They sat down and ordered; Mia took a sip of the coffee and somehow, the bitterness help quell the rising nerves in her. Yet the anxiety did not diminish but only simmered and was still ever present deep down.
Ethan spoke finally, “So, what’s going on?” Here, he was clearly worried about Lily. “What were you trying to tell me in your text? You seemed rather grave. ”
For a second or so, Mia felt discomfort before she fetched the letter out of her pocket and handed it to him. “Today in the mail I received this along with a letter that said they’re not able to help me. ”
Ethan stretched out a hand and reluctantly, he took the letter and scowled as he started to read what was written in it. He opened his eyes to find her staring, he chewed his lip and looked at her intensely. “This is… strange. ” Did you see anyone today acting suspicious or were you being followed or something like that?
“No, nothing like that,” Mia replied moving her head from right to left. “But to me, it isn’t just that, you knw? There has to be more to it than some jerk ending people’s calls with that. ”
Ethan just nodded his head as he began to think about the many different things he could do now. “The neighbor must belong to a rather nasty character type, do you have any idea who might have sent it? Any previous or current enemy maybe?”
Mia’s head movement which is a negative sign was observed again. “None off the top of my head. To be quite frank, my life has been rather tame of late. ”
There was a brief several second pause and uneasiness remained in the air. Finally, Ethan opened his mouth and said somewhat colder but more imperative. “Alright, here’s the plan: First, if we see something out of the norm, then we inform and second if there’s someone you know sending this then we try to establish that connection.
Mia nodded her understanding and was glad that at least Ethan was not panicking and remained quite calm. “Oh, sweetie, thank you, Ethan, but I need help…whatever this is, it’s a countdown but I don’t know what or to whom. ”
“We’ll figure it out,” Ethan said to her with so much confidence that even Cassie could not help but feel assured as he took her hand in his. “You are not alone in this, Mia We have two weeks to crack this mystery and we start right now. ”
Mia just offered a small, feeble smile to him, ‘Thank you,’ she thought that she felt a little more secure with Ethan by her side. However, when they were still at it discussing a forecast and coming up with strategies for its implementation, the feeling did not completely fade away from her.
Hour after hour the countdown was ticking, and as Mia watched the time slowly moving downwards she did not spare herself a thought about what would happen when it reached zero.
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