CHAPTER 10: Dear Intruder

CHAPTER 10: Dear Intruder

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That morning Ella was surprised to be waking up in her own bed. Last night's events were a bit fizzy but eventually she recalled her late night walk back home with Jay.

The alarm that she forgot to disable woke her up quite early in the morning.

She could remember fragments of conversation from last night among other things earlier that night like eating pizza, watching Pirates of the Caribbean, drinking cheap beer and passing out before 11 pm.

Surprisingly enough she didn't feel hungover, instead, her body was well-rested and her face looked better in the mirror.

Huh? Who knew something like that would help...

She checked her phone to find a message from her co-worker Eddy pleading with her to take the morning shift because something came up for him and he couldn't get to the library. Ella had to roll her eyes at the innumerous repetition of the word 'please' that was part of his message.

She sent him a quick "OK... but you owe me." Before she dropped her phone on the bed and went to take a quick shower so that she could reach the Library on time.

The morning shift was only a short four hours shift...it was from eight to twelve noon, and since she didn't have anything planned, she thought heading to the library and reading a book didn't sound like a bad idea.

After a quick shower and dress up, she was rushing out, as she was running a little late. Nora was still passed out in her room when Ella left after consuming a hot cup of coffee.

She went to the main office to retrieve the keys and then rushed to the library to open the doors. It was already 08:15.

One guy was waiting at the door, clearly displeased that the doors were still closed. When Ella rushed over, he gave her a pointed look, she apologized quickly "sorry to keep you waiting." She said and concentrated on unlocking the place and seeing that everything went smoothly.

The guy didn't reply. They both walked in when the doors opened, and that dude went about doing his work while Ella switched on the lights and opened the window to allow some ventilation.

She tidied up a little and waited in her chair. More people soon started arriving. She took care of the books being issued and returned, maintaining a record of everything. She picked up her book "The Ivory Castle" ; the bookmark was still present and so she continued reading from where she left off.

It was a fast-paced thriller she held in her hands, she read the book with amazing curiosity, the words had completely immersed her in a mysterious journey and a part of her wondered if she could ever write something so incredible.

Ella prided herself in her words and her articulation of thought, yet they blanched so often and lost their appeal when measured with a lot of content she found herself reading and consuming. A great book was not just that for her, it was also an evidence of her incompetence and amateurishness. She tried not to look at it that way, but sometimes it was pretty hard not to.

Her phone buzzing in her pocket pulled her focus out of the book and towards her phone. She quickly closed her book with the bookmark and exited the library so that she could answer her phone.

The moment she received the call Jay's voice rang in her ears, "Where are you?"

"I'm at the library. Why?" She asked.

"The library again? Ell this isn't fair! If you study so much I'm gonna look more like an idiot and I'm not okay with that!"

Ella chuckled, "I'm working right now, something came up for Eddy and he begged me to take his shift so I agreed."

"When does your shift end?" He asked.

She referred to her wristwatch and said "In one hour."

"Oh thank god. Please, can you come to Walmart with me? I'm supposed to shop for groceries and Patrick abandoned me all alone." He whined dramatically.

Ella rolled her eyes, "he didn't send you into a war zone Jay, you'll be fine."

"No, I won't be." He insisted, "They always change the grocery store layout and I don't know what detergent to buy! Oh my god, I don't even know what limes are? Are those the big yellow ones or tiny green ones?"

"The tiny ones are lemons," Ella said flatly.

"See? I need you! Please, please, Ella please, I once got lost in the vegetable aisle as a kid, I still have nightmares about scary potatoes and garlic." He explained his childhood trauma.

Ella decided he was hopeless and finally said, "you know what, I'll be there right after my shift is over, I need to get some stuff anyway..."

"Thanks, Ella. You saved my life." Jay said in delight.

Instead of correcting his dramatic words Ella just smiled and said, "I'll see you soon." And hung up.

After that phone call, she went back and continued with her work. Time moved faster as she read and soon it was time to switch shifts.

She looked around to see piles of books carelessly left on the study tables. She sighed... This happened every time; apparently, it was too hard to put the books back on the shelves once they were picked up.

She rose from her chair and walked around picking up all the books and then went to the shelves to arrange all of them in their correct order.

She was suddenly in an all too familiar section of the library and just out of curiosity or maybe habit she happened to glance at 'the book' the correspondence of Bernard Shaw and Mrs Patrick Campbell, but this time something caught her gaze.

Ella's eyes widened and she almost dropped the pile of books she was carrying.

There was a white envelope sticking out among the pages of the old book, looking oddly striking in that dull, dusty corner. Ella couldn't believe her eyes, she stared at it, almost expecting it to evaporate into thin air as if it were a fragment of her imagination.

