A warning

Night time hovered the whole city of San Angels. The dark view came into sight as Ryan walked out the see-through glass door of the company building, his briefcase held firm with his left hand.

The pains surging through his body were almost visible to the human eye due to the weariness he was portraying as he found his way to his car parked in the parking lot.

He sat on the driver's seat, resting his head on the steering wheel in the process as he puffed out air from his nostrils in forms of pants. Today had been such an hectic day and he couldn't particularly say what he needed at the moment. A pain or stress reliever could be the best option for him to use.

With his head still on the wheel, he dipped his hand into the right pocket of his pants, bringing out his smartphone in the process. He lifted his head up while straightening his sitting posture thereafter. The smartphone in his hand came to life as he pressed the power button on the side.

There was someone he needed to talk to, someone's voice he needed to hear. Maybe that way he could save more on purchasing pain relieving tablets. He popped into the contact log and scrolled down the list as he sought a name starting with the letter 'L'.

His mind was really stressed out to the extent that he forgot he could just search the name via the search icon atop the list.

He got the name he was looking for and proceeded to dial the person's line. The phone was instantly placed on his ear as he awaited a pickup from the other end.

"Lily... hey." He said in a slight forced voice after hearing a beep indicating the call had been picked.

"Good evening Ryan," A sweet feminine voice from Lily, his girlfriend, came into hearing from the phone. But beneath the voice was a loud music accompanying it in the background. "You sound stressed out, are you okay?"

"Yeah," he subconsciously nodded his head. "Where are you?"

"I'm on the way home, driving at the moment..." came the reply.

"The loud music, where is it coming out from? Your car, is it?"

"Yes, it's from the stereo... I'll tune it down a bit," Immediately, the music from the background went almost out of hearing.

"Sorry I didn't call since Saturday passed. Been trying to get a hang of work over here," He apologized as he explained.

"It's okay," the lady told him. "You don't need to explain yourself."

He went silent for some seconds before asking, "Why are you just heading home by this time? It's rather late you know,"

"I know. A slight delay held me down at the office. Plans for the year ending has begun already so we had to put in place the necessary arrangements,"

"Oh," he stated. "Is your company planning a party?"

"Yes, sometime around twenty-sixth or so," Lily replied.

"Okay. Drive safely. I'll cal—"

Screech! BANG!

A collision sound came through the phone from Lily's end just before he could complete his statement. Fear gripped him instantly. What was that sound? Is there any problem? Why wasn't she saying anything again?

He immediately uttered something to confirm the situation she was in. "Hello, Lily, you there?"

But no response came.

"Lily... Lily? Lily... Oh Sh*t!"

The call went off instantly. He was dumbstruck for a moment. What was going on? He prayed it wasn't what he was thinking... Had she, perhaps, gotten involved in an accident?

He left the question hanging in the air as he buckled the seat belt and ignited the engine of the car in a fast pace.

"Please be okay," He muttered to himself before zooming off instantly to God knows where.

....

Somewhere around the streets of Dambell.

On the busy road, a car, wounded all over, could be seen moving at a normal pace. From the driver's seat window, a lady could be seen driving with one hand and calling with the other.

All of a sudden, from a street linking the main road, a car with probably a drunk driver or something came rushing through. Although not in a great speed, the movement just wasn't right as it—

Screech! BANG!

The car ran straight into that of the lady's making a call, colliding with the fore part. Luckily, it didn't result to a fatal accident as the impact wasn't massive, just a stunning one. The other cars behind stopped motioning as they realized what had happened. The lady's car managed to get into a grip before it eventually stopped it's motion.

The lady named Lily looked unscathed as she stepped out of the car with a phone in hand, walking around it to check out the part which had been dealt with. From a closer look, she was obviously trying to suppress the anger about to explode in her.

Turning her gaze to the owner of the car that had bashed into hers, she lashed out at him as he stepped out of his own car. "You... you... Weren't you looking at where you were going to? Did you suddenly have your eyes in your pocket?"

The man looked apologetic as he walked up to her. "I'm sorry miss," he pleaded with both palms placed together. "There was a slight problem with my brakes which resulted to this. Not to worry, I'll foot the bill for the repairs,"

Maybe due to the fact that the man apologized, she fumed down a bit. Afterwards, she replied in between clenched teeth. "Pfft... don't worry about it, I'll get it done myself. Just be more watchful next time,"

With that she headed back into her car and ignited the engine, ready to leave the spot with her half-bashed car.

As she made her way to her residence not too far from the spot, her phone on the passenger's seat began ringing. The name 'Ryan' popped up on the screen as she raised the phone up to her eye level.

"Hello," she calmly said as she picked the call.

"Lily... are you okay? What happened not too long ago? Was there a problem?" the man from the end threw three questions at her straightaway. His voice contained a tone of paranoia as he spoke.

"I'm fine. It's just a car that bumped into mine not too long ago. But don't worry, I'm honestly okay," she explained.

She heard a sigh escape the man's lips from the phone. It was obvious he was really worried. She felt a little touched by this little gesture from him.

"So, where are you now? I'm on the way to your place," the man told her.

"Don't worry about me. I will be home in any minute,"

"Since you're fine, I think that's a relief." the man sighed again. "I'll call you tomorrow then. Take care,"

"And you too." she replied and the call went off immediately.

She wasn't sure what to think as the call ended. It was nice having someone care about you at anytime and situation. She let out a wry smile as she thought about it. Maybe it wasn't a bad idea going into a relationship after all, she concluded mindedly.

.....

He had a cigarette in his mouth as his phone begun ringing loudly inside his office. He bent over to pick up the phone from the desk just after he puffed a smoke out of his mouth. As he realized who was calling him, he smirked wickedly. Just the person he was expecting.

After hitting the answer icon and putting on the loudspeaker, he put the phone back on the desk and spoke.

"How was it?"

"Went as planned sir..." was the reply from the other end.

He took a long drag from the cigarette. "Good."

Puffing out the contents from his mouth, he cut the call. He leaned back on the chair, raising a hand up to adjust his hair. A smile was revealed again as he pondered on something. But this particular smile had a smugness accompanying it.

"This is the beginning of a warning. If you don't get this one, maybe you'll get the next."