hey stranger

as reply to gravity

He wanted to open up the package right here at the cafe, but something about it felt wrong to him. He already stole it from the mysterious PO Box but there was something telling him that he should wait until later when he was away from prying eyes and suspicion. He couldn't makeup his mind whether he should walk home or call an Uber. He felt exhausted as if the package was draining all of his energy. To distract himself he took out his phone and opened up tinder. He didn't feel like continuing the conversations with his previous matches so he just swiped through the profiles. Most of the prospective matches seemed young to him even though they weren't that much younger. They were smiling with friends in all their photos and showing off their bodies, but he felt so far removed and disconnected from their lives. Most of the bios contained simple quips about liking hiking or rock climbing. Not that his profile was any better. He only had 3 photos all from 4 years ago and his bio simply stated: I like to go on walks and people watch. After rapidly flipping through faces without really looking at them, one profile caught his eye. Jasmine, age 33. profession: influencer. Looking for friends and/or romance. In her first photo she was wearing a black dress and holding some mixed drink on what seemed to be some European beach. he stared at her face. She looked very similar to the woman that was in his apartment the other day. He scrolled through the rest of her photos. He was sure it was her. He swiped right. Hopefully she would remember him. He wanted to tell her about the package he had found. Maybe this one was the one she was searching for. Also there was something intriguing about her besides her attractiveness.

"Hey Stranger. You missed a great call this afternoon" He looked up from his phone to find Zach 
Robinski, the lead designer at the non profit and also his closest work friend. He was a tall slender half-asian man several years older than him. He was wearing a shiny teal jacket, Lululemon pants, and had a tan satchel draped over his shoulder.
"Oh hey Zach. Sorry I missed the meeting, I got distracted."
"Oh too distracted from all those ugly girls on Tinder." Zach said with a smile.
He blushed as he turned his phone off. "Na, just some complications"
"Ooo check out this guy" Zach said as he showed off the Grindr profile of Sebastian age 21. A skinny shirtless student smiled back at him.
"Sure. Looks fine haha. Does he go to state?"
"Ya.. I think We might be meeting up tomorrow for dinner. He's cute but he's only a junior in college. Is that bad.. that's not too bad right? He seems mature for his age"
He peered over at their conversation. It contained long paragraphs by Zach with short responses from Sebastian.
"He doesn't have much to say does he?" He said
"Noo... But he's pre med. Zoomers aren't really chatty on Grindr"
"Are you having any luck on Tinder? Are you still dating whatershername?" Zach asked.
"Who Cassie?"
"Noo gross. Cassie was kind of an airhead. No offense. I always run into her at the golden cup. Her voice is soo annoying. HEy ZaCh." he said imitating her voice. "I think she got a nose job actually. There was something different about her"
"Hmm, I kind of miss her actually. Wait so what did I miss in the call?"
"Oooh not much just the same old stuff. I actually think I'm going to ask Sandy for a raise. I just got a new client last week, Robbie Patterson, and I think he's like super successful and I'm pretty sure he has a mansion.
"Oh is that the guy who owns Pegasus?"
"Yeah, Peggio not Pegasus. He made me a really good offer. And I think I'm gonna have total creative control. Isn't that awesome? I'm actually having a little get together at my house this weekend to celebrate. You should totally come!"
"Okay I think I can come. I might need a lift or something. My bike actually just got stolen."
"Ooh No! How did that happen?"
"I guess someone just took it while I was at the Post Office. I was actually picking up mail for work." He left out the fact that it was unlocked.
"Oh yeah I think Sandy mentioned that. she was talking about that check from that donor guy, Johnny Timberland. Did you know my sister, Zoya dated him in high school?"
"Yeah you've told me that before".
"Aahh... My memory is getting soo bad. I'm so old now. Look at my beard hair. It getting so gray." Zach said as he sowed off his beard. 
"Well, you still look good. It doesn't really take away from that."
"Oh stop.. " Zach said smiling.
"Oh wait. Do you need a lift? I was about to head home. Oh no! Your bike! that sucks!"
"yeah I can just get a new one on Craigslist I guess. I do need a lift actually. You sure?"
"Yeah don't worry about it. I still owe you for that one client you gave me. Wait you don't have some where to be do you?" Zach said as they left the coffee shop and headed toward Zach's car.
"I was thinking we could hunt down Robbie's mansion. I found out what neighborhood he lives in. And class is almost over. The boys will be all over State Street. The boys!!."
"Yeah I don't mind. I actually like fancy neighborhoods. The architecture is usually nice."
"Oh my god! You haven't been in my new Tesla yet have you?! 
"I can't remember"
"Well, this is Vanta, my pride and joy." "Gawd.. look at me. How did I get so materialistic. I used to be an artist you know.."
When they got in the car he checked his phone. Jasmine had matched with him on Tinder. He took out the package, snapped a photo and sent it to her. Saying that he found another one..
"Ooooo whats that? A present??" Zach said.






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PO Box 915