CHAPTER 3
764 Words
Chapter 3: A Place to Stay
The broken plate lay on the kitchen floor.
The stranger stared at it for a moment before bending down to pick up the pieces.
“I’m sorry.”
Lena gently stopped him.
“Don’t.”
He looked up.
“You’ll cut yourself.”
She grabbed a broom and dustpan from the corner and swept the shattered pieces into a bin.
“You really haven’t done this before, have you?”
He gave a faint shake of his head.
“No.”
“I could tell.”
A small smile tugged at the corner of his lips.
It was the first time she had seen him smile twice in one night.
She finished wiping the counter and untied her apron.
“There. We’re done.”
He looked around the now-empty café.
“So…”
“I still owe you seven dollars.”
Lena chuckled.
“You’ve been keeping track?”
“I don’t like owing people.”
There was something about the way he said it that made her pause.
As if those words meant far more than the price of a broken plate.
Outside, the rain showed no sign of stopping.
The wind rattled the café windows.
Lena walked to the front door and frowned.
“It’s getting worse.”
The stranger picked up his backpack.
“I’ll leave.”
She looked at him as though he’d said something ridiculous.
“And go where?”
“I’ll find somewhere.”
“In this weather?”
He didn’t answer.
She sighed.
“You really don’t know this village, do you?”
Silence.
“My name is Lena,” she said, extending her hand.
“You’ve been washing dishes for almost an hour, and I still don’t know what to call you.”
He hesitated.
Just for a second.
“My name is…”
His voice trailed off.
For the first time that evening, uncertainty crossed his face.
He almost said his real name.
Almost.
Then he looked into her kind eyes and made a choice.
“…Daniel.”
It wasn’t.
It was the first lie he had told her.
“Lena,” she repeated with a smile. “Nice to meet you, Daniel.”
She reached behind the counter, grabbed an old key hanging from a wooden hook, and placed it in his hand.
“What’s this?”
“The storage room upstairs.”
He frowned.
“You have a room upstairs?”
“It’s small.”
“The roof leaks when it rains.”
“And you’ll probably complain about the mattress.”
“But it’s warm.”
He looked at the old brass key resting in his palm.
“I can’t stay here.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t have money.”
“You’ll earn it.”
“I’ll deduct the rent from the dishes you’re going to wash tomorrow.”
His eyes met hers.
“Why are you helping me?”
Lena shrugged.
“My grandmother always said…”
She smiled softly.
“’If someone arrives at your door during a storm, feed them first.”
“‘Tomorrow, you can decide whether they’re a stranger or a friend.’”
For a long moment, Daniel said nothing.
No one had offered him kindness without expecting something in return in a very long time.
Finally…
He closed his fingers around the key.
“…Thank you.”
Lena pointed toward the narrow wooden staircase.
“Second door on the left.”
“Oh…”
She grinned mischievously.
“Breakfast starts at six.”
“If you’re late, your debt doubles.”
Daniel raised an eyebrow.
“That’s not how debt works.”
She laughed as she switched off the café lights.
“It does at Sunflower Café.”
As he climbed the stairs, his phone—hidden deep inside his backpack—vibrated once.
He froze.
The screen lit up with a single encrypted message.
WHERE ARE YOU?
A second message appeared almost instantly.
THEY KNOW YOU’RE MISSING.
Daniel stared at the screen for several seconds before turning it off without replying.
Outside, miles away from Maple Creek Village, a black luxury sedan pulled into the gates of a sprawling estate.
An elderly man stood by the window, his hands clasped behind his back.
“Has he been found?”
A man in a dark suit lowered his head.
“No, Chairman.”
The old man’s tired eyes lingered on the rain outside.
“Good.”
“Let him disappear.”
“Because if they find him before I do…”
“They’ll kill him.”
- Writer
