Even though I was nervous, I went inside and made sure to lock the door before going to the box on the counter.
I just stood there, not knowing what to do. I still think maybe the address was just wrong, and it only has the same name as mine... but is that really what I should think right now?
I took the box but didn't open it. I brought it to my room and put it under my bed. I didn't overthink anymore and just lay down on my bed until I started to feel sleepy.
I feel something breathing behind me. It's so close to me, I can feel its presence, but why can't I open my eyes?
Why can't I open my eyes?!
My breathing got faster when I felt its hand near my head. It went on top of me. I couldn't move my body, and I couldn't open my eyes.
I tried to escape and see who was on top of me. It was hard, I used all my strength to move until...
I opened my eyes and quickly sat up, breathing fast. I held my chest while looking around my room. There was no one, only me. I took a deep breath and got out of my bed.
I took my phone beside my bed and went out of my room. I saw Sierra in the kitchen cooking breakfast while playing music on the flat-screen TV. Our apartment is small, so the kitchen area can be seen beside the living room. Sierra and I both don't like big houses because it's stressful to think about what furniture to buy or where to put them. Also, it's cheap and close to our workplace.
"You woke up early," I said softly as I walked toward the kitchen counter, acting like nothing happened earlier.
She looked at me and smiled, then turned her eyes back to what she was cooking. "Early? It's already 12 PM."
I stopped walking and looked at the time on my phone screen.
Shit... why didn't I realize that right away? Good thing Sierra and I have our day off today, or my salary would be cut again.
I held my head in annoyance. I still have so many things to do that I need to finish today. I don't want to procrastinate and say, "I'll just do it tomorrow." That's too stressful already.
Sierra just laughed at my reaction. I heard her turn off the stove and start setting the table. "Looks like you slept really well. I didn't wake you up. Don't worry, I haven't done the laundry yet, so you'll have someone to go with later." I nodded and helped her set the table before we started eating.
I'm usually the one who cooks, but I don't know what happened-I woke up late even though I set an alarm last night before sleeping.
"Did you stay up late last night?" Sierra asked while we were eating.
Should I tell her? I shook my head without looking at her.
I finished eating first, so I excused myself to prepare the clothes that needed to be washed, then take a bath after. I left Sierra still eating while on a video call with her boyfriend.
As I was getting my laundry ready, I suddenly thought of the box under my bed. I stood up and took it out, then placed it on my desk to check it. It had a receipt, but it only showed my name and address. There was no seller's name or any information about where or who it came from. Because of that, I started to feel more suspicious-even about the delivery guy who brought it to me.
I had this feeling that I needed to open it and see what's inside, but something in my mind was telling me not to-especially since I didn't order anything. I didn't order anything because I'm trying to save money.
This is stressing me out. I already have so many problems, and now this one adds to them. Tsk.
I took the box and went out of my room. "Sierra," I called her and placed the box on the table. She was wiping the dishes, probably just finished washing them.
"Yep?" She walked toward me, her eyes lowering to look at the box I placed on the table. One of her eyebrows raised before she looked back at me.
"This isn't mine," I said directly.
She sat on a chair and took the box, looking at it like she was examining it. "Your name is written here, and it's our address," she said, pointing at it, not seeing anything suspicious.
"But isn't it that all our parcels usually have a receipt showing where they came from or what shop they were bought from?"
Sierra slowly seemed to realize something, then put the box back on the table before looking at me. "Did you order anything online these past few weeks?" she asked. I shook my head.
She nodded and stood up. "Why don't you try opening it? Sometimes you forget that you ordered something online because you're too busy."
I thought about what Sierra said, and to give my mind some peace, I decided to open the box while she took my phone to check if I really ordered something online.
Sierra was right, I can be forgetful, especially when I have a lot on my mind and I'm very busy. I only have one job, but if you look at my schedule, you'd think I'm a CEO of a big and famous company.
When I opened the box, I was expecting it to be empty because it felt so light. But when I lifted the lid, I was shocked by what I saw. The box was full of red roses. They weren't arranged like a bouquet, each one was placed inside individually, like the person who made it was too lazy to design it and just threw them all in.
I touched one of the roses, and it was real. I thought they were plastic, but they were fresh. There were so many inside that they were tightly packed together. Some of the petals were already bent because of how cramped it was. Poor roses, they had to wait until morning just to breathe.
I started taking them out one by one and counting them. Sierra noticed me and focused her attention on me instead of my phone.
"Oh! I knew it! You already have a boyfriend!" she said loudly.
"I don't even chat with anyone," I replied while still counting and taking out the roses one by one.
"Did you order these yourself? You work at a flower shop, so why would you buy them online?" she asked, standing up to take some roses from my hands.
"No. I didn't order something like this, Sierra. It's strange... and now I'm scared," I said, looking at her worriedly.
She put down the roses and looked at me seriously. Then, she gently placed her hands on both of my arms and looked straight into my eyes.
"El, don't think too much, okay? Don't be scared. I'm here and I'll always be here with you. We'll return these, but if there's no number or you can't contact whoever sent this, then we'll just throw them away or give them to someone else."
"Did one rose fall?" Sierra suddenly asked while putting the roses back in the box.
I looked under the table and around my feet. "None, why?"
"I only counted 39. Maybe there were supposed to be 40, and one just fell."