Slowly and almost cautiously she took a step towards it, her heart thumping loudly in her chest while she closed the distance between what her eyes saw and what her hands could reach.

Ella kept the pile of books down at her feet and carefully extended her hand out to take the envelope slowly from between those pages. She looked around for the journal but it was nowhere in sight, still, this time...she wasn't completely disappointed.

The texture of the stiff paper was pleasant between her fingertips, a small smile tugged at her lips and her heart was beating faster in excitement and anticipation.

Ella opened the flap of the envelope to see a letter inside and the thought of reading it made nervous butterflies flap around in her stomach and her heart thud rapidly. Quickly she rounded the shelves and returned to the study area in hopes of finding the one who left the letter. She scanned familiarly unfamiliar faces but no one stood out.

Nobody was behaving suspiciously or even paying her any attention as they went about minding their own business.

An undertone of disappointment caught her off guard, before this very moment Ella didn't really know a part of her was dying to find out who's behind those words she had read countless times. Curiosity was eating her from the inside.

She walked back to the corner where she found that letter and saw a stool in the corner which was left there to be used to help vertically challenged people to climb up to access the books on the higher shelves.

She settled herself on it and looked at the paper in her hands, the butterflies returned with full force. There was a window just adjacent to where she sat making just enough sunlight trickle in and fall on the envelope.

With a deep breath, she pulled out the letter from the envelope and unfolded the paper carefully, her eyes fell on the first two words... 'Dear intruder,' and a smile lit up her eyes.

It was that same handwriting which she thought she would never see again, the same slight slant to the words and the familiar loops in the letter 'E' she got so accustomed to.

Blinking a few times she continued to read almost as if she wanted to commit every word to her memory.

18-Sept-2018

Dear intruder,

I was surprised by the letters you left me in my journal. I'm yet to decide if it was a pleasant surprise. Needless to say, I never expected replies to the letters I never sent out.

In an attempt to return the favour, I'm trying to surprise/shock you with this letter I sent your way. Did it work?

'It totally did.' She thought.

Anyway, back to the journal... I was going out of my mind, trying to look for it as I retraced my steps for days. Thanks for confirming my suspicions by the way... Under the willow tree, that's right! That's where I lost it.

Of course, I went back to look for it, but thanks to a certain someone, it wasn't there anymore.

And I must say I'm deeply disappointed that you did not respect my privacy and read my personal thoughts. I still haven't exactly figured out how I feel about it, although it does make me uncomfortable and embarrassed among other things.

I know it must have been hard to fight the curiosity, especially while dealing with a boring as hell class, it's something I can understand...and when I put myself in your shoes I regret to conclude that I don't have a clear answer as to what I would have done either. If I would have done exactly what you did, it would be hypocritical of me to expect you to be righteous... Of course, I don't know any of it for sure, so we are at an impasse.

At least he's not pretending to be the I-can-do-no-wrong kinda person. She continued to read further...

Although one thing I'm sure of and that's the fact that I wouldn't have written back. A part of me is weirded out, but at the same time, I'm kinda impressed as well as restless... I never really thought how a third person would perceive all those words that I so carelessly let bleed into the paper, and now that I know, I kinda wish I was blissfully oblivious.

But a part of me doesn't want to forgive you. You've apologised in the letters multiple times, though for some reason they feel hollow like you're saying it just to rid your conscience of any guilt you might feel.

That's not true! I was sincerely apologizing for reading all that, especially from the second letter onwards, I can't do anything if he doesn't want to believe me. Ella thought, huffed and continued on with the letter.

And of course, an apology doesn't seem very heartfelt when accompanied by threats, don't you think?

Yes, I'm talking about those god awful notes.

Oops. Ella cringed and shut her eyes tightly. Yeah, maybe that raised a few flags, but she didn't have a choice. Peeking from one eye, slowly she carried on reading...

Would you refrain from threatening me using yellow post-its all over the campus? It's a little jarring that I'm now scared to look at seemingly harmless pale yellow pieces of paper.

That brings me to the main reason I wrote to you... You can forget about getting your hands on 'my' journal. I have no intention of returning it, I invested a lot of effort in getting back what's mine. I don't intend to lose it again.

Hopefully, you understand.

-Elliot.

P.S. Now that you've taken to calling me 'Elliot' I'll accept the moniker, albeit reluctantly since I can't suggest something better right now.

Her eyes brushed over one sentence again with disbelief. 'I have no intention of returning it'? What the hell?!

'This jerk!'

She smiled.

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