Chapter 11: Hillary's Arrival In New York

Hillary arrived in Manhattan New York. It was a straight five hours flight for her. She felt so exhausted. She conveyed her two suitcases, her guitar, and her sling bag.

She mailed messages to her mom, her dad, Marina and Marcus notifying them that she reached there safe and sound. She decided to grab a take out meal first. After the flight she felt hungry. She ended up having a taste at La Grenouille.

After the scrumptous meal in the restaurant, she then understood why it became famous. The food is incredible.

She hailed a taxi and presented to the driver the address that Marina provided. It was not a long way from the airport, she was grateful for her friend's aid.

After half an hour drive, not far away she spotted a girl which is in her early forties based in her assesment. She has a short blonde hair. The lady was patiently waiting for her. She rolled down the taxi's window and inquired,

"Is this the Erica Hein's apartment" she wanted to make sure.

"Yes, welcome to my place" Erica said smiling.

She paid the driver and went out of the car.

"You are such a beauty. " Erica remarked.

"Oh" ,she uttered.

"You don't have any renter? ", Hillary asked as she was inspecting the place. She observed it has a peaceful ambiance.

"Oh they went home to their towns. They will be back two months from now," Erica said addressing her confusion.

"I'll let you stay to my best room." Erica stated howing her.

Hillary admire the room. It's spacious and have a glitch of nature. The paint is light yellow and it has a mural painting on the right side. It has a small lampshade on the bedside table. She open the sliding window and took notice of the backyard full of vegetables. She caught sight of some shovels in there and few garden tools. She can't help but smile.

She looked at Erica and uttered,

"Okay, I want here".

Erica smiled back.

"So, I'll leave you here so you can rest. Here's the key of your room. No one resides from the other rooms so here's my number if in any case you need something just call me" she said handling her a piece of paper and closed the door.

She turned on the aircondition, peeled herself and went to the shower to freshen up a bit before going to rest. She was tired.

After her shower she then settled in her bed. She slept soundly.

She was knocked up by a cold temperature in the morning coming from the aircon. She failed to remember to tugged herself in a blanket. She detected that it was past six in the morning. She desired to still to roll in bed but she needed to cook for breakfast.

When she unlatched the door,

"Good morning Hillary", Erica greeted.

"Goodmorning Erica, can I cook in your kitchen? she asked her.

"Of course , since no renter is here no food is available in the fridge. Let's go to the market first."

Hillary was moved by the kind offer. She haven't experience these things before. She changed her sleepwears and went along with Erica to the market. They bought fish, chicken, vegetables, fruits, and other essentials that they need for few days. She thought they can go to this market again in the next days. It will be a good way to develop friendship with Erica. She seemed nice to her.

As they reached home she suggested to cook for them.

"Can you eat with me every meal? It's lonely to eat with no one," Hillary confessed.

"Of course, I will." Erica grinned.

Hillary asked about Erica's whereabouts. She is a widow and lost his husband three years after their marriage. She has no children and was alone in his life since then. She took pity on her.

She questioned how come Erica acquainted with Marina. She was apalled by her question. She hang back in a while but she responded that they two encountered before but she can't remember where. From then they just switched numbers and do some random calls at times. I just nodded.

Looked like she was anxious. Maybe because they talked about her family. Hillary don't want to scare her so she changed the topic. Hillary just share about her life.

"I don't have siblings. My family is rich. My dad is a businessman my mom is a model." She don't want to brag but she was just stating the fact. She discerned that Erica can't looked straight in her eyes.

"Do you have a boyfriend?" Hillary was caught off guard.

"I don't have one." She said dolefully as the memory of her first love stirred up.

"Oh I see. " Eriica noticed the misery in Hillary's face so she decided not to bring out the topic again.

After meal Erica toured her around the apartment. She noticed that the two story apartment has ten rooms. The rooms upstairs have smaller spaces. The apartment was decorated amazingly. It was painted in bright colors which is sufficient to attract renters. Somehow it is outcast. No renter was present aside from her. At night time Hillary can just apprehend the chirping of the birds , the breeze of fresh air and the fallen leaves and twigs.

On Hillary's third night in the apartment, she decided to open the sliding window to inhale fresh air and freely gaze at the stars in the sky. To her surprise she spotted Erica in the backyard in a short distance. She was talking to a guy wearing a mask in all black.

Panic clothed her. Since it looked unclear she closed her eyes maybe she was just seeing things. When she open her eyes she can't see the two figures anynore. It must be her imaginations. She closed the window. When she turned back, she was startled to see Erica standing in her door. She was terrified. Erica noticed it.

"Oh sorry to frighten you, I was just checking on you."

" I was in the backyard to check if the gate at the back was closed. Suddenily I saw a man from the other side of the road requesting for aid so I talked to him for a while", after she heard her explanation Hillary simmered down. That's why she saw that two figures earlier.

Erica said her goodnight to her.

Before she went to sleep, she decided to request for videocall to Marcus and Marina. She initiated a call and her two friends accepted it swiftly. Her tension was restored by happiness.

She told them how Erica welcomed her, they were delighted. She informed them that she visited the supermarket nearby. She missed her friends. After their conversation they ended the call. She was relieved somehow. Her phone beeped, she received a text message from unknown number saying,

"Hillary, it's your mom. Wherever you go please keep yourself safe at all cost. I keep praying for your safety always. Be careful. I love you."

She replied back,

"I'm okay mom, don't worry too much. I love you too."

She was tensed after receiving the text message from her mom.

Maybe because this is the first time she went out of the country and her mom was just worried.

What confused her was why her mom used a different number. It's strange.

"Are there any problem at home? ", she suddenly thought about it.

She believed that her mom sent the message out of her concern. She decided to check her phone and browse in her socials.

Afterwards, she watched a movie in Netflix featuring the protagonist having special powers. She loves fiction and adventure.

After a long while she watched another movie without considering the time. It was late at night when she decided to settle down.

She needs to get enough rest before her competition. She can't afford to get sick. She is away from home. She drank a glass of milk and soon tucked herself to bed.