Lost in Paradise

Chapter 14

The skies were dark even though it’s morning. The heavily pouring rain was noisy but the cries from mourners were louder. People in black clothes were slowly walking and the elders were in front chanting. In the middle of the crowd was a young girl. She’s looking at the nothingness while following the people ahead of her. Her little arms were hugging a picture frame with an image of a couple blithely smiling. Bewilderment was transparent on the girl’s face, she had no idea what the people around her were doing or why she was with them. Nevertheless, one thing was clear, the young girl was sad that’s what her eyes said.

Nadia got up off the bed as she woke up from a deep sleep. She sighed after realizing it was just a nightmare. But the dream was no longer new to Nadia since she dreamt of the same scenario oftentimes. But it was different now, it was longer and much detailed. Also, it’s been almost a year since the scenario last appeared on her dreams. Nadia’s mind quickly battled. Was it just a dream or a piece of memory? Whatever it was, Nadia learned to disregard it.

~~

Nadia’s stay in Ivana for almost two months resulted in a run out of spending money for daily expenses. All the cash she brought when she left her place was almost gone. So now she is in a city near Ivana just for an ATM Machine. She had to travel for two hours because there was no ATM Machine in Ivana. According to Ivan, this is the closest city where she can see the latest technologies and services not available in Ivana. The girl's intention is to withdraw extra money that she can use for daily expenses while staying in Ivana. After asking people around, Nadia finally found an ATM Machine, just outside a small shopping mall. She parked her car first and headed to the ATM Machine carrying a wallet full of various cards, from which she picked up one card and began to enter into the machine. But Nadia was shocked by what she saw on the machine monitor, the card she just entered was invalid. She tried to inquire again but the result was still the same. She also moved to the adjacent machine but still the same. Nadia started to feel upset.

“What happened to this card? What would I do now?” Nadia exclaimed.

Nadia decided to call the bank handling her account. She picked up the cellphone in her pocket and immediately called the bank.

Ring... ring—

“Good Morning! You’ve reached VDO customer service department. I’m Lara, how can I help you ”

“I cannot access my ATM card... it says invalid”

“I'm sorry for the inconvenience ma'am. Don't worry, I'm here to assist you. For me to proceed, can you provide me your account number? ”

“3789 4839 99”

“Oww, is this Ms. Nadia Nunley? ”

“I am”

“It's been a while Ms. Nunley... how are you?”

"I'm fine?... so what happened to my account?"

"Ummh... I'm currently looking into your account and it says–... I'm sorry, but it is temporarily inactive"

“What?? I mean why?.. what happened? ”

“I'm sorry Ms. Nunley but this is due to our system update. There is some information that needs to be updated and be discussed with our long-term customers. We've been trying to get in touch with you for the past 3 months but we got no response. That's why the system automatically changed the status of your account for security purposes. ”

"I see... I just had a personal matter to deal with... Anyway, what should I do now? I badly need my card now ”

“I'm sorry Ms. Nunley but as much as I want to activate your account now, I cannot do that because for it to be activated, the required information needs to be updated first.”

“We can't do that over the phone”

“My apologies Ms. Nunley but it must be done personally since there are papers to be signed as well. If you want we can have our representatives visit your place for your convenience but that actually takes almost a month. The best way I can advice is for you to drop by here so we can reactivate your account right away ”

"Hmmm... I think I have no choice but to do the latter"

“We will look forward to your visit Ms. Nunley! I’m sorry again for the inconvenience ”

“I'm good. I’ll just call you back”

“Anytime Ma’am. Have a great day!”

“You too. Bye”

Nadia dropped the call. The frustration on her face was obvious. She went to this city even though she had to travel for two hours just to withdraw money but she got nothing. She was so disappointed, not because of the bank but because of herself. She knew that no one was to blame but her. Her account has been deactivated because she became neglectful, and she became neglectful because she allowed herself to be conquered of depression brought by Joshua’s disappearance. During months of Nadia's agony, she put aside many things that were part of her daily life. She confined herself only in her room, in the bar, and in some of the places she and Joshua often visited. She missed work, business, hobbies, social life, and most of all herself. While all this was going on in Nadia's mind, she couldn't help but feel sorry for herself and to repent. But it was too late, she was now trying to move on so she must forget about it.

After a deep sigh, Nadia immediately made her way to the place where she parked the car. As she got there, she started to drive back to Ivana. While driving, Nadia could see from the car various things she was supposed to buy with the money she should have got but she failed. She is now thinking of how she will survive with the money left in her purse.