Page 20 of What If I Knew You

Corri. That’s a beautiful name.

Me

Thank you. And what’s your name?

I watch the three dots appear on my screen and then disappear…and then reappear again before my Stranger man finally replies.

Mr. Stranger

Alan.

Me

Nice to finally sort of meet you, Alan.

Mr. Stranger

The pleasure is all mine Corri. Hope you have a great night. Slurp some Ramen for me.

Me

Haha! Will do!

“Wait, WHAT?”Layken’s jaw drops mid-sip. She saves the noodle hanging out of her mouth and I watch as she sips it down. “You’ve seriously been texting some guy you don’t even know?”

I sift my spoon through my ramen bowl, because I’m lame and don’t know how to use chopsticks correctly, after a long afternoon of shopping. I love shopping with my best friend, but sometimes I forget she’s one of those people who likes to walk down every single aisle of the store to make sure she doesn’t miss a good bargain. Also, I promised a stop at the local bookstore on our way to dinner and of course that took longer than expected with her. A warm bowl of ramen to end our day out is hitting the spot perfectly.

“Like I said, it was an accident at first. I hit the wrong number on my phone when I was texting my dad.”

Her brows pinch. “You know that’s what they make contacts for in your phone, right? So, you don’t even have to type in a number?”

“Yeah but you know I’m not that organized and since I knew his number I figured it was just as fast to type it in than search through my contacts. I don’t know. I’m weird that way.”

“Yeah. You are, but I guess that’s beside the point. You’re texting a stranger. Like still…”

I nod. “Yeah. Do you think that’s bad?”

“I mean…” She shrugs. “It’s weird. He could potentially be some sort of oddball perv or what if he’s a sex trafficker?”

I cock my head. “He is not a sex trafficker.”

“How do you know?”

“Because I…”

She’s right.

I suppose I really don’t know.

“Okay so it’s always possible, but I just don’t get that vibe. He’s never asked me to meet. He’s never asked where I work. There’s no way for him to locate me unless he works for my cell phone company. He’s never asked my name. I mean, until today. It’s just been harmless chat about food.”

“Wait, so did you give him your name?”

“Yeah. I told him my name was Corri.”

“Well, that was smart of you at least.”

I shrug. “I mean, I’m no dummy.”

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