3 Chapter One

~~~

Six years later

Raina could feel the uneasiness that flooded her chest, suffocating it with its might. She had woken up turning and rolling back and forth on her bed. This was not and would definitely not be the last time this was happening. She had an habit of rolling to an extent that she had woken up at the door of her bathroom once.

Was that a dream?

Of course it was. There was no other possible explanation for why it felt so vivid and real. Yet, the uneasiness kept brewing.

Realisation dawned on her that she was late for work. She had to submit her article to Jordan, her best friend and also her colleague, for reviewing. She had tried to pull an all nighter to finish the article and now, she was facing the repercussion. She had once been woken up by a creepy old man who had stared at her all through her journey on a bus.

Trying to remain invisible till she got to her desk failed as soon as she took the elevator to her floor.

"Good morning, Sunshine," she turned to see Jordan waving and coming to meet her. He called her sunshine because it was the opposite of rain in Raina, her name. "I'm not gonna lie to you, you look awful. Birds could nest a whole year in those eye bags of yours."

"Thanks for the compliment. Here's my article," Raina said as she handed the article to him.

"Lemme guess, you didn't sleep well enough," Jordan said, taking the file from her.

"Yeah. And can you please hurry up with the review before McCabe will literally behead me."

"Sure thing. Call me if you need anything. And I mean anything." He said with a wink. If you had guessed right, Jordan was a flirt.

Raina spent the hours at work going over files, Jordan pointing put her mistakes. She pulled an interview with the manger of a tech company and all that made her exhausted.

Back home, she settled on the sofa and was ready to binge watching dating shows on Netflix, which was irony for her because she had never had a boyfriend even though she was strikingly attractive. Those who had asked her out, fled for an unknown reason they couldn't fathom.

She drew her duvet until it covered her chest enough. She had no idea why she does that. She was the only one staying in her apartment. She settled for orange juice and was about to turn on the TV when a very familiar sound of synchronized cat meowing was heard. Her phone was ringing.

It was an unknown number. With her eyebrows knitted in confusion, she picked it up.

"Hey Raina," the voice sounded familiar.

"Excuse me, who is this?"

'You don't remember me?" Immediately, Raina recognized the voice. She didn't want to be reminded of how things ended between her and Leslie Hale, her college best friend.

Raina felt that Leslie was too paranoid. She kept telling Raina that things were not safe for her and that was what led to the end of their friendship six years ago, on her eighteenth birthday.

Raina knew Leslie had a point after what happened on her eighteenth birthday but Raina had to tell herself that all that was not true.

"Leslie," Raina said, "How could I have forgotten?"

"Let's not talk about that right now but I really need to talk to you," Raina detected urgency from her voice.

"Fine, I'm all ears." Raina said.

"Sorry but this can't be said on the phone. It must be in person. He might be listening on. It's quite easy to bribe officials these days."

This was definitely Leslie.

"Who?" Raina asked.

The phone call ended after Raina agreed to meet with Leslie Hale the following day.

Raina's appetite for TV left her immediately. She knew Leslie. She was like a wise advisor and a her paranoid person. What scared Raina was the fact that things Leslie says are not always jokes. That left her pondering on one question:

What does she have to say?

*

Raina wished she had some sort of glamour that would inconspicuously make her reach her desk undetected but too bad those kind of things only ended in the movies. And if you had guessed right, she overslept. She had been like that since she clocked eighteen, always feeling dizzy and zoning off to meet a nightmarish dream.

"Tardiness is not a trait needed at Fritz Corp, Ms. Ford," she recognized McCabe's, her boss, voice.

"I'm sorry, Mr. McCabe. I had to make sure I got you these," she handed him a tray consisting of a cup of latte which was meant for Jordan.

He eyed her suspiciously and snatched it from her. "This most certainly is not a bribe." With that, he left.

She sighed and walked briskly to her desk. She wasn't qualified to get a personal space although she was dedicated and good at what she does (excluding the sleep and tardiness part). Jordan was her saving grace, considering he was McCabe's son.

She had barely settled down when her phone rang.

"Ms. Ford," it was Amanda, Fritz Corp's receptionist.

"Hey, what's up?"

"It sounds urgent but you have two visitors who are immediately requesting to see you. It's strange because-"

"- let them in," Raina said. Not everyday she get to have visitors. Within, she felt that something was not right?

What was not right?

*

A/N: Feel free to ask any questions on the book. For previous readers, it is a new version, so there WILL be questions.

Also, pls vote, those little star light up my day.