chapter 1

Elena grunted as she struggled to move her tiny frame forward against the wind, simultaneously dragging along a large suitcase. As she passed a restaurant, she though of how much she'd love to warm up with a large cup of tea. Unfortunately, money was tight at the moment and she needed to save whatever she had to hopefully find a place to sleep tonight. She had spent most of her money this morning on an unexpected return flight home that did not leave for another ten days. Still debating on whether or not to enter the restaurant, she cursed at her ex-boyfriend Lars. She had flown out all the way to this strange city to be able to live with him, and was head over heels in love with the beautiful and successful man. Soon after she moved in with him she had already started to doubt her decision. While on the previous occasions that she had met him he had been kind and interesting, he was now mostly rude and left her home alone most of the time in a city where she had no friends. After only three weeks he confessed to her that he was in a relationship with a co-worker, and kicked Elena out of his house that very same day. That is how she ended up on the cold street with her suitcase.
Elena decided to enter the restaurant to warm herself. She sat down by the window and ordered tea. Suddenly she heard someone call her name, which she thought was pretty odd since she hardly knew anyone in this city. She turned around curiously, immediately regretting this as she saw the couple waving at her. She recognized them as Sylvie and Ben, friends of her ex Lars that she met at one of his parties last week. Even though she had liked them a lot at that moment, she really did not feel like talking to his friends right now. But before she knew it Sylvie and Ben got up and took a seat at her table. Sylvie looked at her with a worried expression. 'Elena, I'm so glad that we ran into you,' she said. 'I tried calling you this morning after I heard what that jerk Lars did to you, but I couldn't reach your phone'. 'My battery died this morning, I haven't been able to charge it yet', Elena answered, looking for a way to leave as soon as possible. Ben took over the conversation. 'We just want you to know that we told Lars that we don't want to hear from him ever again. It's terrible what he did to you, you don't deserve that. Is there any way we can help you? Do you need a place to stay?' Elena smiled at the couple, liking them more and more each second. Although she was usually pretty careful around strangers, the thought of having to sleep in a super cheap hotel or on the street was terrible enough for her to trust Ben en Sylvie. 'Actually, I'm really looking for a place to sleep tonight. I've been dragging my suitcase all around the city but there are no hotels that have rooms available that I can afford at the moment. I spent so much money on flying out here to be with Lars, and then spent even more money on a flight to get the hell out of here... I just need to survive the next ten days untill I can go home.' 'No problem honey, you can stay with us untill then! Don't worry', Sylvie said reassuringly. 'We can take you home with us right now so you can unpack your stuff and get comfortable'. 'Uhmm actually, Sylvie', Ben interrupted, 'we have that appointment with Seth tonight, remember?' 'You're right, I completely forgot. Maybe we can take Elena with us?' Sylvie turned to Elena. 'We're having a game night with a friend of ours tonight, if you like you can join us? Most games are more fun with an even number anyway!' Élena was just about to say that a game night actually sounded pretty fun and that it might take her mind of off everything, when Ben hissed: 'Sylvie, you know Seth hates it when we bring people to his house, it's way too uncomfortable for him!'. Sylvie sighed. 'Well maybe it's time for us to take matters into our own hands. The fact that he is too embarressed to meet new people means that he's becoming completely isolated! He'll just have to adjust to his new life and learn to deal with it'. 'Maybe you're right,' Ben said, 'we can at least try to help him in this way. He won't be too thrilled though...' Elena felt utterly confused. 'So, it's settled then, you're going with us to game night!' Sylvie announced happily. Elena smiled halfheartedly, not so sure if she even wanted to meet this Seth. But she did not want to be rude to the only friendly people she met so far and who offered her a place to stay.
Half an hour later, Elena found herself in the lobby of one of the most beautiful buildings she had ever seen. 'Seth lives in the penthouse, he has an amazing appartment with a great view over the city, you'll love it! We just have to ring a bell here so that Seth can let us in', Sylvie announced.

Meanwhile, Seth was moving around his appartment as quickly as he could, getting everything ready for tonight. He had selected some great wine and nice snacks to go with it. He always looked forward to these nights. Ben en Sylvie were one of the few friends that he had left and that still visited him. They had known each other for a very long time, so he did not have to feel uncomfortable around them. He grunted as he bent down to get a Monopoly game from the closet. He briefly remembered a time when it was easy to walk around, to bend down and to get up again. He quickly discarded these thoughts, tonight was about having fun. At that moment the bell rung. Seth struggled to get back up again, and moved toward the screen that showed him video footage of who was downstairs in the lobby ringing the bell. He smiled when he saw the familiair faces of Ben en Sylvie, waving to the camera even though they could not see him. He pressed the button to let them in, and watched as they walked towards the elevator that would bring them straight to his living room. Suddenly he felt his muscles tense. Following Sylvie and Ben, there was another person, a young woman from the looks of it, dragging a suitcase with her into the elevator. Seth cursed, his friends knew how much he hated meeting new people in his current condition. He could not believe they would to this to him. He heard the elevator approach his floor, and realized he did not have a lot of time. He ran into the bedroom as quickly as he could, hating the way the floorboards creaked and his footsteps pounded as he ran. Already out of breath from this little bit of exercise, he closed the bedroom door just as he heard the elevator doors opening.