1 Harassing Text Messages

In the corner of a cafe.

Alvin picked up a cup of black coffee and sipped it.

He didn't want to add a spoonful of sugar. It was bitter, but he wanted it to be even more bitter.

As a member of the working class, he wore a suit that didn't fit him very well. He would drink a cup of bitter coffee during his lunch break to wake himself up. This was Alvin's daily routine.

But today, he had three cups of coffee and still had a headache.

This kind of headache wasn't something that could be calmed with caffeine. It was as though he stayed up all night, played a basketball game, and then got hit in the head by a falling basketball.

He was very tired.

It started yesterday when his boss, Mr. Smith, angrily walked up to everyone. He grabbed everyone's sleeves and asked if they had taken his expensive watch.

Mr. Smith's watch had been stolen.

Mr. Smith loved his watch very much and regarded it as a symbol of his status. This was a well-known fact in the company. Therefore, no work was done in the office on that day. Everyone had to look for the missing watch.

As for the work that had been left behind on that day, they had to hurry and finish it up today.

This morning, Alvin even had to rush to the toilet. The landline in the office never stopped ringing. His colleagues took off their ties and tied the phone to their heads. They looked like wounded soldiers wrapped in bandages...

In short, they were so busy that it looked like a battlefield.

And only now at noon, could Alvin have a moment of peace in the cafe.

Outside the window, the sun was blazing. The cement floor was so bright to the point that it was dazzling. The air conditioning in the shop was so cold that it made people shiver. At this time, another mouthful of the bitter coffee to stimulate his nerves would tell him that he was still alive.

"Ding dong." Alvin's phone rang. 

He took it out and looked at it.

It was a message.

[ Hey, hello! My name is Aurelia. Please date me! ]

...

"Tsk."

Alvin smacked his lips and turned off the screen, putting his phone back into his pocket.

He pretended he did not see this message.

This was not the first time he had received such a message.

The first message was from a month ago.

At that time, he was still working when he suddenly received a message. The sender introduced herself as Aurelia, and the content of the message was a very direct confession.

Naturally, Alvin thought that it was a scam message, so he ignored it.

But this 'swindler' did not let him go.

Aurelia would send similar flirtatious messages practically every few days and request to establish a relationship with Alvin.

Alvin thought about it and felt that it must be a friend or an enemy who wanted to seduce him and set a trap to humiliate him.

But after asking everyone around him, no one admitted that they had anything to do with it.

Later, the text messages became more and more specific.

For example, "Alvin, I miss you. I want to kiss the mole on your forehead."

Or, "Alvin, do your wrists still hurt nowadays?"

Alvin was scared silly. He thought that he had met some pervert or stalker.

Nowadays, women were not the only ones who have to protect themselves, men also have their fair share of stalkers.

So Alvin went into a state of high alert. Every day when he made his way home from work, he would use paths that travel past public places. The first thing he did when he got home was to check his door's cylinder lock. Then, he would make sure that there was an M1917 Smith & Wesson under the pillow.

But later on, he used his connections from work and found some information on Aurelia, the one who had been sending him these messages.

According to the information provided by his friend, this lady, Aurelia, lived hundreds of kilometers away from here and seldom left the city.

As for her occupation, she seemed to be a university student who majored in dance.

Her personal history was as clean as a blank sheet of paper, and she didn't seem like a dangerous person at all.

Alvin's worried heart finally relaxed.

Slowly, he gradually accepted the reality. These messages weren't advertisements from some unscrupulous company. It was not a prank from someone or some perverted stalker either.

There truly was a woman who secretly liked him, but the way she expressed it was a little aggressive.

Hence, Alvin's countermeasure was to completely ignore the messages. He never replied to any of the messages.

The reason was very simple. He had never met Aurelia, and they did not understand each other at all.

If she truly liked him, then she should find him and get along with him as a friend first before considering whether or not they could further their relationship. She should not hide behind the screen and send some seemingly hot but superficial romantic words.

This was his view on love.

However, when he had nothing to do, Alvin would always recall his schedule. He would try to recall when he and this lady had met. What kind of occasion was it? Why did she notice him?

And just which side of him was charming? Charming enough to make a stranger miss him so much that she would not hesitate to use such a vulgar way like bombarding him with messages to express her love for him.

In Alvin's memory, he didn't randomly give out his business card. So how was his cell phone number leaked out?

Finally, the most crucial question was how did Aurelia know so much about him?

Alvin himself didn't even notice that there was a small mole on his forehead. He only found out about it after reading Aurelia's text messages. He even went to look at himself in the mirror to check.

As for his wrist problems, it was caused by the incorrect way he typed at work.

Alvin had never complained to others about his wrist pain.

Firstly, his colleagues more or less experienced similar situations. Everyone knew this, so there was no need to say it out loud.

Secondly, it was a virtue for adults to bear the pain alone.

Every time he thought of this, Alvin subconsciously tightened his collar.

Aurelia knew him like the back of her hand, while he only knew her name and her straightforward personality.

Alvin sighed. For some reason, he sometimes looked forward to meeting Aurelia. At the very least, he could find out what she looked like. He could confirm whether her appearance was pleasing or off-putting enough for him to call the police himself.

He picked up the coffee cup and drank up the charred liquid inside.

At the same time, he also raised his head.

He saw a woman in a white dress.

The woman was sitting opposite him. There was a cup of latte on the table and she was reading a travel magazine.

The woman was very beautiful, she was as dazzling as the sun today.

Her body was slender, and her wavy hair reached her waist.

She had a pair of amorous eyes, long eyelashes, and looked very lively when she blinked.

Her lips opened and closed as she read the magazine. Occasionally, her lips would stick together and make a sound similar to a carp spitting bubbles.