When fate plays its hand

Paul’s phone rang at the same time. It was Terrence from the dean’s office calling to inform him of Joli’s home address.

The two hung up their calls simultaneously and turned to each other. “We found it!”

Paul spoke first, “I just checked, The earliest flight to Yalemont leaves at 1:00 am. The bullet train won’t be available until tomorrow morning.”

Sam responded, “Then we’ll take the flight! At the Yalemont side, I have arranged for people to prepare a car for us to get to Denvel Town. However, cars can’t get to Joli’s home in Swampert Village. We will need to switch to another mode of transportation once we arrive.” Têxt © NôvelDrama.Org.

“Alright.”

Both of them quickly packed up and rushed to the airport. There wasn’t much to pack anyway. Paul carried only a medium–sized travel bag.

Sam traveled even lighter. He only had a phone, a charger, and a wallet with bank cards. That was enough for him.

Around 3:00 am, their plane landed at Jenseton Airport in Yalemont. The people Sam had arranged were already waiting outside the airport with the car keys. He took the car keys and motioned for Paul to get in.

After driving two stretches of highway and approximately 12 miles of winding mountain roads, they arrived at Denvel Town around 5:40 am.

It was still dark at that time. The streetlights had already turned off. The quiet little town was entirely dark, and barely any homes were lit.

Paul sat in the passenger seat and took out two pieces of bread from his bag. He ate one himself and handed the other to Sam. “Make do with this for now to fill your stomach.”

Sam took the bread and gave it a taste. “It’s awful. It’s as hard as a rock.”

Despite his complaints, he eventually finished it. At that moment, a message notification from WhatsApp appeared on Paul’s phone. He picked it up and glanced at the screen. “It’s Miranda!”

Sam immediately leaned over. “What did she send?”

“She said Madison, Sebastian, and her are currently at Joli’s house. The signal there is terrible. They’ve run into trouble. Two people barged into Joli’s home yesterday, and a conflict nearly broke up. They are going to come back today, and she’s asking me to help figure out a solution…”

The situation Miranda described on WhatsApp matched what the two of them had uncovered.

Paul put his phone away. “She said those two thugs will be back today. We need to get to the village quickly.”

Sam didn’t move. Paul called his name again. However, there was still no response.

“Sam? Did you choke on the bread?”

Paul had already unbuckled his seatbelt and was about to lean over to check on Sam when he suddenly turned and asked in a somber tone, “Why did Miranda only call and message you?”

Paul was puzzled at his surprising question.

“Why didn’t she ask me for help? Am I worse at handling situations like this than you? Aren’t I just as close to her as you are? Why on earth did she not contact me?”

Paul was rendered speechless by Sam’s barrage of questions. Meanwhile, Sam was clearly disappointed by the aggrieved expression on his face.

Just as Paul braced himself to say something to ease the awkward tension, Sam’s phone also chimed with a message notification from WhatsApp.

Sam glanced at his phone briefly and was about to dismiss the notification when his face lit up with excitement. His entire demeanor shifted from being deflated to energized. It was as if he was just revived.

Paul was taken aback by his sudden change.

Sam opened the WhatsApp message and showed it off to Paul smugly. “Ha! She messaged me too. See, I knew it. How could she only reach out to you and not me? It must have been because of the bad signal! Maybe she even sent it to me first! The signal might have delayed her message.”

Paul was at a loss for words and thought, “Sure, whatever makes you happy.”